A community for lazy dungeon masters
107 adventures found
Cover of Tammeraut's Fate
Tammeraut's Fate
3.5 Edition
Levels 6–10
31 pages
0

Ten years ago, zombies arose from the foamy sea to take vengeance against the inhabitants of Firewatch Island. Now, they have risen again, just in time to welcome the visiting player characters! Will your heroes manage to escape the island with their lives (to say nothing of their delicious brains)? The PCs have to clear the island and learn its secrets, then defend it against an undead attack and then travel to the bottom of the ocean to seal Dagon's Maw! Pgs. 19-50 Updated to 5th Edition in Ghosts of Saltmarsh

Cover of Castle of the Mad Archmage Expansion - The Museum and the Watery Caves (Level Three East)
Castle of the Mad Archmage Expansion - The Museum and the Watery Caves (Level Three East)
OSR
Level 3
30 pages
0

A museum of the Mad Archmage, it contains curiosities and treasures from all over the multiverse, and the challenges of the Watery Caves, which are a series of living caves connected by an underground river. This adventure can be used as an expansion to the Castle of the Mad Archmage mega-dungeon adventure, or as a stand-alone adventure. Published by BRW Games

Cover of Quite the Pickle - A Saltmarsh Adventure
Quite the Pickle - A Saltmarsh Adventure
5th Edition
Levels 5–10
54 pages
0

Be Ready with the Snapping Line... Just about every community, big or small, civilized or seedy, has at least one popular tavern. Folks may go there to relax or to look for work, to celebrate or to mope, to learn the latest or to forget. And while some may be willing to travel far from the comfort of their favorite watering hole in search of adventure, in the seaside town of Saltmarsh, they may not have to. At the Snapping Line Inn and Tavern: * Enjoy food, drink, gossip, a darts competition, and maybe a rousing bar fight. * Participate in a gambling night. Watch out for pirates! * Stop a dark ritual to save an innocent—and yourselves. * Come to the rescue when there’s an accident by the pier—and the predators arrive. Four linked encounters around a pier-side tavern for characters of levels 5-10. Playable individually, scattered throughout another campaign, or together as a four-to-six-hour adventure.

Cover of Dark Waters
Dark Waters
5th Edition
Levels 1–4
20 pages
0

Children and a cleric have been kidnapped from a small coastal town by undead creatures who crawled out of the sea. Defend the Captain's Folly Tavern, investigate the mystery, swim through underwater caverns, and fight the monstrous denizens of the deep in order to save the kidnapped civilians! This adventure includes: 4 New Monsters, 4 New Magic Items, A Seafaring Skill Challenge, & Complications for an Underwater Chase Encounter!

Cover of The Sunken Shadow
The Sunken Shadow
AD&D
Levels 1–3
18 pages
0

The sea has many perils. Are the treasures of a sunken pirate ship worth the risk? Arkos Seatamer, a privateer and the sole survivor of a shipwreck has gathered a new crew. He's returning to the wreck to recover the body of his closest friend, Devek Harpwind, for a proper burial. Arkos had rammed the pirate vessel 'Striking Shadow' in combat, shattering its hull. He leapt aboard the sinking ship to take the pirate queen as a prisoner. Shortly after, a sudden storm arose, so violent that it sunk his ship as well. This isn't the whole story. The pirate queen wore a cursed gold armband, shaped like a coiled eel. The sight of the band made Arkos mad with greed and he moved to slay her to take it. Devek tried to intervene but Arkos killed his friend in rage. With his dying breaths Devek laid a horrible curse upon Arkos to become a were-eel each night. The PCs are hired to accompany Arkos and his crew to the wreckage and recover Devek's body from the wreck, along with the armband he still lusts for. Pgs. 18-35

Cover of Sanguine Sacrament
Sanguine Sacrament
5th Edition
Levels 5–10
12 pages
0

The Godless Depths For the first time in eons, ancient aberrations are emerging from the deep ocean. Driven by some otherworldly fervour, they encroach upon the local villages, searching with beady eyes for anyone linked to the Gods. Even now you hear rumours of kidnap, men and women dragged kicking and screaming into the depths.

