Deep within the blasted desert wastes a mysterious black tower has been sighted. The structure is not marked on any known map and has not been seen in this location by travellers in the region, yet there it stands. The adventurers set out to explore this ancient, isolated tower that appears ripe for the plundering. Within they face a gauntlet of insidious traps and supernatural horrors. The deeper the adventurers delve, the more secrets of the tower’s origins they uncover. The tower’s sinister creator does not rest easy in his arid grave – the adventurers must face him if they are to survive the Tower of Screaming Sands. Also included in “Tower of Screaming Sands”: Five deadly new traps: The Chamber of Ten Thousand Teeth, The God’s Grasp, Chamber of Flooding Sand, Hall of Arcing Blades and Descending Stone Block. A new monster – the scorpion swarm. Rules for whirlwinds, a new magical hazard GM tips for running overland travel.
The Legend of the Black Monastery Two centuries have passed since the terrible events associated with the hideous cult known as the Black Brotherhood. Only scholars and story-tellers remember now how the kingdom was nearly laid to waste and the Black Monastery rose to grandeur and fell into haunted ruins. The Brothers first appeared as an order of benevolent priests and humble monks in black robes who followed a creed of kindness to the poor and service to the kingdom. Their rules called for humility and self denial. Other religious orders had no quarrel with their theology or their behavior. Their ranks grew as many commoners and nobles were drawn to the order by its good reputation. The first headquarters for the order was a campsite, located in a forest near the edge of the realm. The Brothers said that their poverty and dedication to service allowed them no resources for more grand accommodations. Members of the Black Brotherhood built chapels in caves or constructed small temples on common land near villages. They said that these rustic shrines allowed them to be near the people they served. Services held by the Brothers at these locations attracted large numbers of common people, who supported the Black Brotherhood with alms. Within 50 years of their first appearance, the Black Brotherhood had a number of larger temples and abbeys around the kingdom. Wealthy patrons endowed them with lands and buildings in order to buy favor and further the work of the Brothers. The lands they gained were slowly expanded as the order’s influence grew. Many merchants willed part of their fortunes to the Black Brotherhood, allowing the order to expand their work even further. The Brothers became bankers, loaning money and becoming partners in trade throughout the kingdom. Within 200 years of their founding, the order was wealthy and influential, with chapters throughout the kingdom and spreading into nearby realms. With their order well-established, the Black Brotherhood received royal permission to build a grand monastery in the hill country north of the kingdom’s center. Their abbot, a cousin of the king, asked for the royal grant of a specific hilltop called the Hill of Mornay. This hill was already crowned by ancient ruins that the monks proposed to clear away. Because it was land not wanted for agriculture, the king was happy to grant the request. He even donated money to build the monastery and encouraged others to contribute. With funds from around the realm, the Brothers completed their new monastery within a decade. It was a grand, sprawling edifice built of black stone and called the Black Monastery. From the very beginning, there were some who said that the Black Brotherhood was not what it seemed. There were always hints of corruption and moral lapses among the Brothers, but no more than any other religious order. There were some who told stories of greed, gluttony and depravity among the monks, but these tales did not weaken the order’s reputation during their early years. All of that changed with the construction of the Black Monastery. Within two decades of the Black Monastery’s completion, locals began to speak of troubling events there. Sometimes, Brothers made strange demands. They began to cheat farmers of their crops. They loaned money at ruinous rates, taking the property of anyone who could not pay. They pressured or even threatened wealthy patrons, extorting money in larger and larger amounts. Everywhere, the Black Brotherhood grew stronger, prouder and more aggressive. And there was more… People began to disappear. The farmers who worked the monastery lands reported that some people who went out at night, or who went off by themselves, did not return. It started with individuals…people without influential families…but soon the terror and loss spread to even to noble households. Some said that the people who disappeared had been taken into the Black Monastery, and the place slowly gained an evil reputation. Tenant farmers began moving away from the region, seeking safety at the loss of their fields. Slowly, even the king began to sense that the night was full of new terrors. Across the kingdom, reports began to come in telling of hauntings and the depredations of monsters. Flocks of dead birds fell from clear skies, onto villages and city streets. Fish died by thousands in their streams. Citizens reported stillborn babies and monstrous births. Crops failed. Fields were full of stunted plants. Crimes of all types grew common as incidents of madness spread everywhere. Word spread that the center of these dark portents was the Black Monastery, where many said the brothers practiced necromancy and human sacrifice. It was feared that the Black Brotherhood no longer worshipped gods of light and had turned to the service of the Dark God. These terrors came to a head when the Black Brotherhood dared to threaten the king himself. Realizing his peril, the king moved to dispossess and disband the Black Brother hood. He ordered their shrines, abbeys and lands seized. He had Brothers arrested for real