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
An omnious encounter with a fortuneteller sends a party of adventurers on a 200-mile journey across the Lands of Intrigue. While traveling throught the towns and terrain (detailed here for the first time) that lie in their path, they hear rumors and obtain clues about their mission. Their ultimate destination is Castle Spulzeer, a once proud stronghold that has become a den of terror. When the heroes enter the haunted keep, they meet a terrifying trio of residents: a madman armed with stolen magical power, a liche whose secret laboratory houses untold horrors and treasure, and a furious ghost bent on revenge. These three ensnare the party in their fight over an ancient weapon. Each will stop at nothing to keep it from the other two. The heroes must choose with whom they will ally - and the wrong choice could lead to their doom. Castle Spulzeer is an adventure complete in itself. However, as a crossover story, it offers every Dungeon Master a choice between two endings. The first leaves the party in the Realms. The second transports the characters to the Demiplane of Dread, where the plot continues in the Ravenloft adventure The Forgotten Terror. For 4 to 6 Characters of Levels 8-12 This conversion guide allows DMs to run the original module with 5th Edition rules. To use this conversion guide you will need a copy of Castle Spulzeer, originally available in hard-copy and now for sale in digital format on the DMs Guild. Visit Classicmodulestoday.com for instructions on creating your own classic module conversions and selling them on the DMs Guild. Castle Spulzeer was originally scheduled for publication by TSR in June 1997. Then, near-bankruptcy caused a total failure of TSR's schedule, resulting in no books being published from February through the very end of July. Some books would be delayed for over a year, and others would disappear altogether, but Castle Spulzeer was relatively lucky: it was just delayed four months, until October 1997. The reason may well have been its theming, and its crossover with the Ravenloft line, which made Castle Spulzeer a great Halloween release. Castle Spulzeer has an even more far-reaching connection: its ending can lead players to the demiplane of Ravenloft and The Forgotten Terror adventure. This was probably intended as a bit of advertising for Domains of Dread (1997), the third edition of Ravenloft which was released in August 1997. In other words: in their last days, TSR was working very hard to cross-market their products, but they didn't live long enough to see the success of the Spulzeer-Intrigue-Dread connection.
The Temple of Xhodes is half wilderness adventure, half dungeon crawl for 4-6 characters of 2nd level. People have been disappearing from Eastbrook and surrounding lands. Can the adventurers figure out why – and who’s behind it? Can they stop the cultists before they take over?
A slaver gang known as the Bloodreavers are terrorizing the countryside from their base deep in the labyrinth under Thunderspire Mountain. But these slavers are only the symptom of a larger threat in the bowels of Thunderspire.
In the canyon of Thunder Rift, in the village of Kleine, goblins have always been a nuisance, but the natives have dealt with them and continued an otherwise peaceful existence. Now, a valuable magical item, called the scepter of truth, has disappeared! The ingenuity of the crime bears the mark of the goblins' leader, the Master Thief Raven. The scepter must be recovered, but there is no one in Kleine with the strength and courage to penetrate Raven's trap-laden hide-out, deep in goblin territory. A party of stout adventurers might survive the mission, but they will have to be quick, smart, and especially careful. This module has been created especially for the inexperienced Dungeon Master and players who are interested in the exploration of dungeons and ruins. TSR 9350
The wedding was meant to unite poweful families from Everlund and Silverymoon. "Til death do us part" comes sooner for some couples than others when undead hordes and a feral demilich are uninvited guests. The Dead Wedding is a short, 3 to 5 hour adventure for characters level 14 to 16. The adventure contains maps for Moonshadow Keep and the crypt of the demilichess Regetta Arch Therm, deadly traps, and RP hooks that enable players to use high-level non-combat abilities.
The white dragon Hinterbite has kept the barony of Icenvale ruler-less and poor for centuries. But now his power and that of his secret supporters is threatened by the popularity of an heir who hopes to make a change for the betterment of the people. Can the PCs take on the dragon and his minions and restore power to the barony's rightful ruling line? Download this new adventure by Owen K.C. Stephens and let your PCs face the dangers of the dragon lair! Fait Accompli is suitable for 12th-level characters. At its most basic level of use, Fate Accompli is a straightforward quest to clear a dungeon and slay some dragons in an arctic climate. However, it also includes political elements that you may either may play down or use to expand the scenario into a mini-campaign, as you wish. Fait Accompli is a short adventure for four 12th-level characters. It is set in the wilderness north of a minor border barony that has at best an arms-length relationship with any larger nation. Though the adventure requires all these elements to work, it can be set on the outer edge of any kingdom near an arctic region. As always, feel free to adapt the material presented here as you see fit to make it work with your campaign.
