When the priestess of Ehlonna was murdered by a werewolf, the townsfolk of Deepwood lost no time in meting out justice, even though the shapechanger turned out to be a trusted friend and neighbor. But his journal has the town worried. Written in an unknown tongue, it seems to contain important pieces of information. Is it a list of other werewolves? Is the threat to Deepwood over, or has it only just begun? Cries of "Murder!" brought the villagers of Deepwood running to the temple to witness a grisly sight. The priestess of the Temple of Ehlonna lay murdered on the floor, savaged by some vicious beast. Above her body stood a large wolf. Then, before their horrified eyes, the wolf turned into a man -- their friend and neighbor Trammil! The villagers lost no time in giving Trammil the justice he deserved at the end of a rope, even over the objections of those few who thought he deserved a trial. But Trammil's death has not made the villagers feel safe. No one suspected his dark secret until the day of the crime. Could there be others? Can anyone in town be trusted? Only someone who can translate Trammil's journal and fully investigate the murder can solve the mystery.
When an attempt to arrange an early inheritance backfires, a man of lesser ambition than Vanthus Vanderboren would no doubt withdraw into his sister's manse to hide under her skirts and pray that the truth of his patricide remain hidden. Fortunately for Vanthus, lack of ambition has never been a problem. Now the Vanderobrens' prodigal son slinks east along the coast of Blood Bay, lured by rumors of an incredible prize kept in a smuggler's hideout called Kraken's Cove. Yet what he is destined to find there is far more than a lucrative bit of banditry. What awaits him is the savage tide. "The Bullywug Gambit" is the second chapter of the Savage Tides Adventure Path, a complete campaign consisting of 12 adventures appearing in Dungeon magazine. For additional aid in running this campaign, check out Dragon magazine's "Savage Tidings" articles, a series that helps players and DMs prepare for and expand upon the campaign. Issue #349 of Dragon magazine looks into the region surrounding Sasserine, and provides useful information if your PCs wish to explore this area more thoroughly than they do in the course of this adventure. The hidden caves of Kraken's Cove have long served the pirates of the Crimson Fleet as a place to stage their smuggling operations. When their latest cargo backfires, the PCs find themselves faced with something far worse than murderous pirates. Pgs. 12-48
The adventure begins with the characters discovering the recently murdered Returned, Varyas, and confronting his killers. Varyas's gold mask bears a code on it, one that points toward the sage Khea who lives in the nearby polis. When the characters investigate, they learn from Khea that the writing is undecipherable except for the first line, which refers to the legendary Court of Orestes, a site sacred to the god Phenax. She also notes that a recent earthquake has uncovered a cave along the Khystonos River that could be the secret site's location. If so, then perhaps within lies the key to deciphering the mask, along with its own treasures. With the information provided by Khea, the adventurers set forth into the wilds, where they'll face multiple storied dangers before reaching the Court of Orestes. Once at the lost holy site, the characters discover ancient guardians, as well as an unliving entity with the potential to reveal Phenax's lost secret.
“Den of the Destroyer” is the sequel to “The Lost Mines of Karak,” continuing the unfolding story of the Scales of War adventure path. In this adventure, the PCs are called back to Brindol by a surprising summons. There they learn that a platinum sword they had collected back in "Rescue at Rivenroar" is no mundane item - the blade is sentient! The blade charges the PCs to undertake a dangerous mission to an abandoned githzerai fortress in order to perform a ritual to awaken the blade's true form. Along the way, they must deal with bounty hunters hired by an old enemy (from "Shadow Rifts of Umbraforge"), and confront a vile gang of gnolls terrorizing Elsir Vale. Pgs. 14-54
The residents of Haskenport are worried -- someone is living at the old manor house. The local druid says it's a band of hobgoblins. Are they just looking for a temporary shelter before moving on? Or do they plan to bring a whole tribe to live there when the place is secured? Or do they work for an even worse creature that no one has seen yet? Whatever their reasons for being there, the situation can't be good. It's up to the heroes to clean the monsters out of the place so the townsfolk can sell it.
A primer for the noir, pulp-fantasy setting of Sharn, the City of Towers, sending the party on a fast-paced urban investigation to track down a missing courier and ancient magical relics.
Reavers of Harkenwold pits the heroes against the Iron Circle, a company of cruel mercenaries that has seized control of the small land of Harkenwold. In this adventure, the heroes become daring rebels and lead the folk of Harkenwold against their oppressors.
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
Recent earthquakes have unearthed a small section of a lost dwarven fortress. The dwarves are long gone, but rumors suggest they might have left treasure or weapons behind. After a journey into the Underdark, the characters find a barred iron door bearing the names of several ancient dwarven clans. Pgs. 90-95
The Approaching Swarm is a short adventure for four 9th-level characters. The party can consist of any mix of classes, but it should include at least one character that is good in wilderness settings, such as a druid, ranger, or barbarian, and at least one cleric. This scenario should prove a reasonable challenge for characters from 8th to 10th level. The adventure takes place in a swampland that is near a small settlement. The adventurers have located the secret lair of Aleretheral, an insane half-orc druid with mastery over vermin. He has been breeding and training monstrous vermin to defend his territory. With the adventurers invading his home, he will do anything he can to protect it.
