The first savage tide has already touched the mortal world, yet none who live today recall this time of red ruin. Unleashed from the cruel heart of a fell seed known as a shadow pearl, this savage tide swept over an ancient city perched atop the crown of a remote island. The tide transformed beggar and noble, merchant and thief, resident and visitor into feral, ravenous fiends. The fruits of centuries of labor came crumbling down in a matter of days, and when the survivors tried to stem the tide by destroying the pearl, the resulting blast of power sunk their city into the boiling lake of death. Through it all, the Abyssal architect of the savage tide watched, taking pride in the ruin. When the tide's final ripples had faded, what was left became known as the Isle of Dread. Now, after a thousand years, the true masters of the Isle of Dread look upon new targets, new cities beyond the horizon, compelled by the hateful will of their demonic lord Demogorgon to prepare for the coming glory. This time, the doom will not be limited to one hapless city. This time, all of civilization waits unknowing on the shore, blissfully ignorant of what the incoming tide brings in. "There Is No Honor" is the first chapter of the Savage Tide Adventure Path, a complete campaign consisting of 12 adventures that will appear in the next twelve issues of Dungeon. For additional aid in running this campaign, check out Dragon's monthly "Savage Tidings" articles, a series that helps players and DMs prepare for and expand upon the campaign. Issue #348 of Dragon kicks off this series with details on six affiliations based in Sasserine that your players may wish to join. And if you're running Savage Tides in the Forgotten Realms or Eberron, make sure to check paizo.com for the latest conversion notes for each adventure. The Savage Tide Adventure Path debuts as a new band of heroes confronts exotic monsters, undead pirates, and a sinister guild of thieves on the cusp of unleashing a murderous coup. Pgs. 14-46
The town of Medeira was once a thriving and bountiful place. Over the last six months, what once appeared to be alive, is now slowly withering away into nothing. Crops are failing. Disease plagues the townsfolk. Nearby water sources are drying up. And everything traces back to the goddess that the town worships, a creature that most adventurers will recognize as… Medusa. Only she can return the town to its former glory. Or perhaps she’s destined to bring ruin. If only someone could get to her and find out.
This introductory level scenario brings a new group of players into an area formerly controlled by the Tunnmaa Dynasty. This group of rulers was rich in gold and gems before collapsing. It is well known that their kings, known as Ga Mantse, were buried in underground barrows that are well hidden and protected by traps. A few days ago a group much like your own found one of these hidden tombs and attempted to investigate. Sadly for them they were not up to the task. Can your party succeed where they failed?
"Temple of the Deep Ones" is the lair of a group of deep ones and their god, suitable for four or five 7th-level characters. This adventure can be finished in one session. Ship captains report that a mysterious island has surfaced in the middle of a heavily trafficked trade route. Worse, ships that venture too close to the island are assaulted by a terrible creature and its servants. The island is disrupting trade throughout this part of the world, and several ships have already been lost. Unbeknownst to those that know of the place, the island rises at the will of Shar-Ngolyeth, a long-lost deity also known as That Which Lurks Beneath the Waves. The island is populated by a cult of deep ones and the beasts they have subjugated in the name of their dark god. The creature responsible for sinking ships is an aspect of Shar-Ngolyeth, a kraken. It is not meant for combat encounters; it's largely a plot device in this encounter.
The party approaches the Dwarven Kingdom of Narol'Duun, where things are far different than in your typical dwarven empire. The first major difference is that Narol'Duun is split into three distinct categories of dwarven tribes based on the main type of ore that they mine and refine. The dwarves take on characteristics of these ores - the Cobalt Dwarves having a tinge of blue to their hair, the Copper Dwarves having tough skin and beards of shining reddish-brown, and the skin of the Iron Dwarves is a deep grey in color. These dwarves engage in trade and drink, but the one thing that they are sure to never do is breed outside of their respective tribes. To be found in a relationship with a dwarf of another tribe is to be exiled to the surface - a punishment worse than death for most of these dwarves. On this particular adventure, the party finds themselves caught up in a case of forbidden love between a royal member of the Cobalt Dwarf family - Nadom Glintstone - and a simple merchant woman from the Copper Dwarf tribe by the name of Lajeera Copperfist. They have been doing their best to keep their love a secret for they both know the risks, but the Cobalt King, Norgith Glintstone, has suspicions and is deeply afraid of the damage such a scandal could have on his family's reputation. He doesn't want to draw any attention to the situation, so it is difficult to find a dwarf of his own tribe that could look into it further, so when the party comes along he sees it as a perfect opportunity. He will hire the party to look into the situation with Nadom, offering grand rewards in exchange for the truth if they can provide proof. The party will be torn between multiple threads of possibility in this adventure – telling Norgith the truth about his son's affair with Lajeera, helping Lajeera to permanently change her form to that of a Cobalt Dwarf so they can be together, or perhaps even trying to end the tribalistic ways of the dwarven kingdoms all together. This is a heavily role-playing based adventure, perfect for those who would rather talk their way through a difficult situation than cut their way through it, but there is still some combat along the way depending on the party’s choices. This story will decide if love can win out against all odds or if the temptation of coin is greater than the happiness of others.
