Do you dare delve into the depths of an ancient demon's prison? Designed to be a fun 5E challenge-dungeon. Delve into a cave where an ancient evil was once sealed away... but be wary, as over the ages, the seals upon the Demon have begun to weaken... This is the one-shot featured in my larger adventure, Tower of the Chronomancer, but more polished and slightly expanded to allow it to stand on its own. (Originally it was the Tower's "6th floor.") I'm making this Pay What You Want, hoping people will enjoy this content -- and maybe seek the larger adventures I've already written. The Cave. Mostly hidden behind a nondescript hill in a crowded wood, forgotten by almost everyone not of the nearest town, and even they have forgotten why the cave was originally created. What it contains -- what it seals in. Marked only by a broken, rotten sign, now it's viewed as a prank spot. Sometimes it's a hideout for unsuspecting bandits. Generally, it's a place no one goes on purpose due to the lingering "wrongness" that any who enter seem to feel. Any that pass through the perfectly-rectangular entrance will find that it's much more than meets the eye. Especially if they are able to find their way down to the Trials! The Story. Long ago, a shapeshifting demon called "Umbraeus, the Defiler" sought dominion over the world. It clawed its way out of the Hells and took control of the region through a mixture of trickery (empowering people it could use) and destruction (raining fire, destroying crops and rivals, etc.). Umbraeus reigned for many years... until it was betrayed by a rival, which allowed a group of adventurers and mages to defeat and trap it in a magical green gemstone. The gem was then buried deep underground, protected by a set of Trials that allowed only those pure of heart and capable of handling its influence to visit it. But a long time has passed. The seals that held Umbraeus at bay have begun to weaken. And the demon has found a way to crack the gemstone. Its malevolent influence has begun to seep out into the world above. If nothing is done, it may manage to fully escape! Includes: A 5e one-shot adventure for 5th-6th level adventurers (4-6 hours long) Combat, roleplaying, puzzles, discovery, randomness, and loot! A chalenging demon encounter with variable difficulty levels 6 original enemy statblocks, including an evil shadow-boss 2 original magic items. Keywords You Can Expect: High fantasy, cave dungeon, combat, evil demon, shadow dragon, puzzles, discovery, randomness, gelatinous cubes, constructs, moral quandries, and lots of loot.
When one of the Lords of Waterdeep asks you to root out a threat to the city, you respond to the call. Prepare for a foray into Undermountain. Part One of the Vampire Hunt trilogy.
Gazing down from the pinnacle of Hardway Mountain, who would not be drawn by the far-off glint of the Serpent's Eye? The descent will be hard, the mountains know neither mercy nor compassion. Many are the lessons to be learned, but fate has left you little choice - are you equal to the challenge? "Eye of the Serpent" is a one-on-one wilderness adventure module for one player and one Dungeon Master, and has been designed to develop the specialist skills of a 1st-level druid, ranger, or monk character. It can also be used for a normal party of four to six 1st-level player characters. The perils of Hardway Mountain are unchanging, but the routes between them are not. This module includes a unique route planning system with different of routes linking the encounters to challenge the abilities of druids, rangers, or monks. TSR 9125
An ancient power has started to rise and threatens a small town. Venture into dark caves and put an end to the power creating the skeletons within. Intended for 6 characters level 5-10 Approximately 6 hours of play Featuring 7 new monsters A transforming boss encounter Easily set in your own world, Theros, or Ferun Can be run with the basic rules Full of unique art a map handout for your players and maps for your VTT You can lean into horror or you can keep it PG. Suitable for gamers young and old for one long session or three shorter sessions.
After a successful mission for Earl Phenwick you return to receive your accolades. Upon your arrival it is discovered that the earl's child is missing. His daughter was last seen around a mirror of unknown power and an advisor believes that she may have made her way into a different world via the magical portal. Time to put on your hero hats!
This adventure has it all for an upper level group of players. With the rumor of a lost wizards staff on an island, the chase is on to find this powerful piece of magic. Arrival on the island leads off in over three directions and each path has a different set of challenges and rewards. Can your party locate the staff?