Cover of Tooth and Fin
Tooth and Fin
5th Edition
Level 5
9 pages
0

The Merfolk Queen asks adventurers to help retrieve merfolk roe (eggs) from a sahuagin raiding party lead by a sahuagin priestess, with custom water-based magic items as reward. The adventure is for three to four 5th level adventurers at a hard difficulty. Pgs. 137-145

Cover of The Corruption of Skyhorn Lighthouse
The Corruption of Skyhorn Lighthouse
5th Edition
Level 8
24 pages
0

The tritons have arrested the keeper of Skyhorn Lighthouse for unleashing vile, bug-like abominations into the sea. When a lone triton comes to the characters and asks their help in exonerating the keeper, will the heroes rise to the challenge and confront the dangers lurking in the deep? The Corruption of Skyhorn Lighthouse is a 5-7 hour adventure for 8th-level characters. You can run The Corruption of Skyhorn Lighthouse as a standalone adventure or as a follow-up to The Secrets of Skyhorn Lighthouse, a free 5th-level adventure downloaded over 100,000 times with 350+ five-star reviews! Inside the The Corruption of Skyhorn Lighthouse, you'll find: -Three new monsters that prowl the ocean depths -A goblin submarine, a darkmantle sea captain, and a marid with a pet starfish grove -The Arcane Library's signature format to make running the adventure effortless -Combat cards for monsters, PCs, and special treasure -Gorgeous maps designed for easy use with Virtual Table Tops

Cover of The City of Eyes
The City of Eyes
5th Edition
Levels 15–20
65 pages
0

Ducklings. It's not too late too close this page, and go and find an adventure about happy-go-lucky halflings, or emotionally stable young adventurers. This is not that story. You can still walk away, and find some other engagement that your players will forgive you for running. Open this little document, and you will be introduced to the wretched streets of Elysium. Home of aberrations, mystery and futile quests for meaning in the drowned streets of the tortured city. Escape is unlikely. Enjoyment fleeting. I implore you, turn away and don't look back. Mind flayers stalk streets plagued by invisible death. Curses bubble from ancient evils sleeping beneath the water. Questions lead to questions, which evolve into answers you will only regret asking for. Go whilst you still can. There is nothing here for you but death. Prologue: Welcome to Elysium Chapter One: The Crooked House Chapter Two: The Broken Prison Chapter Three: The Temple of the Gaunt Silhouette Chapter Four: The Grand Library Chapter Five: The Adamant Asylum Chapter Six: The Dancing Spider Chapter Seven: The Undercity An adventure for characters of level 15+ Contains: An introduction to Elysium, a Ravenloft domain filled with eldritch mystery and drowned secrets, including Life In Elysium, The Rule Unspoken and the Marks of Horror that set Elysium apart. Guidance on Madness in Elysium, with Elysian Madness tables for your horror/amusement. A list of Elysian locations, some of which will be expanded in later releases. Elysian random encounter tables, day & night. An Elysian Wild Magic table, miserable magic items and tragic trinkets. The first installment - The Crooked House, in which we meet the Duchess and her parade of dead husbands. The seconf installment - The Broken Prison, where the shadows of gods walk amongst men The third installment, The Temple of the Gaunt Silhouette, where broken fragments of reality are reached by strange avenues. The fourth installment, The Grand Library, where the things we wanted to forget prove impossible to truly banish. The fifth installment, The Adamant Asylum, where medicine and madness meet. The sixth installment, The Dancing Spider, in which there is no rest for the wicked. The seventh installment, The Undercity, where your worst suspicions are confirmed. Three new character backgrounds: the Eldritch Detective, the Information Broker and the Tempter of Fate. The long-suffering Elysian character race, with two subraces. The first One Page Woes collection, included here for your convenience, which contains thirteen reasons to be thoroughly miserable.

Cover of Tides of Dread
Tides of Dread
3.5 Edition
Levels 9–11
32 pages
0

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.

Cover of The Temple of Pure Water
The Temple of Pure Water
5th Edition
Levels 6–8
10 pages
0

Deep beneath the surface of a lake flourishing with aquatic life is the Temple of Pure Water. Within its walls your players will encounter dangerous aquatic flora, a deadly submerged temple, a sea dragon statue with power lurking within, and even a rapid downhill boat ride with sharks. Water in small doses is an elixir of life, but it large enough quantities your players may be left in over their heads as they make their way through this underwater adventure.

