This campaign was created as a response to comments from some friends of mine. Though they were avid board game players, they didn’t want to try D&D because it seemed like too much of a time commitment with too many rules to learn before getting started. This campaign uses stripped down characters and a simple campaign, and was made to give them a chance to try it for half an hour on a regular board games night. I’m putting it online in the hopes that other people can do the same with it and expand the community. Inspired by /u/plaintreality of Reddit.
Death Is in the Cards The remnants of the Ebon Fold are cutting a deadly path through the Falkovian countryside, draining travelers of their life force and leaving withered corpses in their wake. Hot on their trail you come across the sole survivor of one of these deadly attacks, a young vistani man with an extraordinary skill for fortune-telling. His tarokka deck helps close the gap between you and the assassins. Together you follow the trail through Darkon, the dark domain of the lich lord Azalin, to the city of Nartok. With an Unholy Alliance... Something very strange is happening in Nortok. The killers enter the Temple of the Eternal Order and don't come out. It seems that the state of religion of Darkon is giving succor to these assassins. To make matters more confusing, the Kargat, the domain's secret police, has put aside its feud with the Eternal Order and has a large contingent staying at the temple as well. These three organizations working together bodes ill for the residents of Nartok. ... And Schemes Within Infernal Schemes Great amounts of life energy are being collected for some foul purpose, although no one seems to know what exactly it is. The tarokka cards provide only mysterious glimpses of the future - a future in which a powerful evil sweeps the land and Death walks the world. Can you discover the truth of what is happening in the temple in time to avert the disaster predicted by the cards? Death Ascendant is a full-length adventure that can be run as a stand-alone scenario or as the second part in the Grim Harvest series. It contains a 64-page adventure booklet plus a full-color poster map detailing the Temple of the Eternal Order. TSR 9526
Ten thousand flawless killers surround the city. Utterly silent in battle and in death, they seem unconquerable. They mean to choke the life out of the age-old city and leave it an empty ruin. The city calls upon its heroes to defeat this unnatural menace. The heroes gather to ponder the question: how do you defeat an impregnable foe? And then a wizard from a far-off world whisks the heroes away to fight battle of a very different sort, leaving them with a strange neon pink glow around their eyes… Note: This adventure can be used setting neutral or as a means to enter the "Purple Planet" DCC setting.
A boxful of trouble. Sugar and spice and everything nice, that's what little girls are made of - but not this one! Think of this short adventure as 'Home Alone' meets AD&D. An apprentice to the town's wizard accidentally got into the cursed items while her teacher was away. Now she's acting strangely and playing a dangerous game of hide and seek with the party! Pgs. 44-47
While enjoying a nice honey wine in the backwater community of Bench you discover citizens have been kidnapped from the surrounding area. After further investigation the mystery leads to a compound being built by the Exterminatus! With the danger mounting can the party slow the march of the evil cult and maybe pick up a few more pages of the arcane tome? Are they stealthy enough to infiltrate the stronghold? At almost 50 pages this adventure has the Precinct of Bench and the large compound of the Exterminatus each of which can be used in separate campaigns!
A nearly-penniless merchant wants heroes to secure and return priceless heirlooms. But can they do it with goblins all around, raiding and pillaging? Can the heroes reach a peaceful settlement with the raiders, or will they wreak mayhem and slaughter? Find out in Eastbarrow! This package (adventure, maps, and handouts within) forms a complete module for use with DUNGEONS & DRAGONS® 5TH EDITION RULES. It is especially designed for Dungeon Masters to initiate play with a minimum of preparation. Also includes full-sized maps for the VTT of your choice! Old School Look and Feel!
In this adventure, the PCs discover that not all souls rest easy, particularly those spirited away to Nightwyrm Fortress. To learn the truth, players must pierce death's veil itself and enter the Shadowfell, where sinister echoes of life wing through eternal gloom. This adventure can be run as a stand-alone adventure or as Part Three of a three-part series of adventures (starting with P1 King of the Trollhaunt Warrens(TM) and P2 Demon Queen's Enclave(TM)) that spans 10 levels of gameplay.
