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
Stories of misfortune are often exaggerated, especially when they have been retold many times. For that reason, most people aren't taking seriously the claim that a sea monster living along the coast is eating whole ships full of sailors and swallowing entire families. But there's no denying a few facts -- the town of Lochfell is losing its citizens to a sea monster (one that walks on water no less), someone is stealing that same town's dead, and ships are beginning to choose other ports for unloading their goods. Such a scenario could doom the residents of the small port town to either a monster's gullet or the poorhouse. No one seems to know whether the town's two ongoing problems are connected, but the sea monster never leaves behind a corpse to bury. Is it collecting bodies for some dark purpose? Or did some more powerful evil creature create the sea monster to do its dirty work? Someone in Lochfell knows the answer, and it's up to the PCs to find it out. Lochfell’s Secret is a short D&D adventure for four 15th level player characters (PCs). The story is set in and around the port town of Lochfell. You can place the action in any section of your campaign world where a coastal town on a bay might exist. If there is a small town that the PCs visited in a past adventure but haven’t returned to in quite a while, so much the better. As always, feel free to adapt the material presented here as you see fit to make it work with your campaign.
Sarkt is an illithid sorcerer. It was cast out of its community for its heretical studies (Sarkt was in fact, lucky to escape alive). It didn't take the cunning creature long to pick up a few thralls and find a new place to live, safe from the murderous intentions of its companions. Sarkt dwells in the subterranean ruins of an ancient shrine to Blibdoolpoolp, the crustacean-headed deity of the kuo-toas. This shrine lies on the fringe of a region controlled by kuo-toas, but since Sarkt's arrival, the fishmen avoid the area. A few unfortunate kuo-toas now serve Sarkt as thralls and maintain the illusion that the shrine serves Blibdoolpoolp. Pgs. 82-88
This adventure concerns a once-proud fortress that fell into the earth in an age long past. Now known as the Sunless Citadel, its echoing, broken halls house malign creatures. Evil has taken root at the citadel's core, which is deep within a subterranean garden of blighted foliage. Here a terrible tree and its dark shepherd plot in darkness.
A Mulmaster refugee named Ani Kuleimatt discovered references to a forgotten mine near the Moonsea, a mine rumored to produce an unexpected export. The adventurers are hired to locate the complex and secure its resources for the Mulmaster Diaspora.
In 1492 DR, a group of adventurers are approached by a ghost in Candlekeep who urges them to investigate the unsolved, grisly murder of the Yellowcrest family in Waterdeep five years prior. The investigation leads the adventurers to the nearby village of Greenfast, which is plagued by a secretive cult.
In the village of Elventree, near the oppressive city of Hillsfar, a recent string of strange occurrences has the locals on edge. The factions have gathered here on the borders of the forest of Cormanthor to determine what’s happening. Are these the machinations of Hillsfar, or something more?
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.
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.
In response to a new but as-of-yet-unnamed threat, the factions have called upon adventurers to venture into the jungle in search of a location for a new base of operations. As such, you have been charged with scouting several locations to assess their viability. Surely something so trivial as a scouting mission couldn’t go wrong?
Despite the bitter cold that reigns here nine months of the year, the Timberway Forest has long been a source of prosperity for civilized folk who live nearby. Many trappers and hunters spend the better part of the year within its borders, stockpiling furs and meat to trade in the frontier towns to the south, where they spend their winters. Most feel that the value of these commodities makes braving the Timberway Forest worth the risk. Recently, though, a small group of trappers and hunters has awakened a terrible new menace in the forest. Based in a remote hunter's abode called the Bluerock Lodge, they hunted the animals of the woods more out of a deep-seated desire to be cruel than a need to feed themselves. In particular, they focused their hateful attention on the local Timberway lion population. Timberway lions are rather small (more like leopards), but they are known for being lithe and wary. Still, the trappers had the advantage of intelligence and tools, and before long they had slaughtered the entire pride save for its leader. As the winter worsened and game grew ever more scarce, this last surviving lion began to starve. At that point, the darker forces of nature took notice, and the Timberway Forest gained a predator like no other. Frozen Whispers is a short D&D adventure for four 3rd-level player characters (PCs). The scenario is set mostly in and near a remote hunter’s lodge in a snowy forest. The scenario can be placed in any cold area of your campaign world that features a remote tract of woodland—a copse of trees near the arctic circle, a swath of taiga near the treeline on a high mountainside, or even a normally temperate forest caught in the grip of an unnaturally snowy winter. As always, feel free to adapt the material presented here as you see fit to make it work with your campaign.
