The Legend of the Black Monastery Two centuries have passed since the terrible events associated with the hideous cult known as the Black Brotherhood. Only scholars and story-tellers remember now how the kingdom was nearly laid to waste and the Black Monastery rose to grandeur and fell into haunted ruins. The Brothers first appeared as an order of benevolent priests and humble monks in black robes who followed a creed of kindness to the poor and service to the kingdom. Their rules called for humility and self denial. Other religious orders had no quarrel with their theology or their behavior. Their ranks grew as many commoners and nobles were drawn to the order by its good reputation. The first headquarters for the order was a campsite, located in a forest near the edge of the realm. The Brothers said that their poverty and dedication to service allowed them no resources for more grand accommodations. Members of the Black Brotherhood built chapels in caves or constructed small temples on common land near villages. They said that these rustic shrines allowed them to be near the people they served. Services held by the Brothers at these locations attracted large numbers of common people, who supported the Black Brotherhood with alms. Within 50 years of their first appearance, the Black Brotherhood had a number of larger temples and abbeys around the kingdom. Wealthy patrons endowed them with lands and buildings in order to buy favor and further the work of the Brothers. The lands they gained were slowly expanded as the order’s influence grew. Many merchants willed part of their fortunes to the Black Brotherhood, allowing the order to expand their work even further. The Brothers became bankers, loaning money and becoming partners in trade throughout the kingdom. Within 200 years of their founding, the order was wealthy and influential, with chapters throughout the kingdom and spreading into nearby realms. With their order well-established, the Black Brotherhood received royal permission to build a grand monastery in the hill country north of the kingdom’s center. Their abbot, a cousin of the king, asked for the royal grant of a specific hilltop called the Hill of Mornay. This hill was already crowned by ancient ruins that the monks proposed to clear away. Because it was land not wanted for agriculture, the king was happy to grant the request. He even donated money to build the monastery and encouraged others to contribute. With funds from around the realm, the Brothers completed their new monastery within a decade. It was a grand, sprawling edifice built of black stone and called the Black Monastery. From the very beginning, there were some who said that the Black Brotherhood was not what it seemed. There were always hints of corruption and moral lapses among the Brothers, but no more than any other religious order. There were some who told stories of greed, gluttony and depravity among the monks, but these tales did not weaken the order’s reputation during their early years. All of that changed with the construction of the Black Monastery. Within two decades of the Black Monastery’s completion, locals began to speak of troubling events there. Sometimes, Brothers made strange demands. They began to cheat farmers of their crops. They loaned money at ruinous rates, taking the property of anyone who could not pay. They pressured or even threatened wealthy patrons, extorting money in larger and larger amounts. Everywhere, the Black Brotherhood grew stronger, prouder and more aggressive. And there was more… People began to disappear. The farmers who worked the monastery lands reported that some people who went out at night, or who went off by themselves, did not return. It started with individuals…people without influential families…but soon the terror and loss spread to even to noble households. Some said that the people who disappeared had been taken into the Black Monastery, and the place slowly gained an evil reputation. Tenant farmers began moving away from the region, seeking safety at the loss of their fields. Slowly, even the king began to sense that the night was full of new terrors. Across the kingdom, reports began to come in telling of hauntings and the depredations of monsters. Flocks of dead birds fell from clear skies, onto villages and city streets. Fish died by thousands in their streams. Citizens reported stillborn babies and monstrous births. Crops failed. Fields were full of stunted plants. Crimes of all types grew common as incidents of madness spread everywhere. Word spread that the center of these dark portents was the Black Monastery, where many said the brothers practiced necromancy and human sacrifice. It was feared that the Black Brotherhood no longer worshipped gods of light and had turned to the service of the Dark God. These terrors came to a head when the Black Brotherhood dared to threaten the king himself. Realizing his peril, the king moved to dispossess and disband the Black Brother hood. He ordered their shrines, abbeys and lands seized. He had Brothers arrested for real and imagined crimes. He also ordered investigations into the Black Monastery and the order’s highest ranking members. The Black Brotherhood did not go quietly. Conflict between the order and the crown broke into violence when the Brothers incited their followers to riot across the kingdom. There were disturbances everywhere, including