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.
The newly ordained Bishop Martin has called upon your group to deliver a message across the sea. While somewhat beneath your status, the new bishop was a former adventurer of some renown. Along the way to the southern reaches the party will find themselves dropped off at the wrong port and unable to speak to the locals…and that’s just the beginning! The party will need to find the pasha, get valuable information from him to assist the new bishop, and finally get back home. This adventure goes with FT – Antioch – Kingdom of Nirack.
To arms! To arms! The battle lines are drawn as desert men and inhuman tribes wait poised to strike on the fertile and rich lands of the east. The call has gone out through the civilized lands. The armies have been raised to match the invading foes from the west. Nobles and peasants have joined swords to greet the foes. But Fate or Chance has decreed another role for a small few. No glorious banners will wave on their march. No squadrons of knights will charge at their word. Instead, they will fight the war with stealth, secrecy, and cunning. The risks they will take are great, but the fates of both armies lie with them. It begins one night for your party far from the fighting. Suddenly you are entrusted with the most dangerous mission of the war. Can you cross the Sind Desert, occupied now by enemy armies, to find the Great Pass? Can you find the one known only as The Master? What will you do if you find him? So begins your adventure in The Master of the Desert Nomads, the first module of a two-part adventure that can be concluded in the exciting Temple of Death or played entirely on its own. Can your party do what must be done? TSR 9068
I am the Set Rahotep No man was more potent when I was amongst those dwelling in the land of Khemit. In death I am greater still! Do you not fear serpents? I am the Aepep Rahotep! Who does not tremble before the monsters of the Duat? I am one! Does your flesh not crawl at the sight of a terrible wyrm? I am the Deathwyrm Rahotep! Does your blood run cold before the face of a fiend? Know then that I am Rahotep the Fiend! Who shuns not demons? Shun me, for I am the demon Rahotep, the Red Devil. And which fool listens? That one is wise! Praise Set and the Set Rahotep, that one, and pity the rest! An Epic Adventure and Sourcebook Gary Gygax's Necropolis is a vast campaign scenario that sweeps the characters into an epic adventure across the magical desert kingdom of Khemit. From a hidden evil in a desert village, to the secrets of ancient tombs, Necropolis takes the characters on a dangerous mission to thwart the plans of an undying archpriest-wizard who would be a god! Necropolis is also a campaign sourcebook, detailing the lands of Khemit, new classes and prestige classes, new spells and more than 60 monsters unique to the desert lands. This book also details over 50 new gods and new cleric domains, allowing DMs to run extended campaigns in the desert kingdom.
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!
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.
Tyr has been freed, and the mighty army of Urik has been turned back. These are new and strange times, indeed. Now Urik has become home - at least for a while - and there are new markets to shop, new streets to explore, and, oh yes, preservers to meet. Preservers, the keepers of good magic, have sent a mysterious summons. They are ready to embark on a new and dangerous plot to thwart sorcerer-kings and bring new life to Athas. To associate with preservers is dangerous to say the least, but when the king's templars uncover the schemes, a death mark falls upon all involved Will a desperate journey across the wastelands, with the templars in hot pursuit, end in victory or chaos? The answers lie in the hearts of mighty heroes and the resources of Arcane Shadows. In this adventure, the PCs find themselves in Urik, perhaps as a result of the war between Tyr and Urik that took place in Road to Urik. There, they become involved in a ritual meant to help a nascent Avangion (a very powerful wizard/psion of a generally benign type) reach the next stage of its development, but the ritual is interrupted by Urik's templars. The Avangion-to-be is left in a cocoon, and the PCs are tasked with bringing it to a new location in the wilderness where the ritual can be completed. They need to get the cocoon to the ritual location before it's too late, while evading pursuit as well as dealing with any wilderness dangers on the way, plus the evil machinations of a raiding tribe seeking the wizard for their own dark purposes. The adventure is fairly rail-roaded with a series of set encounters between points A and B. Like other Dark Sun adventures, it comes with a set of handouts. Unlike the previous adventures in the series, Arcane Shadows is not tied to the Prism Pentad novel series, nor is it really tied to the previous adventures. You can easily play it as a stand-alone without affecting the earlier ones. TSR 2410
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.
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.
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.
In the deep desert lies the dead city of Yumar, the source of countless bizarre rumors. Was it destroyed by a demonic metal sphere? Did it sink into a pit of acid? Were its people transformed into cursed beasts? Is it ruled by vicious thieves or mad nuns? In fact, the only thing stranger than what happened to Yumar a century ago is what will happen a few days from now... ADVENTURE TYPE: Medium Sandbox City / Ruin DESIGN NOTES: This adventure is intended for characters levels 5 to 8. It includes a ruined city, shrine, wizard tower, menagerie, several factions, and the surrounding wilderness. Each area contains various encounters and unique 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, random encounters, factions, illustrations, stat blocks, original creatures and treasures, and overview maps. KEYWORDS: city, ruin, celestial, angel, dwarf, dwarves, miner, thief, thieves, cleric, nun, shrine, adamant, adamantine, lycanthropy, mind control, nightmare, mutation, mutant, wizard tower, menagerie, body horror
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?
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
Buried in the desert sands of Mulhorand, near the city of Mishtan, lies an ancient stone statue of a sphinx queen. After a fierce sandstorm reveals a huge tablet etched with hieroglyphs between the statue’s paws, the PCs must translate the strange writing to find the secret entrance into the Temple of the Sphinx Queen. The conclusion offers three optional endings for DMs to choose from to suit their players, including a wicked trap, a twist that leads to further adventures, or a tough climactic combat suitable for a one-shot. Included are: Five new Egyptian-themed monsters: The Sphinx Queen, Black Lion Guardian, Zombie Scarabs, Snake of Set and Desert Spirit. A new weapon, the khopesh Four new magic items: Statue of Set, Guardian Khopesh of Set, Warded Puzzle Box and Minor Concoction of Healing Two hieroglyphic puzzle player handouts and a DMs translator sheet
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
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.
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.
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.
Something awakens beneath the ruins of ancient Giustenal, the City by the Silt Sea. Many have tried to discover the secrets of this forsaken place, to plunder its legendary treasures. Few have returned from its shadowy embrace. Did they run afoul of savage raiders in the desert wastes? Did they lose their way in a sudden sandstorm only to sink hopelessly into the blowing, shifting silt? Perhaps they heard the psionic voice of the Caller in Darkness and succumbed to its mesmerizing summons? Or did they meet the true master of the ruins, a being as old as the Dragon and just as terrifying?... The burning world has reached a critical stage. For Athas, it could mean the start of a time of renewal, or it could herald the end of the world! It all begins in the ruins of Giustenal, in a place from another age, in the corpse of a shattered, long-dead city. Something stirs in the City by the Silt Sea. Something evil.... TSR 2432
When the Purple Planet began its slow decline, factions arose to vie for the final resources of the dying world. In the days of the Last Wars, the Ascendant Masters used their knowledge of cybernetics and genetic engineering to create increasingly powerful and grotesque biological weapons. One such weapon was Sotark the Destroyer of the long lost House Memniscene. Damaged and placed in a cryogenic regeneration capsule, Sotark has slept away the ages while the House above him eroded away under the weirdling sun. Over time, the capsule has failed, but still Sotark sleeps on, diminished, but not destroyed.