Under the Temple Crypt is the first in a series of site-based, Swords & Wizardry** compatible, “micro modules” that can be dropped into just about any campaign (especially a sandbox-style campaign). No underlying story-hook or rationale for exploring the site is given here. This dungeon assumes that there is a temple somewhere with a mysterious walled-in doorframe in the basement crypt. The walled-in doorframe predates the temple itself and leads to ancient subterranean structures that hint of an older civilization as well as an expansive underworld.
A short adventure of human greed meeting weird horror with a quite messy outcome. An encounter set in a church, with a Shoggoth like eldritch horror as the Boss.
Once a paradise at the heart of dwarfdom, the Valley of the Cracked Helm has lain forgotten for ages, lost to the vagaries of natural disasters, goblin invasions, and generational benders. Over the years since, its name has invoked only shame—furtive, deep-seated dwarven shame—for the valley is where the wild dwarves dwell. . . Valley of the Cracked Helm is an off-beat scenario for old-school style games involving a hidden valley filled with tribal dwarven nudists and exploitative prospectors. It is formatted as a double-sided tri-fold brochure that contains everything needed to run the module. It includes: A ready-to-run module suitable for ongoing campaigns and one-shots. A detailed pointcrawl of the Valley of the Cracked Helm. Dwarves Gone Wild! (This pointcrawl scenario can be dropped into any classic fantasy campaign allowing gratuitous dwarven nudity. More setting than adventure, it encourages/requires referees to improvise or develop content further to fit their own needs. Low-level PCs may need to be lucky or clever to survive.)
"Enter a garden of earthly delights. The sun has stopped setting over the king's favorite garden. It seemed like a harmless curiosity at first but the animals have turned violent and strange alien beings have appeared. The duke has placed a bounty for enterprising sell-swords to end the curse of endless daylight. Hideous Daylight is an adventure module for Old-School Essentials, Cairn, and compatible with other pen-and-paper RPGs with old-school sensibilities. Player characters will navigate a 20 point hex crawl to end the strange curse affecting the land. An adventure for low-level characters. 33 pages of non-linear, character driven adventure in the OSR tradition. Two keyed dungeons and a 20 point hex-crawl. A bucolic fantasy setting easily insertable into fantasy RPG campaigns. Dangerous new monsters, weird magic items, and an unpredictable random encounters table. Features two gazebos."
The abandoned Tower of Ulvarum Orvernus stands atop an asteroid nearly a quarter mile in diameter, located roughly 5 million miles from the planet’s surface. The asteroid maintains Earth-like gravity and a breathable atmosphere, with habitable temperatures. This is all sustained through the harnessed power of a bound Air Elemental and Earth Elemental. If either of these Elementals are freed, the asteroid’s environment will quickly become inhospitable. The PCs may find themselves drawn to the asteroid through a forgotten portal, seeking a way to return home. Alternatively, they might be lured there by rumors of a powerful item or hidden knowledge within the tower’s extensive libraries. A multi-level tower filled with traps and strange encounters including animated armor, alien plant life, giant spiders, and a doppelganger.
This adventure is more of a classic dungeon crawl, themed around the accidentally terrifying dreamscape of an elven girl trapped in a nightmare of her own making. The dungeon shifts and exits move about as the party explores, making each run through the dungeon a unique experience and allowing for infinite replays of the same adventure.
A 26-page low level adventure for OSE and other OSR rpgs. "The swamps? Oh, that's a long time since someone got out of there. Vines and crocodiles they say in the big city. But down here we don't believe everything they say up there. Everyone knows what's up with the swamp! The hydra is hungry! We tried to hunt it down last year... that's how i got this wooden stump! What? you? killing the Hydra? well... i didn't make you out for the brave type, that's all..." -Old Mika, fisherman of Gren Against the Hydra The swamps near Gren are infested with strange creatures preying on travellers, the hydra has begun her yearly hunt and the river woman’s daughter has vanished. Last year the neighbouring towns have all gathered together to mount an expedition inside the swamp, but none returned. With nothing more to do priests, druids and citizen have gathered a 2000 gold pieces to clean out the swamp and save the river woman’s daughter from certain death. The adventure comes with detailed tables to explore the swamps, a complex dungeon riddled with encounters, treasure and lore for you to explore. Handouts are also included in the adventure pdf, for you to give to your players and excite their imagination.
