A community for lazy dungeon masters
193 adventures found
Cover of The Vaka's Curse
The Vaka's Curse
AD&D
Levels 2–7
6 pages
0

"The Vaka's Curse" is a short AD&D adventure for two PCs of at least 7th level, or 4-6 PCs of at least 7th level, or 4-6 PCs of levels 2-4, with a total of at least 14 levels. The adventure is set entirely on board a ship, so it can occur whenever the PCs take a sea voyage. At least one PC should possess a silver or magical weapon.

Cover of Drastic Measures: A First Level Spelljammer Adventure
Drastic Measures: A First Level Spelljammer Adventure
5th Edition
Level 1
22 pages
0

Drastic Measures is a two to three hour adventure for four to six first level characters in a new Spelljammer campaign. It is designed to be a springboard for new players to introduce their characters and come together as a team. The DM can use this adventure as a foundation for any new Spelljammer campaign or as a hefty one-shot adventure. Upon completion of this adventure, the characters will advance to second level and the DM will have a menu of ideas for a continued campaign. This publication has 22 pages and includes a deck plan and statistics for a brand-new spelljamming ship, stat blocks for convenience, and an appendix for determining the mysterious reasons why the characters find themselves aboard this unusual ship. This adventure assumes you already own the D&D core rulebooks and the Spelljammer: Adventures in Space boxed set. The adventure begins with confusion, a ghostly warning and clouded memories as the players awaken from a deep sleep within an unfamiliar vessel – the Drastic Measures – adrift among the wreckage of a ship graveyard in deep space. They must work together to find their equipment, get the ship up and running, and defend themselves from oncoming pirates. A handful of oddball NPCs aids the players as they come to realize this is no ordinary ship. The DM will delight in answering such questions as why are the players here? Why were they in hibernation? Who built this ship, and why?

Cover of Pathfinder Adventure Path #88: Valley of the Brain Collectors (Iron Gods 4 of 6)
Pathfinder Adventure Path #88: Valley of the Brain Collectors (Iron Gods 4 of 6)
Pathfinder
Levels 10–13
96 pages
0

Book 4 in the Iron Gods campaign: A great threat is rising in Silver Mount, but a precious item belonging to a mysterious entity called Casandalee has yet to be found. With the Dominion of the Black still an ever-present danger, players must navigate a dangerous canyon, the Scar of the Spider, in hopes of learning more about their enemies, and to accomplish their mission.

Cover of From Shore to Sea
From Shore to Sea
Pathfinder
Level 6
32 pages
0

The deep waters of the Hellmouth Gulf have long concealed ancient mysteries, both wondrous and terrible. But these secrets have been submerged for too long, and the remote coastal village of Blackcove has accidentally awoken a slumbering horror from a bygone age. Strange creatures now venture from beneath the waves to steal townsfolk away in the dark of night.

Cover of Sea Reavers of the Shrouded Crags
Sea Reavers of the Shrouded Crags
4th Edition
Level 15
29 pages
0

A group of mysterious, sea raiders— capable of appearing from out of nowhere, striking, and disappearing— has terrorized a group of coastal states for some time. Now the leader of the states has asked the characters to infiltrate the raiders, find out how they operate, and put a stop to their activities. But once the heroes join the raiders, things aren’t as clear as they were led to believe. Will they succeed at their mission? Or join the raiders themselves? Pgs. 54-82

Cover of The Dread of Dynwel
The Dread of Dynwel
5th Edition
Levels 2–8
241 pages
0

The Dread of Dynwel is an adventure set in the Forgotten Realms and optimized for 4-5 players. The characters start as a down on their luck but somewhat experienced crew of adventurers with a wanted poster which pays a much-needed gold reward. Soon, events in the Sunset Vale are revealed as more dangerous than they seem, sweeping the characters along with them. From the heights of the Sunset Mountains, the alleyways of Scornubel, and depths of the Reaching Wood: The Dread of Dynwel covers levels 2 through 8 and features material which can be played as a full campaign or dropped into an ongoing one.

