Ancient port city on the edge of a desert. The city is stratified by social class and some of the slaves have formed a cannibal cult to Kthulhu. City + hexcrawl + dungeon. The Anthropophagi of Xambaala™ 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 inspired by Robert E. Howard’s “The Man-Eaters of Zamboula” and by various short tales of H.P. Lovecraft and Clark Ashton Smith. It is designed for use with 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. 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™. This work is both a setting and an adventure. The setting describes the town of Xambaala, noting key people, locations, and local lore. The adventure proper provides players with a variety of environments and the several factions fighting over them for their own goals. With a bit of skill and luck, stalwart adventurers may emerge richer and maybe wiser. The situation that will develop in Xambaala will be determined by the players’ choices.
Who Do You Trust? In the cool streets and blazing bazaars, the word is out: a great treasure has gone missing in the Everlasting City of the Cat, and some very ambitious people have set their sights on it. Many paws and claws are out, and everyone is sniffing around for something rich and strange. It’s an odd time for a catfolk thief and a gnoll merchant to make very tempting offers to strangers in town. Or, perhaps it’s not odd at all. Get caught up in the hunt with Cat and Mouse by Richard Pett and Greg Marks! A perfect introduction to the Southlands campaign setting, and it fits neatly into any desert city where cats are sacred and rats are cautious and sly.
The Purple Planet: Where tribes of man-beasts wage an endless war beneath a dying sun. Where mighty death orms rule the wastes, befouled winds whistle through ancient crypts, and forests of fungi flourish in the weirdling light. Where ancient technologies offer life ... or a quick death. Bereft of patron, friend or god, your survival depends on quick wits and a strong blade. Will you and your companions stand as conquerers atop this alien land? Or will you fall beneath the blast of an ink-black death rays, just another corpse left to litter the wastes of the Purple Planet?
In the Anauroch desert, darkness is growing. The followers of the Vile Spore Goddess Zuggtmoy have stolen the dreams of the Bedine Seeress Deja, trapping them in an eldritch artifact. Unless her dreams are returned, the Seeress will descend into madness, and her people along with her.
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 Doom Desert in the Decanter of Delirium is an exotic OSR romp through a mysterious world of riddles, puzzles, inscrutable denizens. 5e compatible, this love letter to psychedelia is as vivid and beautiful as exciting and surreal. Get wrapped up in conversation with the dead drunks at the last saloon on earth, solve the sphinx riddle and discover the secrets of the Ziggurat, or break bread and wine with whispering harpies or the sun itself. This compelling narrative is written by Austin Holm and captures the exploration, social, and challenge pillars of a great game with the deft prose of a poet. With art by Maya Bee that captures the essence of the adventures many stunning scenes and characters. Your players will thank you for this one.
The Adurite Empire once ruled a major portion of Filbar but when the culture lost the favor of the gods it spelled doom for the entire civilization. In the wake of the carnage that followed the major cities fell to fires, plagues, and other disasters both natural and magical. In the centuries that have passed the cities are now in ruins but rumored to still hold magic and wealth. The most famous of these cities was the port city of Leptis Magna. The city was once the crossroads of the empire and was known for trading, agriculture, and magic. What treasures remain in the ruins so fierce that even pirates avoid the area? This was also the adventure played at Gen Con 2014! "I step over his body and go inside..."
Within the jungles of Chult is a vast expanse of ash. While a red dragon is known to reside deep within the Land of Ash and Smoke, it is far from the deadliest of its denizens. Deeper still is a pit filled to the brim with pure evil. None who have sought out its secrets have survived to tell its tale. Will you be more successful than they?
A scenario for a single player taking the role of Moonstone, a 3rd-level elf caught up in an Arabian Nights adventure - no Dungeon Master required! It's also possible to use one of your own D&D characters, or even an AD&D fighter/magic-user.
A cloud of dust forms over the horizon as a titanic army of evil threatens the entire civilized world! The Master of the Desert Nomads and his legions are back, and they form the greatest threat that you have ever faced. You must persuade powerful rulers to join you cause, stave off threats to the alliance, and lead your armies to victory! This adventure contains a full-color map of the D&D Expert Set game world, 200 counters, and a special expansion of the War Machine mass combat rules that allows you to fight the entire war as a strategic wargame! Major battles and engagements can be fought using the BATTLESYSTEM Fantasy Combat Supplement for incredible tabletop action. Never-before-published information on all the nations of the Expert Set game world provides background and detail that will enrich your campaign. This adventure includes large-scale battles and uses an expansion of Douglas Niles and Gary Spiegel's warfare system, "The War Machine", developed as part of the D&D Companion Set (BECMI Ed.) from 1984. "Red Arrow, Black Shield" is more than just a follow-up to X4/X5; it's a lynchpin for the entire B/X/CM adventure sequence. The players travel through many lands that were home to past adventures, and their past interactions with those places could affect diplomacy in this new adventure. TSR 9160
Sacred relics of the monastery, the eyes of the dragon, have been stolen from their rightful place in the eyes of the Ascendant Dragon statue. The elders have chosen one from among their ranks to go and retrieve these two fist-sized emeralds and bring them home.
