The Approaching Swarm is a short adventure. The party can consist of any mix of classes, but it should include at least one character that is good in wilderness settings, such as a druid, ranger, or barbarian, and at least one cleric. The adventure takes place in a swampland that is near a small settlement. The characters have just arrived in the small settlement of Crivdall, which is a fort on the edge of a huge, dangerous swamp. In the dead of night, a small armada of monstrous vermin attacked the characters and their hosts, and the PCs may have spied a mysterious figure that controlled their actions.
In the small hamlet of Riverbend, the miller’s wife is missing, and the locals suspect the husband himself was involved. But all is far from what it seems. Ellessandra, the missing woman, is actually an elf from the Summer Lands. She came to live in the human settlement when the miller made a dangerous pact with the River King, the lands’ powerful sidhe ruler. Now, the player characters must unravel the truth behind Ellessandra’s disappearance, piece together the involvement of a young fey lord, and dive into the fey courts of the Summer Lands to stop a raid that would surely spell Riverbend’s doom. All the while, Arthurian intrigue and mischief runs high among the fey lords and ladies in this mercurial, open‑format adventure from acclaimed adventure designer Wolfgang Baur!
A Slumbering Serpent Hidden in the thick rainforest of Serpent Isle is a crumbled yuan-ti citadel. These foul snakefolk have been dormant for decades, but have been awoken in order to fill out some foul prophecy. Delving deep into their most sacred temple; Oss’Ithek, is the only way to uncover the dark secret which they hold so dear. Do you have the nerve to face the serpent?
Expand your game with this collection of 56 NPCs of various Challenge Ratings, thirteen of which include maps and details of their lairs. Add these NPCs as a side-quest, a main villain, a one-shot, a bounty for easy money, or however else you wish. Written by some of the best-selling authors on the Dungeon Masters Guild and outstanding podcasters, each NPC includes an image, a backstory, motives, flaws, and a stat block. Some even include new magic items!
After carving out quite the reputation, you and your associates have been summoned to meet with the local regent. As you wait in the audience chamber you notice that the furnishings appear to be in the middle of an upgrade. After being introduced to the slovenly king, his vizier explains the task ahead of you. Apparently the monarch wants to decorate his throne room and wants a Giant Ape as the showpiece. As luck would have it, rumors point to a nearby island in the Jarteach Mere…
In this adventure players are set first on a simple task, to solve the disappearance of the local witch before outside forces take an interest. But as the players get deeper, they will rapidly kind themselves on a quest for far more, as they range from an alchemist's lair on a crumbling tower down to a dark swamp full of mystery and danger, seeking a holy relic that might lead them to the outskirts of Hell itself. All in service of the sleepy Village Sujeira and the dusty souls within. 1452: Saving Sujeira’s Soul is an adventure set in northern Portugal on an alternate history Earth during the year 1452, in a world where history is much the same, but for the fact that the Rus are all hirsute dwarves, the hordes that poured out of central Asia were orcish (and half-orcs are mostly janissaries split among the Ottoman Empire’s demesnes), and elves are creatures of rumors and myth. Halflings live among the English and Portuguese in villages and farms, while goblins are pests best left for dead in the wilds between civilized countries. The Church arms its inquisitors with holy blessings, for witches are not mere milk-souring old women but vile devil-pacted souls, and wizards and sorcerers seek human and kine for sacrifices to fuel their darkling magics. There be dragons on the edges of the world, and ogres and sea serpents and giants, but the alchemists of this world know things beyond mortal ken and fight these horrors with science and canny concoctions. Published by Coldlight Press
A 26-page low level adventure for OSE and other OSR rpgs. "The swamps? Oh, that's a long time since someone got out of there. Vines and crocodiles they say in the big city. But down here we don't believe everything they say up there. Everyone knows what's up with the swamp! The hydra is hungry! We tried to hunt it down last year... that's how i got this wooden stump! What? you? killing the Hydra? well... i didn't make you out for the brave type, that's all..." -Old Mika, fisherman of Gren Against the Hydra The swamps near Gren are infested with strange creatures preying on travellers, the hydra has begun her yearly hunt and the river woman’s daughter has vanished. Last year the neighbouring towns have all gathered together to mount an expedition inside the swamp, but none returned. With nothing more to do priests, druids and citizen have gathered a 2000 gold pieces to clean out the swamp and save the river woman’s daughter from certain death. The adventure comes with detailed tables to explore the swamps, a complex dungeon riddled with encounters, treasure and lore for you to explore. Handouts are also included in the adventure pdf, for you to give to your players and excite their imagination.
