A genius inventor - Anthony Karstark, founder of the "Karstark Inventions", has recently reached a new level of reclusiveness, when he stopped showing up at his company events. A concerned friend and employee, Holly Amberfell, hires an adventuring party, to figure out what happened to him. As adventurers enter and explore the quarantined manor of the great inventor, they have to deal with his mechanic inventions, figure out minor mysteries of past and present, and finally - face Anthony himself, changed by a strange disease into a Slaad-spawn. Guesting at Artifice Manor is an 8-10 hours long mystery and exploration adventure, that should roughly take two playing sessions (or can be squished into one - suggestions on how to do it are inside the book!). It is optimized for 4 to 5 characters of 8-10 levels. This adventure can be used to kick-off a campaign, exploring the origins and history of Slaads.
A Little Bit of Thievery is an unconventional freeform adventure for level 1 characters. The players are contracted to steal a magic item at a noble's fancy party, and are forced to abandon their weapons and rely on their wits to survive. Mayhem required and violence (mostly) optional. Success might bring the ire of an elite with a panache for vengeance and money to burn. Beats killing giant rats in the safety of a basement for a few silver pieces, right? Although it is specifically written for the 5th edition’s basic rules, the adventure can be dropped into any rules system or campaign with minimal modification. (Pay What You Want)
About a year ago, an adventuring party found themselves encumbered with more treasure than they knew what to do with. After brief deliberation, the group buried their hoard in a remote grotto inhabited by water birds. It was only a matter of time until one of the resident scavengers exhumed a most unfortunate item. Armed with a headband of intellect and a stash of other equipment for the taking, Belladonna the Bin Chicken began to study the abandoned spellbooks. The ambitious fowl quickly advanced as a mage, and set her sights on conquest of the surrounding areas.
Everyone starts out their career with big dreams ready to take on the world. As you head out towards your fame you discover an abandoned manor house. With hope your in your heart you wonder if anything of value is left in the ruined building. Cautiously you enter...
The Dark Lady has spread chaos and ruin across the Dessarin Valley, causing great misfortune to nearly all adventurers and guilds that visit. Thus, it is time to endeavor to bring this power to heel, helping save the Savage Frontier or deal with this threat in a more permanent way. Dive into one of her lairs, Rundreth Manor, survive the horrors within, and end her tyranny. A Four-Hour Adventure for Tier 2 Characters. Optimized for APL 8. A stand-alone adventure. Part of the Forgotten Wyrms Anthology. Content Warning: Slavery, sexual coercion, charm and physical contact (illusions), cannibalism, mental torture.
Far2 – Discord at the Docks is a short adventure based in the city of Phoenix in Fartook. Similar to Far1, this adventure is for low/novice level players. The adventure begins as your ship docks in Phoenix and you and your group debark. The scenario was designed for five players and gives them a variety of small problems to tackle. The PCs were on a delivery mission but mistook a subject on the dock as the intended recipient. The true owner is not pleased at the foul up and demands the party fix it IMMEDIATELY. Part of the inspiration for GenCon 17’s adventure, this scenario gives a number of “inconsequential” encounters that bring depth to urban adventuring!
The Ivory Scimitar becomes convinced that some key of the Violet Corruption can be found in the old House Fleetwood within Daern Kelton. Braving the city, they journey to the house and discover several key pieces of informantion along the way may help them stop the corruption and defeat the dungeon once and for all. This adventure is formatted to both 1E & 5E gaming rules.
When the hunters become the haunted. Some haunted houses are best left unexplored. The third adventure in the 'Mere of Dead Men' series! Pgs. 48-71
The Horror of Horticulture Valentine Manor is beauty entrapped in architecture. The lavish stately home is renowned throughout the realms, and its gardens even more so. However, despite its famed beauty something has found its way into the garden and corrupted its allure. Could it be something to do with the new gardeners, or something even more sinister? Free adventure!
