A monster amonkst us... The monastery of Montelegro was once a major center of academia, but it fell out of favor when its library burned to the ground some 20 years ago. (The fire is rumored to have been started by the candle of a monk who fell asleep while reading.) Without books to attract scholars and patrons, the order of monks that run the monastery has dwindled. Now the monastery is a mere shell, its once-thriving halls empty. Only 21 monks remain. The order that runs Montelegro supports a number of scribes dedicated to copying and illuminating books of all kinds. The most talented of these illuminators was Brother Abel of Corbone, a young monk fresh out of the university. A few days prior to the adventure, Brother Abel witnessed a miraculous sight. While walking about on the outskirts of the monastery, he beheld a vision of his god. The vision instructed him to build a well upon the spot where he stood. If Abel did this, the god promised prosperity would return to Montelegro. Unfortunately Brother Abel was unable to fulfill his god's vision and appears to have taken his own life.... Or was there Murder in the Monastery? Pgs. 8-17 & 55
In Par2 - Patrician Stronghold, the base defense of the nation is discussed in detail. For decades the protective ring of fortresses has protected the country from outside forces bent on overthrowing it. This offering explains the general overview of the consistently made fortifications as well as giving a low-level adventure to explore a deserted one!
Blinsky's Toyshop is our take on what happens to Blinsky and Piccolo during, or after the Curse of Strahd campaign. Blinsky, the toymaker in Vallaki with the cute monkey wearing a pink tutu, received a large inheritance from a long-time client. The client, Obtavius Swat, a retired adventurer and avid collector of toys, left his entire estate to Blinsky. The estate included coin, precious gems, art, and his collection of toys, some made by Blinsky and others he acquired during his travels. Blinsky used the fortune to pay a wizard to create a small island in the middle of Lake Zarovich, located just outside of Vallaki. He then paid masons and workers to build a fantastic new toyshop, which he designed to be an experience for both the young and old alike. Though the number of children in Barovia was increasing, mostly imparted to the devil Strahd’s downfall, Blinsky wanted to touch the inner child of the adults in the city. He wanted happiness. He wanted smiles. He named the castle Blinsky’s Toyshop of Marvels. One of the toys, a small silver tiara kept in a black satin-lined ivory jewelry box, was such a lovely piece. Blinsky couldn’t stand the thought of leaving it in the box. He already had enough gold and losing the small tiara wouldn’t be a large loss, so he decided to give it to his monkey – Piccolo (see Creatures of the Toyshop). He smiled at the thought of her running around in her pretty, shiny tiara. Sadly, as Barovian luck would have it, trapped inside the tiara is the sole of an evil gnome wizard named Aribetha Strangge. In his old age, Obtavious Swat forgot that he and his fellow adventurers used the tiara to imprison the gnome’s soul. Yesterday, when Blinsky placed the tiara on Piccolo’s head, silver tendrils cascaded from the tiara and into poor Piccolo’s skull, allowing Aribetha to control the monkey. Now, Aribetha has incapacitated Blinsky in the toyshop’s tower, brought many of the toys to life, and imprisoned or killed many of the workers and customers. The adventure includes costumes (which the character may wear), Strahd Hand Puppets, and a possessed Piccolo.
Ten days ride north of the great city, there is a small town named Treefall. Up until recently, this town was well known for its rich harvests, happy villagers, and prosperous weather. These days, however, the once-proud details from Treefall have turned darker. Instead of tales of unending prosperity, you hear hushed whispers of a great curse that has struck the once-happy village. Word has it that, where once roamed contented cattle, now strange beasts hunt by the moon's cold light and terrorize the hapless region. You have scoffed with the others at these stories. Despite the things you've seen in you adventures with your friends, the thought that such ill might befall such a sleepy town strikes you as terribly unlikely. There is plenty of evil in the world, true, but there are also much bigger and better targets. But, tonight despite the firmness of your disbelief, the stories come to find you. You have been traveling north along the roads on your own business, enjoying the rich fall colors and warm afternoons. Your camp os small and secure, with a roaring fire and meat cooking over the flame. It's one of those crisp autumn days that makes you long for a warm hearth after a long ride in the cool air. Still, the fire is good enough for now and you and your friends have a wonderful meal, talking and singing and laughing, anticipating a restful sleep beneath the blanket of stars. Until the beast attacks.
