An oasis exploration and lava-filled obsidian dungeon crawl for 4-5 players of 5th to 6th level. Battle elemental evils, save captured sandworms, claim unique elemental magic items. A malevolent and ancient elemental lies imprisoned within a lava-filled obsidian cavern. Explore the hidden passages before his shackles break and havoc is unleashed upon the nearby oasis! 10 pages of oasis exploration and lava-filled dungeon peril! Statblocks for the life-cycle of desert sandworms, plus three unique elemental magic items like "Summer's Bane" - an armlet of compacted ice that grants the wielder a magical bow, and the "Embershard" - a dagger made from the jawbone of a red dragon that imbues the wielder with elemental magics. Run the adventure your way - drop the PCs off at the dungeon entrance and explore the perlious cavern, or let them cavort in the oasis before uncovering the lingering threat. We hope you enjoy the desert oasis and obsidian-carved dungeon crawl from the Heart of Arcana.
Following the opening of its necropolis, the city of Wati is overrun by hordes of the unquiet dead. The heroes must once more brave the abandoned streets and dusty tombs of Wati’s necropolis in search of the powerful artifact called the Mask of the Forgotten Pharaoh, as well as the necromancer who is using it to create the undead uprising. But mysterious masked cultists also seek the artifact so they can bring a pharaoh from the ancient past back to life. Can the heroes defeat the evil necromancer and return the deceased to their graves, or will Wati truly become a city of the dead?
The adventure that is, quite frankly, too strong for the mere hobbyist gamer! A desert caravan ambushed! An incognito Queen elfnapped and taken to some sandy hideaway! A hero of epic proportions! Within these covers is the greatest adventure ever told. Will the dangerous renegade B'thuvian Demon Whore Alayshia have her way with our hero or will he have her to his way? Which way will the having be? Only you, playing the role of Krunk barbarian of the frozen wastes, will ever know...
"Tyr is free! Tyr is free!" Such is the heady cry that echoes from the darkest warrens to the gleaming chambers of the Council in that ancient city. Now is your chance to savor life released from the oppressive gloom of the sorcerer-kings-but for how long? New forces threaten the newly-born independence of Tyr, as outside forces march upon the city. King Tithian is determined to resist, but there are others on the Council of Advisors less eager to risk their wealth and lives for the cause of independence. It falls upon you to help mobilize and lead the citizen-army of Tyr on the road to Urik. In Road to Urik, the city-State of Tyr has thrown off the yoke of the sorcerer-king Kalak and declared all slaves free, but the neighboring city-state of Urik is amassing its own armies to conquer Tyr. In the first part of the adventure, the PCs must negotiate with various factions of the city in order to win their support for the war effort. In the second part the PCs leading a scouting force ahead of the main army, and the choices and successes in the first part will affect the troops they lead here. Finally, they will need to fight and lure away the Urik army's own scouting force, letting the army of Tyr ambush them. The second and third part make heavy use of the Battlesystem rules, which were pushed pretty heavily in the early Dark Sun books. Like many Dark Sun adventures, the module makes heavy use of handouts that come in a flip-book along with the main adventure. This adventure is a sequel to Freedom. It stands on its own, but the plot of the adventure is based on the events of Freedom and the novel the Verdant Passage, so you can't really run them in reverse order. Much like Freedom took place concurrently with The Verdant Passage, Road to Urik takes place just before the events of The Crimson Legion, the second novel in the Prism Pentad. TSR 2406
Once, the Tribe of Altair roamed the sands, free as the great eagle on the wind. Now, caged by an evil mage, these desert riders yearn for their lost freedom. But fate takes a hand as a noble djinn seeks to fulfill an ancient wish... In this unusual three-part scenario, players first take the roles of the men of the tribe, who stage a revolt after being enslaved in the Pit of the Laughing Efreeti and then try to battle their way to freedom. In the second part, the PCs are the women of the tribe, who must escape the evil flame mage's harem and use all their wits to win free of a strange city. Finally, the children of the tribe have to slip away from an evil temple before they can be sacrificed, which calls for them to embark on a magic carpet ride that promises to be the adventure of their lifetimes. TSR 9584
A Scavenger Hunt? The adventure begins in the city-state of Zoa as the wizard Geolain tasks the player characters with a quest to gather three ingredients they will use to forge a magic coin to defeat an evil wizard. Which will be more dangerous to collect, the mysterious diamond touched by death, the blood of a devil spilled by a coward or a blue dragon's breath? As the player characters race around Reanaaria Bay ti find the rare items, their nemesis Daresh the wizard begins to grow in strength and wrest power from the Skryvalkkers of the Lands of Skaarna. Will the player characters find the ingredients and enchant the coin in time? They just might be Skaarna's only hope. Published by Kenzer & Company
“The Lost Mines of Karak” is the sequel to “The Shadow Rift of Umbraforge” and the fourth part of the Scales of War adventure path. After the player characters' success in "Siege of Bordrin's Watch" and "The Shadow Rift of Umbraforge", they have garnered something of a reputation in the city of Overlook. They are introduced to a wealthy patron that believes there is a connection between a shadar-kai arms dealer (from the previous two adventures) and a long lost dwarven mine. The patron wishes the PCs to find and secure the mine in order to use its wealth and resources to defend the city. The party then must travel through a wasteland and desert to find this mine. Once they have, they must fight through the hordes of monstrous creatures that inhabit it and defeat the Queen of the Drylands - a powerful naga. Pgs. 56-93
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.
