A Collection of Dark and Daring Adventures What happens when adventurers become the owners of a brothel? When a roguish associate asks them to attend an oligarch’s party in his place? What lurks in the Cartways besides kobolds? And what will you say when another thief tells you the only way to find a treasure is to become hunted by the Praetors? Dark dealings, my boys, and a knife in the guts might be the price. Whose guts? Might be yours if you cross the wrong one of the Nine. This 112-page supplement and adventure anthology is set in the seedy underbelly of Zobeck, and on its mean streets you will find: Seven adventures dealing with underhanded themes, shady locations, and double-crossing deals gone wrong Six locales including the Cartways Market Gallery or the Old Stross Municipal Baths. A dirty dozen NPCs: kobold gearsmiths, failed Arcane Collegium students, barge captains, fey and undead ambassadors to use as rivals, patrons, peers and foes A sampling of new clockworks, street magics and odd enchantments that make Zobeck the distinctive jewel of the River Argent! You probably shouldn’t bring the paladin along on this one… This official Midgard adventure anthology is easily portable to any setting. Designed by Ben McFarland, Chris Harris, Matthew Stinson, Christina Stiles, Mike Franke, and Richard Pett.
A trap that perhaps works too well. No matter how much loot you take, you never took anything at all. Confused? Wait until you try this dungeon. The players are hired to investigate and clear a tomb of a time wizard. This tomb is heavily guarded both by creatures and traps, and some sages are concerned that the defenses are lasting longer than they were supposed to. Unknown to the sages, the wizard, Sur-in Am, bound a time elemental to guard the treasures of the tomb. This guardian's duty is to frustrate robbers by returning stolen items to their original place and also reset traps in the tomb. Pgs. 26-36
An alien being, dark omens, and vanishing ships send the adventurers to a mysterious island newly appeared in the Sea of Swords. But can the characters uncover the mysteries of the Changing Island in time to save Faerûn from a terror from another plane? A dark fantasy adventure for characters of 11th to 13th level.
The time has come to fight back against Hillsfar. Elanil Elassidil tasks you with uncovering valuable information to be used in a strike against the leader of Hillsfar, First Lord Torin Nomerthal himself. The only problem is that what you need is protected within the walls of the city.
A chance encounter on the road marks the heroes as targets for an evil cult attempting to cause the rebirth of the lich god Vecna in the domain of his arch-foe, Kas. This act will free their master from his misty prison and allow him to gain vengeance upon his enemy at the same time. To learn more of the cult’s mysterious plans, the characters explore a cache of ancient lore in Tor Gorak, the major city in Tovag. Clues lead them right to the heart of Cavitius, Vecna’s own domain. There, they must discover the secret way into the Shadowed Room, an ancient library that no longer exists in time or space yet can still be reached by using an arcane ritual. Learning this secret brings the heroes into conflict with Vecna’s priesthood and their powerful servants. TSR 9582
When the mysterious Gauntlight, an eerie lighthouse located inland from Otari, glows with baleful light, the people of Otari suspect trouble. The town’s newest heroes must venture into the ruins around the lighthouse—and delve into the dungeon levels far beneath it—to discover the evil that Gauntlight holds. Hideous monsters, deadly traps, and mysterious ghosts await the heroes who dare to enter the sprawling megadungeon called the Abomination Vaults! Content Warning: Does contain themes of suicide.
Giants have been raiding civilized lands in bands, with giants of different sorts in these marauding group. Death and destruction have been laid heavily upon every place these monster have visited. This has caused great anger in high places, for life and property loss means failure of the vows of noble rulers to protect the life and goods of each and every subject--and possible lean times for the rulers as well as the ruled. Therefore, a party of the bravest and most powerful adventurers has been assembled and given the charge to punish the miscreant giants. Remake of the original series of AD&D adventure.
Deep in these caverns overrun with all sorts of foul creatures are two sister hags. Once of the same coven, they now have a bitter rivalry but both refuse to the leave these caverns they call home. The cave received its name thanks to the terrifying sounds that echo through it. Some say it is just the wind brushing against the stone but the rumors all speak of two horrifying sisters casting curses and performing diabolic rituals with human sacrifices in a never-ending hatred. Heroes will face goblin, hag, bat, hook horror, and other terrifying monstrosities deep within the tunnels of The Shrieking Caverns. This dungeon does not contain any of the puzzles from the puzzle section, though there are a few situations the players will find themselves in that will require more than phsyical strength. That being said, this dungeon contains many combat encounters and is expected to take multiple nights to complete.
