People keep asking for "beginner" dungeons. Everyone can name "classic" dungeons - Tomb of Horrors, Barrier Peaks, Ravenloft, etc. - but in order for those adventures to make sense, there needs to be some sort of introduction. It's like all the adventures we have are Bach concertos. People keep writing amazing works of staggering genius, but someone needs to write a book on how to play the piano. I had the same questions, and since I couldn't find anything satisfactory, I decided to write the kind of dungeon I would have loved to find. I wanted to write the best basic OSR dungeon for beginners that I could, and I also wanted to show the design process. If you like this dungeon, please share it, tell people about it, print copies and leave them lying around local game stores, or email this post to friends who have "always wanted to try D&D but don't know where to start". The entire thing is and always will be free.

Standing 100 feet off the shores of the vast Sapphire Lake are the ruins of a small fortress standing atop a rocky islet. The fortress belonged to a lich posing as a warlord from the Kingdom of Old Hagada, but fell rapidly into ruin when the Shrouded Hero was able to pierce the lich with the Blade of Five Seals. The lich cursed the assassin and his incompetent guards with his final breath. He cursed them to the same fate, their bodies petrifying and all of their souls being sealed in the Sheath of Five Seals. Afterwards, the warlord’s armies were defeated on the battlefield and the fortress became abandoned. In this short 3rd level dungeon crawl, the party investigate a ruined island fortress to solve a mysterious puzzle box. You can run this as a one-shot or plop this into your campaign world with minimal effort. The adventure is designed for Shadowdark RPG and references the core rulebook. If you're an experienced game master, you could convert the adventure to whatever system you prefer.

"The Anomalous Subsurface Environment is more than just robots and lasers – it's clowns and dinosaurs, too! Levels 2 and 3 of the critically ignored gonzo megadungeon are finally available – with more classes, more tables, and more cruel and unusual ways to die deep beneath the surface of the post-apocalyptic Earth!" "ASE2-3 – Anomalous Subsurface Environment" expands upon the ASE1 module, exploring the second and third levels of a vast underground complex in a unique post-apocalyptic setting blending fantasy, science fiction, and bizarre elements. Extensive list of bizarre and unique items and monsters. Written for Labyrinth Lord

Farms in the hamlet of Winterton are being raided at night. Who, or what, is doing the raiding is a mystery. Animals have disappeared and now a visiting merchant has gone missing. The only clue is a blood drenched hat sitting in the snow along a stretch of road. Blood in the Snow is intended as a small side-adventure set in Winter, in a tiny village in the Bay of Spirits. A desperate clan of goblins are raiding the settlement and the player characters have been asked, or hired, to help. Published by Roan Studio

The Haunted Hamlet and other hexes details four unique modular locations for your game. Made for old school essentials, but can easily be used with other old-school systems or even 5E. The four locations detailed in the zine focus on gameable content and being easy to use at the table. The locations are not connected to one another and can be sprinkled onto your campaign map however you like, or run as one shots. The PDF is graphic and art heavy and utilizes random tables and other tools to make it easier for GMs to run in a pinch. Details: 40 pages Single column text 8.5 x 5.5 aspect Black & White Bookmarks Four hex locations Random tables A rival NPC party A sky merchant A one page town Two hirelings

There is a witch in the wilds, a goddess unremembered, and a madman. There is a circle of stone - who knows what lies beneath? The villagers are distraught: their children! replaced by fae! The villagers are distraught: who heeded their plea? Ravenous inquisitors, that's who. Oh, and adventurers... This investigative folkcrawl adventure module contains: * an isolated village full of secrets, riddled with strange traditions, * adventure sites and dungeons populated by peculiar denizens, * a small Fae Realm to explore, weird and perilous, * a terrible fae threat and too many curses, * unlikely friends, and foes nobody expects! An OSR adventure module for character levels 3-4, designed for use with the Old-School Essentials ruleset, compatible with most old-school pen-and-paper RPGs. Includes a fully-linked interactive PDF, a fillable Referee's Toolkit, and player-friendly VTT maps.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMof0oYyfVI The people of Vesswood suffered many moons at the hands of the nocturnal demon-worshiping Werewolves of Werdenthal. Spawning from an ancient monastery hidden deep in the old wood, this cult of bloodthirsty beasts grow their pack by infecting nearby villages with their curse. A hefty bounty on each werewolf pelt was set, luring in bands of mercenaries, specially equipped to combat lycanthropes. Dozens of monster hunters tracked the beasts into their lair & assaulted the monastery from all directions. However during the hour of victory, the accursed wolfmen conjured foul magic that caused a cataclysmic earthquake upon the monastery, wiping out hunter & monster alike. Now the monastery lay in ruins at the bottom of a pit of bone, rubble & carrion... with all those pelts, silvered weapons, powerful relics & lycanthropy antidotes left unguarded… hopefully. Includes: 40+ pages and 24 areas of adventure! (4-6 sessions of gameplay) Adventure site offering a multitude of ways to approach & conquer it. An isometric map for players to plan their descent. New Grotesque, Dangerous & Powerful monsters New Magic Items filled with Forbidden Power Starting Village of Vesswood Simple rules for lycanthropy. Night & Day cycle that greatly impacts the adventure site. About: Pit of the Flayed Wolfmen is a location-based adventure centered on exploring a recently decimated hideout of a cult of werewolves that has been taken over by a necromancer on a mission of vengeance against nearby settlements. Designed for Shadowdark characters of levels 4-5. The party will likely be seeking a cure for lycanthropy before the first full moon sets in. On this journey they are likely to fight grotesque undead, bargain with werewolves & evade the deathly gaze of a vengeful necromancer!