The Red Bastion - the prison of a dwarf ghost princess... A 15-room dungeon for levels 2-3.
Troubles simply mushroom in the Underdark. The alchemist would like some fungus and spores, but no one wants to get them. Perhaps you could help. The adventure begins with the party finding a caravan. In addition to being able to trade with these NPCs, the party also can be hired by an alchemist to bring bag some red fungus and some Myconid spores from underground. Underground, the party will have a chance to interact with friendly Myconids and venture through a large labyrinth of passages (this labyrinth isn't mapped and is dealt with through storytelling, random encounters, and roleplay). The adventure culminates in a battle between the Myconids and Flinds, and the players can participate. Pgs. 4-12
Beasts in the Blizzard After offending that wizard last night, you awake feeling a strange chill in your bones. Perhaps it’s just a figment of your imagination, a physical manifestation of paranoia. As you rise from your bed and look out the window, you think perhaps not.
Inspired by the "Happy Fun Ball" from the web series Critical Role, The Cube of Vanya is a magical adventure through demi-planes created by an ancient wizard, now destabilized by a malevolent dragon. The adventurers find themselves trapped within a series of themed planes with no idea how they got there. Navigating these planes to find a means of escape, they uncover the secrets of the cube while piecing back together their own memory. During the campaign the adventurers may fight shadow demons in an inn which is really a prison, flee a tornado while perched perilously in the sky, forge a weapon within a volcano, and much more. The module is structured in a non linear manner allowing the adventurers to choose their own way, or for the DM to pick and choose their favourite bits to highlight. The adventure was written with four level 5 players in mind but it would be easy to tweak for different sized groups around that level.
FC9 - Diamond in the Rough is an adventure that has a group of PCs picking up a job for Dwarves of the Shieldcraft Clans in the West Keldon Mountains. It seems that a group of humanoids has pulled off a daring raid to the formerly secure vault and obtained a rather expensive gem. To recover this item the PCs will first have to reach the Dwarves, cross the valley and search the East Keldon Mountain range for these troublesome thieves. Of course finding the group of problems may prove a bit tougher than expected!
The Terror of Screeching Hill is an adventure designed for a party of four level 1-3 characters. Introduce your friends to Dungeons & Dragons or take a break from your current campaign and save the town of Stonehollow in this early level one-shot! To the villagers of Stonehollow, the flight of bats warns of an impending disaster. Earthquakes, which riddle the small mining town, often follow this omen causing cave-ins and trapping miners underground. Thankfully, the ground hasn't shaken in weeks. However, every night at sunset, a colony of bats fly over the town as a haunting cry echoes over Screeching Hill, a mound on the southern outskirts of the village. Villagers have begun to go missing, including the town's doctors Simon and Kirk Bartok, and some have suffered terrible wounds after being attacked by a relentless creature out of the darkness. With no doctors to treat the wounded and the expectation of more attacks, the villagers of Stonehollow turn to you for help. Will you investigate the terror of Screeching Hill and save the town from its reoccurring nightmare? Included: - A 16 page one-shot designed for level 1-3 characters - Unique maps - Two player handouts - A simplified document compatible with screenreaders
A desperate refugee emerges from the earth's depths in shadow-cloaked Nidal with an urgent pleas. A new faction in the subterranean dark folk city of Lyrudrada -- a wicked cult called the Reborn -- seeks a fabled artifact called the Cradle of Night. Vanished demigods of the Shadow Plane once used this artifact to craft the elusive caligni race, and the Reborn want to use it to shroud the world in darkness once more. Cursed with the stain of shadow, the heroes must battle their way through the tomb of an ancient horselord chieftain before descending to Lyrudrada. Plots and schemes run rampant in this city riven with political upheavals and back-alley bloodshed, and the heroes must collect allies and information to confront the Reborn in their fortified fane. With the mysterious masters of the caligni race arrayed against them, can the heroes hope to shed their shadowy curse and claim the Cradle of Night?