His name is Conan, and no man can stand before him in battle." "Conan the Conqueror" by Robert E. Howard In an age long ago, there existed a hero - Conan. With fiery will, he slashed his name across the ancient lands of Hyboria. It was a time when bravery, trickery, and magic decided men's fates, and a steel sword could make the difference between life and death. For the daring, strong, and clever, there were fortunes to find and lands to rule. Travel back to this with Conan and his companions, Juma, Valeria, and Nestor. Travel back to defeat the dark horrors of his land! TSR 9123
You have been sent to watch over the destruction of an ancient artifact by your liege, but arrive to find the temple sacked and the item missing. You and the other abassadors must take the famed Pick of Zander across the Kamula Wastelands. There you must track down the agents of evil and, if possible, destroy the artifact...time to earn your hero status!
"You opened the chest? You shouldn't have opened the chest! You are magically transported to a ruined temple surrounded by vast desert. A dragon, driven mad by the slaying of her mate and brood, lies between you and a wish-granting treasure that could mean your salvation, or spell your doom…"
To Hell and Back Again is the perfect adventure for new players and veterans looking to experience Dungeons & Dragons in a new way! It's written as a solo adventure, where choices have gigantic consequences, but it also provides balanced rules to play with a group or a Dungeon Master as well! This 80 page adventure features: - A heart-pounding origins story that fits perfectly as either a prequel to Descent Into Avernus, a stand-alone adventure, or into your ongoing fantasy campaign. - Beloved characters like Lulu the hollyphant, Mad Maggie and her redcap gang, the archdevil Zariel, and many others brand new to this adventure. - Infernal War Machines, and exciting encounters with unique stat blocks. - Innovative Destiny and Traits mechanics that make your choices really matter. - A ton of possible outcomes that will fuel your character's many adventures to come! - Four gorgeous sample characters, with interactive character sheets designed to be new-player friendly so that you can jump right into the story if you'd like. - A community survey when you finish so that you can see how your outcomes and choices compared to other players!
"Ambush at Boxcar Rocks" is a two hour adventure for character level 1-3 (3-6 players) but is easily adapted to challenge higher level PCs by adjusting the spawn rate and the spawn limit. It features one hand-drawn, color map. It can be run as a brutal oneshot gauntlet or a quick side quest to pad the players purses. Deep within the labyrinth of massive, glacier deposited rocks there is a natural cave once used for interring the dead. Now the bones of the pit within stir because of a foolish neophyte. A listless, blood thirsty horde tramples toward daylight and nothing will remain in their wake...
The Claret Wellspring is an adventure for four 4th-5th level PCs. "The first spell cast has not yet finished its work." Strange lights in the desert lead the PCs to a long-forgotten oasis. Travelling towards the lights, the PCs are threatened by magic so old, it defies categorization. Arriving at the withered shore of a blood-colored pool, the PCs discover an ancient dial and three tooth-like columns rising from the ground. Turning the dial results in the water being magically siphoned into the column's hollow cavities. If the pool is emptied, a small door is revealed in the crimson-stained much. They must defeat a blood-infused water elemental before proceeding. Once inside, the PCs share a room with a dark ritual running since the origin of the world. The keeper of the place, an immortal fey inside a powerful suit of armor, offers little explanation as to the nature of the ritual, and he seeks to ensure they tell no one of the Claret Wellspring.
For centuries, Ma’at’s temple sat peacefully in silent beauty; a great symbol of justice and harmony. The gems of its glistening ceiling glitter and fade with each rising sun as Ra lights the daytime sky. Isfet, the god of chaos, Ma’at’s greatest enemy, has grown restless. Some have rumored that he tore out Ma’at’s heart out of jealousy of her power. The bravest of adventurers must face the challenges of Duat and keep up with the determined Ma’at.
Introductory adventure for Dark Sun, included in the original box set. PCs start on a slave caravan but are freed when it is attacked. With limited equipment and water, they must cross the desert to an oasis then save a druid. As with many Dark Sun adventures, uses a flip book providing 24 maps and illustrations for players. Combines combat encounters with survival encounters, where the treasure may just be food or enough water for another day.
The infamous Scorpion Prince ruled his domain centuries ago, but the lands are still desolate, a testament to his poisonous influence. His terrified subjects rejoiced in his death but also feared he would return if not interred properly. To ensure the prince's happiness in the afterlife and his tomb's security, his people erected a great monument and created trap-filled chambers to house and protect his body and his wealth.