Inside this full-color, 124-page anthology you’ll find four best-selling Adventurer’s League quests for level 1-10 characters set in the hobgoblin fortress of Glip Dak. Also included are instructions on how to weave these adventures into an ongoing story arc as part of your campaign. Tier 1 (Level 1-4): Glip Dak (CCC_GLIP-01-01) The Kroth Magg hobgoblins run the trade city of Glip Dak in the Troll Hills of Thar. From there they have taken control of the trade routes along the northern Moonsea. A young noble has been captured for refusing to pay their tariffs and his house looks to hire adventurers to rescue him. Beneath Glip Dak (CCC_GLIP-01-02) A series of unusual heists has both the thieves’ guild and city guard scrambling to uncover the culprits before the burglaries destabilize the thriving trade within the city, threatening the budding kingdom the Kroth Magg have fought and died to forge. Citadel of Vlaakith (CCC_GLIP-01-03) The adventurers are tasked with rescuing a group of heroes who vanished in the pearlescent fortress that manifested on the border between the Kroth Magg kingdom and the Varkonin empire in the Steppes of Thar. Tier 2 (Level 5-10): Blue Scales (CCC_GLIP-02-01) A behir has been hired to destroy the herds of aurochs necessary to feed the hobgoblin city of Glip Dak. Patrols and scouts continue to go missing, forcing the hobgoblins to hire mercenaries to track this behir as they recall their troops to the capital to maintain order as food riots break out.
Several days ago, a colony of myconids were born from the gloom and rot of a swamp near a small fishing town. They found a place to form their new colony, and settled on a crumbling mausoleum in a long-forgotten graveyard. Their rapport spores have been spreading unchecked, and have begun to infect the dead buried underneath the marsh. These dead have risen as spore servants, which the myconids are using as watchdogs to protect their new home from unwelcome intruders—like the adventurers. In this encounter, the characters stumble upon an old country graveyard in the middle of a swamp. When they investigate, they fall under attack by the living dead! Once they fend off their undead assailants, an investigation of the mausoleum reveals the true villain behind the attack: a group of mycanoids that infested the corpses with their spores, turning them into telepathically controlled puppets. From here, the characters can either negotiate with the mycanoids or kill them. This encounter’s three acts are: The Discovery: the characters find an abandoned graveyard. The Trial: the characters are attacked by undead. The Revelation: the characters learn that the zombies are really mycanoid spore servants, and can try to reason with the mushroom-people or destroy them. Either way, there’s treasure!
Curator Pierce has reported that the House of Knowledge was the victim of an assault and theft. Three days ago, brigands entered the building famous for housing the Tomes of Rummell. They attacked the Stewards of Knowledge, and made off with three books. Each of the missing texts was written by a different author and each is said to contain works of arcane power. The call has gone out for heroes to retrieve these items and bring those responsible to justice!
Today we bring out a scenario for a pair of budding first level adventurers. Originally used to teach D&D to a novice, this fleshed out into a trio of adventures set on the northern island of Esaq off the coast of the ancient Greyloch Kingdom. Home to a Halfling population, the adventure takes two young people on a thrilling adventure after the duo’s home is raided by slavers. The novice delvers head east to rescue their family and fellow villagers!
The Cult of the Dragon has come to Phlan, a lawless refuge on the Moonsea. Now, with no significant authority to stop the cult, other power groups in the Realms--the Harpers, Order of the Gauntlet, Emerald Enclave, Lords' Alliance , and even the Zhentarim--must untite to stop the cult from fulfilling its dark purpose in the city. Join the fight by participating in any one of five different missions aimed at stopping the cult.
The colony of Farshore has survived on its own for years, a secluded and struggling hamlet perched on the western shore of the tiny island of Temute. An island dwarfed by the savage landscape across the narrow channel to the north, a landscape of rugged mountains, tangled jungles, and trackless swamps. This is the Isle of Dread, and its resources and hidden treasures are matched only by its peril. Yet for all these dangers, what may bring doom to Farshore is not an invasion of inhuman monsters from the mainland, but an invasion of all-too-human monsters from across the sea. "Tides of Dread" is the fifth chapter of the Savage Tides 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 #352 of Dragon magazine features rumors of Farshore, a helpful list of improvements the PCs can make to the colony, and other features to help get PCs oriented in their new home on the Isle of Dread. The destruction of a pirate ship signals the beginning of a Crimson Fleet invasion. The PCs must race against time to prepare for the onslaught before an old enemy can release another savage tide. Pgs. 28-59 Also see Pgs. 60-71 Backdrop: Farshore City of Hope.
