Giants stalk the shifting sands as the lost city of Stylos awakens from its deathless slumber. The Fourth Age of Man is at hand! All that stands between the gigantic hordes of Stylos and their conquest of the world is your band of adventurers. Sinister traps, implacable foes, and the crushing tread of the dread Colossus all lurk within these pages, eager to test the courage and cunning of even the most accomplished adventurers.
In Temple of the Dragon Cult, the characters are called in to pursue a dragon that the king’s army was able to wound but not kill. It seems straightforward enough: the army tracked the dragon to its lair, and all the characters have to do is go in and kill it. But this dragon has a devoted cult of dragonblood followers who worship its every breath. Its lair is their temple — and they’ll fight to the death to defend their dragon-god…
Murder! Ripples of shock pour through the wee hours of the sleepy fishing shanty of Port Scuttle. An innocent young fishmonger, beloved by the locals, has been brutally murdered in her own shop. Stunned by the grisly act, the typically hardened townsfolk turn to powerful heroes to investigate the gruesome deed. Could the fishmonger’s recent discovery of a massive black pearl be a possible motive? The heroes’ goal is to not only bring the perpetrator to justice, but determine the twisted purpose behind the ghastly act. Concerned townsfolk decry that the evildoer must hang for his or her despicable crime. Yet when the heroes finally track down the murderer, he is already dead by the noose, and the investigation has truly only begun. Clues hint at even darker designs, as an ancient evil stirs to reclaim a once lost malevolent relic. Tackle the challenge of solving the despicable murder of an innocent, and thwarting the diabolical schemes of a powerful brine vampire. Th e adventure is set in and around a small fishing port located on the windswept craggy cliffs of an ocean. The author draws on two inspirations for this adventure: The Pearl, by John Steinbeck, and an unnamed adventure plot by the author’s astonishing wife, Lisa.
Along the windswept sea coast are several natural stone columns, sacred to the Sea Goddess Pelagia. One of these pillars is the tower of a reclusive wizard, a devout follower of Pelagia. But the wizard has gone missing, and the locals suspect foul play. Surely a powerful wizard must have many enemies! A band of fledgling heroes is tasked with entering one of the Pillars of Pelagia to contend with all manner of magical defenses, while uncovering cryptic clues to the wizard’s disappearance planted by an unknown benefactor. The insidious evil plot they uncover could spell eventual doom for the surface world. But the Pillars are sacred to Pelagia, and the Sea Goddess herself might just play a minor role, aiding the heroes as they attempt to thwart a nefarious plot.
Your stalwart band treks through the trackless jungle seeking the Dragon's Maw Waterfall. At the base of the falls, behind a massive curtain of water, is rumored to be the cavern lair of a great wyrm. The local Xulmec tribesmen say the great dragon has not been seen in nearly 100 years, so perhaps its hoard lies unguarded and ready for plunder. But what role do the heroes play in a blind shaman's prophecy foretold a century ago?
The cries of battle echo in the rustic wilderness, as a pair of fey sisters defend the ancient Briarwood against invaders. When the town of Bur Hollow sends militia men to support their fey allies, they disappear without a trace. The adventurers must enter the Briarwood and save them!
Remember the golden days of role-playing, when adventures were underground, NPCs were there to be killed, and the finale of every dungeon was the dragon on the 20th level? Well, those days are back. Dungeon Crawl Classics feature bloody combat, intriguing dungeons, and no NPCs who aren’t meant to be killed. Each adventure is 100% good, solid dungeon crawl, with the monsters you know, the traps you fear, and the secret doors you know must be there somewhere. In Idylls of the Rat King, goblin bandits are once again attacking the silver caravans, killing innocent miners and stealing cargo. The goblins have taken up residence in an abandoned mine northwest of Silverton. Someone must get rid of them. But this is no ordinary abandoned mine. It was deliberately barricaded generations ago when the Gannu family, founders of Silverton, discovered an unspeakable evil on its lowest levels. And these are no ordinary goblins, for the curse of the Gannu family courses through their veins…
When the heroes come into town, word arrives that a nearby cloister of the god of valor is under siege by an army of undead. The adventurers travel to help defend the bastion of paladins, only to discover that these undead are actually ancient enemies of the paladins’ order. They have discovered a way to exact vengeance for slights committed centuries ago, but to finish their plan they must breach the cloister’s catacombs! Can the heroes battle them to the catacombs and defeat their horrific blackguard champion?
In this adventure, the coastal village of Fair Haven needs the characters’ help. For decades, Fair Haven has relied upon its lighthouse to guide merchant vessels into port. But on a recent stormy night, the lighthouse suddenly failed. The trading ship Nymph’s Kiss was dashed on the rocks, and smugglers have already raided the wreck. Somebody has to restore the lighthouse, but the locals are afraid to go near because it shows all the signs of being haunted. Yet there might be more to the story, since there’s something living in the sea caves below…
The city is gripped in fear! The Ripper has returned after a 125-year absence and is once again carving a trail of blood through the slums of Millers Court. Also returned is the ghost of Mari Kell, his last victim from more than a century ago, and she haunts the streets where she was killed. The city watch is at a loss to solve this supernatural mystery, much less apprehend the Ripper himself. All the clues point back to the hovel where Mari Kell was slain long ago. If the heroes are brave enough to enter, will they find the Ripper himself there?