The ruined Thorp of Rhu once produced honey, apples, hard cider, and mead. Villagers now stay away as they believe Rhu is cursed. Years ago a witch, Katla, was cheated from a reward promised for chasing away an attacking giant. Furious, she waited for her chance at revenge. Over a year, Katla created many small sack dolls and gifted them to Rhu’s children. One night, each doll animated, killed the sleeping adults, and set the village on fire. Now Sorcha, the village elder, asks the PCs to go to Rhu to locate a lost dwarven friend, help a restless soul, and find out what really happened to Rhu long ago. These outsider sack doll spirits take great pleasure in tormenting and slaying weaker creatures. At Rhu, the PCs encounter murderous sack dolls, learn the villagers’ & dwarf’s fate, parlay with spirits, and clash with Bloody Tears, the witch’s minion & spirit familiar. Published by Wicked Cool Games
In an age obscured by mist and memory, Sir Galen the Brave and his knights struck down the Drake of Crestmoor with steel and flame. But as the years turned, and the heroes returned to dust, their deeds faded into myth. Doubt lurked where awe once dwelled, and in time, the bards sang of lesser deeds. In the hollows of the wilderness, the stones of their forgotten tomb crumbled beneath ivy and shadow. The Cursed Knights of Crestmoor is a short dungeon crawl for four characters of levels 1-2 using Shadowdark RPG ©. The adventure is designed to be easy to run for new game masters. Players should not be cavalier in their approach to this dungeon. There are threats in the tomb which could easily kill foolhardy player characters. Long ago a band of knights led by Sir Galen slew the black dragon known as the Drake of Crestmoor - a malevolent creature whose true name was Morghast the Black. With his dying breath, the dragon cursed Galen and his friends that they would never find rest in death. Today, the once well-kept tomb has fallen into ruin. Some time ago a band of kobolds moved into the subterranean mausoleum and began using it as a base of operations. More recently, a lizardfolk shaman named Kall’eth and his warband arrived and took over, pressing the kobolds into their service. Kall’eth came to Galen’s tomb to recover the knight’s Fireblade - a sword of dwarvish make used to slay Morghast long ago. The tomb is crawling with kobolds, lizardfolk, and the restless husks of Galen and his compatriots. A magic sword, a missing wedding ring, and plenty of adventure await you in…The Cursed Knights of Crestmoor!
Beneath our feet is the mythological hollow world – a realm of dense jungles, putrid swamps and rugged mountains. Here a brave party will struggle for survival as they seek to fathom the unseen expanse and to prevent a once defeated god to rise again. ‘Journey to the Inside Out’ can be played as a stand-alone scenario or be used as the first installment in a trilogy of connected adventure modules each taking place in a different era. The scenario can be used with Swords & Wizardry or any other early variant of game rules. Inside you will find: • A 40+ page old-school module with a layout optimized for fast and easy interfacing. • A challenging lost world setting with the possibility to toggle the complexity. • Alternative suggestions for entry to the hollow inside. • Downloadable maps for both players and the Referee. • Story-points for a guided scenario and tables for sandbox and hexcrawl-style play. • Advice for an ongoing campaign. • Locations allowing the PCs to travel to another era within the setting. • Unique new creatures. Published by CTM Publishing.
More than a mile away from the sweaty market town that bears his name, Merchant Lord Salmo spends most of his time in his formidable manse, luxuriating in wealth and style...wealth that nobody, not his slaves, nor his workmen, nor his rivals, would mind him losing... The Great Mansion Heist is an infiltration and theft adventure written for first or second level characters. In it players are set to raid the isolated country mansion of Merchant Lord Salmo, the thoroughly detestable local rich ruler. The adventure is designed to function as a one shot but can also be seeded into any campaign where the local ruler just needs a good burgling.