Come on up for a bite. Sometimes the adventure comes to you. The local inhabitants of a large town have been disappearing and its up to find what is causing and bring back the people that have disappeared. Pgs. 48-59
Player characters attacking the lair of monsters that have been menacing the local village is a common D&D trope. This adventure turns the trope on its head. In Goblin Defense, the players create goblin PCs, and have to fight off repeated attacks by adventurers who are stronger and better equipped than they are. Starting at level 1 and running until level 7, this module encompasses 16 battles against unique and typically themed groups of adventurers built using player character classes and rules. The module is designed for 3 players, each of whom takes on an individual role within the tribe, granting unique bonuses or options for actions outside of combat. Goblin Defense can also be played with 4 players, but is not recommended for 5 or more players without substantial revision. The players aren't alone. Each commands a squad of goblin minions who can help in combat... but goblins are fragile, and adventurers hit hard. Life as a goblin is often brief and violent. Many will die, but as long as some survive, the tribe will carry on. A simple ruleset is provided for managing actions during the downtime between each attack. During this time, players can work to train their minions to use better gear, hunt for food for their tribe, recruit replacement warriors, brew potions, and - most importantly - improve their lair and its defenses by adding walls, traps, tunnels, doors, alarms, and anything else their creative minds can come up with. As the exact layout and placement of defensive features is critical, this is designed to be played on a grid. A PDF is included with the map scaled to print on 24"x36" (Arch D) size paper, available at most print shops. DMs may enjoy the chance to briefly try out many different character class and subclass combinations as they attack and eventually fall to the goblin pests they're trying to eliminate. Page count: Information for the DM only 6 Information for the players 4 Adventurer statblocks 37
Suitable for four PCs. Adventure can be finished in one session. Several months back, Dip Halfling-Chewer and his cronies were ejected from a nearby goblin clan for indiscriminate wrestling. Their antics, although hilariously entertaining to themselves, were destructive and dangerous to the rest of the clan. The goblins spent several nights in the wilderness before discovering an abandoned wagon by the side of a trade road. There, the homeless cadre transformed the wagon into distinctly goblinoid fortress. They have had some success in assaulting and looting travelers on the road.
With the docks of Distant Turtle City behind them, the challenge of the city's castle still lies ahead. Ancient dwarven samurai were lords of the mighty estate, but now it has fallen to darkness. What secrets and horrors might be found there are disheartening enough, but with a city of the shadow dead at their backs, the adventurers have little choice but to put an end to Molo's corruptions once and for all. Come join the battle against legendary tortoise oni, stealthy gaint mantises, corrupted beasts, undead half-dwarven guards, and even a rumored shadow dragon! This adventure is formatted to both 1E & 5E gaming rules. Also available in PDF.
For years, the knights of Mendev have held back the evil locked inside the Worldwound, a vast, demon-tainted landscape. Every few years, they anoint a new protector, a sacred guardian charged with pitting his will against the teeming hordes bent on devouring the very souls of the living. This year, something has gone horribly wrong, and now a bloodthirsty demonic army has overrun the ancient fortress, and threatens to pour into the surrounding countryside.
Designed for a party of five characters of at least 9th level, this adventure will challenge players seeking a powerful magic item of the GM’s choosing. A sphere of annihilation has been provided and is woven into several elements of the adventure, but any appropriately powerful item can be substituted if something else suits your campaign better. Though the adventure is designed to test every type of character class, a rogue who can deal with traps is essential, as is a wizard or sorcerer of at least 9th level. Larger groups will have an easier time; parties of four or fewer characters will be in for a very bad time unless you mitigate some of the tower’s more lethal traps and encounters. This adventure culminates in an encounter with devils and a sphere of annihilation. The sphere of annihilation is hidden deep within the tower-and-dungeon complex of Crane the Sorcerer. Originally set atop a high mountain in a secluded and wild part of the world, the tower and dungeon can be relocated to meet the situation in your campign. Crane, an introvert, stayed as far away from civilization as possible, as is detailed below. The tower above the dungeon doesn’t present many difficulties for a group of powerful characters or alert players. It might lull PCs into a false sense of security before they enter the areas where they’ll really be put to the test.
A Beholder Love Story A dwarven mineshaft has become the new home of the heartbroken beholder Sindryl. Discover who could be wicked enough to separate Sindryl from his love Prix'am, put a stop to their plot, and restore Prix'am's missing heart. A 3-6 hour Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition adventure for Tier 2 characters. This adventure includes: 2 New Monsters (including 1 New Beholder!), 3 New Magic Items, New NPCs, a Minecart Skill Challenge, Romantic Random Encounters for the Underdark!
