The sleepy village of Raven's Lake has a secret: A terrible god lives in the depths of the settlement's namesake. The citizens of Raven's Lake know that something lives in the lake. People who go out on the lake after dark go missing far too often and frequently turn up weeks later with no memory of where they've been. The local church of St. Cuthbert has been abandoned no fewer than seven times in the last two years, each time its lone cleric packing hastily and fleeing town without a word. Adventurers who come to Raven's Lake have a habit of vanishing forever. The truth is that something does indeed live in Raven's Lake but it is far from a deity. It's an exiled aboleth by the name of Zlorthishen. Pgs. 33-36
Within the jungles of Chult is a vast expanse of ash. While a red dragon is known to reside deep within the Land of Ash and Smoke, it is far from the deadliest of its denizens. Deeper still is a pit filled to the brim with pure evil. None who have sought out its secrets have survived to tell its tale. Will you be more successful than they?
A derelict raft drifts into Mulmaster’s harbor carrying a young woman. Delirious with hunger, the only words she seems able to speak so far have been “ash and fire.” The only other clue to her identity is an ornate tattoo. Is the woman insane, or is something nefarious at play?
A long, perilous ocean journey behind them, the crew of the Sea Wyvern finds itself shipwrecked on the Isle of Dread. Their destination lies well over 150 miles to the south, miles heavy with the threat of the island's terrible inhabitants. Yet the unknown enemies are far more sinister, for more than just dinosaurs hunt the vast jungles. Before long, a cunning fiend picks up their trail, and its duplicitous master demands their sacrifice. "Here There Be Monsters" is the fourth chapter of the Savage Tide Adventure Path, a complete campaign consisting of 12 adventures appearing in Dungeon. For additional aid in running this campaign, check out Dragon's monthly "Savage Tidings" articles, a series that helps players and DMs prepare for and expand upon the campaign. Issue #352 of Dragon explores the Isle of Dread in detail, providing a complete ecology of the island and the writing of Larissa Vanderboren. This article can be used as a player handout to represent the journals the group recovered from the Vanderboren family vault in the first adventure in the Campaign. Shipwrecked on the Isle of Dread! Faced with a dangerous journey, the PCs must escort a ragged band of castaways through monster-infested wildlands in order to reach the safety promised by the colony of Farshore on the isle’s southern tip. Pgs. 32-60
Your people once dominated everything south of the mountains; you had the greatest, most advanced underground stronghold ever known to orc-kind. Then the cataclysm happened. Centuries have passed, and only a few tribes have survived and assembled under the banner of one cause. Reclaim what was once yours! This adventure is designed for four to six orc characters
"People have been disappearing at night in the city of Silverymoon. Some vanish entirely, leaving behind whispered rumors of fiends or other evil creatures having spirited them away. Others return strangely altered, with their memories of having been kidnapped wiped clean and their minds strangely dulled — and always with remarkable haircuts."
An exiled cultist and his kobold minions are spotted searching for long-forgotten ruins in the Dragonspire Mountains. Rumors say he looks for a precious gift to give a fearsome dragon that dwells there. What he hopes to attain with his gift is unknown, but can't be good for the citizens of Phlan.
A black dragon’s treasure hoard has been located in the Twilight Marsh, and within it are secrets that hold interest to the factions. With the dragon marauding over the countryside, the horde is left unguarded. Now is the time to plunder its lair!
Temple of the Gleaming Sands is a short adventure for four 5th-level characters that features monsters, spells, and items from the newly released Sandstorm book. You can use this scenario to introduce the new material on deserts and arid wastelands into your campaign, or you can just use it as a site-based adventure in a desert area. The scenario is set in a remote area of the desert that very few humanoid travelers visit. The temple from which the adventure takes its name has lain forgotten for centuries and is now inhabited only by monsters who use it as a base. The area around the temple should be inhospitable enough to discourage humanoid settlement.
A Brelish spy steals and defects with a powerful magic sword and the adventurer's have been hired to track down and recover the item. This adventure features a lengthy chase overland on horseback, on a train, and an airship. Along the way the adventurers will also have to deal with third parties seeking to recover the sword for themselves, such as Warforged agents of the Lord of Blades who have hired halfling mercenaries riding glidewings (pteranodons), and Emerald Claw raiders piloting an opposing airship. This adventure can be run stand-alone or as a sequel to The Forgotten Forge and Shadows of the Last War.