several attempts to assassinate the king by blades and by dark sorcery. It became clear to everyone that the Black Brotherhood was far more than just another religious order. Once knives were drawn, the conflict grew into open war between the crown and the Brothers. The Black Brotherhood had exceeded their grasp. Their followers were crushed in the streets by mounted knights. Brothers were rounded up and arrested. Many of them were executed. Armed supporters of the Black Brotherhood, backed by arcane and divine magic, were defeated and slaughtered. The Brothers were driven back to their final hilltop fortress – the Black Monastery. They were besieged by the king’s army, trapped and waiting for the king’s forces to break in and end the war. The final assault on the Black Monastery ended in victory and disaster. The king’s army took the hilltop, driving the last of the black-robed monks into the monastery itself. The soldiers were met by more than just men. There were monsters and fiends defending the monastery. There was a terrible slaughter on both sides. In many places the dead rose up to fight again. The battle continued from afternoon into night, lit by flames and magical energy. The Black Monastery was never actually taken. The king’s forces drove the last of their foul enemies back inside the monastery gates. Battering rams and war machines were hauled up the hill to crush their way inside. But before the king’s men could take the final stronghold, the Black Brotherhood immolated themselves in magical fire. Green flames roared up from the monastery, engulfing many of the king’s men as well. As survivors watched, the Black Monastery burned away, stones, gates, towers and all. There was a lurid green flare that lit the countryside. There was a scream of torment from a thousand human voices. There was a roar of falling masonry and splitting wood. Smoke and dust obscured the hilltop. The Black Monastery collapsed in upon itself and disappeared. Only ashes drifted down where the great structure had stood. All that was left of the Black Monastery was its foundations and debris-choked dungeons cut into the stones beneath. The war was over. The Black Brotherhood was destroyed. But the Black Monastery was not gone forever. Over nearly two centuries since its destruction, the Black Monastery has returned from time to time to haunt the Hill of Mornay. Impossible as it seems, there have been at least five incidents in which witnesses have reported finding the Hill of Mornay once again crowned with black walls and slate-roofed towers. In every case, the manifestation of this revenant of the Black Monastery has been accompanied by widespread reports of madness, crime and social unrest in the kingdom. Sometimes, the monastery has appeared only for a night. The last two times, the monastery reappeared atop the hill for as long as three months…each appearance longer than the first. There are tales of adventurers daring to enter the Black Monastery. Some went to look for treasure. Others went to battle whatever evil still lived inside. There are stories of lucky and brave explorers who have survived the horrors, returning with riches from the fabled hordes of the Black Brotherhood. It is enough to drive men mad with greed – enough to lure more each time to dare to enter the Black Monastery.
When the Purple Planet began its slow decline, factions arose to vie for the final resources of the dying world. In the days of the Last Wars, the Ascendant Masters used their knowledge of cybernetics and genetic engineering to create increasingly powerful and grotesque biological weapons. One such weapon was Sotark the Destroyer of the long lost House Memniscene. Damaged and placed in a cryogenic regeneration capsule, Sotark has slept away the ages while the House above him eroded away under the weirdling sun. Over time, the capsule has failed, but still Sotark sleeps on, diminished, but not destroyed.
South of the famed city of Caster’s Crossing lies a jungle rife with dreadful perils and savage predators, known by the locals as Erset La Tari. Adventurers crave the bountiful treasures and powerful artifacts of angelic devise said to be lost in the depths of this treacherous place, and many have lost their lives trying to uncover them. Driven by the abusive schemes of Warmage Czercic, whose cruelty is checked only by his avarice, a band of unfortunate commoners is now forced to best the horrors lurking in this dark place. Will they survive and perhaps unearth the prodigious power said to be hidden in the depths of Erset La Tari? Sword in the Jungle Deep is an introductory adventure for a party of level 0 characters, meant to challenge both new and experienced players. This stand-alone adventure can also be used to start or augment your own homebrew campaign. Published by The Keep Studios
Written in celebration of Swords and Wizardry Appreciation Day 2017, Return to Fel’Valashar picks up where Dungeons of Fel’Valashar left off. In this book is a collection of mini dungeon adventures with a small region called Fel’Valashar that they take place within. Each of these adventures is written in such a way that they don’t have any ties to each other or to Fel’Valashar. This means you can easily drop them into your own world with no fuss. Includes: Details of the south-western region of Fel’Valashar. Four mini dungeon adventures. New monsters. New magic items.
