The Shattered Circle is an AD&D® adventure for four to six player characters of 1st to 3rd level. For many ages, the standing stones known as the Circle of Cahervaniel have stood on a grassy hilltop, unremarkable and unmenacing, but something has changed. A powerful artifact deep within the earth has been uncovered, and its evil power has corrupted the recent inhabitants of a dungeon complex. The chitine live within, a cross between humans and spiders created by the drow, but trying to live a quiet existence. The evil Foundingstone has corrupted some of the chitine, and split their society in two, bringing them to conflict. Adventurers who navigate the chitine factions and dangerous dungeon will need to end the threat of the Foundingstone and the solve the mystery of the strange dark unicorn Mizar that has appeared recently around the stones. Interestingly, one of the unique magic items in this adventure, Icerazor - is said to have grown from a shard of Frostrazor, a sword that appears in a famous later adventure - Return to White Plume Mountain. There is a brief mention of Suloise, so it can be considered a Greyhawk adventure, but clearly states it can be placed anywhere.
"More than five hundred years ago, clans of dwarves and gnomes made an agreement known as the Phandelver’s Pact, by which they would share a rich mine in a wondrous cavern known as Wave Echo Cave. In addition to its mineral wealth, the mine contained great magical power. Human spellcasters allied themselves with the dwarves and gnomes to channel and bind that energy into a great forge (called the Forge of Spells), where magic items could be crafted. Times were good, and the nearby human town of Phandalin (pronounced fan-duh-lin) prospered as well. But then disaster struck when orcs swept through the North and laid waste to all in their path. A powerful force of orcs reinforced by evil mercenary wizards attacked wave echo cave to seize its riches and magic treasures. Human wizards fought alongside their dwarf and gnome allies to defend the Forge of Spells, and the ensuing spell battle destroyed much of the cavern. Few survived the cave-ins and tremors, and the location of Wave Echo Cave was lost. For centuries, rumours of buried riches have attracted treasure seekers and opportunists to the area around Phandalin, but no one has ever succeeded in locating the lost mine. In recent years, people have resettled the area. Phandalin is now a rough-and-tumble frontier town. More important, the Rockseeker brothers - a trio of dwarves - have discovered the entrance to Wave Echo Cave, and they intend to reopen the mines. Unfortunately for the Rockseekers, they are not the only ones interested in Wave Echo Cave. A mysterious villain known as the Black Spider controls a network of bandit gangs and goblin tribes in the area, and his agents have followed the Rockseekers to their prize. Now the Black Spider wants Wave Echo Cave for himself, and he is taking steps to make sure no one else knows where it is." Extra Info from AL.com users: by @marcellarius. "There are a variety of locations in this adventure: the town of Phandalin, a gang hideout, a ruined keep in the forest, a destroyed village, and Wave Echo Cave (a dungeon crawl). The adventure is written in a sandbox style and relies on the players to choose their path. Phandalin offers several side-quests which could serve as hooks for continuing adventures. The premade characters have ties in their backgrounds to NPCs and locations. If you're not using these you'll need to consider other ways to introduce key NPCs."
Hushed Hills is an adventure location set in a haunted town nestled in hilly woodlands. It doubles as a toolbox with encounters and NPCs to support DMs in running a gothic horror adventure. You can use it in three ways: 1. Run the Hushed Hills as a Tier 1 adventure that takes one, two, or three 5-hour sessions (based on the starting quest you select). 2. Select the best encounters and NPCs to add to your game. 3. Use the presented content as fuel to inspire your ideas. This toolbox is packed with assets and consists of: • 50 encounterswith 4 quests to tie them into an adventure. • 21 NPC outlines (including eldritch chimeras), • 3 multi-phased boss battle against the Godless Chimeras. Assets are grouped into 3 regions, including Crestfall Abbey, Town of Kletva, and Mirage Forest. Each region has a high-resolution map and each NPC a portrait. Published by: Immersive Adventuring
Chapter 1 - Rodents of Unusual Size: The village of Ravenhome is plagued by an army of rats which feast on their supplies and threaten the survival of the village, as winter is approaching. Venture into the deep to stop an onslaught of vile rats on the ravaged village of Ravenhome. Dispose of the cranium rats which escaped from the Underdark or strike a deal with the devilish creatures. Chapter 2 - The Pied Piper: The village's children were abducted by the winged kobold Krubcek and brought to the former temple of Cyric. The kobolds use the children as additional workers to excavate the site in attempts to free their imprisoned god Kurtulmak. The kobolds are willing to bargain, but the terms are cruel!
