Tired and sore, you struggle over the burning sands toward the long-forgotten city. Will you reach the place in time to save yourselves from the evil efreeti? The sun beats down, making your wounds stiff and worsening the constant thirst that plagues anyone who travels these waterless wastes. But there is hope - are those the ruins over there? In the midst of broken columns and bits of rubble stands a huge statue. This is the place! You've found it at last. Gratefully, you sink onto the sand. But there is no time to lose. You must hurry. So with a quavering voice you say the magic words. And then you wait... A hush falls over the ruins, making the back of your neck prickle. Then, out of the east, a wind rises, gentle at first but quickly growing stronger and wilder, until it tears at your clothes and nearly lifts you off your feet. The once clear sky is choked with white and grey clouds that clash and boil. As the clouds blacken day turns to night. Lightning flashes followed by a menacing growl of thunder. You are beginning to wonder if you should seek shelter, when all of a sudden there is a blinding crash and a bolt of lightning reduces the statue to dust. For a moment, silence. The, out of the statue's remains, soars a blue flame. Its roar deafens you as higher and higher it climbs, until it seems about to reach the clouds. Just when you think it can grow no larger, its shape begins to change. The edges billow and soften, their roar lessens, and before your eyes materializes a gigantic blue man. This adventure can be played alone or as the second part of the Desert of Desolation series. For characters level 6-8. TSR 9053
A desperate refugee emerges from the earth's depths in shadow-cloaked Nidal with an urgent pleas. A new faction in the subterranean dark folk city of Lyrudrada -- a wicked cult called the Reborn -- seeks a fabled artifact called the Cradle of Night. Vanished demigods of the Shadow Plane once used this artifact to craft the elusive caligni race, and the Reborn want to use it to shroud the world in darkness once more. Cursed with the stain of shadow, the heroes must battle their way through the tomb of an ancient horselord chieftain before descending to Lyrudrada. Plots and schemes run rampant in this city riven with political upheavals and back-alley bloodshed, and the heroes must collect allies and information to confront the Reborn in their fortified fane. With the mysterious masters of the caligni race arrayed against them, can the heroes hope to shed their shadowy curse and claim the Cradle of Night?
The Premature Burial is the first in a series of four interconnected stories that recall the themes and atmosphere of Edgar Allan Poe's Tales of Terror. Baldur's Gate, year 1492 DR, a dark and terrifying sect works secretly in the slums with the aim of punishing all those who have long oppressed, marginalized and killed the city's poorest and weakest citizens. The patriars, unaware of anything, are the cult's main targets, and a magical plague is about to fall on them that can cause a veritable slaughter. The characters will find themselves caught up in these dangerous events and will be drawn into a spiral of horror, blood and madness that will strain their bodies and souls. The Prior who leads the mysterious cult has "a special plan" in mind for them and will do anything to achieve his goal. Players will be forced more than once to question their morals and make difficult choices in a scenario of complex social conflicts, personal revenge stories and tremendous machinations. What repercussions would the cult's plan have if it were carried out? And what would happen instead if it were averted and the patriars continued to run the city as they always have? Shadows as black as night once again loom over Baldur's Gate, and this time they may change its face forever. - Adventure: story lasting 4 to 8 hours for characters ranging in level from 4 to 6 - Setting: adventure set in the famous city of Baldur's Gate but easily adaptable to any setting - Narrative: detailed descriptions and an emphasis on story immersiveness - Roleplay: in-depth characterization of NPCs with biographies, descriptions of their personalities and their physical appearance - Bestiary: 3 new customizable opponents with the mechanics "Affixes," which can add an extra degree of complexity to confrontations, and " Weak spots," which grant a strategic advantage to characters who manage to discover them - Magic: obscure and unknown spells used by cultists to carry out their plans - Layout: designed to make it easier for DMs to browse information, featuring special attention to color coding and visual immediacy of text boxes - Maps: 3 maps available in high resolution, VTT and printer-friendly versions - PDF: available in high-quality, interactive, printer-friendly print versions - Playlist: a collection of songs selected by the authors to create the right atmosphere during game sessions
You have traveled to the westernmost point in the Duchy of Starryshade as you make your way to the borderlands. Your final stop in the duchy is a small roadside inn called the Shepherd’s Spear Inn. While stopping for a respite you hear a few tales including a mysterious abbey nearby. This structure is said to only appear for a short time every three years. Magic and wealth are said to be lost within the walls of this structure and with little else to do this might be a final hurrah for your stay in Starryshade!