A "Fast Play" introductory adventure to Dungeons & Dragons. Rather than requiring a d20, it is written for 3d6, and is meants specifically to teach new players how to play the game. The story is a simple dungeon crawl: players enter a small cave system to investigate an orc attack. After defeating a few orcs, they find an ogre's den, and must fight the ogre.
The first Filbar 5th Edition adventure is titled Jeopardy Caverns. This adventure can be used in the new D&D edition or the earlier editions as each stat block is presented. This introductory adventure pits a group of new adventurers ready to go out into the frontier to make a name for themselves. For the 5th Edition version this adventure can act as a gateway from new to 3rd or even 4th level for advancement and is set in an area of humanoid caves.
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.
With your past exploits being noticed the acting ruler of Dilad has requested your presence. An envoy of the leader has met with you and asked you to investigate a growing issue. The city of Acre is in a large scale building operation but limestone from the quarry has stopped coming. Delays will be costly and the party has been asked to go to Fecknic and discover what the problem is. You can’t really disappoint the top dog of the nation can you?
While sitting around your favorite tavern, a loud explosion shatters the serene mood of Moscow. You sprint to the source and discover the distillery has exploded. The glum populace grumble loudly. With winter setting in and nothing to do the citizens rely on the libations from this business to cheer them up. You are approached to scour the canyon area before the winter sets in to find a few extra kegs for the people.
This was supposed to be a simple job! In the small town of Haanex on Reanaaria Bay, the wizard Veoden assembles the PCs to do a simple job: find the remnants of a meteor said to be made of the rare substance mithral. First they must find a map that local rumor tells is guarded by the spirits of the dead. Upon recovering the map and locating the crater, they uncover a plot to create a powerful magical item called the Coin of Power. This artifact is a tool for wickedness and the players soon find themselves on a quest to learn the means to destroy this evil item and its insidious master before she destroys them. Complicating matters is the fact that the one man who can help them was lost during an expedition to the Reelio Jungle months ago and is yet to return. Will the PCs be able to survive the rigors of the jungle and solve the riddle of the tribesmen who live there? The lives of innocents might depend on it! This accessory provides characters with an elaborate storyline and a chance for many varied types of adventure. You will take your PCs from the quiet village of Haanex in northern Reanaaria Bay to the Vry Naasu Headlands, the City-State of Zoa and finally the forlorn Reelio Jungle. The Root of All Evil fantasy game supplement is set in the popular Kingdoms of Kalamar Dungeons & Dragons campaign setting but can be adapated for use in any setting! This module can be used by itself, or as Part One of the Coin of Power trilogy (see also Forging Darkness and Coin’s End).
"Sometimes bugs are just bugs, and sometimes they are organized into a hive mind that is just as smart as humans. Ants are just that. In battle, the ants become a horde of raging combatants that form a blur on all sides. While ants are typically peaceful, they respond to a threat against the hive with a scale of violence that’s almost impossible to imagine. Utterly devoted to duty, ants never retreat from a confrontation—even in the face of certain death. Their engagements are brief and brutal. Working in teams, ants grab enemies, holding them in place until one of the warriors rips into the captive’s body, leaving it smashed and oozing." "Of Ants and Men begins as a quest to recover (e.g., steal) eggs from a giant anthill near the town of Endhome." "This adventure is designed for characters of levels 4 to 8." "The adventure can also be played (perhaps more effectively) by smaller groups. In response to many requests from our fans, the main encounters are designed to work well with groups of two to three characters of levels 6 to 8. Even a solo adventurer could do reasonably well, if the individual character had very good climbing, trap finding, and stealth skills. Druids, barbarians, and rogues will fare best in cases where the groups are limited in size." "While there’s plenty of opportunity for combat here, characters who think through a situation before drawing their swords are likely to do best. Hacking one’s way through is likely to result in character deaths."
A shadow hangs over the dark and dreary town of Squill. Townsfolk are being murdered in their beds without any explanation and the local graveyard has become a dangerous, haunted place. Consumed by fear, the men and women of Squill have begun casting evil glances at a young orphan boy. The victims, it seems, all had links to the lonely child, and none of them were good. A local priestess, however, wonders if the heart of the darkness consuming the town lies in a necromancer slain nearby only a few months ago...