The Necropolis of Nuromen is a modular quest designed to let the referee introduce a group of 1st level characters to the thrills of Underworld exploration as they attempt to unravel they secrets of the evil necromancer’s lair and deal with some bandits, too. The Necropolis of Nuromen is set in a fantasy realm, beginning near the small town of Camlann Castle and leading adventurers to explore the sinister Necropolis of Nuromen. The narrative unfolds around Nuromen the Necromancer, who fell to ruin by dabbling in forbidden magic, leading to the downfall of his tower and the town known as Law's End. The adventure includes exploration of a haunted forest, encounters with various creatures, and a quest for lost treasures and magical artifacts hidden within the depths of the necropolis. To play this adventure you also require the BLUEHOLME™ Prentice Rules or the BLUEHOLME™ Journeymanne Rules. This is an updated Version of "Maze of Nuromen" from 2013.

The adventure text was written by a neural network (Talk to Transformer) and compiled by a human editor. It is surprisingly usable. The adventure is centered upon the dangerous and thoroughly weird Tomb of the Daughter, the burial place and temple of an ancient Goddess. Explore several rooms connected by teleport systems, fight strange creatures, and perhaps thwart a demon summoning.

Under the gods' vigilant gaze, shadows stir in the depths. A hermit hunter found an alien jewel in the woods. Since then, he began to have dreams about strange "gods" and became obsessed with them. Little did he know, these “old gods” of his are an ancient evil buried deep in the underground that now reign in the forest! 'Hidden Gods of the Woods' is a system-agnostic one-page dungeon about the exploration of a secret cave dominated by bizarre aliens. Hidden beneath an abandoned cottage, players will unveil the story of a human hunter insanely in love with creatures from another world. Play to discover what the hell is going on there!

The dead are all mad in this place. Jaume made the most unfortunate mistake of seducing Ysabel and taking her virginity — a sacrilege for which the sentence was death. Enraged upon finding this out, Joudain cleaved Jaume’s head in two with an axe and then raised him from the dead to continue his duties. Not long afterward, Joudain decided that, because the twin footmen no longer “matched,” he had no choice but to inflict the same fate on Miqèl — who now looks exactly like his older brother. Join them. This heavily revised and greatly expanded deluxe edition of The Cursed Chateau is an adventure for use with Lamentations of the Flame Princess Weird Fantasy Role-Playing and other traditional role-playing games. Death is just the beginning.

Fortress, Tomb, and Tower: The Glain Campaign is the second published adventure series for the Basic Fantasy Role-Playing Game. This module includes three distinct adventures designed for a group of low to mid-level player characters, comprising a total of seven dungeon levels: The Fortress of the Iron Duke: On the day before the wedding of the Duke of Freestead to his beloved Kylenne, an explosion engulfed the Palace, and almost overnight the valley fell into ruin. Tomb of Karsma Megalos: The proud Serenhai people were ruled long ago by a seemingly immortal hero, Karsma Megalos. He disappeared in the Cataclysm, and no one knw here his body was laid... until now. Crooked Rock Tower: Once the old tower on the crooked rock was home to the enigmatic Wizard of Clocks; later it was occupied by the evil wizard Walgren. Rumors tell of great treasure buried beneath it... Published by basicfantasy.org

Far out in the void, an ancient city of vampires endures. Welcome to Araveshti, a city of a thousand towers floating safely in the shadow of the world, glittering with starlight, thrumming with ancient magics, and crawling with vicious immortals. Will you seek to destroy these bloodthirsty aristocrats? Or will you help them pursue their bizarre alchemical experiments in immortality? Or will you simply seek a way to escape their twisted and crumbling paradise? Within these ancient towers, adventurers will find vampire lords and servants, zealots and goliaths, as well as werewolves, mycotic zombies, victims of strange experimentation, fanatical holy knights, tragic vampire hunters in black, shipwrecked dreamers, castaway aliens, metal angels, eldritch horrors, star dragons, and (of course) the vampires' giant dragon-killing mecha suit... This is a dark sandbox. Players will explore a vast city of undead people and monsters in outer space, full of homages to classic horror and science fiction films and literature. ADVENTURE TYPE: Mid Level / Combat / Exploration / Dark Fantasy / Fantasy City / Gothic Horror DESIGN NOTES This adventure is intended for mid-level characters around Level 5-10 Players explore a large vampire city in space, encounter numerous NPCs and monsters, and engage with diverse factions to destroy, conquer, or escape from the city 40+ unique encounter locations, plus countless randomly generated locations 100+ original magic items 40+ original monsters One city map Estimated play time: 1-8 sessions (4-32 hours)

