War brews beneath the emperor's notice, nature convulses as unholy demons bring woe to entire prefectures, and hobgoblin mercenaries wearing powerful machine armor march in greater numbers than ever before. Will you rise to save the empire or is Soburin destined for destruction? Soburin is beset upon by dark forces from its ancient past—not only the evil mists that transform men into monsters, but now too the return of a potent necromancer set to bring about a reign of agony, despair, and death! In the looming crisis the immortals that have treated the world as their gaming set are gathering their agents and pawns, deploying unique warriors across the continent with goals as mysterious as they are. It is within this epic game of intrigue that the adventurers become entangled as they undertake quests for the governmental bengoshi in the Sukochi, Yokuba, Ikari, Hakaisuru, Fuson, and Gekido prefectures as well as visit the enigmatic Tsukisasu, city of oni. Demons begat by the entities that consumed nature plague the party during their travels as do a very special gang of smugglers, the gun-toting Mubo Brothers, and the bloody hobgoblin mercenary erikotera warriors suddenly far more populous across the countryside than ever before. By the time all is said and done the PCs take part in a furious mass battle, nail-biting race through an undead dungeon, and finally an epic fight against an ancient evil atop the Hone-Noroi bone tower before it all comes crashing down! This extensive adventure path takes characters from 3rd to 12th level and includes all previous Mists of Akuma modules (Scourge of Róbai Shita Temple, Feud Primordial, Fangs of Revenge, Cursed Soul of the Scorpion Samurai, Yai Sovereign of Storms, and Revenge of the Pale Master) paired together with connecting material that creates one intensive campaign sure to delight GMs and players for months on end! It would be exhausting to list everything that's inside of the 374 pages of Trade War—here are some quick highlights and if you think this book is for you, peruse the table of contents (below) and sample PDFs. Over 50 maps 90 different NPCs and monsters 6 highly-rated adventure modules ranging from straightforward dungeon crawls to sandboxes of intrigue and back (and 2 sidequests by Andrew Engelbrite and Dirk van de Rijt) 8 new class archetypes: survivalist barbarians, smuggler bards, acrobat monks, tumbler rogues, enigmatic eye warlocks, desperado warlocks, and wizards of the inside out 32 new martial arts stance feats including new weapons martial arts stances Hyperlinks throughout to make accessing statblocks from the core rules a breeze Rules for mass combat An epic 9-level bone dungeon inspired by Buddhist hells Mists of Akuma character sheets
A bad heir day. The Land of Fate is known for its hot sands and fiery passions. You must survive both to restore order to the city. An evil order of wizards is terrorizing local towns. It is up to the party to find their secret lair and put an end to their nefarious plots. Pgs. 34-53 & 57
This one-shot takes place in a post-apocalyptic, steam-punk style of world. Steam powered vehicles of bronze, iron, and steel are used by most civilizations and competition over areas containing water is heated and frequent in the middle of this expansive desert. In this adventure, the party finds themselves involved in the plot of a woman named Therra to kill off the oppressive overlord of one of these desert villages. The party must steal a group of these vehicles - choosing to split themselves between the massive fourteen-wheeled Ravager, the flamethrowing Firestarter, the spike-covered Skewer, and the two-wheeled vehicle known as the Sidewinder, as they flee across the wastelands. They will fight off goblin, kobold, and orc vehicles as the overlord gives chase and eventually faces off against them in a final battle of steel and steam. There will likely be a great deal of chaos - people leaping onto vehicles, being rolled under them, or performing risky but entertaining maneuvers . . . make sure to embrace these and turn them amazing scenes. It is more about having a great time than it is about following the rules, especially in this particular one shot.
The Plains of Dorack are generally controlled by the evil mage Faltor the Demented who resides in his magically created fortress. The Onyx Spire rises in the middle of the Great Plains and the land around it has been cleared for miles so that its owner can keep an eye on his domain. He employs a large number of humanoids as well as humans, and rules out of fear and intimidation. While the powerful mage does not need it personally he finds that having so many minions allows him time for personal research. Those who have met the secretive mage know immediately they are in the presence of great evil.
