Often called the “Gateway to Chult”, the exotic city of Port Nyanzaru is built upon a landscape both mystifying and marvelous. However, the city’s vibrant beauty is overshadowed by a mysterious scourge that plagues all within the land. Can the divergent forces within the city discover the truth before all are overcome by this growing threat? Five Four-Hour Mini-Adventures for 1st-4th Level Characters
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.
The PCs follow the trail of some particularly competent kobold thieves to the lair of a dragon cult deep in the swamp. There they discover efforts underway to grant sentience to the skeleton of a powerful red dragon once named Flame. Eventually the PCs determine that trouble has returned to the Western Mountains in the form of a band of fire giants ruled by a clone of the original red dragon named Flame.
Long ago, a powerful lich threatened the kingdom and was destroyed by mighty heroes. Though its phylactery could not be found, a powerful curse was laid upon the lich, trapping it inside its phylactery. This fading magic can’t hold the creature muchlonger, so the PCs must enter the phylactery itself in order to destroy the lich before it escapes back into the world. Pgs. 144-149
“The Shadow Rift of Umbraforge” is a sequel to “Siege of Bordrin’s Watch” and the third part of the Scales of War Adventure Path. In “Siege of Bordrin’s Watch,” the PCs discovered that dark creepers had sold arms and tactical intelligence to the orc war chief Tusk, aiding him in his attack against the folk of the Stonehome Mountains. In this adventure, the PCs investigate the link between the orcs and the dark ones, stumbling into an armsrunning operation that takes them to the Shadowfell in order to finally confront the charismatic figure behind it. Pgs. 4-53
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?
The trail leading from the Fane of the Whispered Fang has grown cold, but you can still taste the machinations of the yuan-ti in Chult’s humid, stagnant air. Because of this, you must venture deeper still into the jungle and petition the aid of an unlikely ally—the fabled Ramshackle King. His assistance is crucial to the effort to save Chult! A Four-Hour Adventure for 11th-16th Level Characters.
In “Rescue at Rivenroar,” the player characters must brave the depths of ancient catacombs in search of prisoners taken from the town of Brindol in a midnight raid. The hobgoblins, bandits that style themselves after an invading horde from long ago, have taken refuge in a dungeon under a ruined mountain fortress, and the PCs must clear them out to find the captive townsfolk and the treasures taken from Brindol. “Rescue at Rivenroar” also marks the first step in a great journey - the Scales of War Adventure Path, which spans 30 levels and put the PCs at the crux of events that shapes the world for centuries to come. While the scope of this adventure isn’t as grand, it represents the seed from which an epic tale will surely grow. Pgs. 4-45
The village near Oreclasp Keep has been reporting brutal owlbear attacks that have left people missing or dismembered. Lord Oreclasp has placed a bounty for every owlbear beak brought to Oreclasp Keep. The villagers don’t suspect the deeper problems brewing in the land.
Aleyd Burral, the Risen Hero of Phlan has sounded the call to battle! Intent on retaking her home of Phlan, Aleyd has amassed a surprising amount of support from the citizenry of Phlan, including that of the High Blade himself. But as lofty as her goals might be, the honor-bound warrior seems willing to sacrifice much in her quest—including everything she once stood for.
A nest of vampires has claimed a dark forest and the surrounding human towns as its domain. Some of the local residents revere the vampires and serve as daylight guardians and spies. However, most of the townsfolk live in a state of dread. Those townsfolk have finally scavenged enough valuables to hire a band of adventurers to destroy the nest. Pgs. 66-71
The time is now! The yuan-ti lay on the cusp of freeing an ancient being of insurmountable evil from its imprisonment. Should this happen, Faerûn may very well be plunged into an age of darkness. You have traveled the width and breadth of the peninsula and learned what you could about your foe. Now it’s time to put that knowledge to use. Steel yourself, adventurer, there are important deeds to be done! A Four-Hour Adventure for 11th-16th Level Characters
In this adventure, the player characters discover the illegal actives of an ambition Red Wizard operating out of an enclave in a small town. This adventure is short and a great way to introduce players to Red Wizards. For a group willing to use diplomacy fighting they can cut down there combat. The adventure is found on pages 284-287
Days ago, a portal to the Elemental Chaos appeared near the PCs’ home city. Since then, it has grown into an enormous sinkhole that periodically belches fire and brimstone. The rip in reality threatens to overwhelm settlements and a nearby river unless someone ventures through and closes it from the other side. Pgs. 102-107
The Raiders’ Hideout is a series of underground chambers (or perhaps the interior of a pyramid) that serves as a base of operations for a band of gnoll desert raiders. The PCs have come to exact a measure of justice for recent brutal caravan raids. They’ve tracked the gnolls to their lair, where they intend to end the threat to desert trade once and for all. Pgs. 30-35
Chapter 2: The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh In this version of the adventure, the characters find navigational charts and logs aboard the Sea Ghost that implicate its crew as slavers. Ned Shakeshaft is a Scarlet Brotherhood agent. He makes an attempt to foil the characters, but his true intent is to surrender and implicate Gellan Primewater as a key villain. The distraction afforded by the lizardfolk and the looming sahuagin threat gives the Scarlet Brotherhood the opportunity to bring more agents into town. posing as mercenaries brought in by Anders to protect the town. If Gellan can be removed from the council, Solmor might ask one of the characters to take his place.
The first part of the Dreams of Red Wizards adventure path originally published for the D&D NEXT Playtest. Following the events Ghosts of Dragonspear Castle, a new set of adventurer's will see some of the repercussions of that adventure. This adventure is intended to be continued in the Dead in Thay adventure (Note that they Dead in Thay 5e adventure featured in Tales from the Yawning Portal is missing a significant portion of interlude that links Scourge of the Sword Coast to the events within the Doomvault). The adventurers arrive when Daggerford is crowded with refugees from outlying lands. Goblins, gnolls, and orcs have been raiding the countryside. Now, food is scarce and tension is high. Blame for a theft has fallen on the refugees, and the Duke of Daggerford has forbidden more of the displaced from coming into town. After overcoming difficulties to enter Daggerford, the characters learn more about the raids. As they fight against the humanoids and delve deeper in the darkness that encircles Daggerford, the characters learn of Bloodgate Keep. After a final fiendish ambush, they’re ready to confront the real threat to the area. DM Note: This adventure points the adventurers strongly towards Bloodgate Keep but that location does not appear until the Dead in Thay adventure; at several points the party may feel drawn to explore that location rather than continue their investigations around Daggerford. However, since Bloodgate Keep is only eluded to as a source of great evil power, it can serve to easily segue to an entirely different adventure path. As a NEXT Playtest adventure, Scourge of the Sword Coast uses milestone leveling and the included stat blocks for creatures do not necessarily match or even appear in the 5e Monster Manual, nor do they have XP values or challenge ratings. In some places it will reference rules used in the Playtest but dropped or changed in the 5e release, these are unlikely to substantially impact gampley with 5e rules.
Into the Forsaken Temple's Crypt is a short adventure for four 10th-level characters. The adventure takes place in a buried temple crypt, which has been sealed for centuries. Dungeon Masters can adjust it for higher-level characters by widening the dead magic areas and increasing the number and power of constructs and undead that inhabit the complex. The PCs have entered the Forsaken Temple's crypt and started exploring a bit. They may have tangled with a pudding, and further warnings of danger greeted them. Do they dare continue on?
The PCs have traveled to the Nine Hells to confront an outpost of devils responsible for slave raids on their homeland. In this realm of burning ash and fire-streaked skies, the infernal legions prepare constantly for war. Pgs. 138-143
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.