In your last adventure you discovered a strange, and somewhat sinister looking, key. After a long wait it appears you have found an answer to what it opens. The good news is that it leads to great wealth, the bad news is that it opens a tomb. Oh yea, there may, also, be some…individuals that want the key too…
The interrogation of the rogue wizard, Askalan, by the magocracy of Bemmea exposed his creation of unstable magical artifacts built in a ruined ley-line conduit. This Leystone, built by the mages of Vael Turog, had been dormant for centuries until Askalan discovered a way to power it. Now, after his untimely death, the Leystone's unstable power continues to grow at the edge of the Western Wastes. The magocracy hires the characters to find the awakened Leystone, uncover the mystery of this growing power, and return the source of the power to Bemmea for study.
Inspired by the "Happy Fun Ball" from the web series Critical Role, The Cube of Vanya is a magical adventure through demi-planes created by an ancient wizard, now destabilized by a malevolent dragon. The adventurers find themselves trapped within a series of themed planes with no idea how they got there. Navigating these planes to find a means of escape, they uncover the secrets of the cube while piecing back together their own memory. During the campaign the adventurers may fight shadow demons in an inn which is really a prison, flee a tornado while perched perilously in the sky, forge a weapon within a volcano, and much more. The module is structured in a non linear manner allowing the adventurers to choose their own way, or for the DM to pick and choose their favourite bits to highlight. The adventure was written with four level 5 players in mind but it would be easy to tweak for different sized groups around that level.
Dr. Rudolph Van Richten and his network of investigators have hunted and put an end to numerous creatures of the night across the Domains of Dread. But some foes are more elusive than others, and will require the aid of heroes to put an end their reign of terror and close out these open cases. A simple rest turns into a waking nightmare as visions of death haunt the heroes’ dreams. A Dream of Eternal Sleep is the introductory adventure to the ghostly Night Terror, Kazander, and begins within adventurers’ own dreams. It provides the basis for an extended campaign that will take heroes through the cerebral and nightmarish domains of dread as they seek a way to confront this foe in the Nightmare Lands. Content Warning: Near-death Experiences, Recurring Nightmares, Sleep-walking, Possession.
A supernaturally powerful storm, mudslides, and agitated dinosaurs are the least of the worries in the tropical village of Mora. The village's spiritual leader, the Zombie Master, has gone missing, and now undead rise from sodden graves and the village matriarch lies dead, murdered by her own son. What dire menace awaits in the flooded catacombs below? Set on the infamous Isle of Dread.
Long ago, a local priest created a warded graveyard on a remote hillside. As the years passed, it gained a reputation as a spot whose defenses were powerful enough to keep undead in and tomb robbers out. Adventurers began to bring the remains of any creatures they suspected might become restless in death to the Tomb Steppe for interment, and in time they also sought aid against such creatures from the friendly priest. After his death, a brief spate of undead activity commenced, then died away once again. As the years passed, the tales of undead activity in the Tomb Steppe faded into legend, and colonists began to move into the lands nearby. The town of Night Falls was founded a short distance from the graveyard, and it grew quickly into a thriving trade center and farming community. Realizing that the Tomb Steppe was safe enough during the day, the citizens began burying their dead there rather than building new crypts on pristine farmland. Because this method of interment was cheap and easy, people from many surrounding communities brought their dead to the town as well. The business of burial brought new prosperity to Night Falls, and a guild called the Funerary House sprang up to control the trade. But it seems that the threat from the Tomb Steppe has not entirely been laid to rest. The Great Mausoleum -- the largest and finest tomb in the steppe, has been unsealed, and an apparition has been seen within. Who will go to the Tomb Steppe by night and reseal the tomb? Lest Darkness Rise is a short adventure for four 7th-level characters. In keeping with the season, it has a stronger horror theme than most D&D adventures. This scenario can be used as the climax of a series of adventures featuring its secondary characters, or it can simply be a site-based adventure that the PCs stumble across at the right moment. The scenario is set in a semi-civilized area in the far north, far from cities and churches, where winters are harsh and summers never get very hot. These inhospitable conditions have resulted in a low humanoid population. The scenario need not be set in such a wilderness; a rural farming community far from cities works just as well. The only real requirement is that the area have few settlements. The action takes place in the small town of Night Falls and a nearby necropolis of tombs, mausoleums, and graves known as the Tomb Steppe. As always, feel free to adapt the material presented here as you see fit to make it work with your campaign.