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.
The Hidden Oasis-Temple of Thoth brings the characters to a hidden temple of Thoth, god of knowledge, magic, and travel, where they are confronted with a force of invading extra-dimensional locust creatures and the chance to get their hands on an ancient artifact. What band of heroes could resist the challenge?
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.
Summoned from across the multiverse, a small group of heroes must enter an ancient pyramid and prevent the Elder God Nyarlathotep's return to power. A Lovecraft-themed oneshot.
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
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
A mining operation in the vast desert has failed to check in with the owners of questionable repute. The crime boss “Marmalook” wants to employ the party to go check on the mine and have them explain why there has been no contact. The journey to the mine will not be easy and the party had better pack plenty of water. This item was played at CampCon convention this past year in Pennsylvania last year!
"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
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.
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.
Deep in the forest, an ancient pyramid was constructed many millennia ago for an unknown purpose as part of a forgotten modron war. Within it is a labyrinth of strange traps, taxing puzzles, and some unwelcome troglodytes. This adventure for 1st-3rd level characters can be played as the first part of the Legacy of Zandrax campaign or as a standalone one-shot.
On moonlit nights in the Land of Fate, many adventurers hear the call of long-forgotten cities rich with burial treasure. But is it bravery to breach the tombs of Zakhara's ancients and risk the ire of vengeful spirits, or is it greed? Fate knows the answer and will guide all to their destinies in the Cities of Bone! Shifting sands conceal much from the eyes of man. Winds howling across the rolling dunes peel back the veil of time to reveal aeonic ruins or crumbling tombs, long preserved by a shroud of sand. Wrecked and forbidding, monoliths command attention in many unpredictable locales. The remnants of antique civilizations litter the Land of Fate, where time-ravaged towers and decaying shrines hide in the arid wastes. I am but a humble efreeti, a creature of fire and spirit, but what little I know of theses places of danger and mystery I pass on to you, O' Master of Dungeons Unfathomable. Inside this enchanted box lies my gift to you: an Adventure Book holding six plots of deception and many creatures of intrigue with which to challenge and entertain the players under your care; six cards and a poster, all inscribed with carefully drawn maps; and a short booklet detailing new characters to encounter. This Campaign Guide lying open before you contains background needed to lead the adventures in the official Land of Fate. TSR 9467
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.
THRESHOLD! The northernmost town in the Duchy - and your last stop before your adventures begin. Threshold, the gateway to mysterious castles, lost temples, deadly caves and caverns. You have heard the stories and legends, now you wish to see for yourself. This product provides a complete campaign adventure that will take beginning characters from 1st all the way to 3rd level and possibly beyond, drawn from the first nine modules of the B-series adventures. See individual adventure entries for Boss, Common Monster and Items lists. TSR 9190
First the bandits attacked then the Roc carried away the guide. Since then you have blindly followed the camels hoping that their instincts would lead you to water or help of some kind. You and your friends are lost in a sea of sand. Plodding along in the shadow of the camels and doing your best to stay alert. Ahead the heat shimmers take shape. This time it is a castle. Blinking away the dryness in your eyes you realize that the tower is not a mirage but it is broken.
"Mysterious Ways" is a D&D adventure set in the Holy Land (Israel and Jordan) during the time of the Crusades (1114 A.D.) in an alternate-Earth setting. This is a world where the portals to otherworldly realms, particularly the Lower Planes, are closed--sealed shut by the power of the True Cross, a holy relic sought by evil thieves who would see the gates to the Lower Planes flung open. Magic exists in this alternate world, but it is less prevalent than in other D&D campaign settings. This paucity of magic serves the core of the adventure's storyline and should be preserved, if possible. This adventure is designed for a party of four 7th-level player characters (PCs). It is recommended that the party include at least one lawful cleric or paladin. Consult the "Adapting the Adventure" sidebar for ways to incorporate the adventure into generic D&D campaigns and modify it for higher or lower levels of play. Pgs. 84-112