Cover of Con18 - 1 Moroni Mirror
Con18 - 1 Moroni Mirror
5th Edition
Levels 4–5
32 pages
0

After a successful mission for Earl Phenwick you return to receive your accolades. Upon your arrival it is discovered that the earl's child is missing. His daughter was last seen around a mirror of unknown power and an advisor believes that she may have made her way into a different world via the magical portal. Time to put on your hero hats!

Cover of Dark Waters Rising
Dark Waters Rising
Pathfinder
Level 5
38 pages
0

Catastrophe strikes the frontier village of Swallowfeld! With a grinding groan, the town’s mill slews into the Kilian River and breaks through the ceiling of an ancient subterranean dungeon. This accident frees a long-imprisoned evil to prey upon the shocked townsfolk. When several Swallowfeld residents—some innocent and some not so innocent—are spirited away into the rapidly flooding dungeon, it falls to a brave group of heroes to venture underground and rescue the missing before dark, rising waters seal their fate.

Cover of Coral Colosseum
Coral Colosseum
5th Edition
Level 2
1 pages
0

Stormy seas rock your vessel, tossing her about like a toy in the jaws of a hound. Thunder rolls in the distance. Then, an arc of lightning splits the sky, and the sound like an exploding fireball all but bursts your eardrums. Your mainmast, struck by lightning, burns, splinters, and topples onto the deck like a felled oak. The last thing you hear is the cracking of wood as the deck explodes into splinters, and the ship is torn asunder. All goes black. You awaken in shackles, half-submerged in water, and surrounded by salmon-pink coral. You survived, but what fate awaits you now? The sound of soggy footsteps echo down the hallway. A creature approaches with an answer. This week’s encounter is Coral Colosseum, a combat encounter in which the characters must prove themselves as worthy gladiators to escape the clutches of a ruthless sahuagin baron. This encounter can serve as a follow-up to Encounter of the Week: Sharkfin Shipwreck, or as a stand-alone mini-adventure. It could also serve as an introduction to Ghosts of Saltmarsh, which releases on May 21st, 2019.

Cover of Seekers of the Silver Forge
Seekers of the Silver Forge
3.5 Edition
Level 15
23 pages
0

Strange catches have long plagued fishermen's nets -- but none so strange as rotting fish that twitch and gasp for days after they are taken from the water, or a gilled githyanki's severed head found in a shark's belly. Do these briny omens lend credence to rumors of a sunken githyanki city caught in a necromantic civil war? This is a sequel to "The Death of Lashimire" (Dungeon Magazine #116). This adventure makes use of rules and options from "Stormwrack" and the "Expanded Psionics Handbook". Pgs. 60-82

Cover of Lowdown in Highport
Lowdown in Highport
AD&D
Levels 3–5
26 pages
0

Important: The adventure is 1e but it has monster conversion notes for D&D 4th edition The town of Highport, once a human community overlooking Wooly Bay from its perch on the northern coast of the Pomarj, fell prey to hordes of humanoids swarming out of the jungle-covered hills surrounding the settlement. Though the orcs, goblins, kobolds, ogres, and gnolls razed much of the place in their ferocious rampages, the smoldering ruins they left behind soon became a new kind of community, a place of trade between the humanoid “locals” and the unsavory human traders who have no compunction about doing business with them. Slaves are a commodity in ready supply in Highport’s market, since many pirates raid up and down the coast of the bay, putting fishing villages to the torch and filling their holds with captured refugees. Slavery has become a thriving business in the town, and rumors abound of a cartel of Slave Lords who run things from behind the scenes, filling their coffers in secret from the buying and selling of human chattel. The trade has become so prolific that the good folk to the north have grown tired of these depredations and decided to fight back. Forces of righteousness and honor have recently descended upon Highport, some openly and others in secret, in various attempts to destroy the machinations of the Slave Lords and abolish the abominable enterprise that has taken far too many loved ones from home and hearth. One such doughty servant of goodness is Mikaro Valasteen, a cleric of Trithereon. Mikaro slipped unnoticed past the crumbling walls of Highport with a single mission: to rescue and transport as many slaves to their freedom as possible. Mikaro and a handful of faithful assistants located a number of escaped slaves—as well as rescued a few more not sufficiently restrained and guarded—and shepherded them through the gates and beyond the reach of their humanoid tormentors, returning them to their lands and homes. This covert freedom brigade enjoyed remarkable success early on, since the servants of the Slave Lords were often lax in their vigilance and sloppy in their efforts to prevent loss of the “merchandise.” After one too many shipments never made its destination, the humanoids stepped up their security and the normal channels of escape from Highport closed to Mikaro and his team. He cannot risk exposure by smuggling the freed slaves through the gates as merchandise any longer, since shipments of goods are now regularly stopped and checked. No longer able to free the slaves in that manner, Mikaro began hiding his charges in an abandoned villa in a particularly rundown part of the town. Although they are safe for the moment, their numbers have grown unmanageable, and the priest fears it is only a matter of time before someone slips up and brings slavers to their doorstep. Ever more desperate to find a new means of escape from Highport, Mikaro has started work on a plan that is both daring and dangerous. He intends to use a series of old sewers coupled with natural caverns running beneath the town as an escape route to the sea beyond the walls. But he needs someone to clear out the creatures and pitfalls he knows lie within. Pgs. 2-27