Many centuries ago, a band of paladins fell from grace. These blackguards were defeated after a great battle and their grim fortress, the Iron Tower, was razed. A small abbey was established near the ruins, where generations of monks mixed ancient eldritch wards, mighty clockwork traps, and multiple fail safes to build the Iron Crypt of the Heretics. Three mighty vaults ensured that its evils would be sealed for all eternity. But unbeknownst to the brotherhood, their impregnable crypt had a single weakness: the very monks that had built it, for they knew its secrets. When a devourer stole into their abbey, the profane beast forced the monks to help it inside the Iron Crypt. It successfully broke into the first of three vaults, releasing an army of wights. The story of the devourer and his wight army is told in Dungeon Crawl Classics #12: The Blackguard’s Revenge. Now, in the Iron Crypt of the Heretics, the heroes must venture into a crypt designed by the world’s greatest thieves, magicians, and seers, solve its puzzles and deadly traps, and seal it once more from the outside world.
This new version of the classic adventure is completely updated to 3.5 edition. In The Lost Vault of Tsathzar Rho, a defenseless village asks the characters to slay an out-of-control ogre. Sounds easy enough. But the ogre, who used to be nothing more than a nuisance, has become crazed and psychotic. When the characters arrive at its cave, they find a subterranean portal has connected the cave to a much larger underground complex. Something in that complex has transformed the ogre and many other local creatures into fiendish marauders. In fact, it’s the lost vault of Tsathzar Rho, an ancient wizard and prophet of the Outer Gods, who are gathering their foul minions for battle.
The Characters come across an ancient wizard's tower. The nearby keep has been reduced to rubble over the ages, but the tower is in perfect condition. It is surrounded by an impenetrable force field that cannot be breached - not even by the ghost of the long-dead wizard, who has been trapped within for centuries. Surely there must be great treasure within this magical abode. But how to get to it?
Thirteen generations ago, the ambitious first Duke of Magnussen made a fell pact with an unknown power, who asked for but one thing in return: the thirteenth daughter born to a Magnussen duke. Now, generations hence, the daughter of Duke Magnussen XIII is stolen away by a hooded executioner riding a leathery beast. As it wings back across the city walls to drop behind the Duke’s mountain-top keep, all who watch know it alights in the Magnussen family crypts, where the devilish secrets of thirteen generations have been buried and forgotten – until now… This adventure module also includes The Balance Blade, a short level 2 adventure in which a wizard’s patron makes a simple request: travel to another plane to retrieve a legendary blade of neutrality. But once the journey is in motion, the wizard finds that not all is as it seems!
The adventurers have been summoned to a mysterious black tower made of glass. They are given a simple mission: protect the mage’s estate while he is distracted weaving a mighty spell. Surviving the five days of his spellcasting requires quick wits and sharp blades, for the estate has mischievous guests and strange visitors. In the end, the mage demands one final task: stand by his side as he binds a great horror from beyond!
A corrupt Duke of Lankhmar’s foibles paraded before the masses for their entertainment puts an acting troupe in trouble. Threatened by the insulted Duke and his private guard, the performers need assistance to make it through their final performance of “The Fiascos of Duke Hogfat.” With nobody else to turn to, the troupe hires the PCs as their evening’s protectors. Will the play end in a standing ovation or will the Duke and his thugs bring down the house on the troupe and their defenders? Officially licensed from the estate of Fritz Leiber.
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.
Originally designed as a convention module, this adventure sends the heroes into the underdark to do battle against the mysterious denizens of the deep! A drow housemistress commissions the characters to acquire a mysterious weapon known to be in the hands of her dark elf enemies. Locating, identifying, and acquiring the magical weapon leads the heroes on a great trek across the underdeep, where they must battle svirfneblin, a powerful lich, and enemy drow. This adventure us specifically designed for play by drow characters, but can be used with any adventuring party. Pregenerated drow characters are included.
Once every decade, the tides of the Empyrean Ocean recede far enough to reveal the highest eaves of a mysterious undersea tower. Long ago this was an eldritch fastness of Sezrekan the Elder, the most wicked wizard ever to plague the Known World, but now the tower is known simply as the final resting place of the fabled Black Pearl – an artifact rumored to bring doom upon all who dare to posses it. Tonight the moon nearly fills the sky, and the tides have already begun to recede. Adventurers have eight short hours to explore the tower before the dark waters return. The fabled Black Pearl will be theirs for the taking…if they can survive the Pearl’s curse.
A whispered voice calls from a coffin bound in chains, urging the heroes into the depths of the Shudder Mountains, a place rife with superstition and forlorn secrets. In the shadowy, pine-grown valleys of the Deep Hollows lurk mysteries of a bygone age and a new evil emerging from the ruins of the past. The adventurers must plumb the mountains’ secluded reaches to root out this rising terror before its power comes to fruition. Standing in their path are cackling witches, subtle devils, lingering spirits, and a foul thing that moves in the night. Can the heroes appease that which lies within the Chained Coffin and thwart the dawn of a new and terrible age?