Those friendly dwarves were the first to go, the poor things. And now the beast has been killing and eating the people of Brandonsford. No-one wants to leave the town's walls. With the humans out of the forest, fairies have taken over, and now the goblin king Hogboon seeks to claim the entire forest as his new kingdom.
The village of Sacrabad is a wretched place. Dark rumors abound concerning its steward, “His Lordship” Nim Sheog, who rules the place through terror and cruelty. Merchants who have passed through Sacrabad tell tale of how chaos thrives while the good folk wallow in misery. Nim’s guard are no more than a well-paid gang of thugs, hired to enforce his relentless and often bizarre laws and what’s worse, they seem to be in league with a nearby band of goblins, The Yellow Fang, who are often left to terrorize the villagers without reprisal. It is rumored that Nim keeps the rightful and lawful lord of Sacrabad locked away in the dungeons of the keep, the ominous Black Tower. An imposing structure that once afforded the village protection, the Black Tower has become a symbol of tyranny. But there is hope on the horizon. Hope in the form of a secret society who conspire to rescue the rightful lord and overthrow Nim and his guard. Can our heroes champion the cause? Tyranny of the Black Tower is a short (single session) adventure module. It is a classic “rescue operation” complete with a strong villain and espionage intrigue. It is an ideal one-shot adventure with room for expansion into an ongoing campaign. Bonus side-trek hooks and a bonus dungeon are included as a means to build up low-level parties. This module is setting-generic and can be dropped just about anywhere in the multiverse. Published by Verisimilitude Society Press
... for hundreds of years, the monks of Sheargardt Manor at Luci Vale have provided spiritual guidance (in the name of their deity—Caelis) and world-class ales to the folk who live in nearby Luci Village. At the head of the high-mountain valley Luci Keep is tasked with keeping the pass over the high mountains safe fortravelers throughout the year. However, in recent months, word has come down from the mountains to the port city of Galan that the Abbot Christoph has allowed evil to enter the Manor. And now, a representative of the Caelian order is sent to learn the truth of the matter, and remove Christoph if necessary... Published by Usherwood Publishing
Greed blinds the eyes of contentment Dwarf miners discovered a precious stone deposit. Unfortunately, their greed led them to dig tunnels too deep. Upon breaching the walls of an unholy temple, the miners unleashed a bizarre creature that decimated them all. 'They Dug Too Deep' is a system-agnostic one-page dungeon about exploring an abandoned and mysterious dwarven mine. As characters delve into the site, they'll uncover that not everything is as it seems – a sealed entrance from the inside, the corpses of dwarves scattered around, strange messages on the walls... Play to discover what really happened! 2023 Winners' Circle One-page Dungeon! 'They Dug Too Deep' was awarded as one of the top 10 one-page dungeons in the 2023 One Page Dungeon Contest! To celebrate, we offer you some extra stuff to enhance your play experience. There is more underground than just precious stones... What you'll find here: A complete 18-room one-page dungeon with easy preparation. A GM's Pamphlet containing tips on how to run the adventure and compiling the most relevant information. 4 character sheets using the Vagari RPG rules system. 5 custom tokens for use in your favorite VTT. Mini-hexcrawl map (NEW!)
A 20-page adventure for OSE Save the wizard! A sunken cathedral on a quiet mountain lake hides a long forgotten temple to Mathanoga, God of Knowledge and wizardry. Abandoned by Man for centuries , but protected by the legend of man-eating fishmen lurking in it. Or until a few weeks ago the young wizad Elric embarked on its expedition. With help from the accademy of Greykeep he found the temple and began to explore it, hoping to uncover its ancient magical secrets. Now the wizard is missing and the accademy has put a bounty on its head: its weight in silver to whoever will find him and bring him home alive and well. Find magical secrets! Deep inside the temple are stashed many magical items, all sacred to the fishmen dwelling there, all worth dying for. Save Elric and the treasures will be yours! The Sunken Temple is an expert level Old School Essentials adventure for a party of 1-4 players. Perfect for a one shot or a random encounter in an hex crawl.
