The village of Hillthorpe has been under the "protection" of a rough sleeping stranger. The extortion began with demands for a bushel of wheat or a basket of apples, accompanied by threats of rats and mice being sent to ravage the sick and sleeping, and to ruin the stores. Over time, the demands escalated, reaching the point where the village could no longer afford to pay without starving to death over winter (3 sacks of grain, a barrel of ale, and all the ripe cheese you have each week!). As a result, the village is seeking outside help.
A 1st-level dungeon crawl heavy on exploration, factions, and sorcerous wonder for Shadowdark RPG! Go below the dripping ruins of Bittermold Keep to hunt for legendary treasures and face off against three competing factions that want to claim the Hideous Halls: the degenerate Bittermold family, the wild halfling Howlers, and the disgruntled mutant catfish. The characters might even encounter the abominable god-ooze, Mugdulblub! Winner of "The Best" rating from tenfootpole.org! View the adventure walkthrough video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVJ-t7qMjPo This adventure is part of Cursed Scroll Zine 1: Diablerie! Inside the zine, you'll find cursed knights channeling demonic power, mist-addled forests where witches and warlocks stalk the trees, and crumbling castles housing ancient, eldritch creatures. Shadowdark RPG is what classic, old-school fantasy gaming would look like after being redesigned with 50 years of innovation. It's the world's greatest roleplaying game in a whole new light! Learn more and download the free rules here: https://www.thearcanelibrary.com/pages/shadowdark
The Red Bastion - the prison of a dwarf ghost princess... A 15-room dungeon for levels 2-3.
Did you know there’s a skeleton inside each of us? The players will find themselves in a community of scared anthropomorphic rabbits and exploring the lair of undead wizards looking for flesh to wear. There are opportunities for combat, roll play, puzzle-solving and exploration. This was written as a submission for the Summer Adventure Design Contest over at Bryce's Adventure Design Forum.
Where shadows reign, darkness follows. You'll be lucky if you live to see the dawn's early light. The player characters are charged with entering a portal the demiplane of shadows to retrieve a magical staff that can close the portal. Roleplaying and betrayal. This adventure features many creatures native to and associated with the demiplane of shadow, often as random encounters. Pgs. 8-25
There is no particular overarching story here, just a prospect dungeon you can drop into your own sandbox and run as you see fit. This adventure is formatted to both 1E & 5E gaming rules.
A One-on-One Competition Module for Thieves Level 8 Your peaceful evening has been interrupted by an unusual request. As a thief, your skills are unmatched, but can you rise to the challenge of thieving for a powerful and frightening wizard? Do you have a choice? The Gem and the Staff is a special One-on-One competition module designed for one player and on Dungeon Master. The Module contains two separate scenarios, so you can switch roles with the other player after the first adventure. Scoring sheets and encounter summaries are provided for each adventure to make running competitions quick and simple. Character figures and a map book are also provided to help visualize the adventures. The player's maps are designed so you can see the rooms as they would appear. Complete DM's Maps are included. TSR 9050
'Help wanted: Fearless crew to stop undead pirates. Pay bills before applying." The first thing you'll hear is dead silence. The party must hunt down a ghostship disrupting commerce in the trade port of Koll. At least, everyone thinks it's a ghostship, the party may discover otherwise.
Nothing's more dangerous than a vengeful dwarf except, perhaps, a greedy one. En route somewhere in a barren wilderness, the PCs find a couple of dwarves--one is burying his brother who was killed by a stone giant; but not all is as it seems. "The module can be placed in any temperate wilderness setting. Players who excel at role playing may find the adventure more rewarding than hack-and-slash types. At least one character should possess a silver or magical weapon." Pgs. 16-17
This adventure is an exploration in creativity for the GM as the players are invited by a stranger in the center of town to play a board game called Ij’Namuj. With a devilish smile he promises a grand reward if they can complete it successfully. Unfortunately, the game unleashes chaos onto the world around it, causing terrifying weather phenomena, death knights to appear and hunt players, or even causing all of the chickens in town to go rabid and attack. The only way to return things to as they were is to complete the game, so best get to rolling those dice!
