Modrons, Mephits & Mayhem is a Dungeons & Dragons 5E tier 2 adventure for three to five characters of levels 5-8. It is primarily set in a modron-designed research facility that has been abandoned by its creators but retains guardians that are still active. Additionally, two groups have broken into the facility with their own goals in mind; the githyanki and their red dragon cohort are antagonistic and provide the main source of combat in this adventure, while a modron traveling with a few mephits may prove friendly although ultimately troublesome. Inspired by adventure games in which the protagonists explore baroque, esoteric technological fortresses, and seeded throughout with factions that sport competing and often bizarre goals, Modrons, Mephits & Mayhem is sure to test the mettle of any group of players, and will provide endless amusement for Dungeon Masters seeking something different from the typical hack-and-slash dungeon crawl. This 70-page adventure features: *Two wilderness areas, random wilderness encounters, and a massive, interlinking 3-level dungeon filled with bizarre puzzles. *Ancient machinery powered by elemental portals, all of which can be activated, turned off, or manipulated by the player characters and the various factions within the modron facility. *Planar creatures like githzerai and githyanki, modrons, mephits, and elemental guardians, skillfully placed into the High Moor area of the Forgotten Realms setting. *Monsters and NPCs that have detailed (yet easy to run!) personalities and goals that will provide tons of roleplaying opportunities. *Notes and sidebars on running the NPCs with added complexity, or simplifying the NPCs' motives to make the adventure more straightforward. *Tactics notes for every single encounter! *An appendix that features all monster stat blocks, and both tagged (DM) and untagged (Player) versions of the dungeon maps. *Wilderness hex map by Elven Tower Cartography! Three interlinked dungeon levels by Dyson Logos...and one of them is a flying fortress! Cover art by Patrick E. Pullen!
"People have been disappearing at night in the city of Silverymoon. Some vanish entirely, leaving behind whispered rumors of fiends or other evil creatures having spirited them away. Others return strangely altered, with their memories of having been kidnapped wiped clean and their minds strangely dulled — and always with remarkable haircuts."
Dark Water Trap is a mini-adventure that has a single encounter that involves Duergar using darkness and anti-darkvision to get the player to fall into a Pit trap full of water, so that the party will drown. The encounter either works as a standalone (Ie. the Duergar have been causing trouble), or as a part of a larger adventure or dungeon, Duegar or otherwise. Pgs. 26-27
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?
Starvation looms for the people of the Wolf tribe! The elk have all but disappeared and the risky move of the tribe near the Bear clan territory has proved fruitless. An emergency council of the elders has declared that a single hearty warrior must make the dangerous journey deeper into Bear territory to find a source of food. The council has chosen you for this mission of great importance. It is your task to find out where the elk have gone and bring back food for the winter or at least enact Wolf people retribution against the source of the oncoming famine! Into The Forbidden Hills you must travel, heart full of hope and anger…
Igor's Challenge is a 3-4 hour, non-lethal, funhouse style dungeon. It is a self-contained adventure that should fit into any campaign or serve as a one-shot adventure for any group. The adventure can fit a party of any level and size with only minor adjustments. Igor is an eccentric gnome inventor and retired adventurer renowned around the world. He has sent out invitations to adventuring groups to come compete for his latest, greatest invention. The competition will take place a few days hence in the village of Penthill and consist of a race through his specially created challenge-dungeon. Igor's Challenge includes a unique magic item, a small village with locations and NPCs, an encounter and story with a legendary NPC (stat bloc provided), and a 33 room dungeon of traps, tricks, and puzzles.
Only True Heroes Can Find Honor Among Thieves … They lurk in the Ralferst Forest, striking out at all who pass through, robbing traders, assaulting farmers, even killing with impunity. Working from a secret base deep in the forest, a band of thieves has struck fear into the heart of Brandon's Bridge, the little village at the crossing of the Azure River. But now a band of heroes has come, seeking glory and adventure - heroes that might just be up to the challenge of driving away the Thieves in the Forest. Thieves in the Forest is a beginner-friendly, introductory OGL adventure. It features: A wilderness adventure segment featuring the Ralferst Forest, a dense wood crisscrossed with paths and fraught with perils. The nature of the forest and paths makes it easy for less experienced players and GMs to deal with this non-dungeon environment. A double-sided, fold-out poster map (17" x 22") of the thieves' hideout - an ancient ruined temple - suitable for tabletop use with miniatures or counters, for easier handling of tactical combat. Maps created in Profantasy Software's Campaign Cartographer 2, and available for download on the Atlas Games website. GMs can customize and manipulate these maps themelves, if they own CC2, and integrate them into their own game worlds. Published by Atlas Games & Truant Spiele
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.
A deadly encounter for a party of level 7-10s. Brave the crypt in an attempt to save Lord Eldark's son. This challenging dungeon is adaptable and easy to run in any existing campaign. It has some very tough encounters and is available for free on DM guild!
This is the laboratory of High Alchemist Sureves Epans. He led a group of alchemists in research for many years, but recently there was a bit of a mishap. He discovered his wife was cheating on him with one of his employees and while in a drunken stupor trying to create a discreet potion to deal with the two of them, he let loose an infectious plague on the lab which turned all but a lucky few in the facility into shambling husks of their former selves., fused with their own creations as their minds turned to know but one thought - rage. This dungeon has rules to modify all encounters for a group of players levels 4 through 6 and is intended for a party of four. If you have more players, feel free to adjust the difficulty up one level for each additional player or simply tune the monsters to your needs. This dungeon contains many original enemies, a unique puzzle, and an environment that is meant to bring a sense of terror and anxiety on your players. I consider this to be the Horror-themed adventure of the module so feel free to add some creepy music and extra details along the way to bring the area to life (or death).