Cover of An Artist's Errand
An Artist's Errand
AD&D
Levels 6–8
23 pages
0

To a reigar, art doesn't imitate life, it is life. "An Artist's Errand" is an AD&D Spelljammer adventure for 4-6 good-aligned characters of level 6-8 (about 35 levels total). The module assumes the party is familiar with spelljamming. The party should include at least one spell-caster, preferably a wizard, but a party of resourceful (and powerful) fighters and rogues should be able to complete the adventure. PCs with an understanding of navigation, elvish, and engineering will come in handy as well. The party need not own a spelljamming ship to complete this adventure. Pgs. 8-31

Cover of The Beast of Bastion Bay
The Beast of Bastion Bay
5th Edition
Level 5
36 pages
0

Bastion Bay has become a bustling trade hub under the guidance of the cunning Capa Meriosa - but all is not well in the former pirate town. A monstrous undead shark stalks the seas, sinking any ship that gets too close; the newly built light house has gone mysteriously dark; and rumours swirl of twisted witches and other horrid things stalking the night. The port has been shut with no ships allowed to leave and tensions are running high. Bastion Bay is on a knife edge, and a new ship is just pulling into port... The Beast of Bastion Bay is an adventure for the 5th Edition of Dungeons & Dragons! It is designed for 3-5 5th level characters, and assumes a wide range of skills and abilities. It is designed to be played across multiple sessions and should take between 5 and 10 hours to complete. The adventure centres on the port town of Bastion Bay but can easily be transferred to any small or medium port town as long there are nearby islands and caves. This adventure was designed to have an equal balance of combat, exploration, and role-playing encounters.

Cover of Can Seapoint Be Saved?
Can Seapoint Be Saved?
AD&D
Levels 4–7
8 pages
0

Can Seapoint Be Saved?” is an adventure designed for use with the AD&D rule system. To be able to answer that question, a party of adventurers should consist of 4-8 player characters, each of 4th-7th level. The group may also include henchmen and hirelings. To have the best chance for success, the party should include as many different character classes as possible, with emphasis on fighter-types.

Cover of The Sea Witch
The Sea Witch
3rd Edition
Level 10
8 pages
0

The Sea Witch is a short adventure for four 10th-level characters. The difficulty of the adventure can be adjusted by changing the level of main antagonist (Black Molly, the sea hag pirate) or by altering the number of her ogre servants. To tailor the encounter to groups of different levels, refer to table 4-1 in Chapter 4 of the DUNGEON MASTER’S GUIDE. The adventure is set off a lightly populated coastline known as Misty Bay, but adapts easily to any coastal region in existing campaigns. The sea hag known as Black Molly is a notorious pirate who has plagued the coastal cities for the better part of a decade. A successful Knowledge (local) check (DC 15) will reveal that Molly and her ogre crew have a filthy reputation as merciless killers who delight not only in plundering vessels for their riches, but also in destroying the ships themselves and sending all hands to the bottom of the sea. Now the villain and her followers have seized control of the Old Lighthouse of Misty Bay located off a lightly populated coastline. For generations the lighthouse beacon has protected the fishermen of this region, warning them of the dangerous rocks that lurk just below the level of the high tides. Recently, the hag has put out the beacon, darkening the lighthouse; misery and destruction are sure to follow as ships start to blunder into the rocks. Blackmail is apparently Black Molly’s aim in this venture: She conveyed a message to the nearest shore community, the fishing village of Poisson, demanding the princely sum of 50,000 gp. Until she receives this ransom, she intends to hold the lighthouse and its beacon hostage. The fate of the human keepers who tend the lighthouse is unknown to the seaside communities at this time, but they fear the worst. The Sea Witch is ostensibly a rescue mission: The PCs are pitted against the evil of Black Molly and the brawn of her savage ogre crew. It is the heroes’ task to retake the lighthouse and, if possible, free its captives from the clutches of their jailer. What neither the PCs nor the shore communities yet realize is that while she 1would be pleased to have the gold, Black Molly is in fact after bigger treasure. Molly has no intention of giving up the lighthouse — at least, not until she finds what her master sent her here for. Lying on the sea floor practically at the base of the rock on which the lighthouse sits is the wreck of the war galley Flying Cloud, which according to popular legend was captained by a cleric who wore around his neck an amulet of the planes. Black Molly wants this prize, but so far she hasn’t been able to find it. She’s scoured the wreck without finding any sign of the magic item. Now she’s trying to determine where to search next, for the item might well be somewhere near the wreck. If she can’t find it, she’ll start torturing her captives to find out if they have any useful knowledge about the amulet.