Avalanches are hardly news in Icewind Dale. The frequency to which it is occurring, however, defies logic. What is the cause of this strange phenomenon? What horrors could have unleashed such force of nature with such reckless abandon? Horror Beneath the Frost is a slasher horror adventure set in Icewind Dale, deep within the Reghed Glacier. It features yetis, mind flayers and a boneclaw! The adventure is designed to be easily dropped into: • Any homebrew campaign where avalanches occur. • Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden campaign. • Plague of Ancients Seasonal Campaign for the Adventurers League (AL) organized play program. Inside you will find: • A slasher horror adventure optimized for five characters with an average party level (APL) of 8. • Scaling advice for three to seven 5th to 10th level characters. • A printer-friendly version of the adventure. • 4 digital maps importable to Roll20, Foundry VTT and your VTT of choice. Includes gridded, grid-less and printer friendly versions of the maps. • D&D Adventurers League compatible adventure (Dungeon Seed: This Seems Familiar | DC-POA-JL01)
Far below the Fields of Petrichor is a vast cavern containing the skeletal remains of a long-dead Sonorous Titan, a whale-like beast that once floated through the skies of a lost age. Amongst the bones are ravines and grottos home to bizarre creatures and lost treasures that are as beautiful and valuable as they are deadly. Ghostly shapes swim through the air. Glowing mushroom groves hide frightened creatures. And the Titan’s bones sing sadly as an ambitious wizard and his weary hirelings dig for its precious marrow... ADVENTURE TYPE: Small Sandbox Dungeon DESIGN NOTES: This adventure is intended for characters levels 5 to 8. It includes several wilderness areas, a ruined village and a mining camp to explore. Each area contains various encounters and unique magical items.There are many opportunities for combat, but it is possible for players to explore most areas and complete many interactions without any combat at all, depending on their choices. INCLUDES: Story hooks, dialogue prompts, creature stat blocks, original creatures and treasures, and dungeon overview map. KEYWORDS: Grave, skeleton, ghost, undead, wizard, miner, puzzle, mushroom, myconid, hag, witch, social, curse, mutation, mutant, soul, insect, termite, scorpion, bat, monk, beetle, chicken
"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."
The kuo-toa are a piscine race with a psychic affliction that makes them behave erratically and invent gods when feeling threatened. That same affliction gives them the power to bring those gods to life. Blibdoolpoolp is the most widely worshipped, and thus most powerful, of their gods. Blibdoolpoolp views the kuo-toa as her children despite having been born after them. Like all good mothers, she nurtures and protects. One of her chief concerns is understanding the kuo-toa’s psychic affliction, which causes them to undermine themselves whenever they strive for greatness. She discovers that a corrupted elder brain deep in the Underdark has a connection to the race; though the connection gives them psychic powers, it also turns them into powerless thralls, explaining their self destructive behaviors. Constrained by the same leash on her children, Blibdoolpoolp seeks adventurers to destroy the elder brain. Its death would free the kuo-toa, but potentially at great cost: if the kuo-toa lose their powers, will Blibdoolpoolp die?
With rumors of disappearances running rampant in the area, your group comes into the small community of Morla Dale with more questions than answers. Several wanted posters during your journey have shown a criminal called Sukits the Butcher. Perhaps this strange individual is behind the abductions?
Into Wonderland is a book detailing an adventure in the Feywild, a setting for Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition. This book provides player options, encounters, variant rules, and a campaign of expeditions into the unknown centred around the city of Endercoast that has been spirited away from the Material Plane. To survive, you'll need to balance the needs of the displaced city with the mercurial whims of four powerful archfey. What's Included? - Endercoast, a city plucked from its roots and replanted in the Feywild - Quirks of the Feywild, including four powerful archfey, a guide for creating new archfey, rules for travel using emotional truth instead of maps, chaotic seasonal and magical effects, pranks, consequences for getting lost, and 14 weird stops along the way - New races - New subclasses - New backgrounds - New feats - New spells - Fantastical questlines taking a party through the courts of the archfey and on magical journeys inspired by the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm - A whole heap of chaotic encounters with strange fey creatures - Dozens of new monsters, including 8 ancient beasts, 3 dangerous plants, 4 extremely powerful archfey, a bunch of NPCs based on the new subclasses of the book, creepy new fey like the darkwood stalker and the time vulture, a powerful hag, and more
"More than five hundred years ago, clans of dwarves and gnomes made an agreement known as the Phandelver’s Pact, by which they would share a rich mine in a wondrous cavern known as Wave Echo Cave. In addition to its mineral wealth, the mine contained great magical power. Human spellcasters allied themselves with the dwarves and gnomes to channel and bind that energy into a great forge (called the Forge of Spells), where magic items could be crafted. Times were good, and the nearby human town of Phandalin (pronounced fan-duh-lin) prospered as well. But then disaster struck when orcs swept through the North and laid waste to all in their path. A powerful force of orcs reinforced by evil mercenary wizards attacked wave echo cave to seize its riches and magic treasures. Human wizards fought alongside their dwarf and gnome allies to defend the Forge of Spells, and the ensuing spell battle destroyed much of the cavern. Few survived the cave-ins and tremors, and the location of Wave Echo Cave was lost. For centuries, rumours of buried riches have attracted treasure seekers and opportunists to the area around Phandalin, but no one has ever succeeded in locating the lost mine. In recent years, people have resettled the area. Phandalin is now a rough-and-tumble frontier town. More important, the Rockseeker brothers - a trio of dwarves - have discovered the entrance to Wave Echo Cave, and they intend to reopen the mines. Unfortunately for the Rockseekers, they are not the only ones interested in Wave Echo Cave. A mysterious villain known as the Black Spider controls a network of bandit gangs and goblin tribes in the area, and his agents have followed the Rockseekers to their prize. Now the Black Spider wants Wave Echo Cave for himself, and he is taking steps to make sure no one else knows where it is." Extra Info from AL.com users: by @marcellarius. "There are a variety of locations in this adventure: the town of Phandalin, a gang hideout, a ruined keep in the forest, a destroyed village, and Wave Echo Cave (a dungeon crawl). The adventure is written in a sandbox style and relies on the players to choose their path. Phandalin offers several side-quests which could serve as hooks for continuing adventures. The premade characters have ties in their backgrounds to NPCs and locations. If you're not using these you'll need to consider other ways to introduce key NPCs."