and imagined crimes. He also ordered investigations into the Black Monastery and the order’s highest ranking members. The Black Brotherhood did not go quietly. Conflict between the order and the crown broke into violence when the Brothers incited their followers to riot across the kingdom. There were disturbances everywhere, including several attempts to assassinate the king by blades and by dark sorcery. It became clear to everyone that the Black Brotherhood was far more than just another religious order. Once knives were drawn, the conflict grew into open war between the crown and the Brothers. The Black Brotherhood had exceeded their grasp. Their followers were crushed in the streets by mounted knights. Brothers were rounded up and arrested. Many of them were executed. Armed supporters of the Black Brotherhood, backed by arcane and divine magic, were defeated and slaughtered. The Brothers were driven back to their final hilltop fortress – the Black Monastery. They were besieged by the king’s army, trapped and waiting for the king’s forces to break in and end the war. The final assault on the Black Monastery ended in victory and disaster. The king’s army took the hilltop, driving the last of the black-robed monks into the monastery itself. The soldiers were met by more than just men. There were monsters and fiends defending the monastery. There was a terrible slaughter on both sides. In many places the dead rose up to fight again. The battle continued from afternoon into night, lit by flames and magical energy. The Black Monastery was never actually taken. The king’s forces drove the last of their foul enemies back inside the monastery gates. Battering rams and war machines were hauled up the hill to crush their way inside. But before the king’s men could take the final stronghold, the Black Brotherhood immolated themselves in magical fire. Green flames roared up from the monastery, engulfing many of the king’s men as well. As survivors watched, the Black Monastery burned away, stones, gates, towers and all. There was a lurid green flare that lit the countryside. There was a scream of torment from a thousand human voices. There was a roar of falling masonry and splitting wood. Smoke and dust obscured the hilltop. The Black Monastery collapsed in upon itself and disappeared. Only ashes drifted down where the great structure had stood. All that was left of the Black Monastery was its foundations and debris-choked dungeons cut into the stones beneath. The war was over. The Black Brotherhood was destroyed. But the Black Monastery was not gone forever. Over nearly two centuries since its destruction, the Black Monastery has returned from time to time to haunt the Hill of Mornay. Impossible as it seems, there have been at least five incidents in which witnesses have reported finding the Hill of Mornay once again crowned with black walls and slate-roofed towers. In every case, the manifestation of this revenant of the Black Monastery has been accompanied by widespread reports of madness, crime and social unrest in the kingdom. Sometimes, the monastery has appeared only for a night. The last two times, the monastery reappeared atop the hill for as long as three months…each appearance longer than the first. There are tales of adventurers daring to enter the Black Monastery. Some went to look for treasure. Others went to battle whatever evil still lived inside. There are stories of lucky and brave explorers who have survived the horrors, returning with riches from the fabled hordes of the Black Brotherhood. It is enough to drive men mad with greed – enough to lure more each time to dare to enter the Black Monastery.
When the iron mines that made Dustpawn so prosperous played out not long after the Goblinblood Wars of Isger ended, the city shifted its focus from mining to goat herding with quite a bit of success. Things have, as a result, been quiet and calm in Dustpawn for the past several years, but that quiet is shattered the night a strange falling star roars across the sky above town to crash somewhere in the hills several miles to the south. When several locals eager to find the fallen star and strip it of its ore go missing, it becomes apparent that whatever has fallen from the sky is much more than a mere meteorite. There are those in town who claim the falling star was in fact a ship, and now a strange malady is creeping through the townsfolk.
The Rise of the Runelords Adventure Path begins here, in the small coastal town of Sandpoint. Five years after a tragic fire and spate of brutal murders, the people of Sandpoint eagerly anticipate the Swallowtail Festival to commemorate the consecration of the town's new temple. At the height of the ceremony, disaster strikes! In the days that follow, a sinister shadow settles over Sandpoint. Rumors of goblin armies and wrathful monsters in forgotten ruins have set the populace on edge. As Sandpoint's newest heroes, the PCs must deal with treachery, goblins, and the rising threat of a forgotten empire whose cruel and despotic rulers might not be as dead as history records.
The deserts of Osirion—land of pharaohs and ancient tombs—hide not just untold wonders, but also unspeakable dangers. When the vast sand dunes part to reveal the ancient pyramid of the legendary Pharaoh of Sphinxes, glory seekers from across many nations race toward it, each fighting to be the first to claim its wonders. But the storied pharaoh doesn't rest quietly within this monument, and his tomb was designed to slaughter any who would dare trespass.
Deep in the forest, something is stirring. An evil fey sorcerer, cast out of the First World millennia ago by her own kin, has found a way to break through the ancient walls of her prison, and carries with her a vengeance too deep to be sated. For the quiet Andoren town of Bellis, busy celebrating a long-awaited marriage, it's a time for joy and laughter. Yet the forest that's always sheltered it is growing dark, and things are moving in the heart of the woods...