Cover of Pathfinder Adventure Path #46: Wake of the Watcher (Carrion Crown 4 of 6)
Pathfinder Adventure Path #46: Wake of the Watcher (Carrion Crown 4 of 6)
Pathfinder
Level 9
96 pages
0

Part 4 of the Carrion Crown Adventure Path brings the heroes to the small fishing village of Illmarsh. The party is searching for a dark rider of the necromantic Whispering Way cult and will discover the strange practices of the deeply religious inhabitants of Illmarsh. Rumors of madness, strange disappearances and human sacrifices to things best left unnamed lead them to investigate the town church and its history. They'll find a desperate people, caught in a war between beings from beneath the seas and invaders from the darkest corners of the cosmos. Can the heroes save Illmarsh from its tradition of terror? It is worth noting that this story is heavily inspired by The Shadow over Innsmouth by H.P. Lovecraft and the role playing game Call of Cthulhu. If you're planning on going through the whole adventure path of Carrion Crown, the module Carrion Hill could easily be fit between book 3 and 4, as the party will travel directly through the area where this one shot adventure takes place. This book includes: - “Wake of the Watcher,” a Pathfinder RPG adventure for 9th-level characters, by Greg A. Vaughan - Blasphemous secrets of the foul faiths known collectively as the Old Cults and sanity-shattering gods such as Azathoth, Nyarlathotep, and Cthulhu, by James Jacobs - A giant bestiary filled with eight classic monsters inspired by the writing of H. P. Lovecraft and the tales of the Cthulhu Mythos, by James Jacobs and Greg A. Vaughan - Laurel Cylphra’s discovery that the dead aren’t the only dangers in Ardis in a new entry into the Pathfinder’s Journal, by F. Wesley Schneider.

Cover of The Haunted Hamlet - and other hexes
The Haunted Hamlet - and other hexes
OSR
Low Level
40 pages
0

The Haunted Hamlet and other hexes details four unique modular locations for your game. Made for old school essentials, but can easily be used with other old-school systems or even 5E. The four locations detailed in the zine focus on gameable content and being easy to use at the table. The locations are not connected to one another and can be sprinkled onto your campaign map however you like, or run as one shots. The PDF is graphic and art heavy and utilizes random tables and other tools to make it easier for GMs to run in a pinch. Details: 40 pages Single column text 8.5 x 5.5 aspect Black & White Bookmarks Four hex locations Random tables A rival NPC party A sky merchant A one page town Two hirelings

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 The Deadly Sea
The Deadly Sea
AD&D
Levels 4–7
13 pages
0

A desperate rescue beneath the waves. The Deadly Sea is an oceanic quest for 4-8 characters of 4th-7th level in the AD&D® game. The use of magical items or spells which aid undersea combat, movement, and breathing is strongly advised. The ability to open locks is also helpful, as are mariner skills and knowledge. See additional notes in the section ‘‘For the Dungeon Master.” The adventure begins at a seaport which the Dungeon Master should name and develop as desired, to fit the circumstances of his campaign. The names of other areas may be changed to fit the campaign as well. This module requires some detailing and planning prior to use.