The citizens of Phent, which is a large town in Thesk, are a proud, yet warm and accepting folk. For the past nine years, they have been host to over six hundred orcs, which is certainly an anomaly in the average Faerûnian community. In 1360 DR, Zhentil Keep sent one thousand orcs to aid in the fight against the westward-sweeping Tuigan hordes. The orcs fought well—well enough that the citizens of Thesk welcomed them as citizens when Zhentil Keep abandoned them in this land in 1363 DR. Still, a current of unsettling concern lingers. Some believe that the orcs are still part of Zhentil Keep’s strike force, but that they went on standby to wait for the moment when their masters give the signal. Once allowed, these orcs may launch a crippling attack from within. However, in nine years, no signal has been given—at least none that any of the paranoid folk have noticed. The orcs are enthusiastic citizens and, apart from some rowdiness during breaks from the mines or fields, they have hurt no one. And then, a prophet comes, with a message of war . . . In A Call to Arms, the player characters (PCs) have a chance to prevent orcs from rising up against some humans. This adventure is designed for four 9th-level D&D® characters. The encounters can be adjusted up or down to suit your group’s needs, however.
“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
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. In the story thus far, the PCs have been tasked by Duke Ambrinigan, a local lord, to recover a stolen statue of a golden lion. The lion was stolen in transit by frost giant raiders, and was to be ransomed back to the Duke for 10,000 gp. The PCs were sent to perform the exchange. The giants, however, were attacked by the white dragon Whildenstrank, who stole the statue and retreated to his lair in the middle of a nearby glacier. The PCs encountered the remaining giants, and then set off westward toward the dragon's lair. They traveled across the flat part of the glacier, encountering the frost giant ranger Velg the Dragon Tamer, as well as some burrowing bulettes. Then they braved the hazards of frost worms and remorhaz in the Ice Canyons: a maze of twisting passageways surrounding the black spire of rock that the dragon calls home. The PCs now stand at the edge of an open space, looking at the towering edifice in front of them.
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.
A dwarven expedition has stopped in Mulmaster for much-needed supplies. Furgis Boltsmelter, their founder and leader, is looking for some “no questions asked” protection for the duration of his stay in the city. Whatever he is trying to protect may not stay hidden for long. Can you keep his secret treasure out of the wrong hands? A four-hour adventure for 1st-4th level characters.
An unknown force is inciting the people and creatures of the idyllic Greenwood to commit horrific acts of murder and carnage. Can the adventurers quell the towering rage of the rampaging Horseman? Part Thirteen of Misty Fortunes and Empty Hearts.
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.
Lost Tombs, Volume 2 The lich Lyzandred: a madman, an undead archmage, a survivor of the twin cataclysms that destroyed tow great empires. His name invokes fear in the hears of the smallest children, the bravest warriors, and the wisest sages. Like a malicious cat, the lich toys with all who stumble into his maze, tormenting them with strange puzzles and obscure riddles, monsters and demons, weird traps and dangerous magics. All who enter the crypt of Lyzandred find themselves scarred with his rune, proof of their visit -- and their folly. But there is a method to the madness of Lyzandred, a purpose to his twisted games. If you're lucky, you might even live to learn about it. The Lost Tombs series begins with Star Cairns (Volume 1) and concludes with The Doomgrinder (Volume 3). Each adventure is playable separately, or they can be linked to form an epic-length story. TSR 9580
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.