Rumors of faceless demonic creatures have been steadily rising in the Hillsfar region, and it is said that far below the surface of Faerun, nestled in the bowels of the Underdark, ancient terrors are stirring. The imperiled drow of Szith Morcane have extended an intriguing offer, but can the drow be trusted, and for how long? An eight-hour adventure for 11th-16th level characters.
As the story goes, worshipers of Bahamut and worshipers of Gruumsh spent years warring. As the dead piled up, a Bahamut faithful crafted a weapon of devastating power. Most of the inventor’s peers balked at its use, but some felt it was justified. Those few who used the weapon were twisted into mad, dark beings by its corrupting power. The rest of Bahamut’s flock locked them and the weapon away in a dungeon prison. The dungeon and its terrible secret were long forgotten—until a group of rakshasas happened across the ancient tale. Now they seek the weapon for their own designs. Pgs. 132-137
When Fort Iron was taken from the duergar who inhabited it, much of their subterranean quarters were never fully explored. An ancient oubliette has been discovered and its contents have disturbed the miners. Can the mine and the miners be saved from the dangers of the Oubliette of Fort Iron?
Based on the popular Stranger Things Netflix show, this starter set adventure is designed for new players and features pre-generated characters and a simplified DnD 5e rule set.
An ancient gate to the abyss lies undisturbed in the Valley of Obelisks. Sinister forces seek to reactivate the gate for their own ends, can the heroes stop them in time?
If you're looking for a light-hearted adventure, you've come to the right place. Can a wizard and her beloved chef live a quiet life of baking and brewing, or is trouble destined to enter their innocent kitchen? It's up to the player characters to see what these two have cooked up before things get too hot to handle (without potholders, anyhow). Game designer Andy Collins offers the latest in our series of monthly free adventures. This original Dungeons & Dragons scenario, including full description and stats for a crusty new culinary creature, is suitable for a party of four characters of 2nd level. Adventure Preview When Andolyn met Gendrew, it seemed a match made in heaven. Andolyn was a skilled wizard with a love of a good meal, looking for an excuse to settle down from adventuring, while Gendrew was a master chef looking to create new methods of cooking. Together, they took up a quiet life of baking and brewing, content to live in a small cottage on the outskirts of town. But now one of their experiments has gone horribly wrong, and the characters must save poor Gendrew from his own delicious concoction, while defending themselves from the inhabitants of the cottage, and one unwelcome invader.
Dark Water Trap is a mini-adventure that has a single encounter that involves Duergar using darkness and anti-darkvision to get the player to fall into a Pit trap full of water, so that the party will drown. The encounter either works as a standalone (Ie. the Duergar have been causing trouble), or as a part of a larger adventure or dungeon, Duegar or otherwise. Pgs. 26-27
A sickness has come unto the simple mining community of Duvik’s Pass, poisoning their wells and blighting their crops. With the pestilence leaving the strongest men of the town’s guard a few short days away from death, the burden of descending into the mines and purging the wellspring of whatever evil has settled there falls to an intrepid band of adventurers. Can these noble heroes prevail within the depths of Duvik’s Pass, or will they too fall victim to the perils of The Burning Plague? The Burning Plague is a DUNGEONS & DRAGONS adventure designed for a party of four to six characters of 1st level. Dungeon Masters (DMs) should feel free to adjust the adventure as necessary to accommodate groups not falling within this range. However, given the fairly low power level of the inhabitants of the mines at Duvik’s Pass, it should be noted that parties consisting of 20 or more total levels are unlikely to find satisfactory challenge within The Burning Plague.
In order to stop a series of devastating giant raids, the party must venture into the stronghold of the frost giant jarl Grugnur to both recover the giants' plans and eliminate Grugnur, who is the tactical head behind the operations. The adventure is part of the "Against the Giants" series originally by Gary Gygax, hence the writing credit.
Rising from the surface of a massive lake, an ancient ziggurat travels through time for purposes unknown. It’s up to the characters to enter this strange relic and discover what dark threat the structure poses. The Ziggurat Beyond Time contains advice for customizing the adventure for your own campaign. It also contains an artifact, the Deluvian Hourglass, that has time-related properties and wishes to witness the end of the world. Pgs. 23-55