The Hardest of Hearts is a gothic horror adventure for 4-5 characters of 5-6th level. It can be played over the course of 6-8 hours and should roughly take one playing session if the party is quick, or two if the party is progressing slowly. This is the first part of the Carnival of Lost Souls campaign. It can also be played as a standalone adventure. The Hardest of Hearts features: - Exciting journey through the cold wilderness of Lamordia, which features a special travel system and survival rules - Exploration of the old mansion which has been taken over by the vicious local gang - the Corpse Collectors - Several custom diseases to challenge your players - Moral dilemma at the end of the adventure which the characters will have to solve - New custom monsters to make combat encounters truly memorable and exciting - High-quality maps, also available in universal vtt format Look out for the next adventures in the Carnival of Lost Souls series: Dementlieu: Dance with the Devil, Kalakeri: The Forbidden Temple and Valachan: Hunter’s Moon! They will be released over the course of the next two months. Once all four adventures are out, we will also release a special Campaign Guide, which will explain in detail how to best set up and play the campaign. However, if you want to start your campaign right now, don’t worry - we have included a short appendix at the end of each adventure which will explain the basics!
Where shadows reign, darkness follows. You'll be lucky if you live to see the dawn's early light. The player characters are charged with entering a portal the demiplane of shadows to retrieve a magical staff that can close the portal. Roleplaying and betrayal. This adventure features many creatures native to and associated with the demiplane of shadow, often as random encounters. Pgs. 8-25
The Abyss Approaches! Something wicked—and monstrous—stirs around the rugged Isgeri town of Saringallow, where the hated legacy of noble Chelish diabolists runs deep. With the recent disappearance of several apprentices, the nearby menace of particularly grotesque goblins, and the unsettling rumors about the old Sarini Estate, Mayor Sandra Trinelli knows that she needs help, and she needs it fast! The heroes must confront one of these crises, or all three, if they hope to stem the tide of darkness that looms. Before too long, the heroes discover that villains with ties to the Abyss have set their sights on Saringallow, and won't rest until the settlement and all its innocent inhabitants fall victim to their madness-inducing predations! Gallows of Madness is a 64-page, highly versatile collection of three adventures for 1st-level characters. Each adventure also includes scaling information for parties of 2nd-level characters. Written with beginning Game Masters and players in mind while also providing challenging content for veterans, these adventures can be prepared quickly and run separately or in any order. For GMs who wish to run a deeper, more narrative game, this volume also offers an overarching timeline of events and detailed tips for running these adventures as a cohesive whole. Bonus content includes new monstrous foes and a gallery of NPCs to help easily connect the adventures, plus a gorgeous double-sided poster featuring an overview of Saringallow and a miniatures-scale battlemap!
"You sneak into a museum filled with all sorts of strange displays, from fierce weaponry and intricate jewelry through to demonic statues and a strange obsidian monolith. You begin to take a couple of steps towards the monolith when darkness swirls around you as the museum's protections jump to life..." This is a one-shot heist adventure in which the players must infiltrate a high society event and steal a powerful magical item from right under the nose of an accomplished wizard. They will encounter mind-bending illusory defenses and compete with a secondary heist party, all while avoiding the gaze of the guards. This adventure is for four level 5 players (though adjusting for 3-6 players would be minimal effort) and is expected to take around five hours. It includes: * An exciting heist with several twists * Two new heist-based mechanics: Flashbacks and Guard Alert Level * Two optional objectives for the players to complete * A new monster to fight: the shadow duplicate * Two new items: the rod of illusia and the jade figurine of the deinonychus * Simple rules for running a skill challenge * Detailed maps of the manor as well as schematics for planning
"A murderous laboratory comes to life in this adventure for 5th level characters." The players are tasked with investigating the disappearance of a mage who has been creating an A.I.-like arcane Workshop. Through the adventure, the PCS will soon learn that the A.I. has taken over and is using magic beyond it's understanding, having never ventured out into the world. How will the PCs stop a naive yet dangerously magical A.I. determined to get out into the world?
Sharn is paralyzed. Half of the council was under the control of roach thralls for the last 20 years, and with the conspiracy revealed the government apparatus is at a standstill. The criminal organization Daask rises from the underbelly to take control of the chaos and further destabilize the city.
