Long ago the dwarf-like "Dverg" established a "forge" hidden deep beneath the earth where they forged weapons of "cold" iron. Cold iron was considered a far superior material and was especially effective against Trolls and could even damage ghosts. The forge is thought have been long abandoned and priceless artifacts of great power are rumored to lie forgotten beneath the Altis mountains. Among them is rumored to be the fabled Axe of Mortality - a weapon said to be powerful enough to slay a god. Is your party brave enough to venture out in search of these valuables? Flameless Forge of the Dverg is a free/pwyw dungeon crawling adventure designed for level 1-3 Shadowdark RPG characters. The adventure is assumed to take place in a viking-esque fantasy setting, but can be adapted by tweaking some names and figuring out replacements for the nordic gods.
After hunting for the Pirates of Ebor along the coastline, you witness a strange event. A great colossus is seen as you travel along the coastline and you are informed that it is the “Artifact at Gegios”. As you put into port, you make inquiries and decide to investigate further, after all, an artifact is usually useful! Is your party strong enough to uncover the truth of this legend?
Time is running out for the members of the Ivory Scimitar as they strive to overcome the latest challenges of the Infernal Machine and Mithelvarn's Labyrinth. With the discovery of a secret entrance into the 5th level of the dungeon, the party must now enter uncharted waters with an entirely new type of environment and monstrous threats. Can they withstand these new creation of the Machine, and will they finally breach the 6th seal and gain entry into the last level of the legendary dungeon and save all of Roslof Keep? This adventure is formatted to both 1E & 5E gaming rules. Also available in PDF.
It begins in the marketplace or main square of a town when the calm, peaceful day is interrupted by a hulking golem trouncing through town, smashing objects, and attacking townsfolk. The party witnessing this should intervene and stop the rampaging golem with combat or by luring it into a nearby warehouse to trap it so it can be damaged and, eventually, destroyed by the town guards. When the party examines the golem’s remains, they find bones encased in the metal armor and the name 'Quartztoil' written in gnomish script. The town guard explain that this is the eighth construct they have encountered in the area in the past six months. The party can then go on to investigate the name 'Quartztoil', leading them to learn of an old, gnomish, aspiring artificer, Penaral Quartztoil, who had a lab and workshop in a tower in the nearby mountains, but who has not been heard from for close to a century. Published by Nord Games
Five centuries is not long enough for a giant king to forgive a defeat - or forget a curse. When falls the axe of Mok-Turoknin. This is a moody arctic wilderness/dungeon adventure in which the player characters must undo an ancient frost giant curse that plagues a barbarian village and its tribal chieftains. The PCs will travel across a frigid tundra en route to the deserted mountain keep of the frost giants where they must put an end to the curse before the restless ghost of the frost giant king rises again to claim another victim. Pgs. 53-72
Bakunawa rose from the sea, her scaled and slick and massive form rising up over cities and mountains, her teeth glistening and her eyes filled with desire, and she opened her mouth wide. The moon, Mayari, looked on as the Celestial Eater grew closer and closer, stopped only when Haliya arrived and struck the great serpent with her sword. Haliya's mask reflected the warrior goddess' rage as she fought the serpent back into the sea, forcing it to retreat. It would only be a matter of time before an attempt on the moon's life would be made again, be it Bakunawa or one of the other Celestial Eaters. And as she laid to rest, she knew both herself and the mortal races would need to be ready. The Islands of Sina Una is a new Campaign Setting for 5th Edition that pulls from precolonial mythology and culture of the Philippines. In the time since Bakunawa's last attack the mortal races that inhabit the island recover slowly as life goes on. While some do battle with the monsters that roam these lands, others work as intermediaries, communicating between spirits and deities to help protect and guide their people. And yet, there are still others who choose to align with the terrible Celestial Eaters, to destroy the moon and bring about the end of all things.