For centuries, the Great Swamp has hidden hints of an ancient culture of barbarian kings. While passing through this miserable bog, the PCs encounter Stygoth the Damned, a half-dead black dragon driven mad by a mysterious disease. Delving further, the heroes discover that the disease is tied to the very swamp itself. A great corruption once infested this place, destroying the savage barbarian kings and leaving only mighty statues as their legacy. Now this corruption has returned, and a terrible Witch Queen is mining the corrupted swamp-earth to produce evil, blighted artifacts. In order to stop the spread of these evil weapons, the heroes must enter the ancient caves of the savage kings, put to rest the corrupt legacy of their downfall, end the disease that scars the land, and then face off against the Witch Queen herself.
The winter solstice has come to the Oakfield Province of the Free Coast, and with it an inordinate amount of snowfall. Townsfolk in the Daerns speak of a winter witch that has imprisoned the Yarl of the Frost Giants in Strangler's Deep, and until he is free the winter will continue to ravage the land, killing livestock and freezing townsfolk without the means to buy ever dwindling resources of wood. Can a party from Roslof Keep or beyond come together in time to find the truth to these rumors and set the ecological balance to right? This adventure is formatted to both 1E & 5E gaming rules.
People from all over the world travel to the oracle of the dead, the Necromanteion, to commune with the spirits of the dead. Following a ritualistic preparaton of the body and the mind, a "Seeker", as they are called, enters the Adyton, and with the help of the Prophet comes in contact with spirits. Who would your characters talk to if they found themselves in the Necromanteion? Before you can answer that, you must first save it from a demonic invasion! With the temple in chaos, and foul fiends everywhere, will our adventurers be able to save the Necromanteion?
Searching for a Shorebird A gnome contacts the characters in the Lucky Liar tavern of Lonelywood, and informs them of a legendary bird that has been sighted in the forest. A Tier 1, two hour adventure for Dungeoncraft (Plague of Ancients) using the Snipe Hunt Hook. Optimized for APL: 3
The wizard Abracadamus hid the Forever Stone in the darkest depths of a failing mine, coerced monsters into serving as guardians, and rigged the dungeon with traps galore. Then he died, as all good wizards do. Many heroes have fallen prey to the Forever Stone’s lure of immortality. To date, only one stalwart band has plunged into the Mines of Madness and lived to tell the tale. You think you’re better than them? You think you got what it takes to grab life by the stones and conquer the dungeon that won the 2012 Gygaxian Award* for Bonecrushing Awesomeness? We seriously doubt it, but go ahead . . . prove us wrong! Mines of Madness is a Very Special D&D® Next Adventure written for PAX East 2013 and designed for four 3rd-level characters.
While investigating rumors of a dangerous blue dragon wreaking havoc in the deep desert, the heroes tumble under the sands into the magically sealed dome of an ancient palace. The temporarily weakened dome reseals above them, and they are left to explore the golden palace of Zahadran, once seat of power for the legendary Caliph Ardishir the Magnificent. But the dome is weak because it has been assaulted by the mythical storm demon Azi Dahaka and his trapped minions, evil creatures that were sealed under the magical dome to keep them from ravaging an unsuspecting world.
Cheliax's largest city, Westcrown, has fallen to the Glorious Reclamation, and the evil adventurers are sent to reclaim the metropolis in the name of House Thrune. Armed with the legendary weapon they created from a gold dragon's head, the nefarious characters confront the Glorious Reclamation's forces and break its siege of a nearby Hellknight citadel. Once the army is defeated, the villains enter Westcrown, where they must undermine the chivalrous knights' rule of the city. Finally, they face the founder and Lord Marshal of the Glorious Reclamation to end the rebellion and restore the Thrice-Damned House of Thrune's rule over the empire of Cheliax.
A perfect side-quest adventure for a party based in Phandalin or after completion of Lost Mines of Phandelver. Unravel the malevolent mysteries of Knacker’s Knothole! A party of four to six 5th level characters meet Knacker, the ancient awakened grandfather oak, who was introduced in Volo’s Vetted Vendors. He has a request: one of his cherished death’s heads is missing and he implores the party to find out what happened to it. Although Knacker suspects the people of Phandalin, the party’s investigations ultimately reveal a much more sinister threat. The party must investigate the disappearance while an unseen foe attempts to thwart their efforts with ambushes and misdirection. It is not long before there are more disappearances, and the party must use its ingenuity to prevent open hostilities. This adventure is part of a new series based on Volo’s Vetted Vendors and Elminsters Excellent Establishments. It can be played as the final part in this series, and it is also ideally suited to a party that has just completed Lost Mines of Phandelver. This is a 5-7 hour adventure that will advance the party to 6th level. This full-color 60-page adventure includes: * 29 pages of adventure content. * 2 pages of convenient NPC summaries. * 8 beautiful maps suitable for use with any VTT (separate files are included for all maps, including both high- and low-resolution versions). * Many random tables including adventure hooks, customers at Knacker’s Knothole, rumors, random encounters, chase complications and battle events. These tables can provide inspiration for other adventures and campaigns as well! * 20 pages of monster and NPC stat blocks.