Welcome to Cirria’s Gambit, a four- to six-hour adventure for 2nd-4th level characters, designed for Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition! This adventure invites you and your players to a fiendishly fun party with revengeful devils, a succubus who just wants to go back to hell, snobbish nobles, intoxicated socialites and one really irritated banshee! Cirria wants to go to hell! There is only one tiny problem: her mistress Glasya, archdevil of the sixth layer, has banished her for insubordination. So, what’s a succubus to do in Cirria’s place? Take over a local noble family and organize a grand feast like this boring plane has never seen before to channel the emotional energy of her guests into a ritual to open a portal, of course! Isn’t it obvious? Cirria’s plan only had one tiny unaccounted for issue: Lady Kaera, matron of the noble house Cirria targeted, is a banshee. Cirria found a momentary solution – but that will only hold so long as no intrepid group of adventurers disrupts it… This adventure can be run as a one-shot or inserted into an on-going campaign. The theme fits Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus particularly well!
A one-shot adventure for level 1 characters, in which the party must investigate a series of mysterious happenings at an old, abandoned manor house on the outskirts of a small town.
A bizarre puppet master pulls the strings in this introductory RAVENLOFT® adventure for lower level characters. "Beware what you wish, for it might come true" is an old Vistani saying. In the small town of Odiare, a toymarker has wished a puppet to life--only this puppet is not a friendly, playful toy. It is a thing of evil, bent upon killing all the adults of Odiare. When the player characters are trapped within this town, Maligno the puppet and his animated toys begin to hunt them down. The PCs' only chance for escape is to defeat the mad marionette.
"A dwarven prince has requested your party's aid in quelling the coming invasion (if there is one, of course). Do you take him at his honorable word, and gird yourselves for battle? Or do you listen to the street talk, and take the side of those who disbelieve the warmongering? Most importantly of all: what if you make the wrong choice?" Patriots of Ulek is an adventure set in the world of Greyhawk - designed for a party of six to eight characters of first to third level who must help defend the Principality of Ulek against the despot’s horde and uncover a conspiracy which could lead to Ulek’s defeat. Fighters and clerics with healing spells are best suited to this adventure, as it involves a substantial amount of combat. Mages are helpful, but not required. Thieves will find minimal opportunities to practice their trade, although their skills as spies and scouts may come in handy. This adventure was designed specifically for inexperienced players and beginning dungeon masters. TSR 9385
Haunted House Fun House Dungeon. Tegel Manor, a great manor-fortress on the seacoast, is rumored to be left over from ancient days when a charm was placed over it protecting it from most of the ravages of time and human occupation. The hereditary owners, whos family name is Rump, have been amiss in their traditional duty of providing protection for the market village to the west. Some have said tha this failing and their bizarre eccentricities have led to their corruption. Many have found the manor and area to be a dangerous place to visit! A huge haunted house with a 17"x22" Judges map and a 11"x17 Players map, printed on both sides, brown on high-quality tan stock. Each map has the manor printed on one side and the surrounding wildernes on the other. Enclosed in the product is a 32-page booklet with room and monster descriptions. Over 240 rooms and chambers include a hall of magic portraits and four secret dungeon levels beneatht the manor. The booklet also has tables to create magic statues, ghostly encounters, resurrection results, and more. Tegal Manor has always been one of our more popular playing aids, and has been a lot of fun for Judges and players all over the country. This is an officially approved playing aid for use with D&D. This edition was published by Gamescience.
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to actually encounter an area where someone has used Guards & Wards, Symbol, and other spells to actually fortify a location against casual intrusion and thievery? If you want to find out just how deadly a wizard's "getaway cabin" in the mountains can be when the owner isn't there to let you in, this is the adventure for you and your players. Suitable for a single session of play (unless characters get killed, forcing a retreat and later return), there's only one combat encounter, but the traps are deadly. Not recommended for parties below level 12. All of the defenses are based on actual PHB spells, although a couple are assumed to have been bound into items or interactions within the dungeon. This dungeon is originally from the "Against the Idol of the Sun" high-level hexcrawl campaign.