The king summons the heroes to investigate the death of a knight, and the final fate of the king's long-missing son. The knight and his entire order was killed by a Dragon! Yay we get to fight a dragon in the first issue of Dungeon Magazine! Much travel over many different terrain types featuring avalanches, volcanoes spewing lava, and many random encounters (not detailed here) before the heroes reach their real goal: A lake with a ruined wizard's tower and dragon's cave. Opens with a particularly byzantine Background section for the DM involving a prince you never meet, pirates you never meet, knights you never meet, and deep gnomes you never meet. See Out of the Ashes in Dungeon #17 for sequel to this adventure. Pgs. 42-60
'The Sunken Village of Little Corth' is a 2nd level Dungeons and Dragons adventure centred on a time-paradox puzzle. The PCs travel across a necrotic marsh (the Grey Creeping) to a sunken village where, upon being transported back 2000 years into the past, they must prevent a necromancer freeing Orcus (demon prince of Undeath) from the imprisoning veils of the spirit plane. If only it was as simple as that, for the PCs must also contend with deactivating a giant mechanical orrery, and be sharp enough to realise that the useful items that helped them survive the Grey Creeoing must be found and placed for their 'future-past' selves.
The Full Campaign - Updated for 2020! On Shadowed Shores In a land few have heard of, and fewer still have visited, lies untold adventure, treasure and fame. The renowned Captain Farsail has sent out word that she will undertake an expedition to Serpent Isle, but is in need of a crew. Anyone able to hold a sword or cast a spell is welcome, but be warned, the island is as deadly as it is beautiful.
Jinkies! Uldryn Beauregard is dead—and he’s left one million gold to anyone who can survive the night in his haunted mansion! But spooky things are going on, and nothing is as it seems. Luckily, Mystery LLC is on the case! A Night of Fright is a parodic one-shot adventure designed to be played in a single four-hour session by five players. In a loving send-up of classic mystery cartoons, players will take the role of one of four meddling heroes—or their talking gnoll! Explore a haunted mansion full of traps, frights, spooks, scares, ghosts, ghasts, and ghouls to uncover old Uldryn’s secrets before it’s too late—for this is no run-of-the-mill real estate scam. There’s real danger in the mansion and Mystery LLC will need all the help they can get!
The local nobles of the region have sent word to your group requesting a meeting. Later that day you find the Black Raven roadside tavern and are met at the door. After being escorted to a back room which has seen its share of shady dealings you are propositioned with an offer to investigate and depose a set of local nobles who are brothers. Rumor has it that the Ironrod brothers, who have been overtaxing the citizens, have now employed humanoids as guards. This is forbidden and if true, the brothers need to be brought to justice immediately!
The characters arrive in Fallcrest just as a blizzard starts from the gloomy black clouds. the villagers gather to discuss how to survive the untimely and unusual blizzard. Suddenly between the roar of the wind and thunder, a ship descends filled with undead with one message: Return the ice scepter!. Afterwards, the characters must decide, find and return this relic to the Winter King, or bluff and plan to dethrone him. As they reach the tops of the mountains, possibly injured, the whole of the Winter King's inner domain stands before them. If they fail, winter will claim the Nentir Vale forever. Group of 4-6 players.
There is a Ruined City in the central northern Borderlands, often called Ghoultown by explorers of the area, but its original name is Ust Lesesi and it was once the second city of the Empire of Karan. Long since plundered, ruined and abandoned, the place has become home to a sinister mix of creatures, some are trading with each other, some are resting between skirmishes, all are schiming and all of them are trying to survive. This is a toy box for the GM - there are three settings in one - the Abandoned City, with stange creatures wandering the streets; the Monstrous community with several significant and detailed NPCs and their followers all trading, quarrelling and trying to get along with each other; and the city of the (un)dead - there's a whole army hidden in here, what are they being prepared for? The Ruined City is a 40-page game resource rather than a complete adventure, although it has almost everything you need for a simple hack or a more complex web of intrigue. Along with a sumptuous set of maps is a set of encounters, monster and NPC stat-blocks, and ideas for how to use the place in a campaign. If you need a ruined city in a hurry, this is the supplement for you! The Ruined City is designed for OSR but is also compatible with AD&D 1st and 2nd edition and pretty much any TTFRPG you fancy. The encounters are all pretty high level but most of the encounters will not be immediately hostile. There is scope in this setting for far more than simple hack and slash. These resources allow you to build a set of encounters as complex as you like. You can simply try and hack your way through, but there are some VERY nasty encounters in here. You could maybe set up your own base here, or just try and take over an existing group. Perhaps you want to start up a trade route, or maybe even start a Civil War! All of these possibilities, and many others, are catered for here. SM20 The Ruined City is released by Dunromin University Press. We are a very small publisher based in the UK and our aim is to produce VERY high quality products as the best value possible.