The characters are summoned by the Norse gods to track down two dwarves, one of whom has made a weapon for the giants to use against the gods. The mission takes the characters to Jotunheim, on the plane of Gladsheim, to take the god-slaying weapon from the giants.
Invasion from the Planet of Tarrasques is a single-session, over-the-top, gonzo action adventure meant for four to six level 20 characters. The adventure serves as a capstone for Waterdeep: Dragon Heist and Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage, but can be modified for any setting. What’s more fun than one tarrasque? How about multiple tarrasques stomping across Waterdeep? How about a whole planet full of tarrasques ready to rumble? If that sounds exciting, then Invasion from the Planet of Tarrasques is for you. Halaster Blackcloak died... but then he came back... with reinforcements...
Legends tell of a wizard so arrogant that he felt the entire sky was naught but a lens for him to view the stars. So great was the hubris and defiance of this man that the gods smote him with the power of storm and fire. Oh did the wizard laugh at such a pathetic gesture. He did not fear the gods, for he drew his knowledge from something greater. Something darker. The legend of this wizard grew, first whispered by men in fear, and later in awe. The wizard, they said, attacked the gods just as they had attacked him. And his joy only grew as the land around him died. But then there was no more news. No more talk. Something had finally brought the wizard low, for though the sky still blazed down on him and his abode, he no longer blazed back. And now you’re going to walk right through this wizard’s front door.
After a riot erupts in the streets of Cauldron, the PCs must track down a missing paladin before the mob tears the city apart. The PCs try to stop an assassin during the riot and get invited to a meeting, where they are tasked to search for the missing paladin. After some investigating they will travel to Vaprak's Voice, an ancient Spell Weaver laboratory, at the edge of the Demonskar. In the dungeon they will find the "Starry Mirror", a puzzle/travel device through which they have to travel, to find the missing paladin. Part 4 of The Shackled City Adventure Path Pgs. 44-82
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.
Fresh off the adventure trail your party takes refuge at the small caravan stop at the Village of Tomore. There your party hears a bard tell the tale of “Tarlac Keep” which was laid siege to by two dragons and a horde of humanoids. While the mighty keep fell the subsequent military action was enough to quell further issues. By the end of the tale your group feels that a real estate deal may be in the making for you….
Framed by the Covenant of the Knife and thrown in the notorious Blackmaw Prison, Karl Manderholm awaits his execution at the hands of the deadly assassins’ guild. In order to save him, the PCs must enter Blackmaw in the guise of lowly prisoners and expose the one man who can clear Karl’s name, the Shadowmaster of the Covenant himself. Pgs. 34-50
"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."
This dungeon is suitable as a one-shot or drop-in for characters between levels 12 and 17. Taken from the Against the Idol of the Sun high-level hexcrawl campaign, the Death Knight's Tomb is a location-based exploration adventure. It features increasing localized time distortions that ultimately pit the party in a fight against an ogre Death Knight and his minions who just destroyed an elven time lab over ten millenia ago, which is just a few seconds ago in relative terms at the bottom level. There are six distinct sections to the dungeon containing four combat encounters of increasing difficulty. As written, the party enters the structure to rescue an overly adventurous Scorpionfolk couple and their rescuers, but they can be omitted or rewritten to any other species.
The party arrange for passage on a fast ship called the Silver Slipper. The good Captain Sara agrees to take them aboard for a reasonable fee. The voyage, however, is marred by strange events, and the crew begin whispering about a dark statue taken aboard as cargo. The statue is to be delivered to a port beyond the PCs' destination. When a fog rolls in one night, the ship is attacked by evil agents of a dark god come to claim the statue. In this nautical nightmare, the PCs must travel aboard the ship, interact with the crew, and save themselves from a boarding party of eldritch evil.
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?
Strange doings are underfoot in the wild hills bordering the realm of decent and civilized folks. Villagers and cattle have gone missing; woodcutters have disappeared; misshapen beings have been seen shuffling through the forests. Some brave villagers have tracked a group of stolen oxen as far as the rocky banks of a small river in the hills. The trail disappeared down into a fissure in the limestone rock, where a fast-running stream plunges down to the dark caverns below. Gird your loins, stand behind the dwarf, and get ready to face The Pod-Caverns of the Sinister Shroom!