A terrible plague has swept through the city of Cairdus, and despite the local clergy’s best efforts, they have been unable to control the spread of the disease. Even those who seem cured often contract the disease again. The only thing that is making any headway are the special blessings given by the powerful Baron Velstaf, but he only grants these blessings for a price that few can afford. The Star of Olindor is an adventure designed for 7th-level rogue, or other character of similar abilities. The obstacles in the adventure are set up to encourage the use of stealth and trickery, and many rely on classic rogue skills. The adventure takes place in the city of Cairdus, the details of which have been intentionally left imprecise, so that it can be easily slipped into an existing campaign, or better yet the adventure can be altered to take place in any existing city. Part 1 of the Olindor Trilogy.
Her Infernal Majestrix Queen Abrogail II of Cheliax summons her agents to the city of Egorian to address the current crisis with the Glorious Reclamation. Upon arriving in the bustling capital, the adventurers find themselves swept up in the cutthroat politics of the imperial court. To impress the queen and secure a royal audience, the wicked characters must scour the City of Thorns to root out and eradicate a secret organization that works to free halfling slaves. But to truly earn Queen Abrogail's trust, the adventurers must perform a sacrifice for the queen to renew House Thrune's contract with Hell, and there are many—both within the court and without—who wish to see the monarch dethroned.
In a small hamlet, things are strangely becoming tidy in the night. Far from being pleased, the citizens are alarmed by these events. A local painter has gone missing, as has a travelling scholar. What is going on here?
Everyone in the fishing town of Ilsurian is excited when the legendary Umbra Carnival rolls into town—even if the show is run by members of the much-maligned Varisian ethnic group. With strange and exotic beasts, scandalous performances, games of chance, and all the other fun of a traveling fair, who could resist such an opportunity for entertainment?
The heroes of the town of Torch follow a trail of clues to the sprawling junkyard known as Scrapwall, where bands of desperate and violent brigands vie for control of the technological remnants found within. The Lords of Rust dominate Scrapwall, and their swiftly rising power threatens more than just the town of Torch, for this gang has the support of one of the terrifying Gods of Numeria. What slumbers fitfully beneath the wreckage of Scrapwall could catapult the Lords of Rust into a new level of power if they're not stopped!
The PCs are called on to assist in retrieving the legendary Scrolls of Thoth on behalf of Khemet III, the Ruby Prince of Osirion. Along the way, they discover the ultimate fate of the ancient Song Pharoah -- and potentially assist her in her journey through the Duat, the final series of tests that a Pharaoh must face in the afterlife. It was designed as a one-shot lasting approximately 5-6 hours, but could be run as a side-quest in the Mummy's Mask adventure path. See the site for notes on adjustments to make if you are using it in that way. It includes maps, handouts, stat blocks for all of the NPCs, and Hero Lab files for Hero Lab users. Because the adventure is born digital, the page count is a rough estimate based on print previewing the pages in the site. There is no source of a printed copy other than printing one yourself (which you are welcome to do). This adventure has not been published, and is made available under the terms of the Paizo Community Use License.
A Pathfinder Roleplaying Game adventure for 4th-level characters, this volume of Pathfinder Adventure Path is part 2 of 6 of the Kingmaker Adventure Path, in which the heroes win and defend a small kingdom from threats foreign and domestic. PCs should advance to 7th level by the end of this adventure. The PCs receive a shipment of funds, materials, and colonists from Brevoy and beyond, along with instructions to build a town and attract more pioneers to their nascent country. Having already explored the northern reaches of their new domain, the PCs must now venture into the wilds to bring the rule of law to the south. Wicked fey inhabiting a ruined keep, undead haunting an ancient barrow mound, and others must be defeated to make the region ever more secure. Along the way, the PCs might also have the opportunity to ally themselves with some of the region’s local residents, including the dryad druid Tiressia, her satyr consort Falchos, and a band of gnome explorers called the Narthropple Expedition. In addition, the PCs will be called upon to mediate between two rival factions in the area: a group of independent loggers and the angry fey sorceress who opposes them. As they explore, evidence that a group of trolls is stirring up trouble in the region becomes apparent. Meanwhile, the PCs must deal with events within their burgeoning kingdom—a rabble rouser seeks to oust the PCs from their positions of power, the secretive cult of the hag goddess Gyronna has infiltrated the town, and a werewolf is preying on the townsfolk. All of these events build to the adventure’s twin climaxes: the sudden assault on their capital city by an owlbear of unprecedented size and the expansion of Hargulka’s trolls into the north. Faced with danger on multiple fronts, the PCs must draw upon all of their resources and bravery to become the undisputed rulers of the Greenbelt.