Nothing's more dangerous than a vengeful dwarf except, perhaps, a greedy one. En route somewhere in a barren wilderness, the PCs find a couple of dwarves--one is burying his brother who was killed by a stone giant; but not all is as it seems. "The module can be placed in any temperate wilderness setting. Players who excel at role playing may find the adventure more rewarding than hack-and-slash types. At least one character should possess a silver or magical weapon." Pgs. 16-17
From the magazine: "'That's right," said the druid. "You must steal the giant's cauldron - without harming him in the slightest.'" The adventurers are sent on a mission to reclaim the legendary Cauldron of Plenty for a celtic inspired kingdom. This magic item is kept by an intelligent Verbeeg called the Bolg Mor. A secondary goal is to discover the command words for the cauldron in the cave system. There is a curse on the cauldron, stating that violence breeds violence; he who slays the owner of the cauldron and steals the device will also fall prey to acts of violence. Players are encouraged to attempt to roleplay and negotiate with the villain to gain the cauldron.
Heat beats down from the blazing summer sun and the adventurers are hot on the trail of a fugitive, ordered by the bengoshi Akia the Iron Shell to hunt down the charismatic cult leader Shinjirarenai. Soon after routing the foul oni-touched mage however the mystery deepens, forcing the PCs to chase across southern Soburin after a curious stolen shipment until the true powers at work are revealed and the party realizes they are but pawns in an ancient conflict, pieces on a gameboard between two Imperial Siblings! Mists of Akuma is an eastern fantasy noir steampunk campaign setting for 5th Edition where the last continent of the world has embraced a fear for technology, what might be the only means to save them from the primordial fog spreading across Soburin and corrupting its peoples, transforming them into fearsome adeddo-oni—should the adventurers achieve victory at all in this merciless and unforgiving land, it is sure to pyrrhic. WHAT'S INSIDE THIS ADVENTURE MODULE: A mystery adventure that takes the party across three prefectures of Soburin (Korusu, Yokuba, and Ikari, all detailed within) and into the river city of Nesuto before meeting two of the most powerful creatures to ever tread upon the world! The continental map of Soburin by Michael McCarthy as well as 11 play maps for Nesuto, two teahouses, encounters in the badlands, mountains, or jungles, two shops, a city street, a building being used for a ritual, and an enchanted cavern. The supernatural Mists of Akuma, the misted condition, and two new attributes (Dignity and Haitoku).
Two feuding kobold tribes have been left alone in their dragon queen's lair. Without supervision, surrounded by the wealth of nations and piles of magical artifacts. How long before things devolve into utter chaos? Set inside an enormous dragon's lair, the adventure allows players to take control of the best and brightest among the kobold tribe known as the Redscales. Their entire lives they have been the Dragon Queen's minions and her lair's caretakers. But the Dragon Queen has been gone for some time now and an ancient feud with another kobold tribe (the Bluescales) is about to be a rekindled. And the trap- and treasure-filled lair is to become their battleground. The gameplay is a mix of roleplaying, involving some tough moral choices (well, tough for kobolds), solving puzzles and wacky combat with kobolds wielding powerful ancient artifacts. There is an abundance of magic items, specially chosen for their potential to lead to hilarious situations.
A serpentine lamia lair suitable for four or five 4th-level characters. A matriarch lamia leads a large consortium of merchants from a distance and through intermediaries. However, she has recently descended into the common madness of her kind and set up a 'celebration' at an abandoned mine for her consortium and their guards. Will you survive the party?
"The Aboleth's Grotto" is a nihileth lair suitable for four 10th-level characters. The adventure can be completed in one session. The small town of Springwell harbors a secret that almost nobody knows about, and those who do conveniently ignore: it sights right over an unoccupied settlement of the deep caverns of the underworld.
Forlorn is a dreary yet dangerous place, a land of secrets and whispers. Visitors can expect to find no safe rest, no respite from the terrible creatures that plague this land. The skies are perpetually overcast and the land is damp with rain. By night, sheet lightning illuminates the sky in ghastly colors. Even if the intrepid adventurers who come to explore Forlorn know that the lord of this domain is forever trapped within his strange castle, they should take small comfort from it. Servants of Tristen ApBlanc roam freely, and the land itself is horribly twisted. The encounters in this book are designed to offer an introduction to Forlorn and provide clues about both its lord and his home. Melancholy Meetings is intended to be used before the castle adventure book, Eve of Sorrows, but it's not necessary for the PCs to experience all of the encounters in this book before embarking upon the next. Included in Castles Forlorn - https://www.adventurelookup.com/adventures/castles-forlorn TSR 1088, from 1993