The Pathfinders descend deeper into the ruins of Bonekeep, a centuries-old siege fortress. The deeper dungeons hold even deadlier threats, yet even they cannot compare to the terrible revelations of the tower's true purpose.
Tragedy has struck the Dwarven Kingdom of the Hammerskin Clan. Recent quakes have opened the Dwarven mines to a humanoid invasion that have taken over the Stonegate and Irongate sections of the kingdom. On your last foray into the Dorgel Mountains you were tasked to deliver a plague cure for the town of Timel. On your way through the trade route you discovered the invasion and fought your way through to deliver the remedy. Now you must return to help the Dwarves secure their domain!
Thomepreus’ curse is a classic crawl with elements of exploration, mystery and time travel. A curse has befallen the heroes and the source of their predicament is located in a buried temple. Here a forgotten cult have used a magical sand clock to curse their enemies. The temple seem empty but the arrival of the heroes appear predetermined and soon the heroes are propelled through time to arrive in the past. Here clues and objects are required to solve the mystery and to break the curse. However, they must hurry before cult members complete the preordained curse on the heroes.
Legends of a "mountain of gold" provoke a mad scramble for a mysterious book laden with clues to find certain statues around the city, which themselves hold additional clues leading to the hiding place of the fabulous treasure. An adventure for using old-school advanced rules with twists and open-ended problem-solving in a city rife with overt treasure-hunting and covert Byzantine plotting by multiple factions. Published by Coiled Sheets of Lead
A Villain with a Vison A stolen jewel leads to the heart of the swamp, where one man’s thirst for vengeance threatens to destroy an entire town. Pgs. 68-92
From a ruined theater in the run-down Puddles district of Absalom, a goblin hero and self-styled king rules over the nearby goblins. Shifting foundations beneath the playhouse have revealed ruins from Absalom's early history, and the goblin king has put out a call for explorers to search the area and clear out its dangers. The Pathfinder Society has answered the call. They aren't the only group that is interested, however, and they must prove themselves to earn the right to enter these lost chambers.
In ages past, the wizard Karavakos made a deal with devils, which resulted in him being trapped in an extradimensional pyramid, unable to escape. His only hope for escape is to lure adventurers into the Pyramid, in hopes that they will destroy his splinters and return his power to him. But his wife Vyrellis, whom he slew in a rage when the Pyramid formed, still lingers in spirit and wants nothing more than to see him laid low... Although set to allow PCs to just fight through each encounter, tips are included for PCs negotiating with the factions trapped in the pyramid.
People keep asking for "beginner" dungeons. Everyone can name "classic" dungeons - Tomb of Horrors, Barrier Peaks, Ravenloft, etc. - but in order for those adventures to make sense, there needs to be some sort of introduction. It's like all the adventures we have are Bach concertos. People keep writing amazing works of staggering genius, but someone needs to write a book on how to play the piano. I had the same questions, and since I couldn't find anything satisfactory, I decided to write the kind of dungeon I would have loved to find. I wanted to write the best basic OSR dungeon for beginners that I could, and I also wanted to show the design process. If you like this dungeon, please share it, tell people about it, print copies and leave them lying around local game stores, or email this post to friends who have "always wanted to try D&D but don't know where to start". The entire thing is and always will be free.
The wizard Allustan requests the party's company on a trip to Blackwall Keep, a militia outpost on the border of a treacherous swamp. But what of the green worms and unkillable zombies plaguing the region, and what fell secret is locked in the keep's forlorn basement? "Encounter at Blackwall Keep" is the third installment of the Age of Worms Adventure Path, a complete campaign consisting of 12 adventures, several "Backdrop" articles to help Dungeon masters run the series, and a handful of poster maps of key locations. For additional aid in running this campaign, check out Dragon's monthly "Worm Food" articles, a series that provides additional materials to help players survive this campaign. Check out issue #335 of Dragon for three sample cohorts that they might want to take on. Pgs. 16-40
Along the caravan routes that tie the Cities of the West to the Kingdoms of the East, many tales are told of the mountains called the Towers of the Sun. One of these legends concerns a dark road said to be hidden among the twisty trails that spiderweb the mountains. Into the earth the road leads, into and through a series of vast caverns filled with treacherous traps and cunning monsters. Yet dangerous though the path is, many a party of adventurers have been tempted to walk it, for the stories say that the loot of a hundred lost caravans lies concealed along that evil way. [Comment: Uncertain for what levels of play this adventure is designed]