High in the Stonecrown Mountains, a new source of dark magic stirs, wakes, and spreads its wings to shroud the land in shadows. The Warlock of the Stonecrowns, an awnshegh regent who is as evil as he is powerful, is draining other regents' sources of magical power, choking their ability to cast the most powerful form of magic of all - realm magic! If that isn't enough, the Warlock threatens to close the only pass connecting the trade-kingdom of Cariele to the rest of Anuire. An army of orogs and ogres is gathering to the Warlock's banner: Are your heroes equal to the challenge of the twisted magic of the Warlock of the Stonecrowns? This open-ended, "adjustable" BIRTHRIGHT adventure is suitable for use with either mid-level (4-6) or high-level (7-10) player characters. TSR 3110
This is a short adventure than can be completed in a single session, for 4-5 players of 1st level. The old church at the edge of town has long been abandoned, but a week ago several robed figures arrived in town and have taken up residence in the old church. Since then, the townsfolk claim to have seen a strange mist around the building, and several folks have gone missing. Little do they know, these cultists have awoken a long dead necromancer, who seeks to bind a dark power to its will.
A zero-prep dwarven dungeon crawl for 2-3 players at levels 2-3, playable in a single 2-3 hour session. A prospectors' guild hires the party to delve Khazak-Burun, a dwarven vault-city sealed under a volcano for three centuries, and recover the last Vault-King's signet ring. But the ash was a seal, not a tomb: the forges still hold heat, the traps are still wound, and the clockwork sentinels still walk their routes. At the city's geothermal heart the party chooses whether to wake the machines or descend in the dark, before a vertical foundry, a bridge over a magma lake, and a three-phase confrontation at the vault-throne with the fire bound beneath the mountain. Four acts across seventeen keyed scenes, four pregenerated characters, five original stat blocks, six battle maps, a genuine branching choice, scaling for 2-4 players, and a final moral decision.
The first part of the Dreams of Red Wizards adventure path originally published for the D&D NEXT Playtest. Following the events Ghosts of Dragonspear Castle, a new set of adventurer's will see some of the repercussions of that adventure. This adventure is intended to be continued in the Dead in Thay adventure (Note that they Dead in Thay 5e adventure featured in Tales from the Yawning Portal is missing a significant portion of interlude that links Scourge of the Sword Coast to the events within the Doomvault). The adventurers arrive when Daggerford is crowded with refugees from outlying lands. Goblins, gnolls, and orcs have been raiding the countryside. Now, food is scarce and tension is high. Blame for a theft has fallen on the refugees, and the Duke of Daggerford has forbidden more of the displaced from coming into town. After overcoming difficulties to enter Daggerford, the characters learn more about the raids. As they fight against the humanoids and delve deeper in the darkness that encircles Daggerford, the characters learn of Bloodgate Keep. After a final fiendish ambush, they’re ready to confront the real threat to the area. DM Note: This adventure points the adventurers strongly towards Bloodgate Keep but that location does not appear until the Dead in Thay adventure; at several points the party may feel drawn to explore that location rather than continue their investigations around Daggerford. However, since Bloodgate Keep is only eluded to as a source of great evil power, it can serve to easily segue to an entirely different adventure path. As a NEXT Playtest adventure, Scourge of the Sword Coast uses milestone leveling and the included stat blocks for creatures do not necessarily match or even appear in the 5e Monster Manual, nor do they have XP values or challenge ratings. In some places it will reference rules used in the Playtest but dropped or changed in the 5e release, these are unlikely to substantially impact gampley with 5e rules.