A new, expanded, OSR-ised, prettified edition of Joseph R. Lewis’ Ragged Hollow Nightmare which was rated among The Best by Tenfootpole. Joseph Lewis hit a perfect balance between the classics of dungeonverse fantasy and the whimsy of the folk tales we love so much (as testified by our Folklore Bestiary. we released last year), adding a dash of dreamworld strangeness and a pinch of body horror to spice up his brew. We did our best to respect his recipe when adding our extra material (about 30 pages of it). We worked with Joe and Li-An (the perfect artist to give life to spooky Ragged Hollow and its strange surroundings) to make the best module we could: a solid introduction to old-school gaming for both players and gamemasters. And for the veterans among us, it also makes an excellent, full-fledged campaign starter. Nightmare over Ragged Hollow is a sandbox adventure centred around a quaint town at the edge of the kingdom. But however quiet life in Ragged Hollow is, the town lies between places where you shouldn’t be traveling alone. Places like Gloam Wood (“A witch or two lurk there!”), the Bleak Mountains (“I’m told there are bugbears…”) and their infamous Mount Mourn (“Home, they say, to cursed Dwarven ruins”), not to forget the Wailing Hills (“Bandits on every road!”). There’s even a haunted house by the river (“That mad inventor riddled it with traps!”). But only when an impenetrable dome of golden light materialises around the Temple of Halcyon (“Hey, my kids go to school there!”) do things really get out of hand. Some selfless heroes (or, failing that, a bunch of greedy ne’er-do-wells) should really get involved. One town with three adventure mini-sites Three small dungeons One 50-room dungeon Three hexes with 16 detailed locations Two groups of potential allies or rivals Sixteen pre-generated characters One deadly countdown! Written for the Old-School Essentials (OSE) rule system
All's fair in love and rivalry. Some matches are made in heaven, but not this one. Pgs. 26-36
“A curse has hit Baron Ananias Galvan, the result of his son Philipe’s bad deeds. The young nobleman dishonored the beautiful daughter of Lady Josefa, the beautiful Joana, and did not commit to the girl. The Lady Josefa, a woman of knowledge of magic and necromancy, cursed the nobleman’s son and all his servants. Philipe was turned into an undead, and his property cursed. Baron Ananias hires heroes to invade the place and break the spell to bring the nobleman’s son back to his normal condition. However, for this to happen, it is necessary to face a horde of Zombies and unknown dangers. There are rumors that the property where Philipe lives is the secret to breaking this spell, but it is said that Lady Josefa didn’t only place Zombies on the site. Skeletons of dead people attack the unwary and there is a rumor that even a lich is present on such a property. Is this true, or is it the exaggeration of scared peasants?” Cursed House is a “One Shot” style adventure, one that you can play in an afternoon or fit into your larger campaign. This adventure is designed for up to 4 players from level 1 to 3. We recommend using the DCC, OSE, BX books or the old D&D books. Have Fun!
Ever wanted to face the cold, dark, and dangerous unknown without the advantages of a fantasy hero? This is your chance! Fifth Edition Funnel puts a spin on character creation. In the Funnel, each participating player quickly generates several 0-level characters blessed with the abilities and low survivability of your average commoner. Those that survive will be promoted to 1st-level heroines and heroes. The Funnel bonds characters over common challenges they meet and (hopefully) overcome. The surviving 1st-level characters share a common origin as adventurers. Instead of merely rolling dice, there is a trial by fire where average people succeed against the odds to do something heroic (or hide under a table in a tavern).
Deep in the swamp, villagers claim something unnatural is happening at a large manor on the edge of town. A suspicious owner whose wife died years ago is attempting something dark and terrible, and it's up to the party to stop him. The true fun of this adventure lies in the house itself, which is filled with hidden references and homages to the works of Edgar Allan Poe, with the author himself filling the role as the suspicious home owner.
This Christmas themed adventure is a straightforward adventure for level one PCs. Players adventure from a town where they are attacked in their sleep by animated presents, travel up a nearby mountain and discover a hermit's house where they fight snow elementals, living trees and explore the hermit's home. Eventually they discover the evil hermit in a secret room below the home. This adventure contains a lot of help for newer DMs.
Awash in a sea of phlogiston, three wizards battle for mastery of reality! But with each new day all gains are lost and the game begins anew. It is up to the adventurers to upset this ancient balance, winning free of the shrinking demi-plane before all is reduced to the roiling stuff of raw Chaos! Will you strike a bargain, swearing fealty to one of the fell masters? Or will you attempt to master your own fate, pitting your luck and skill against arcane foes? Whatever you decide, you must act quickly, for gray worms press in from all sides and time grows short! An exploration-based adventure for 2nd level PCs, Fate's Fell Hand challenges new and old players alike. Only the most cunning of PCs can hope to thwart the machinations of three dire wizards and escape Fate's Fell Hand!
Adventures in Hawk's Rest is a love letter to low-level D&D: Studio Ghibli meets the Shire meets Lost Mine of Phandelver. An open-world hexcrawl for characters of 1st to 2nd level, Hawk's Rest is intended as a prologue to a longer campaign, with seven keyed adventure sites and fantastic maps by Dungeon Baker (How to Defend Your Lair, The Lazy DM's Companion). Hawk's Rest is written for new and veteran players alike but avoids the usual pitfalls associated with 1st-level adventures: not only are encounters balanced to avoid character death, but most combats can be avoided entirely with clever roleplaying.