The lizard men are just pining for the fjords. A plague of locusts is bad enough, but when the locusts are each a yard long, the farmers need professional help! A swarm of giant locusts has been eating all the grapes and leaves from the vineyards of Vineyard Vale! In addition, lizard folk have attacked and destroyed several steads in the vale. The farmers are desperate, but what they don't know is that these events are linked! A mage known as Rhungold the Trickster has been orchestrating the attacks and locusts to try to scare the farmers off the land so he can claim it as his own. The players slowly piece the story together by investigating a fairly linear story through a cave, a marsh, and finally to a compound owned by the wizard Rhungold. Pgs. 6-16
Ages ago, the tower stood as a bastion against banditry and marauders. But civilization has long since retreated from this area, and a band of goblin thieves has taken up residence in the ruined tower. Local woodsfolk beg the PCs to rid the place of the bandits before they are victimized again by the goblins of the Broken Tower. Pgs. 18-23
Gang War! is a companion adventure made to go along with the events unfolding in Folio #9 (DF2 The Lost Apprentice). It contains the information needed to run a side advenute during the events of The Hidden Valoria Campaign. Yep, you've stepped in it now! Cross blades with several of the gangs of the Patina to help avoid an all-out war that is likely to set the neighborhood ablaze! Once again the players are pressed into service to help keep the peace in the Patina when a rumor of a murder and deciet will pit on gang against another, their tenuous alliances threatening to pull other gnags into the mess as well. This adventure is formatted to both 1E & 5E gaming rules.
Deep in a secluded vale is a place known to the locals as Yasmine's Tower. It is said that she is an evil witch who uses magic to bend lost travellers to her will. Can your party put an end to this evil?
To arms! To arms! The battle lines are drawn as desert men and inhuman tribes wait poised to strike on the fertile and rich lands of the east. The call has gone out through the civilized lands. The armies have been raised to match the invading foes from the west. Nobles and peasants have joined swords to greet the foes. But Fate or Chance has decreed another role for a small few. No glorious banners will wave on their march. No squadrons of knights will charge at their word. Instead, they will fight the war with stealth, secrecy, and cunning. The risks they will take are great, but the fates of both armies lie with them. It begins one night for your party far from the fighting. Suddenly you are entrusted with the most dangerous mission of the war. Can you cross the Sind Desert, occupied now by enemy armies, to find the Great Pass? Can you find the one known only as The Master? What will you do if you find him? So begins your adventure in The Master of the Desert Nomads, the first module of a two-part adventure that can be concluded in the exciting Temple of Death or played entirely on its own. Can your party do what must be done? TSR 9068
If love overcomes evil, remember to get rid of the imp! It took only the love of one good woman - and the hatred of one evil familiar. After leading a life a villainy, the wizard Elzid Natholin gradually left his wicked ways, transformed by the true love of a young maiden. His imp familiar was not pleased with this benign transformation and tricked his master into detonating himself and his tower. The players will investigate the tower to determine the nature of the explosion. The imp still guards the treasure in the dungeon, and is waiting for a legion of infernal soldiers to come claim the treasure for their devil lords. Pgs. 20-28
This AD&D scenario is designed to be a humorous departure from regular adventuring. The "heroes" are a fellowship of monsters on a quest to recover a magical item for an orc chieftain whom they have displeased. Having lost the map given to them, they must gain entry to a frontier outpost - probably by sneaking through sewers - and recover the map from a locked safe in the commanders quarters. Once they again have the map, the monsters must travel overland to an abandoned elven witches' temple on the shore of a mountain lake, where they will find the object of their quest. Pgs. 23-32
"One morn, no sunrise comes. There is only darkness, and an icy chill." Cast out from their heavenly domain, the gods of the Forgotten Realms wander the land as mortals. They seek the lost Tablets of Fate, key to their return. A band of adventurers are hired by a young apprentice to rescue her sorceress-mentor, little do they realize the size of the stakes they will soon be playing for. Caught up in a power struggle that will determine the fate of the Realms themselves, the first step is to find the only mortal who may know what's going on - the legendary sage Elminster. Shadowdale is the first of a trilogy of modules that describe the strife called by some "the Godswar," in The Forgotten Realms. TSR 9247
The ancient world of Harth withers beneath its dying sun…but it’s not dead yet. High in the night sky, a vampire’s tower is torn apart by a rampaging angel. People and monsters are trapped. Magical treasure lies scattered everywhere. It’s all yours for the taking, if you can find a way out before the angel finds you. This adventure is a one-shot dungeon-delve into a wizard’s tower. In space. With vampires. This is an alien-survival-horror-movie of an adventure (or at least, you can choose to play it that way). ADVENTURE TYPE: One-Shot / Low Level / Level 3 / Dungeon Delve / Tower / Vampires / Survival-Horror DESIGN NOTES This adventure is intended for low-level characters (around level 3). It is focused mostly on exploration, with several social encounters and opportunities for deadly combat. It runs 3 to 5 hours. There are 17 unique magical items, 17 unique monsters, and 17 unique rooms. I swear I did not plan that, it just worked out this way.