In their previous adventure they discovered a strange magic item that no one in Fort Myers can identify. After receiving the suggestion that a trip to the capital may be in order, a different tip points out that there is Steinhäuser. This location is known as a vast repository of knowledge. You set out and quickly realize that the Grey Cloaks, a group of evil knights, is ahead of you yet again…
"The screams became overpowered by the sound of the terrible falling star--a black orb of malign energy hurled from the firmament in the dead of night. In that instant, the village of Rhale was utterly destroyed, reduced to a hollow crater of flaming decay. Now, frightened talk of a dark presence descended from above has taken root, though none can put name to the faceless fear that might reside within this terrible orb." While traveling the countryside, the player characters witness an explosive event - the falling of a meteor into a distant hillside. Soon thereafter, they encounter several mercenaries menacing some refugees. From them, the PCs can learn, that a group of dragon worshippers called the Black Covenant are in the area and intend to use the fallen star for their own nefarious purposes. Upon arriving at the crater, the PCs find that the falling star is in fact a massive sphere of iron with an opening in its side. They enter the sphere to find a small complex of rooms protected by numerous traps and guardians. They also battle several members of the Black Covenant, until they make their way to the heart of the complex, where they discover the source of the Covenant's interest in the Black Egg, they try to use it to create a half-fiend red dragon. The PCs must succeed if they wish to prevent the creation of an army of fiendish dragons. Lot's of monstrous NPCs with class levels and templates for enemies (half-black dragon orc warriors level 7, for example) are used in this adventure. Pgs. 57-78
Greed blinds the eyes of contentment Dwarf miners discovered a precious stone deposit. Unfortunately, their greed led them to dig tunnels too deep. Upon breaching the walls of an unholy temple, the miners unleashed a bizarre creature that decimated them all. 'They Dug Too Deep' is a system-agnostic one-page dungeon about exploring an abandoned and mysterious dwarven mine. As characters delve into the site, they'll uncover that not everything is as it seems – a sealed entrance from the inside, the corpses of dwarves scattered around, strange messages on the walls... Play to discover what really happened! 2023 Winners' Circle One-page Dungeon! 'They Dug Too Deep' was awarded as one of the top 10 one-page dungeons in the 2023 One Page Dungeon Contest! To celebrate, we offer you some extra stuff to enhance your play experience. There is more underground than just precious stones... What you'll find here: A complete 18-room one-page dungeon with easy preparation. A GM's Pamphlet containing tips on how to run the adventure and compiling the most relevant information. 4 character sheets using the Vagari RPG rules system. 5 custom tokens for use in your favorite VTT. Mini-hexcrawl map (NEW!)
In this level 6 adventure for 4-6 players the party comes across a man named Johann Dhomm who was transporting animals in cages to his private island where he has a menagerie (a kind of zoo) that he eventually wants to open to the public. But the animals have escaped and he asks the party to try and catch them alive for him. However, the animals are actually quite dangerous and range from Gazers to a Wyvern.
A ghostly bird stalks a fishing village, killing its inhabitants. Solve its mystery and end the threat before it kills again! The Blight of Brineborough is a quest optimized for 2nd-level characters. It features a terrifying monster, two new magic items, and a sea shanty.
This horror mystery adventure scenario takes the players to a small village just behind the fog. In a last month, three people went missing from Dormay village and they still haven't been found. The concerned villagers want the players to find the missing folk or at least shed some light on their disappearance. Through investigative work the players will discover that the village has a 100 year old secret, a secret which punishes the wicked. While the villain died over a century ago, he left behind a dreadful design that torments the people to this day. Players' heart and soul will be put to the test as they are ultimately faced with the creature born of sin. Penance for Sin features a short horror mystery adventure scenario. It introduces a new fiendish monster. The adventure favors invastigation and roleplay over combat encounters. "The horror element" section in the adventure gives advice how to make your gaming sessions more frightening.
Players must prove their worth in this series of trials. Face the minotaur in his own maze, resist the allure of a crafty nymph, put on a show for the crowd as you face down an incubus / succubus duo in the arena, crawl through the muck and sneak past the demons that lie in wait, and finally use all of your creativity to navigate a glass golem through a gauntlet of traps. Another exciting blend of combat and puzzle-solving.
With the discovery of an enormous diamond deposit nestled on their borders, the kingdoms of Peldadrin and Belford both claim the repository of indispensable gemstones as their own. After years of negotiations fail to bring a peaceful resolution, the two nations (further incited by sentiments of national pride that have risen over the years of negotiations) determine the diamonds will be claimed only through war. In the early days of the war, Private Geth Heston, a Belford scout with rich Peldadrin ancestry, was dispatched into enemy territory to uncover Peldadrin unit formations, patrol routes, and any other information he could find. It’s been two weeks since Geth sent his latest report, putting Belford command in a state of unease. The information Geth alluded to in his last message could change the course of the war, if proven true.
The Night of the Rise is a unique adventure that offers the party an alternative to the "hack & slash" approach. The opportunity for role play is high and it is sure to tap into skills and abilities most of your characters never knew they possessed. Not only does it offer a new experience for your players, but hopefully it has them smiling several times during the night. A request to deal with a bandit captain named Giles Ne'Ville sends the adventuring party on a two-day journey. During this journey, they find an entertaining way to deal with this Giles Ne'Ville. Will they use this opportunity? Or will they take the typical 'hack & slash' approach to dealing with villans? This adventure is written in a non-specific location but is easily insertable into any campaign as a one-shot adventure. I feel that it would work great in Strom King's Thunder as an added traveling encounter.
The valley of Haven was a peaceful land. Its crops were abundant, its citizens prosperous. Elves, Dwarves, Halflings, and Humans lived together in harmony. Hidden away in the heart of the Thunder Mountains, Haven was a safe place to live. The rivers were sweet and pure; the weather was pleasant and warm. Something terrible has come to pass in Haven - terrified refugees speak of a fabulous ruby uncovered in the mountains and a catastrophe that befell the palace. Whatever the cause, Haven now lies in chaos. Raiding bands of orcs, goblins, and hobgoblins terrorize the countryside. The disaster happened so suddenly that the citizens are confused and helpless. Without their leaders, who are trapped in the palace, they have no courage to fight back. The situation has become desperate. TSR 9044