Some Secrets are Worth Dying For Feel the cold touch of death in this adventure for the world’s greatest roleplaying game. In Icewind Dale, adventure is a dish best served cold. Beneath the unyielding night sky, you stand before a towering glacier and recite an ancient rhyme, causing a crack to form in the great wall of ice. Beyond this yawning fissure, the Caves of Hunger await. And past this icy dungeon is a secret so old and terrifying that few dare speak of it. The mad wizards of the Arcane Brotherhood long to possess that which the god of winter’s wrath has so coldly preserved—as do you! What fantastic secrets and treasures are entombed in the sunless heart of the glacier, and what will their discovery mean for the denizens of Icewind Dale? Can you save Ten-Towns from the Frostmaiden’s everlasting night? Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden is a tale of dark terror that revisits the forlorn, flickering candlelights of civilization known as Ten-Towns and sheds light on the many bone-chilling locations that surround these frontier settlements.

The Underdark holds many secrets. A series of earthquakes and eruptions have rocked a normally placid land. Strange creatures sighted in the dark of night raise fears across the already disturbed countryside. As tales of a lost race that once warred with the drow begin to surface, only the boldest adventurers dare to descend into the shadowy darkness.

Sekarvu is a typical beholder. It spent much of its youth exploring underground realms and killing everything it found. One day, it came upon a large cavern filled with violet fungi. At the edge of the cavern, it found a small band of adventurers who had all but succumbed to the toxins of the fungi's tendrils. They offered little resistance to Sekarvu as it approached and began to feed on their still-writhing bodies. With its first bite, the beholder's life changed forever. Pgs. 52-55

The mine has been known as Tessount’s Folly for years, due to it producing nothing of value. Now Valmour, the youngest son of the mine’s late owner, has inherited the mine...and found something he should have left buried. Pgs. 56-81

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

Stormcrow Company—an unsavory band of adventurers—haven’t been seen or heard from in years. Rumors of their accumulated wealth have spread far and wide, and if they have truly been slain, that treasure is just waiting for adventurers to come and collect it. But is anything ever as easy as it seems? Pgs. 10-28

A young boy befriends an extra-planar construct that has mysteriously appeared at his family’s farm. Once the boy finds out that other creatures are coming to take it back home, he comes up with a plan to get help from the party to save his new friend. Fairly in depth adventure with plenty of RP opportunity.

Many years ago, Evard came to Duponde to destroy his rival Vontarin, a powerful wizard who lived in a manor at the edge of town. The two mages met near the walls of the abbey of St. Avarthil and dueled all night long with black spells, laying the old monastery in ruins with their magic. In the morning, the surviving friars found Evard dead in the wreckage and buried him in the town’s graveyard. Vontarin was never seen again. Now, almost fifty years after his death, Evard’s final curse is about to descend on the town and everyone within it. Also available in Dungeon Magazine #219 Pgs. 30-90

Kingdom of the Blind is a short adventure for four 8th-level characters. The adventure is set in a minor duchy that is fairly removed from the ruler of the land. As a result, trouble can brew in the land and the king would not know immediately. The PCs faced all manner of fungus last time. Perhaps with a little more investigation, they'll discover what's really going on with Zhanna and Dephyl.

Seer has learned of an attempt to intimidate Gralm, an ettin, and his followers into joining Bad Fruul’s army. Hsing comes forth to communicate that she wants you to see if you can find some way to either insure Gralm remains neutral, or to encourage the creature to challenge Bad Fruul to single combat in the hopes that he might wrest control of the hill giant’s forces and turn them back from Parnast.

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

Floating Eternally among the endless silver void of the Astral Sea are vast, once-living islands, cast-off flesh of primordials and deities who lost their lives sons past in a great war. Today these colossal outposts bear mute testimony to the date of even the mightiest among us. Pgs. 120-127

Stop evil cultists of the Crushing Wave. The party rescues a member of the Brotherhood of the Cloak in Mulmaster (local mage guild); Drayson Fivestar. Drayson asks them to investigate the murder of his colleague. After some urban investigation, the investigation leads to a former guard tower of the Zhentarim, now occupied by elemental cultists. The tower was submerged in mud, but recently uncovered. The party faces of with the cultists. (Large page count, but feasible as a one shot after some editing, will probably take two sessions at most)

When one of the Lords of Waterdeep asks you to root out a threat to the city, you respond to the call. Prepare for a foray into Undermountain. Part One of the Vampire Hunt trilogy.

The Tower of Zoramadria is hidden away in the Feywild. The tower is an arcane academy under the tutelage of the lich Parthal. Parthal and his students lead serene lives of study and contemplation, except when they engage in a bout of bloody necromantic research that requires innocent souls as vital components. Parthal has a score to settle, and the Feywild itself might shudder and scream before the lich has had his revenge on those who killed his love. Pgs. 104-111

A Giant Ransom is a short adventure for four 11th-level characters. There are opportunities for diplomacy, stealth, and combat, based on the choices the PCs make, so any mix of classes is appropriate. The adventure can be set in any campaign world, in a frontier region near glacier-covered mountains. The newly appointed Duke Castaril Ambrinigan has recently relocated to a modest, newly constructed keep near the frontier town of Ormanlak. He and his family arrived safely, but a caravan containing family heirlooms was waylaid by a band of frost giant raiders. Most of the items were of no consequence to the Duke, with the exception of one: a three-foot tall golden statue of a lion. The Duke, wanting to avoid a war, sent an emissary to the frost giants. He offered gems totaling 10,000 gold pieces in value as ransom for the lion. The giants accepted, and a time and place was set for the exchange. But there is more. A white dragon named Whildenstrank lives in the midst of a nearby glacier, and has maintained a network of winter wolf spies, including some in the frost giants' camp. Through these spies, Whildenstrank learned of the capture of the golden lion, and the upcoming trade. Thinking that the lion would make a fine addition to his frozen treasure hoard, Whildenstrank has prepared to strike.

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

In ages past, the wizard Karavakos made a deal with devils, which resulted in him being trapped in an extradimensional pyramid, unable to escape. His only hope for escape is to lure adventurers into the Pyramid, in hopes that they will destroy his splinters and return his power to him. But his wife Vyrellis, whom he slew in a rage when the Pyramid formed, still lingers in spirit and wants nothing more than to see him laid low... Although set to allow PCs to just fight through each encounter, tips are included for PCs negotiating with the factions trapped in the pyramid.

In The Standing Stone, a tiefling sorcerer named Dyson discovers a circle of standing stones constructed centuries ago by druids to hold their annual rituals; the druid community was later destroyed by the great dragon Ashardalon. Dyson uses the magic of the stones to replace people with animals transformed into humanoid form, loyal to him. Dyson encounters the player characters in the village of Ossington and tries to manipulate them into eliminating the remaining enemies standing in his way.

Base of Operations is a short adventure intended for four 5th-level characters. DMs can easily modify the adventure to suit higher- or lower-level adventurers, or larger or smaller parties of adventurers. Simply adding a few monsters to every encounter area makes the adventure more challenging for larger parties, and adding levels to any of the humanoids can make them more of a threat to high-level groups. For low-level adventurers, make the relationship between the two factions within Brightstone Keep more strained, and take away a few monsters from each group. You can remove levels from some of the humanoids in the adventure to make it a lower-level challenge, but it is important that the orc cleric (described in encounter area 8) still have the ability to animate the dead. Still, he can have fewer minions around him when encountered, and that makes him less of a challenge for a lowlevel party.