Despite the bitter cold that reigns here nine months of the year, the Timberway Forest has long been a source of prosperity for civilized folk who live nearby. Many trappers and hunters spend the better part of the year within its borders, stockpiling furs and meat to trade in the frontier towns to the south, where they spend their winters. Most feel that the value of these commodities makes braving the Timberway Forest worth the risk. Recently, though, a small group of trappers and hunters has awakened a terrible new menace in the forest. Based in a remote hunter's abode called the Bluerock Lodge, they hunted the animals of the woods more out of a deep-seated desire to be cruel than a need to feed themselves. In particular, they focused their hateful attention on the local Timberway lion population. Timberway lions are rather small (more like leopards), but they are known for being lithe and wary. Still, the trappers had the advantage of intelligence and tools, and before long they had slaughtered the entire pride save for its leader. As the winter worsened and game grew ever more scarce, this last surviving lion began to starve. At that point, the darker forces of nature took notice, and the Timberway Forest gained a predator like no other. Frozen Whispers is a short D&D adventure for four 3rd-level player characters (PCs). The scenario is set mostly in and near a remote hunter’s lodge in a snowy forest. The scenario can be placed in any cold area of your campaign world that features a remote tract of woodland—a copse of trees near the arctic circle, a swath of taiga near the treeline on a high mountainside, or even a normally temperate forest caught in the grip of an unnaturally snowy winter. As always, feel free to adapt the material presented here as you see fit to make it work with your campaign.
Under raging stormclouds, a lone figure stands silhouetted against the ancient walls of castle Ravenloft. Count Strahd von Zarovich stares down a sheer cliff at the village below. A cold, bitter wind spins dead leaves around him, billowing his cape in the darkness. Lightning splits the clouds overhead, casting stark white light across him. Strahd turns to the sky, revealing the angular muscles of his face and hands. He has a look of power - and of madness. His once-handsome face is contorted by a tragedy darker than the night itself. Rumbling thunder pounds the castle spires. The wind's howling increases as Strahd turns his gaze back to the village. Fas below, yet not beyond his keen eyesight, a party of adventurers has just entered his domain. Strahd's face forms a twisted smile as his dark plan unfolds. He knew they were coming, and he knows why they came, all according to his plan. He, the master of Ravenloft, will attend to them. Another lightning flash rips through the darkness, its thunder echoing through the castle's towers. But Strahd is gone. Only the howling of the wind - or perhaps a lone wolf - fills the midnight air. The master of Ravenloft is having guests for dinner. And you are invited. TSR 9075
Nestled on the coast of the Azure Sea is Saltmarsh, a sleepy fishing village that sits on the precipice of destruction. Smugglers guide their ships to hidden coves, willing to slit the throat of anyone foolhardy enough to cross their path. Cruel sahuagin gather beneath the waves, plotting to sweep away coastal cities. Drowned sailors stir to unnatural life, animated by dark magic and sent forth in search of revenge. The cult of a forbidden god extends its reach outward from a decaying port, hungry for fresh victims and willing recruits. While Saltmarsh slumbers, the evils that seek to plunder it grow stronger. Heroes must arise to keep the waves safe! Ghosts of Saltmarsh combines some of the most popular classic adventures from the first edition of Dungeons & Dragons including the classic ‘U’ series and some of the best nautical adventures from Dungeon magazine: The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh Danger at Dunwater The Final Enemy Salvage Operation Isle of the Abbey Tammeraut’s Fate The Styes All adventures have been faithfully adapted to the fifth edition rules of Dungeons & Dragons. Furthermore, this book includes details on the port town of Saltmarsh, as well as plenty of hooks to kick-off each adventure. Play through each story in a seafaring campaign leading characters from level 1 through level 12, or pull out sections to place in ongoing campaigns in any setting. The appendices also cover mechanics for ship-to-ship combat, new magic items, monsters, and more! “The Saltmarsh series consistently ranks as one of the most popular classic D&D adventures,” said Mike Mearls, franchise creative director of D&D. “With its ties to ocean-based adventuring, it was an obvious step to augment it with additional sea-based adventures and a robust set of rules for managing a nautical campaign.” Hoist your sails, pull up anchor, and set a course for adventure!