Cover of XSOLO Lathan's Gold
XSOLO Lathan's Gold
BECMI
Levels 4–6
32 pages
0

Kidnapped! The cursed Baron von Hendriks has kidnapped your betrothed. Now the madman wants as a ransom your Alandah's weight in unrefined gold! How are you going to pay? The baron himself has been kind enough to provide you with that answer: streams of raw gold gush from a burning mountain somewhere in the Sea of Dread. All you have to do is find this mysterious mountain. Unfurl the sails! The open sea awaits you and your crew as you sail from the city harbor. But beware! The Sea of Dread has more than earned its title over the centuries. Can you survive the perils of the sea? Will your crew mutiny before you reach the Burning Mountain? Or will you have to throw crew-members overboard just to make room for the gold? Solo adventure. "Lathan's Gold" is a real innovation in solo adventure design, considerably more complex than any of the gamebooks then being produced. Though the adventures uses the typical trope of numbered paragraphs, its paragraphs are divided into six types: "S"pecularum, "U"rban", Island "E"xploration", "C"oastal", "T"rade Routes, and "V"oyages. Players can jump between the sections, then return, in slightly freeform ways. Players are also required to keep track of hit points, money, and treasure (which were typical for the more advanced gamebooks), and rations, days remaining, and hull points (which were not). Another freeform element, quite unusual for gamebooks, is the "wandering monsters" table, which introduces semi-random encounters. TSR 9082

Cover of The Lamenting Lighthouse
The Lamenting Lighthouse
5th Edition
Levels 5–10
45 pages
0

The Lamenting Lighthouse is a four-hour adventure for 5th-10th level characters, designed for Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition, with a nautical theme, heavy undead and horror elements, and mysteries to solve! One lonely lighthouse shines the way through the rocks and shoals that deny entry to the northern Moonshae Isles. But when the party’s transport approaches, a horrific gale at their backs - no light is in sight... The party must venture ahead of their vessel in a race against the storm to the restore the beacon before their ship is lost. What has befallen the keepers, and what dark secret does the lighthouse hold? Will the heroes prevail, or will they join the lighthouse's lament? This adventure can easily be inserted into a run-through of Ghosts of Saltmarsh. This one-shot can also serve as a nautical interlude in any on-going campaign where the characters have to take to the sea. Included with this adventure are: + 6 original custom creatures, the dread wraith, the dread wight, the swarm of seagulls, the captain, the rating, and the sailor + 12 player hand-outs with notes that shed light on the mystery of the lamenting lighthouse, with a randomization mechanic that ensures a degree of replayability + 9 original fleshed out NPCs, including personality traits and roleplaying tips + 2 original magical artifacts + 7 hand-drawn maps of important locations + a story reward and 2 story hooks for continuing the adventure (depending on how the adventure resolves)

Cover of Red Gold
Red Gold
5th Edition
Levels 1–3
12 pages
0

On the world’s first offshore rig Captain Seaslick and his crew are drilling for dragon essence - a rare and valuable substance often called Red Gold. They’re about to be filthy rich, but not everyone’s happy for them. Dragon cultists have infiltrated the rig and are trying to steal a stash of the precious essence for their rites. In their eagerness they’ve magically sped the drill up to a perilous rate. With the rig rattling and falling apart around them, will Seaslick and his enterprising ex-pirates team up with nature worshipping tribes folk to defeat their shared enemy? And will they escape with their liquid hoard, or will the sea have her revenge for their greed?

Cover of SJS1 Goblin's Return
SJS1 Goblin's Return
AD&D
Levels 7–10
96 pages
0

Hundreds of years ago, the elves and goblinkin fought for control of known space in the Unhuman War. The elves emerged victorious and the goblinkin were driven out to lick their wounds an plot revenge for another day. That day has come. After centuries of plotting and building, a new race of advanced orcs known as the scro have rallied the goblins, hobgoblins, and kobolds. It is only a matter of time before they infiltrate known space to wreak destruction on the inhabited planets. The elves are looking for a few good adventurers to infiltrate a scro base and steal any information valuable to the war effort. Your PCs are offered the chance to become heroes?or die trying. Goblin's Return is a 64-page adventure set in the second Unhuman War. The first of a two-part module series, it can later be linked with Heart of the Enemy or it can be played as a stand-alone adventure. TSR 9347

Cover of AT1.5 Storm Seasons
AT1.5 Storm Seasons
AD&D
Levels 5–7
3 pages
0

Everyone comes to Taux for a reason, and yet they come. A few will brave the Ebon Swamp, but most come via ship, which is the method the party now employs. Unbeknownst to them, however, a strom is brewing, one with untold magical energy that can bend the very fabric of space and time. If they are lucky they will have a story to be told beyond imagination. If they aren't, they will become the fodder of sea-faring legend, just another lost ship that never made it into the sheltered bay of Taux. This mini-adventure sets up the events of Folio #11 (AT1 The Subtle Revenant) This adventure is formatted to both 1E & 5E gaming rules.

Cover of River Rats
River Rats
AD&D
Levels 4–6
6 pages
0

Player's pickup the quest from the Greyhawk Adventurer's Guild to escort a barge down the Nyr Dyv.