Few planes possess the raw malevolence of the Infinite Layers of the Abyss. It is a place of random violence, appalling cruelty, and pure, unadulterated wickedness. Here, unreasoning malice rules, and countless demons torture and murder for the joy of it. The Abyss is innovative in its wretchedness, with each fleeting moment birthing new and awful psychotic acts of utter evil. Those who brave its depths find no relief from its corrosive nature, nor respite from the cancerous seeds of evil blooming within all who tarry here; they find only anguish, pain and if they're lucky, sudden, abrupt death. "Into the Maw" is the ninth chapter of the Savage Tide Adventure Path, a complete campaign consisting of 12 adventures appearing in Dungeon magazine. For additional aid in running this campaign, check out Dragon magazine's monthly "Savage Tidings" articles, a series that helps players and DMs prepare for and expand upon the campaign. Issue #356 of Dragon magazine features an expanded list of strange and exotic magical items that could be purchased from the mercane merchants encountered during "Into the Maw." In order to rescue a friend, the PCs must sail into the Abyss and infiltrate a prison built by the Prince of Demons. Pgs. 48-85
A dwarven laboratory forgotten for many centuries has finally been rediscovered, but there is sure to be danger lurking within. It turns out some of the other machines within are still active, as are some of the traps and puzzles. Prepare your party for a blend of challenging puzzles and diverse fights in the dungeon that was home to my first player kill.
There's trouble in Allesley! An Eastbrook farm has been attacked and people slain. But by what? The people are frightened, the Reeve is concerned, and the Constable wants you to figure out what’s going on. The last time this happened, goblins attacked the town. Does this mean war? This is the first adventure in a series to come in 2017 which builds on the introductory mini-adventure in the Eastbrook starting area.
We get it. Factions are an integral part of D&D, but it's not always clear how to use them in your campaigns. Luckily, Factions of Sigil has you covered for each of the twelve main factions found across Sigil and the Outlands! This supplement goes over the various rules and lore around the primary factions found in Sigil and the Outlands, making it easy for any new or veteran DMs to integrate the factions more into the core stories being told, and making them feel more useful for the players that choose to join. In this adventure, the characters are allied with the Bleak Cabal of Sigil, and have been sent to retrieve a lost artifact from the trap and puzzle heavy Forgotten Temple in the Outlands.
Hezzrack the imp escaped a prison of stone only by entering a prison of words. His only chance now is for a helpful group of adventurers to rescue him from certain servitude as a goblin adept's familiar. When his wizardly master's tower collapsed ages ago, the imp Hezzrack found himself trapped in the basement for a long, long time. After spending many years playing chess with himself and arranging macabre passion plays with the animated skeletons that survived the collapse, he finally found a way to escape. Unfortunately, that escape required signing a contract with a particularly unpleasant goblin adept; Hezzrack had managed to escape his prison of stone by leaping into a prison of servitude. If only a group of adventurers were to come along and take care of the goblin and release him completely! Pgs. 18-28
Within the darakhul city of Gonderif, at the nadir of a thousand‑foot‑deep chasm, is the site of a vile tournament where Gonderif ’s most rebellious slaves and war prisoners are forced to fight to the death—and through undeath after undeath—until only one living champion remains. Whether they came as captives or as liberators, the PCs must survive the Undying Tournament.
A level 1–3 dungeon adventure by Giuseppe Rotondo. The secret workshop of a long-dead jeweler-magician is now open, as his grandson wants the place finally cleared of all dangers. What treasures might remain within, and what might be watching over them? This adventure combines classic dungeon crawl elements with the intrigue of uncovering a magician’s legacy, making it a rich experience for both new and seasoned players. For Old-School Essentials (OSE) Included as one of four adventures in "Old-School Essentials Adventure Anthology 1"
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.
For centuries, the volcano now called Mount Zulgar was the battlefield of a conflict between red dragons and frost giants. The final battle saw the extinction of the dragons and only a handful of living giants. The dwarves of the Frostblood clan used this opportunity to drive out the giants and take the mountain as their own for its rich deposits of gold. 100 have passed, and now the volcano bubbles to life once more, bringing with it all manner of fiery creatures. Miners have been killed, and implike monsters assault the citizens of the mountain. The master of the goldsmith's guild has called upon your party to snuff out the Fire in the Frostblood Mine. Fire in the Frostblood Mine is a 4-5 hour adventure for 4 3rd-level characters. It can be used as either a one-shot or as part of an ongoing campaign. This module includes a single-session adventure to introduce your players to the strange creatures of the inner planes, maps of the two levels of Frostblood Mine, and a unique sentient magic item.
Your party is on a journey through a mountainous region distinguished by sheer cliffs and dangerous precipices. Thus everyone is quite grateful when, just at nightfall, they find a small abandoned chapel. It provides a dry shelter from the wind and radiates such an aura of good that there is no hesitation about sheltering within it. This is an adventure for a balanced party of six second- and third-level characters; ifd esired, the number may be increased by including three first-level characters.