A Pathfinder Roleplaying Game adventure for 1st-level characters, this volume of Pathfinder Adventure Path kicks off the highly anticipated Kingmaker Adventure Path, in which the heroes win and defend a small kingdom from threats foreign and domestic. PCs should advance to 4th level by the end of this adventure. This volume also includes a gazetteer of Brevoy and extensive rules for exploring, taming, and holding wildlands in preparation for founding a new nation. The Pathfinder Bestiary section introduces five all-new monsters perfect for Kingmaker adventuring. James L. Sutter brings a lighter side to the Pathfinder Adventure Path with the first installment of a new fiction arc for the Pathfinder's Journal. The adventure begins with the PCs, each bearing a charter from the Lord Mayor of Restov granting license to explore and map the section of the Stolen Lands known as the Greenbelt, arriving at a small, remote trading post at the southern edge of rural Rostland. There, the PCs help defend the post from bandits before setting out to survey the wilderness.The rate at which the PCs explore the Greenbelt, and the paths they take, are up to them—many wonders and dangers await discovery, and as their explorations take them deeper into the Narlmarches and the Kamelands, the PCs begin to learn that the bandits in the region are far more organized than anyone thought—and find that they even have a leader, a mysterious figure called the “Stag Lord.” If allowed to continue building his army of bandits, the Stag Lord could well become a great danger to Rostland—that, and the reward on his head for his capture or death, should be all the new adventurers need to spur them onward.
The Granddaddy of All Dungeons Returns! Rappan Athuk, the legendary mega-dungeon by Frog God Games and Necromancer Games is nothing more and nothing less than a good, old–fashioned, First Edition dungeon crawl updated for the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game. Very difficult, Rappan Athuk will truly strike fear into the hearts of the most stalwart adventurers. It offers legions of inventive traps, tricks, strange features, and monsters—many of them never before seen. It affords numerous opportunities for roleplaying, but anyone willing to brave these subterranean halls better arrive ready to rumble, or their lives will be short indeed. Many, many players have lost favored PCs delving into the depths of this dungeon, all the while giggling like children and having the time of their lives. Hundreds, if not thousands of players have combed the halls of Rappan Athuk over the years, seeking treasure and fame, making it one of the best-known dungeon locations the game has ever produced. Even players who have never entered its halls know the term: “Don’t go down the Well!” Also available for S&W and broken into multiple adventures. Also see https://paizo.com/store/byCompany/f/frogGodGames/pathfinderRPG/rappanAthuk for expansions for this product.
Tall tales of hidden riches are common in the pirate-infested taverns of the Shackles, but when Captain Varossa Lanteri claims to know the location of the secret treasure hoard of legendary Captain Jemma Redclaw, it seems she may be telling the truth. Captain Lanteri hires the PCs on as crew to help her assemble the magic key that will open the door to Redclaw’s treasure... and the ancient cyclops stronghold in which it’s hidden! Can the PCs survive long enough to claim their share of the lost loot, or will their enemies—or their allies—send them to a watery grave?
After losing chieftain after chieftain, the Birdcruncher goblin tribe finally found competent leadership in its four goblin "heroes". But it turns out leading a tribe of goblins isn't much fun, and the newest Birdcruncher chieftains are bored. In order to cure their doldrums, the chieftains have issued a new demand—find them some adventure, or else! Eager to please their great chieftains, the Birdcruncher goblins frantically try to whip up all sorts of amusements, including goblin games, feats of skill, and a grand feast. But trouble arises in the midst of the goblins' feast for their mighty leaders—the goblins who went to harvest truffles for the feast got beat up by some stinky humans! Part 3 of the We Be Goblins series.
The Giantslayer Adventure Path begins! In the human town of Trunau, a beleaguered settlement surrounded by the brutal orcs of the Hold of Belkzen, the heroes must investigate a mysterious death. Before they uncover the truth, however, Trunau comes under attack by an orc army, and the heroes must help defend it—only to discover that the situation is worse than anyone realizes. For even the fearsome orc raid is just a distraction allowing a giant chieftain to recover the relics of an ancient giant hero from a tomb long forgotten beneath the town.
A silent threat grows in Freeports streets. One of the pirate city's own leaders brings Freeport ever closet to war, lining his pockets eve as he plans for eventual invasion by the foreign power Mazin.
Many years ago a brutal bugbear chieftain united the goblinoid tribes of the Meirlara Forest and nearly wiped out all traces of the elves there within. A stroke of chance fate turned the tide and the dreaded bugbear warlord Spragnokk was defeated. His loyal kin hid his body away in a sealed chamber and then the world forgot about Spragnokk... until now. Now his bloodline continues, and they have plans to resurrect their fallen "great chieftain," to bring ruin and revenge upon the elves that handed them defeat decades past. The goblinoid tribes have once more been gathered, and their bloody revenge is imminent, except fate has yet once more placed new champions to stand in their way. They just don't realize it yet.