Cover of Serpents of Scuttlecove
Serpents of Scuttlecove
3.5 Edition
Levels 15–17
34 pages
0

The vile city of Scuttlecove is the home of murderers, thieves, demon whorshipers, peddlers of vice, and monsters. Here, anyone can find a place to hide, provided they can survive the terrors and dangers that infest the city streets. Scuttlecove is also the home of the Crimson Fleet, a notorious band of pirates who have long held the Vohoun Ocean as their private looting grounds. The time has come to take the fight to these legendary pirates, to confront them in their own depraved lair. "Serpents of Scuttlecove" is the eighth chapter in 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 #344 of Dragon magazine features several additional locations the PCs might wish to visit during their stay in the city of Scuttlecove. The characters once again board the Sea Wyvern, this time to sail for Scuttlecove – a hideous city of pirates, slavers, cannibals, and worse – in search of clues to the final Savage Tide and the rescue of their patron. Pgs. 42-75 Also see Pgs. 76-85 for Backdrop: Scuttlecove City of Chaos.

Cover of Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage
Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage
5th Edition
Levels 5–20
320 pages
1

In the city of Waterdeep rests a tavern called the Yawning Portal, named after the gaping pit in its common room. At the bottom of this crumbling shaft is a labyrinthine dungeon shunned by all but the most daring adventurers. Known as Undermountain, this dungeon is the domain of the mad wizard Halaster Blackcloak. Long has the Mad Mage dwelt in these forlorn depths, seeding his lair with monsters, traps, and mysteries—to what end is a constant source of speculation and concern. This adventure picks up where Waterdeep: Dragon Heist leaves off, taking characters of 5th level or higher all the way to 20th level should they explore the entirety of Halaster’s home. Twenty-three levels of Undermountain are detailed herein, along with the subterranean refuge of Skullport. Treasures and secrets abound, but tread with care!

Cover of The Test of High Sorcery
The Test of High Sorcery
5th Edition
Levels 3–4
154 pages
0

So you want to be a Mage of High Sorcery? To join the esteemed organization, you must travel to the Tower of Wayreth and undertake the most important event in your life—the harrowing Test of High Sorcery! If you can survive where so many aspiring mages have failed, you will forever bind your soul to the Gods of Magic and gain access to untold arcane secrets. The Test of High Sorcery is the perfect adventure for new and veteran players looking to experience Dungeons & Dragons in a new way! It is a solo adventure, where your choices have meaningful consequences, but it also provides balanced rules to play with a group or a Dungeon Master. This 154-page tome features: - A sprawling adventure that fits perfectly as an expansion to any Dragonlance campaign, Dragonlance: Shadow of the Dragon Queen, or as a stand-alone replayable experience - A tale full of sorcerous intrigue, featuring many new characters alongside iconic favorites like Fistandantilus, Takhisis, Fizban the Fabulous, and the Gods of Magic - Innovative Destiny and Trait mechanics make your choices really matter—and ensure every mage’s Test of High Sorcery is a unique experience - Over 60 possible outcomes to determine which Order of High Sorcery you join and provide compelling new plot hooks for your character during future adventures - Dozens of unique locations with rich stories and sorcerous challenges that Dungeon Masters can use to create their own version of the Test of High Sorcery - New magic items and stat blocks, with mechanics that support clever use of enemies’ weaknesses and the environment against them - Four gorgeous sample characters, with interactive character sheets designed to be new-player friendly so that you can jump right into the story - A detailed primer on the history of Krynn and how it relates to the Mages of High Sorcery - A community survey when you finish to let you see how you compare to other mages taking their Tests of High Sorcery

Cover of Flotsam
Flotsam
AD&D
Levels 6–8
2 pages
0

Sometimes things are not what they seem. While the PCs are sailing through pirate-infested waters, a crewman spots the floating wreckage of a sailing ship. Two survivors are standing on the deck waving frantically. The survivors — an eccentric old man, and a noble woman, claim to be merchants from Waterdeep, but are in fact pirates. During an attack on a merchant vessel, the old man, a mage, had missed with a fireball and hit their own ship causing serious damage and killing several crew mates. As punishment, the pirate leader left them marooned on the wreckage, taking the ship they had attacked. This is a short module focused on roleplay. Combat is unlikely as the pirates have no reason to attack or threaten their rescuers. The female survivor seeks a hidden treasure, which could provide a hook for ongoing adventure. While the module isn't explicitly written for solo play, it could be easily adapted for any group size provided the power balance between rescuer and pirate is maintained. Pgs. 24-25