When huge stones fall out of the night sky, A deadly curse settles over Gravencross. Help the village exorcise the Demon Stones. “The sun had set an hour ago, and the rain lashed down and the wind howled on the dark moor. A storm this late in the season was unusual, but this one seemed different. The clouds were more menacing, tinged with anger, the rain colder and more biting than usual. Skerrill had to find the lost calf and get him back to the farm before his father came back from the city on business. He’d been looking for two hours now, and he was right in the middle of the moor when the storm hit. He knew he should have turned back as soon as darkness fell, but then he was never the brightest boy in the valley. If only he had remembered to lock the farm gate. The calf was now likely dead anyway having stumbled among the boulders and rocks, panicking in the dark, and then fallen in a floodwater stream and drowned. Either way, he was in more trouble than he could imagine. Suddenly, a bright flash of white light and a roaring peal of thunder were preceded by an explosion as a huge object fell from the sky and impacted the ground of the moor no more than a stone’s throw from him. Dirt, mud, water, and debris erupted from the impact site, flying high into the air and then covering the moor for hundreds of feet all around. Skerrill was knocked to the ground instantly and covered in the fallout from the blast. His ears rang and his head spun, but he staggered to his feet in a daze. He stumbled to where the blast had happened only moments before, and in a depression in the ground lay a huge stone glowing orange as if hot. Skerrill passed out. Two more thunderous explosions crashed in the distance.”
Old-School Essentials Adventure A hole in an old oak tree leads characters down to a maze of twisting, root-riddled passageways, the chambers of an ancient wizard-complex, and the banks of an underground river where once a reptile cult built their temples. A classic expedition into the Mythic Underworld for characters of 1st to 2nd level. 60 keyed areas, rumour table, loot summary, dungeon background info, suggestions for expanding the dungeon. Keyed in a quick-reference, bullet point format. Unlabelled map included for VTT use. The Hole in the Oak can be linked with The Incandescent Grottoes to form a large, 3 level dungeon with over 115 keyed encounter areas!
The ancient world of Harth is dying, but you’re going to die even sooner if you can’t escape from Frostwyck. You’re lost in a frozen forest of deadly predators and mysterious recluses. Your only refuge is the tiny village of Frostwyck, where metal is rare and kindness is rarer. And there are worse things in the shadows than mere bloodthirsty beasts. Witches haunt the groves of the north. Most keep to themselves, content to guard their secrets and powers. But one torments them all. Dama Zhadna has cursed the village so that none can escape. And now you’re trapped here. You’re going to die here... ...unless you can escape from the Witches of Frostwyck. Just a few things players can do: - Escape from a prison barge - Free demon souls from a giant spider-house - Find a charming witch-lord hiding with his pet dragon - Evade a merciless warrior zealot who is hunting them - Discover the ancient secrets of the Elder Fey - Collect the "cunning tools" created by the hedge witches - Collect the eldritch weapons crafted by the ancient elves - Save a little girl made of snow Intense Factions! Will you help the Temple of Virune to eradicate the last of the witches? Will you help the witch-lords retake power over the north? Will you help the Gray Sisters protect the village from the dangers of the forest? Or will you venture underground and help the Elder Fey to escape their prison and take their revenge? Four New Mentors! While in Frostwyck, players can meet many skilled NPCs who might be willing to train a worthy adventurer. If you can complete 3 days of training, you can learn one of 16 skills from either a Hunter, a Fighter, a Priest, or a Witch. New PC Background: The Vulgoth Hedge Witch! In addition to some unusual medicinal gear, select one of 6 creatures of the northern forest as your familiars, as well as one of 6 "cunning" items that you enchanted (and might explode in your face!).
One page side quest, one page maps. For amusement, twenty years ago, a transient vampire passed its blood curse to a flying squirrel making it undead, intelligent, and immune to aging. The squirrel calls itself Darkfang and mostly enjoys preying on tiny humanoids, favoring halflings, elves, & young humans. DF often relocates as years ago it learned humanoids seek justice. To avoid notice, DF may move lairs after killing a humanoid. Three solid adventure hooks are provided. Published by Wicked Cool Games