A deathpriest hierophant of Orcus has turned the lower catacombs of a cemetery into a base for the undead and demonic horde it is gathering. The deathpriest loses control, however, with the arrival of a balor, and its carefully orchestrated forays to snatch victims have turned into wholesale slaughters. The PCs arrive in a nearby town to meet with a merchant who promised to sell them a long-coveted magic item. They are not altogether pleased to arrive to find the aftermath of a brutal attack—and no sign of their item. Pgs. 150-155
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
A cold winter wind blows from the Scourge Mountains, but its origins are not of this world. And with it come horrifying stories of a fey who walks the land. Cold, beautiful, and deadly, she turns every mortal she touches into a statue of ice, and she seems determined to blanket the entire north in a blanket of frost. It is the Winter of the Witch…and if the archfey Koliada is not stopped, it could be the world’s last. “Winter of the Witch” starts with the PCs receiving an urgent but somewhat cryptic message from the skeletal knight, Sir Keegan. They find the skeletal knight a helpless victim of an aggressive interrogation by an undead minion of Orcus and his demonic thugs, who are attempting to extract the location of something called the Sun’s Sliver from the stubborn knight. The PCs fight their way into deep ruins, defeat the demon lord’s toadies, and retrieve the Sun’s Sliver. Once the PCs have recovered the Sun's Sliver, they must confront the Winter Witch in Winter's Heart, the witch's icy sanctum in the Feywild. Only there can they confront the cold-hearted archfey and save a section of the world from a wintery doom.
The time has come for the brave and the bold to put an end to the machinations of Maerimydra’s demonic occupiers and their fiendish fire giant ruler. This will be no mean feat; the city is a cesspit of corruption and madness. You will have help, however, as an unlikely group of allies have gathered to your side in the Underdark beneath Faerûn. Danger, glory, and redemption await those brave enough to seize it. With allies gained from denizens of the Underdark, the former drown enclave of Szith Morcane is on the precipice of being retaken. During the battle for Szith Morcane, secrets of the drow community are revealed. What will you do with this knowledge, and how will it affect the outcome of the conflict?
Two Red Wizards of Thay have undertaken a secret mission into the High Moors east of the Sword Coast. They are searching for something or someone. Whatever their goal out there in the cold and windswept hills, if the Red Wizards want to keep it secret then it is probably best uncovered swiftly for the good of everyone else. Even the mercenaries who escorted them into the wilderness earlier agree: someone should stop them. Pursuing the Red Wizards leads the adventurers to a barrow mound in the wild grasses of the High Moors. At the barrow, they discover the remnants of a wizards' sanctum still being plundered. The fate of its lore and treasures is up to the characters. Without caution, things may get out of hand. This Dungeons & Dragons adventure is written to suit four to six characters of 8th level. With this text and the core D&D manuals, you have everything you need to play. You may also benefit from the Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide to learn more about the High Moors of Faerûn. Made for the Magic: the Gathering set "Adventures in the Forgotten Realms".
A book donated to the library-city of Candlekeep details how the previous owner created a mansion in a pocket dimension and what the command word to enter is. The gateway was recently discovered, and the characters need to enter the mansion to retrieve the researcher who rediscovered it.
The Approaching Swarm is a short adventure for four 9th-level characters. The party can consist of any mix of classes, but it should include at least one character that is good in wilderness settings, such as a druid, ranger, or barbarian, and at least one cleric. This scenario should prove a reasonable challenge for characters from 8th to 10th level. The adventure takes place in a swampland that is near a small settlement. A band of rag-tag settlers have carved out a small settlement, called Crivdall, on the edges of a great swamp that is infamous for its terrible creatures. The area is rich with resources, and the settlers have done well hunting and foraging in the swamps. Unbeknownst to them, however, an insane druid has taken notice of their transgressions and wants them to leave. The druid, Aleretheral, is a half-orc with a curious affinity for insects and vermin. The swamp is home to numerous breeds of monstrous insects, some of which the druid has begun to breed to make them even larger and more aggressive. Through his abilities, Aleretheral has set enormous vermin onto the helpless settlers, preying on them as they venture into the swamp. With autumn rapidly coming to a close, the settlers are becoming desperate as more of their numbers are killed by hordes of marauding vermin.
4e's 'Expedition to the Barrier Peaks'... on the moon! Using the technology of a lost civilisation, illithids have been cloning influential people. The PCs must navigate a strange sci-fi environment and defeat the illithids. Additional items & malfunction rules can be found in Dragon #410 & Gamma World 7e.
The Maimed Virulence has come. The future of the Cinnabar Throne and the lives of the denizens of Phlan are in jeopardy. The Cult of the Dragon rejoices, and the Black Fist is powerless to stop them. How will the factions of the city respond to this threat? Can Phlan be saved this time? Part One of Under Emerald Claws. An adventure for 5th-10th level characters.
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.