Trapped in the mysterious Castle Amber, you find yourselves cut off from the world you know. The castle is fraught with peril. Members of the strange Amber family, some insane, some merely deadly, lurk around every corner. Somewhere in the castle is the key to your escape, but can you survive long enough to find it? TSR 9051
This horror-based adventure takes the characters to a manor shrouded in mists to discover that it is inhabited by deceased victims, arcane experiments, and a ruthless woman looking for new victims. The characters become trapped in the mists and must unravel the history surrounding the dubious deeds that have taken place in the manor. To leave, they must either defeat evil or bargain with it.
Lord Dragle was set to auction off his most recent discovery, the Shroud of Olindor. The elven relic was certain to make Dragle a wealthy man. Such a pity he had to die. But the plot surrounding Dragle’s death is far more layered than it appears. It is up to the player character to discover the hidden motives and ultimately recover the Shroud of Olindor. Part 2 of the Olindor Trilogy.
Reeve Dunder Chorley has an offer you can’t refuse - perform at his village fete in exchange for a small fortune! Visit picturesque Brindlebury and dive into country life! Judge pumpkins, show off your skills, fight Elder gods… Smashing Pumpkins is a 5e Folk Horror adventure for a level 3-5 party. The adventure has five parts, four of which are set in a rural, sand-box locale. Total playing time is around 12 hours or 4 sessions, based on a party of 4 adventurers playing at Level 3. It can be played as a one-shot or part of a larger campaign. Included within the 80-page booklet: Over 12+ hours of gaming in an immersive sandbox environment full of interesting locales and encounters. Catchy narrative hooks, side-quests and minigames to draw your players in with hours of atmospheric play. 7 intricately detailed, full-colour maps (also included as jpegs for digital play) and over 15 interactive and eccentric NPCS. GRAB A CIDER AND JOIN THE REAP!
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!
Expect a surprise when you open a magic jar. The evil wizard had a fail-safe plan for survival. It worked perfectly - almost... Pgs. 58-71
Rumors have been spreading in small towns and hamlets, regions isolated in the far reaches of the wilderness and cut off from major cities and trade routes. Rumors of strangeness in the forest, where the animals suddenly watch with intelligent eyes while the sound of a crone’s laughter pierces the veil of night. Rumors of young men and women disappearing without a trace in the wilderness. Rumors of a cottage that walks on enormous chicken legs. Rumors of Baba Yaga. Those rumors turn out to be true and the Dancing Hut of Baba Yaga has come once again to haunt, confuse, befuddle, and terrorize the far corners of the land. The Grandmother of Witches cackles in her flying mortar as she sails over the trees, a shadow in the darkness, but what does she want? Why has she come? And what strangeness awaits in her fantastic hut on dancing chicken legs? Brave heroes are needed to head out and find the answers to these questions and more! Welcome to the Dancing Hut of Baba Yaga, an adventure unlike any other. Baba Yaga, the Grandmother of Witches, has come to town, and her dangerous and mysterious Dancing Hut beckons adventurers to brave its wondrous depths. Open the doors, unlock the puzzles, and meet the famed witch, her adopted daughters, and a host of other strange characters. This module presents the Dancing Hut and its most famous owner, Baba Yaga, as an adventure site worthy of high-level exploration. You can use the module in many different ways, and the Adventures in the Hut section provides ways to entice characters to seek out Baba Yaga. In general, the adventure environments presented are designed to challenge a party of characters levels 11-16, but with some adjusting and focus on non-combat solutions, a party of lower-level characters could also explore the Dancing Hut.
The Golem Master, creator of pricey artificial servants, hasn’t been seen around for some time. His house stands dark and silent. Dare you enter?