We get it. Factions are an integral part of D&D, but it's not always clear how to use them in your campaigns. Luckily, Factions of Sigil has you covered for each of the twelve main factions found across Sigil and the Outlands! This supplement goes over the various rules and lore around the primary factions found in Sigil and the Outlands, making it easy for any new or veteran DMs to integrate the factions more into the core stories being told, and making them feel more useful for the players that choose to join. A cult of star spawn has popped up in Sigil, and the Hands of Havoc have asked the characters to destroy it.
The adventurers have delved into the Abyss to strike at the Demon Lord of Undeath, Orcus. On the layer of Thanatos, the Blood Lord has many outposts from which he spreads his corruption. One of his primary lieutenants is Doresain, the Ghoul King. If the PCs kill Doresain in his lair, they will strike a real blow against the foul demon lord. Pgs. 174-179
The heroes have spent the last several days in the quiet, secluded town of Relvaunt. Relvaunt's vineyards, wines, and scenic beauty are the subject of bards's songs, and many travelers journey long miles to visit them. Another site receives far fewer visitors--several miles east of town, partially obscured by woods and hills, stands the wondrous Castle Freitstein. As the heroes depart the town in search of adventure, an elderly couple approaches them. The woman suddenly clutches her chest and collapses in the street and the old man calls out to the heroes for help. Includes castle random encounter chart, a map of castle grounds and isometric castle level maps (four main levels, a tower level and a cellar level).
After hiring a group of brave adventurers to help him "acquire" a beholder specimen, the mage Velinax disappears! Rumors blame an insidious thieves' guild called the Unblinking Eye for this turn of events. Why would the Unblinking Eye wish to "take care" of the mage? Why does the guild want to speak to anyone involved with Velinax? Finally, what dark goal does the guild truly intend to accomplish? Finding out the answers to these questions will lead doughty adventurers straight through the shadows of a crafty thieves' guild and onto the threshold of an even deeper and more dangerous darkness. "Eye of Doom" is the second of three adventures featuring the nightmarish beholder. It can be played as an individual mission or as part of the series that began with "Eye of Pain" and concludes in "Eye to Eye." TSR 9530
Hada the Black, a necromancer who was apprehended during an investigation of five missing orphans perished last night in the custody of city officials. The inquisitor who questioned Hada is certain that the children are still alive. After the characters hear of a contract offered by the city guard, they discuss the situation with the inquisitor. The tired and disheveled man smooths his crimson robes as he speaks.
The Sunken City is a companion adventure made to go along with events unfolding in Folio #18 (WS5 The Shattered Tower). It contains the information needed to run a side adventure that will help characters in their journey through The Corsair Mists. After completing the tests of The Shattered Tower, the players are invited by the sea elven queen to ward their ship and crew from the Ghost Eye Corruption that lurks within the mists. Plunging into the waters that now cover one of the lost trade cities of Uthoria, the players must overcome a corrupted dwarven temple to find the cure for the contagion before it can take over their ship. This adventure is formatted to both 1E & 5E gaming rules.
This 4 hour adventure for 3rd level characters begins in a prison cell where the adventurers must figure out a way to escape, acquire weapons and armor to defend themselves more effectively, and most importantly, escape a repurposed dwarven forge that has been appropriated by a fire giant who uses slave labor and even a captured red dragon wyrmling to smelt ore and forge an arsenal under the volcano Mt. Hotenow.
An adventure in Hyperborea designed for from four to six characters of 6th through 8th level In the far reaches of Hyperborea’s Crab Archipelago lies a small, mountainous island known as Crystal Point. Passing sailors recently have witnessed a crimson glow in Crystal Point’s waters and beams of russet light shining up from its steep cliffs. Too, unusually frequent lightning storms in the area have torn the sky in blinding flashes, shattering the air with their awesome sound. The seedy wharf taverns of Khromarium and elsewhere buzz with these strange tales—some even speculate that Crystal Point may hold the lost treasure of Atlantis! The Lost Treasure of Atlantis takes players into an action-packed realm of adventure: the mythical world of Hyperborea, a sword-and-sorcery campaign setting inspired by the fantastic fiction of Robert E. Howard, H.P. Lovecraft, Clark Ashton Smith, and others. This adventure is designed for Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea™ (AS&SH™), a role-playing game descended from the original 1974 fantasy wargame and miniatures campaign rules as conceived by E. Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. Therefore, AS&SH is compatible with most traditional fantasy role-playing games (c. 1974 to 1999) and their modern simulacra, such as OSRIC™ and Swords & Wizardry™.