A nest of vampires has claimed a dark forest and the surrounding human towns as its domain. Some of the local residents revere the vampires and serve as daylight guardians and spies. However, most of the townsfolk live in a state of dread. Those townsfolk have finally scavenged enough valuables to hire a band of adventurers to destroy the nest. Pgs. 66-71
A handful of would-be adventurers gathers to explore an ancient tomb, eager to trade their discoveries for a ticket to a better life. What they find within presages the advent of the Age of Worms, an era of darkness, decay, and writhing doom. "The Whispering Cairn" is the first 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. Pgs. 14-47
When huge stones fall out of the night sky, A deadly curse settles over Gravencross. Help the village exorcise the Demon Stones. “The sun had set an hour ago, and the rain lashed down and the wind howled on the dark moor. A storm this late in the season was unusual, but this one seemed different. The clouds were more menacing, tinged with anger, the rain colder and more biting than usual. Skerrill had to find the lost calf and get him back to the farm before his father came back from the city on business. He’d been looking for two hours now, and he was right in the middle of the moor when the storm hit. He knew he should have turned back as soon as darkness fell, but then he was never the brightest boy in the valley. If only he had remembered to lock the farm gate. The calf was now likely dead anyway having stumbled among the boulders and rocks, panicking in the dark, and then fallen in a floodwater stream and drowned. Either way, he was in more trouble than he could imagine. Suddenly, a bright flash of white light and a roaring peal of thunder were preceded by an explosion as a huge object fell from the sky and impacted the ground of the moor no more than a stone’s throw from him. Dirt, mud, water, and debris erupted from the impact site, flying high into the air and then covering the moor for hundreds of feet all around. Skerrill was knocked to the ground instantly and covered in the fallout from the blast. His ears rang and his head spun, but he staggered to his feet in a daze. He stumbled to where the blast had happened only moments before, and in a depression in the ground lay a huge stone glowing orange as if hot. Skerrill passed out. Two more thunderous explosions crashed in the distance.”
Dreams of the sleeping wizard seep into reality. Manifest familiars war over the fate of a remote islet. An infinite garden houses an escaped experiment. The god of purity is fooled for his blessings. Into the nightmare we go. 16 pages contain 3000+ words describing 10+ keyed areas to explore (complete the wandering monsters table), 10+ friends and foes to talk to, 10 magic items to use, and thousands of gold worth of treasure to plunder. The adventure is designed for B/X, or like-systems. It is suitable for 4 to 6 characters of levels 1 to 3. It is heavily inspired by the dungeon synth album The Sleeping Wizard by Umbría, which may serve as a soundtrack.
It is time to put a stop to the marauders! For years the coastal towns have been burned and looted by the forces of evil. You and your fellow adventurers have been recruited to root out and destroy the source of these raids. But beware, hundreds of good men and women have been taken by the slavers and have never been seen or heard from again! First part of Scourge of the Slave Lords (A1–4) TSR 9039
An Adventure for Odysseys & Overlords Standing on a lonely, bare mound in the bottom of a dell full of swirling fog, a castle from the time of the Schism crumbles, forgotten. Inside, treasures—and terror—await. A writ of salvage has been posted in Chandra's Haven: 500 gold coins to the brave adventurers who find Misthollow Castle and secure it for Salamon Castos, a wealthy merchant. Castos claims to be the scion of the noble family which ruled Misthollow and built the castle generations ago. Castos grudgingly agrees to allow the characters to keep whatever they find in securing the castle, though he insists on right of first refusal on anything of value. The Odysseys & Overlords Player’s Guide is available at https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/275042/Odysseys--Overlords-Players-Guide The Odysseys & Overlords Game Master's Guide is available at https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/275040/Odysseys--Overlords-Game-Masters-Guide
It’s a beautiful autumn day. The sun is shining off of leaves that are turning gorgeous shades of red and orange and yellow. What could possibly spoil the Otari Fall Farm Faire and Festival on such a day? That’s exactly what farmer Bum Tuggles thought as his precious pig, Hamilton, won the blue ribbon for finest hog in the show. The answer was simple — goblins! Goblins rushed the faire, their cackles and roars filling the air as they slaughtered without mercy. They sowed chaos and fear while a small group went straight for Hamilton. For some reason, they didn’t kill him; they took him. Now farmer Tuggles is offering a handsome reward for anyone that can track down these goblins, and bring him back his pig. Can you…Save his bacon? Save His Bacon is a short Pathfinder Second Edition adventure designed for four to first-level adventurers. Save His Bacon contains: A custom map of the upper level of an abandoned dwarven mine Custom Hazards Unnumbered and ungridded maps for use in your favorite VTT
It’s been a long few days of travel and the adventurers are tired of eating rations and sleeping on the ground. The road opens to a small town with an inviting tavern. The smells of grilling meat and ale fill their nostrils and the sounds of laughter and music float out the tavern’s door. Unlucky for the adventurers, they’ve stumbled upon Dragon’s Breath Tavern. What starts out as a pleasant evening of food, drink, and entertainment soon evolves into an adventure that takes the party into and under Dragon’s Breath Tavern. The adventure includes roleplay, exploration, combat, and a dice game called Demon Dice. Although written in a non-specific location, this adventure could be run as a one-shot during the WoTC official campaign – Curse of Strahd. The adventure includes an isometric map and a top-down map of Dragon’s Breath Tavern. Available as PDF or for Fantasy Grounds.
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!