You will take up the mantle of heroism in a grim world where simple survival cannot be taken for granted. These heroes will shape the world of Athas while they grow in power and prestige - or die trying. Your character has been asked to aid a secretive faction of the Veiled Alliance in the Free City of Tyr against an unknown assailant. Ashes of Athas is a 4e D&D campaign set in the world of the Dark Sun campaign setting.
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?
The Lost City is a low-level adventure, in which the only hope of the PCs' survival can be found in a ruined city slowly rising out of the sands. The adventure is set inside a huge step pyramid, with the lower pyramid only sketched out and the city itself described with a list of the major areas and a map. The adventure’s main villain is Zargon, a giant one-eyed monster and his minions. The entire double pyramid, not including the city, contains over 100 rooms. The module is designed to give novice Dungeon Masters experience fleshing out adventures and is only partially complete. Later TSR material hints that this adventure possibly takes place in Mystara, but the material is largely setting-neutral. TSR #9049
Among the snow globes that sit gathering dust there is one quite unlike the others. One is full of sand and an ancient library. Shake it and you’re transported to the dungeon. Here's what it has: Beautiful cartography from Dyson Logos 27 keyed rooms to keep your players busy for a few sessions A new enemy called the Mummies who do no damage but burst into sand that gets into armor and skin, spreading a deadly disease A sand golem Pharaoh who can multiply A twisted lich (or moderately low level) who collects teeth A sphinx searching for the answer to a riddle A few traps (including snakes and skin-burrowing scarabs) A treasure room that has roughly 10,000gp worth of assorted treasures, making it difficult to export It exists inside a magical snow globe, meaning it can fit into your campaign world with ease Has repercussions and ways to continue after the fact Basically this is a dungeon for a more Old School feel.
Stirrings of an ageless war between Law and Chaos are drawing you into an epic adventure! A Struggle More Savage than Good vs. Evil Imagine a time before the words Good and Evil had meaning, a day when the world was young. Discover an ancient conflict that predates the stars. It was in these days that Law and Chaos forged worlds out of nothingness; their war began while the cosmos was yet unfinished. The Rod of Seven Parts defines epic role-playing. The reappearance of the Rod has awakened the powers of Chaos, and their queen seeks to turn the whole world into a battleground. Bold heroes must undertake the enormous task of seeking out and assembling the pieces of the Rod, but even its power cannot stand alone. Ages ago, primal forces of Law stood fast against Chaos; now their champions must once more confront the Queen of Chaos and her foul spyder-fiends, lest the flame of civilization be extinguished. Follow the quest for the capricious Rod as it leads characters on a journey of high fantasy. The Rod of Seven Parts is designed for four to six heroes and heroines of levels 10 to 12. This boxed set includes: Initiation to Power, a 96-page book of grand adventure playable in any AD&D world, including original campaigns; The War Against Chaos, a 64-page book of world-crossing adventures pitting PCs toe to toe against the minions of Chaos; Might and Menace, a 32-page book detailing the mysterious powers of the Rod of Seven Parts: how it affects both its enemies and its friends; Monsters, a 16-page book of new villains, new monsters, and even a new race! 6 two-sided reference cards; 6 full-color poster maps portraying the key locations heroes can visit. Read about this ancient artifact in the epic novel The Rod of Seven Parts by best-selling author Douglas Niles! TSR 1145
Temple of the Gleaming Sands is a short adventure for four 5th-level characters that features monsters, spells, and items from the newly released Sandstorm book. You can use this scenario to introduce the new material on deserts and arid wastelands into your campaign, or you can just use it as a site-based adventure in a desert area. The scenario is set in a remote area of the desert that very few humanoid travelers visit. The temple from which the adventure takes its name has lain forgotten for centuries and is now inhabited only by monsters who use it as a base. The area around the temple should be inhospitable enough to discourage humanoid settlement.