Despite the adventurers’ best efforts, more creatures joined under Bad Fruul’s banner. No longer content to simply attack caravans or isolated homesteads, the hill giant warlord descends upon Parnast at the head of a great force of humanoids. SEER warns the adventurers (directly now) in time to rally the town and prepare defenses, but a heroic effort is required to break the siege.
Not long age, a magical vortex released into the lands of Thunder Rift a strange and haunted ship from another time and place. A cursed ship, bad luck for those who see it. The party never wanted to see the ship, much less board it. However, the mystical astrolabe they found must have had great power?at least enough to send them here. Too bad it's missing, now. Will the heroes find a way off the haunted ship, or are they doomed to sail strange seas forever? TSR 9436
Those friendly dwarves were the first to go, the poor things. And now the beast has been killing and eating the people of Brandonsford. No-one wants to leave the town's walls. With the humans out of the forest, fairies have taken over, and now the goblin king Hogboon seeks to claim the entire forest as his new kingdom.
Alkenstar, City of Smog, is a bastion of civilization in the magic-warped region known as the Mana Wastes. Its ingenious citizens survive in the treacherous Spellscar Desert with the help of canny inventions like guns and clockwork automatons, but now their construct protectors have begun to run amok within the city. It falls to the PCs to venture beyond the city walls to find the source of their strange behavior.
Old fog giants never die - they just slowly fade away. The House of the Brothers is an AD&D® game scenario for 3-6 characters of levels 6-10. Parties composed of less-experienced players should have higher levels, while seasoned players may be able to handle this adventure with lower-level characters. This scenario is designed to fit into the WORLD OF GREYHAWK™ Fantasy Setting. It takes place in hex M5-127 on the WORLD OF GREYHAWK boxed-set maps, three hexes north of Loftwick in The Yeomanry, on the border of the Jotens mountain range. If desired, this encounter may be used to expand a campaign using the supermodule GDQ 1-7 Queen of the Spiders, or it may stand alone. Of course, the scenario can be easily adjusted to fit into nearly any campaign world. The entire adventure may be dropped into a single evening's play. Pgs. 26-31
Long ago, a small but mighty humanoid kingdom existed in what is now the local wilderness. Bugbear and ogre warriors fought brutal wars of expansion, earning great fame and amassing considerable fortunes from their predations. Those who died in battle were buried in large tomb complexes dug into hillsides and honored as patrons of the living. Among these tombs was the large tor known as Hightower. Though it was neither the largest nor the most famous of the kingdom's tombs, Hightower did represent a typical example of this kind of structure. As happens to all such nations, the cruel humanoid kingdom eventually fell to a more powerful foe that razed all its cities and outlying fortifications. Of the tombs, only Hightower escaped destruction -- largely because it was an unimportant monument in a remote location. A few tribes of humanoids that survived the devastation tried to use it as a fortress, but the humans with whom they clashed defeated them soundly and sealed the entrance with a huge, round stone to ensure that the tor could no longer be used as a base. Since then, Hightower has served as a landmark for travellers in the know, but it has otherwise been largely forgotten. But the electrical storms that have plagued the area in recent days have been quite severe, and a few weeks ago, a stray lightning bolt broke open the stone seal. Tonight, yet another terrible storm is sweeping through the wilderness, driving all creatures to take shelter where they can find it. Hightower looms on the horizon, and its door is no longer blocked. Will the PCs dare to enter its silent halls?
The PCs are called on to assist in retrieving the legendary Scrolls of Thoth on behalf of Khemet III, the Ruby Prince of Osirion. Along the way, they discover the ultimate fate of the ancient Song Pharoah -- and potentially assist her in her journey through the Duat, the final series of tests that a Pharaoh must face in the afterlife. It was designed as a one-shot lasting approximately 5-6 hours, but could be run as a side-quest in the Mummy's Mask adventure path. See the site for notes on adjustments to make if you are using it in that way. It includes maps, handouts, stat blocks for all of the NPCs, and Hero Lab files for Hero Lab users. Because the adventure is born digital, the page count is a rough estimate based on print previewing the pages in the site. There is no source of a printed copy other than printing one yourself (which you are welcome to do). This adventure has not been published, and is made available under the terms of the Paizo Community Use License.