The town of Sandpoint, Varisia, Inner Sea Region has put out a bounty on the nearby tribe of Licktoad Goblins in retribution for the goblins raiding traders and travelers near the quiet town. The party takes up the bounty and ventures into the swamp; eventually finding the goblin village in ruins and it's inhabitants scared in it's burned huts. The party finds out; either through investigation of the ruins or the goblins themselves; that a group of skeletons with eastern arms and armor had ransacked the village and took a stash of fireworks that the goblins stole from an old shipwreck. The party then makes it to this cave and finds it empty except for a half dozen skeletons. Further in past the skeletons is their leader, a skeletal samurai who fights the party in an attempt to defend his treasure. The treasure turns out to be a letter that reveals that secrets of the Kaijitsu family; the same family their good friend Ameiko who runs the Rusty Dragon inn belongs to; that lies in wait in the abandoned town of Brinewall to the northern boarder of Varisia. Ameiko along with several other important NPCs with a caravan north. It's recommended that GMs create encounters for the caravan trip north as it's essentially 3 weeks of travel with nothing in it. It's also recommended that GMs completely ignore caravan rules; they're not flushed out and they're not fun to run. The party and the caravan reaches the abandoned town of Brinewall where their friend Ameiko becomes possessed and is thrown into a coma; where the other NPCs agree to take care of her while the party explores the town and castle. The castle is a three floor behemoth of a dungeon populated by Dire Corbies, Troglodytes, and various other monsters all under the leadership of Kikonu, an Yamabushi Tengu Oni. The goal of exploring Brinewall Castle is to find the two keys to the vault; one of which is on the Yamabushi Tengu while the other is on a Half-Fiend Decapus that lives in the basement of Brinewall. Once the PCs enter the vault they find the Amatatsu Seal; one of the seals that cement authority to one of the ruling houses in Minkai of Tian Xia; as well as several visions that show that Ameiko Kaijitsu is the rightful heir to be ruler of Minkai and that they'll need to travel north to do so. Such ends the first book of six.
NQ1 – Meteor Mystery is the first offering from Pangia the latest continent. Some adventurers need a sign to start their careers and this adventure does just that. A strange meteor has been seen streaking across the sky of Dilad recently. The animals have become sick and farmers are reporting an influx of humanoid raiders. Count DeMoss, lord of the area, has been contacted but no troops have arrived.
Goblin attacks have always plagued the farmers and merchants who live and travel along the roads leading to Whitesparrow. But a recent rash of new attacks are something different. The goblins of one particular tribe have gotten particularly smart, attacking with careful tactics and cunning ambushes. The village guards haven’t been able to outwit the goblins, even when laying traps of their own and hiring mercenaries to stop them. Even as goblins go, Rosethorn isn’t much to look at. He’s small and runty, and yet a lucky break placed him in charge of the Brownleaf goblin tribe. When he claimed a powerful magic relic from a dead wizard three months ago, Rosethorn found his intellect multiplied many times over. The world began to make a more intricate kind of sense to him, and he saw patterns in the ways other folk traveled the roads. After hiring a spy in Whitesparrow to tell him which wagons to pursue, Rosethorn cunningly bribed the wagons’ guards to throw battles in the goblins’ favor. He then moved the lair of the Brownleaf tribe away from their dank caves and into the ruins of the Bearded Man—an enormous dead tree at the center of the Howling Wood. There, Rosethorn continues his campaign of ambush against the foolish villagers, increasing his wealth and power with each robbery.
You’ve arrived at the small community of Smentz (15 locations!) to regain strength after your last adventure. While speaking with the people of the small village you catch wind of some ruins across the river that may have a mine or cache of ore and ruins to investigate. Your group is not the first who has had interest in searching but those that have ventured east have not returned. Are you ready for a bit more adventure?
Up the river "Just sit right back, and you'll hear a tale, a tale of a fateful trip..." Pgs. 58-67
"House of Reeds and Whispers" is the lair of a pair of red hags, suitable for four characters of 8th level. This adventure can be completed in one session. Two red hag sisters recently exsanguinated an eccentric collector named Nahl Fry and took up residence in his swamp-side home. Liori and Ijith were seeking an artifact from the ancient city of Talitheos, the sunken stronghold of the red hags. They found the artifact, a pair of knitting needles made from blood-infused coral. in Nahl Fry's collection. The sisters yearn to understand how the artifact works, and so they are testing its dark powers against a nearby hamlet. They have knitted rapidly growing crimson reeds that funnel the blood of fauna and farm animals back to the house. The hamlet's leader, Galnas, hires the PC's to investigate. The party must press through the reeds, defeat the sisters' guardians, face the hags, and end the reedy infestation.
"The Spectre of Sanguine Isle" is an adventure included in the product "Calpurnia's Guide to Practical Traps". It's an adventure that features traps from the document. The isolated town of Cupidinum has been shaken by a senseless murder. The culprit has fled to Sanguine Isle, and it's up to the heroes to find him and bring him to justice. But the fugitive doesn't want to be caught, and he knows a thing or two about guerilla warfare. Can the heroes catch their elusive prey? And was his crime quite as straight-forward as it was made out to be?