Wanderers emerge out of the desert in the dead of night, bending low against the driving sandstorm. They are adventurers, heroes whose tale has yet to begin. And they are in trouble. For he last three days, a raging sandstorm has harried you. Your faces and hands are rubbed raw by the driving sand. Worse, not once has the sun risen in that time: 3 days worth of unbroken night. Finally, something rises out of the yellow-black haze. A massive structure, outlined in moonlight. The heroes are TRAPPED in a cursed land, harried by sandstorms. They stumble apon a ruined city and a DARK TOMB that lies beneath. Can they find a way to escape this land? Or are they doomed to be drowned in the SORROW OF THE SAND LORD?
"And they bade their slaves, 'Build unto us tombs to rival the palaces of the gods, for there shall we live or lives and sleep our deaths in splendor.' And the people of Maru-Qet wore their fingers down, broke their backs, burst their hearts to obey. Indeed they raised up great tombs to rival the palaces of the gods. And their masters were well pleased, for it was as gods they saw themselves." The brown dragon Urum-Shar lurks in a strange tomb, plotting schemes only a wyrm of incredible power could understand. Expanding on content from Draconomicon: Chromatic Dragons, this adventure takes the heroes into Urum-Shar’s dark and trap-filled lair, where they will eventually face the powerful dragon herself. The dungeon heavily employs the use of traps, with fewer monsters. The upper tomb consists of a great puzzle of twelve rooms, and the lower tomb contains the dreaded Urum-Shar, an ancient brown dragon and heir to the lost draconic empire of Maru-Qet. The dungeon has special protections against scrying and other divinations, as well as teleportation. Pgs. 55-90
Death slithers across the Dunes. Nightmares of desert horrors trouble the dreams of the innocent while raiders grow ever bolder beyond the walls of the great city-state of Tyr. Bandits and merchants chase rumors of a temple hidden in the desert, an ancient shrine to the primordial Ul-Artha said to safeguard a fragment of the artifact known as the Crown of Dust. Can the heroes recover a caravan lost in the wastes, repel the threat of vicious raiders, and win the relic form the perilous temple? Now that Tyr is free of Kalak the Sorcerer-King, opportunity abounds in the city and the surrounding wastes. But some see Kalak's fall as the beginning of Tyr's end, and the unpatrolled deserts nearby are rife with danger. Outlaws openly defy the city's Revolutionary Council and threaten outlying holdings. If Tyr is to thrive, heroes must arise to tame the lawlessness and evil that threatens the free city.
Caravans are having a difficult time getting through to Parnast via the Black Road. Organized attacks by orcs and other monstrous humanoids working in concert with one another have folks baffled. Little do they know that an unusually intelligent hill giant, going by the name of Bad Fruul is to blame. SEER has sent her emissary Hsing, to task your group to accompany a caravan with a very special cargo destined for the Shrine of Axes in Parnast, and to figure out who is responsible. A Two Hour Adventure for 1st-4th Level Characters
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.
In the beginning, a pair of sphinxes — one male and one female — guarded a desert temple in relative peace. They watched over a vault that held a magical ring that could change the world. The androsphinx — Bazymoros — succumbed to corruption; he denounced the trickster god who created him. Bazymoros forged a pact with the demon god, Baphomet, becoming violent and sought to claim the item in the name of his patron. In an effort to save the world, the gynosphinx Asmuzi defeated him. She locked Bazymoros away, never again to see the light of day. The androsphinx remained as an example of what not to become. It has been so long since this battle that much of the knowledge of Bazymoros has disappeared from the collective memory of the races that inhabit the world. All that remains is the knowledge of the dangerous gynosphinx made from the flesh of human and creature. . . and the treasure she keeps.