The heroes arrive at the eponymous Keep on the Borderlands, a fortress on the edge of civilization built to stave off the chaos and evil of the wilderness. Using it as a home base, a party can make forays into the surrounding wilderness, encountering monster and marauder alike. The centerpiece of the adventure is certainly the CAVES OF CHAOS, a network of tunnels and caverns found in the walls of a nearby but isolated ravine. It is here that hordes of evil humanoids have made their home. Through combat and negotiation, the players can try to explore and map out these caves, perhaps with the aim of accumulating valuable treasure or even cleansing the land of evil creatures. However, even the Caves are not all they seem. Beyond the goblins and kobolds lurk dark horrors: cults dedicated to fiendish chaos and a Minotaur's enchanted labyrinth await the unprepared adventurer. But for the hero who is brave, clever, and fortunate in equal and sufficient measure, great treasures and glory await in the Caves of Chaos that lie beyond the Keep on the Borderlands! TSR 9034
Roots of Evil, the conclusion to the adventure begun in From the Shadows, delves into the horrific origins of Strahd von Zarovich, master vampire. This 96-page adventure module features Strahd in his final showdown with Azalin the lich, the two most powerful lords of evil in RAVENLOFT® realm. Player characters return to the popular Castle Ravenloft and discover never before known facts about the vampire's roots and origins. The outcome impacts the RAVENLOFT® realm for years to come! TSR 9413
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.
Two centuries ago, the last king of the celtic kingdom of Pellham was deposed in favor of a High Council. Now, however, things are going badly, and a restless populace longs for the days of the ancient kingship. The High Council is floundering - and the political situation is turning ugly. It was then that the Brothers of Brie, and obscure monastic order, discovered a long-forgotten prophecy. In Pellham's time of greatest need, a long-dead king will rise to restore order. You have been chosen to prove that this is the time of the prophecy. You will take the first steps toward returning the lost king to the throne. This adventure contains the first four rounds of the AD&D OPEN Tournament that was originally run at GEN CON XVI Convention. It includes a tournament scoring system and a team of 10 characters of levels 4-7. This adventure can be played alone or as the first part of the two-part PROPHECY OF BRIE series. TSR 9107
Greatwall is in peril - not from military forces of Iuz, but from lack of goods and supplies. Caravans from Willip have ceased thanks to increased dangers on the Willip Critwall Grabford Trail. As the key fort positioned to contain the Iuzian flood, Greatwall is a strategic necessity. Its failure would mean a major incursion along the border. Your characters are hired to escort a caravan from Greatwall to Willip; if its merchants are afraid to come to the fort, the fort will go to them. This should be simple, cut and dried guard job. Right? Of course not. There are many surprises in store for your little caravan, and your characters will need to keep their wits about them day and night in order to make it to the other end. Secret plans are afoot, conspiracies are brewing, and nothing is as it seems while on the Border Watch. This module uses information presented in the From the Ashes boxed set and the Iuz the Evil accessories. However, ownership of these two products is not necessary to play this module. TSR 9406
Deicide is a campaign designed to begin with a party of four to six 1st-level characters, who should advance to 20th level by its conclusion. The Gods have abandoned Faerûn. Bringing loved ones back from the dead hasn’t been done in centuries, and communion with the deities is a spiritual exercise only. Holy warriors and messengers have lost their powers and have all but completely disappeared. In this bleak world, wars are frequent, crime runs rampant, and hope has faded. Rumours are abound of a mysterious crime lord taking control of the underworld. Monsters roam the lands and every road is increasingly more dangerous. Without guidance, the many civilizations of this world are plagued by greed and corruption. The only way forward is to bring the Gods back, or to take their place in the heavens. Deicide takes place across two islands, Aurora and Limdorkal. These landmasses are the westernmost islands of the Moonshae Isles, an archipelago located roughly 400 miles west of the region of Amn and to the southwest of the Sword Coast. Surrounding the Sea of Moonshae, these islands feature a wide array of cities, civilizations, climates, terrains, and monsters. Limdorkal is famously a harsher environment, home to exotic races, whereas Aurora is almost entirely dominated by the human kingdom. Elminster Aumar, the famous Old Mage of Faerûn, once visited these islands and claimed it surprising how such diverse environmental systems erupted here, and how varied were the people inhabiting them. While the Sword Coast is part of Faerûn, a continent of Toril in the Forgotten Realms, feel free to adapt these islands to any setting of your choice, such as Ravenloft, Eberron, Ravnica, or even on your homebrew world. The story told here happens some hundreds of years after the beginning of 5th Edition, and the Overgod Ao is trapped inside an artifact, which limits the workings of gods around Toril. The characters will be able to learn more about the missing Gods, about a mythical folklore artifact known as the Wand of Wonders, which carries the powers of the Gods, and about the crime lord Kaiser Soze. Through their adventures, they will be able to visit other realms, planes, and dimensions, as well as come into contact with different races and civilizations. In the end, it is up to them whether to ally with the Crime Lord, and whether to release the Gods or keep their power for themselves. This campaign can work as a loose set of modular adventures, which can be easily picked separately and played as one-shots of different levels. Even their locations on the map might be moved, and events happening in particular towns can happen on others. The adventures include dungeon crawls, murder mysteries, sandbox urban quests, exploration on land and in the seas, inter-planar travelling, among others.