An adventure in Hyperborea designed for from four to six characters of 6th through 8th level In the far reaches of Hyperborea’s Crab Archipelago lies a small, mountainous island known as Crystal Point. Passing sailors recently have witnessed a crimson glow in Crystal Point’s waters and beams of russet light shining up from its steep cliffs. Too, unusually frequent lightning storms in the area have torn the sky in blinding flashes, shattering the air with their awesome sound. The seedy wharf taverns of Khromarium and elsewhere buzz with these strange tales—some even speculate that Crystal Point may hold the lost treasure of Atlantis! The Lost Treasure of Atlantis takes players into an action-packed realm of adventure: the mythical world of Hyperborea, a sword-and-sorcery campaign setting inspired by the fantastic fiction of Robert E. Howard, H.P. Lovecraft, Clark Ashton Smith, and others. This adventure is designed for Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea™ (AS&SH™), a role-playing game descended from the original 1974 fantasy wargame and miniatures campaign rules as conceived by E. Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. Therefore, AS&SH is compatible with most traditional fantasy role-playing games (c. 1974 to 1999) and their modern simulacra, such as OSRIC™ and Swords & Wizardry™.

The adventure takes players from a town devastated by an unexpected flood, through a drowned land where nature is turned upside down and desperate families cling to the roofs of their ruined homes, hiding from the monstrous products of a disordered world, through the strange tomb of an ancient race, to a profundal zone, hidden for millennia and now exposed, and finally to the Observatory itself, an eerie abandoned treasure palace, where they will encounter a pale and unexpected terror which will seek to claim their lives. The adventure is suitable for a lucky mid-range party, a stupid high-level party or an exceedingly clever low level party. It is difficult, with a meaningful possibility of character death. Should you find them, and defeat their guardians, the treasures of an ancient culture will be yours. At the final point of the Observatory is a glimpse of another world. Published by False Machine Publishing

A Gritty OSR Fantasy Setting by Travis Legge The mortal lands are divided. A dozen kingdoms lie scattered across the world, separated by dangerous wilds filled with bandits and monsters. The bravest mortals act as adventurers, guiding travelers between the kingdoms, killing monsters to thin their numbers, and plundering ruins in search of the lost treasures of the golden age. This is the world of Odysseys & Overlords! The party are traveling west through the Untamed Gauntlet, on their way to somewhere else and using a stream to guide their steps. They step out from under the eaves of the forest to spy looming before them a cliff, a tall wall of stone which stretches away to either side as far as they can see. A waterfall cascades onto sharp rocks into a pool from which pours the stream they were following. The sheer cliff is easily 100 feet high, and too wet and slick to climb safely, though it can be tried. Atop the cliff is a bare stone hill which looks like it was at one time worked by intelligent hands; a look-out post of sorts has been carved into its southernmost peak. The map says it’s called “Wyvernseeker Rock,” but it doesn’t say why. The hill appears deserted. A long age ago, beyond mortal memory, a forgotten people built a watching post and refuge atop and within Wyvernseeker Rock. A hundred years ago, an adventurer named Olaf Wyvernseeker claimed the Rock for his own and set out with companions to clear the lands thereabouts. They were never heard from again. The upper chambers of the Rock are a convenient lair for a Giant Rhadogessa and its spider servants. Still, it’s got to be safer than climbing the cliff. Right? Published by Aegis Studios

Lured by a scroll where the long dead sorcerer Urgaan boasts about treasures hidden in his tower, the PCs arrive at the outpost near the Awaroth Woods. A 1 page adventure for OSR style games.

The island of Merehurst was once a bustling center for trade. But this was not to last, for in one single deadly night sixty years ago all the people and the animals of the town died - collapsing where they stood. The neighboring villagers of Coombe claimed that the miners dug too deeply into Ynyswel and the spirit of the isle was offended. The island gained a fearsome reputation and only the bravest would dare set foot upon its forested grounds. Yesterday strange lights were seen in the sky over the island and Ynyswel started smoking. The villagers can wait no longer. Brave adventurers must be found who are willing to investigate the Isle of Merehurst to either appease or oppose what lies behind the latest mysterious activities. Advanced Adventures #3 The Horror of Merehurst is an OSRIC(tm) module designed for 6-10 adventurers of 1st level.

... 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

Baron Ketterall’s lands are beset by a plague of marauding goblins! Goblins you say? Pah! Who's afraid of few poxy goblins? But two experienced parties have already gone looking for the goblin lair – never to be heard of again. Poxy goblins you say? Be afraid, be very afraid… The scenario is designed to be an extremely challenging adventure that might undermine a player’s bravado in dealing with low-level monsters such as goblins. Unusual traps, tricks and special weapons are used by the inhabitants of the dungeon to cause the party as much trouble as possible. Published by Dunromin University Press.