A world unseen lies beyond a twisted, metal gate in a remote field of the Dhalpurna Mountains. Will the characters brave the alien monstrosities, technologies, and magic inside to learn the secrets that have been brooding in this strange place for millennia? Gate of the Lens Wizard is a science-fantasy exploration adventure and includes: -A gate that leads to the tunnels beneath a distant jungle moon -Intelligent spiders at war with glass-skulled astronomy wizards -An unfathomable artifact that can rewrite time itself -Combat cards for each monster, PC, and special treasure -High-quality digital maps for use with virtual table tops
A Halfling girl battling a rare disease that no magic can cure. A fruit, which has the power to heal and the power to corrupt, now guarded by mad siblings. A journey through a hostile forest, a trapped tower, and a dungeon to retrieve the fruit to heal the young girl. Will your heroes be triumphant, or will they perish while attempting to retrieve the mysterious fruit?
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.
A storm of unparalleled fury has been ravaging the peaks of the Earthspur Mountains for a tenday, and the Monastery of the Yellow Rose sits in its eye for now. Some monks have fled the monastery to the safety of Mulmaster and beseech you to convince their more obstinate brothers to retreat to the city before the eye of the storm shifts, and the monastery is in terrible danger. Can you brave the elements and convince the monks to escape? An eight-hour adventure for 5th-10th level characters.
Looks can lie as well as words. Magical minotaurs? Mutant giants? Vampires? One or more of these is preying upon the caravans, and you're going to stop them. A band of ogre magi took over an abandoned dwarven stronghold and have started ambushing merchant caravans. Their leader, Krugii, wants to gain enough power to eventually control a kingdom. In his quest for power, he has bonded a young bronze dragon and has accelerated its growth. The ogre mages all have different personalities and different forms that they prefer to polymorph into. The PCs are hired to take a caravan through Deception Pass and protect it against the random monsters that have been marauding lately (actually ogre mages in disguise). After protecting the caravan, the players track the attacks back to the stronghold of the ogre magi and clear it out. Pgs. 40-62
This was supposed to be a simple job! In the small town of Haanex on Reanaaria Bay, the wizard Veoden assembles the PCs to do a simple job: find the remnants of a meteor said to be made of the rare substance mithral. First they must find a map that local rumor tells is guarded by the spirits of the dead. Upon recovering the map and locating the crater, they uncover a plot to create a powerful magical item called the Coin of Power. This artifact is a tool for wickedness and the players soon find themselves on a quest to learn the means to destroy this evil item and its insidious master before she destroys them. Complicating matters is the fact that the one man who can help them was lost during an expedition to the Reelio Jungle months ago and is yet to return. Will the PCs be able to survive the rigors of the jungle and solve the riddle of the tribesmen who live there? The lives of innocents might depend on it! This accessory provides characters with an elaborate storyline and a chance for many varied types of adventure. You will take your PCs from the quiet village of Haanex in northern Reanaaria Bay to the Vry Naasu Headlands, the City-State of Zoa and finally the forlorn Reelio Jungle. The Root of All Evil fantasy game supplement is set in the popular Kingdoms of Kalamar Dungeons & Dragons campaign setting but can be adapated for use in any setting! This module can be used by itself, or as Part One of the Coin of Power trilogy (see also Forging Darkness and Coin’s End).
In the frontier stronghold of Purdey’s Rest, rumors of mysterious lost ruins lead a group of young adventurers into the wilderness — and the forgotten dungeons of a legendary dark mage. Facing off against evil bandits, foul undead, and ravenous monsters, the characters seek the rewards of wealth and fame. But before they can claim either, they must survive all the deadly threats of Hazakor’s lost halls. The Hidden Halls of Hazakor is a starter adventure for fifth edition fantasy roleplaying, written with a special focus on young, beginning Gamemasters of ages twelve and up. In a friendly and straightforward fashion, this adventure explores some of the ways a good fantasy RPG dungeon crawl can be put together. It offers advice on how to just let things happen during a game session, and how to not be overwhelmed by all the directions in which an adventure can go. It talks about how to bring nonplayer characters to life, how to have fun running monsters, and how to challenge the other players and their characters alike. The Hidden Halls of Hazakor is for any player who’s ready to sit in the GM’s chair for the first time — and who is ready to learn some of the tricks and techniques that help all GMs run great games. The PDF download also includes untagged maps for Purdey's Rest and the Hidden Halls of Hazakor dungeon, making it easy to run the adventure in a virtual tabletop setup. These maps are missing the number key and any features that should initially be known only to the GM (including traps and secret doors). The publisher's website offers free pregenerated characters for the adventure, but they are not included in the adventure. The website also has a free GM Guide as well. Insane Angel Studios