People have been going missing in Oreskos. Merchants never finish their rounds, and leonin disappear during their hunts. At the center of this conspiracy sits a lone tower, and on its throne a vicious lamia seeking to claim the grasslands as her kingdom. The Oreskan Lamia is a 3rd level Greek mythology inspired 5e adventure, for use with the Mythic Odysseys of Theros setting book.
A Mists of Akuma adventure for 4 to 6 characters of 13th level. This second adventure in the second wave of Mists of Akuma adventures comes to you from the mind of Anthony Alipio and is a tale inspired by the classic film Seven Samurai! Join the legendary iconic hero Tomoe Masamune (the samurai known as the Crimson Blade) and defend the simple village of Noru from the power-armored bandit king Calvert Boyd and his raider army in an epic mass battle your table will never forget! A two-page spread preview of the contents of this adventure. What you'll find in Honorable Wills: 3 Maps! (classic Noru, modern Noru, and Bandit Camp) 11 New Statblocks! including heroic samurai, rebellious tengu, devious bandits, and more 2 Ways to End the Adventure! Included in Act 3 are directions for running the final climactic mass battle like it's seen in the film that inspired this module and for a more contemporary approach tailored to the nuances of D&D 5E mechanics Published by: Storm Bunny Stuidios
Let the buyer be-were! Sometimes you should be afraid to visit the dentist. A small coastal town is plagued with a curse and it is up to the PCs to find out what is causing the inhabitants of the town to transform into mad seawolfs. This adventure is set in the busy seaport of Rocky Harbor, which is located on a sheltered island dep in an extensive archipelago. Rocky Harbor is another location in the Volkrad campaign setting, as previously published in Dungeon Adventures issue #41, Old Man Katan and the Incredible, Edible, Dancing Mushroom Band. Pgs. 8-20
The Siege of Castle Rend is an adventure for the fifth edition of the world’s first roleplaying game, suitable for five 5th-level characters. It takes place over four parts, and each part can be completed in one or two sessions of play, depending on your group’s playstyle and how long you like to play in a single sitting. If all goes according to plan over the course of this adventure, the player characters will expose an usurping lord, fight orcs, acquire a stronghold, defend it from an invading army, win the admiration of a town filled with potential vassals, and make political connections within the Barony of Bedegar. Of course, no adventure goes according to plan. The PCs will invariably throw these well-laid schemes into chaos, and they’ll have to improvise. But if we know how things would have gone if the PCs never showed up (or are cowards), it makes it easier for us GMs to improvise when things go off the rails. Published by MCDM
In ancient times, the area now known as the Dyrgalas Fens was home to a flourishing civilization of nature worshippers who wrested a living from the forest around them, built open-air temples, and generally did well. Over the centuries, a series of natural disasters (some say a series of foolish magical experiments) led to a rising water table and turned the forest into a vast swamp. As the water rose, most of the people left. Today, a few stalwart humans remain in the fens, living off the land through hunting, fishing, trapping, and even some agriculture. In addition to these honest folk, the Dyrgalas has some less savory residents, including both black and green dragons, trolls, hags, escaped criminals, and a host of lycanthropes. Most of these creatures prey on travelers foolish or unlucky enough to enter the fen, and sometimes raid both inside and outside the fen. This adventure, intended for characters of levels 6 to 8, deals with one group of raiders who make their lair in the Dyrgalas. A weretiger called Gavriil has formed a group of assorted lycanthropes into a band of cunning brigands. The lycanthropes favorite caper involves infiltrating a merchant caravan while posing as travelers, merchants, or swords for hire, then attacking it from within. Gavriil and his servants also take on kidnappings, murder for hire, and any other unsavory tasks that come their way.
Break in. Do the job. Survive the fallout. In a city so vast as Pindus-on-Isles, if you want to get ahead, you need to cozy up with someone powerful. And do something dangerous. When Hope the Fixer shows up at your door with a job from an anonymous employer, the pay is good enough. Are you? Seems there’s a thief holed up in a Wizard’s Egg, a stone laboratory suspended high on a tower. The anonymous employer wants the stolen goods trashed. It’s in Lightmill though. Those glittering skyscrapers are no place for basegels like you. Get your disguise together. Hope’s got the hippogriffs. It’s destruction time.
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐟𝐥𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐂𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞 𝐇𝐚𝐬 𝐑𝐞𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝! Step into a town where darkness has taken root, and every shadow hides a deadly secret. In The Return of the Blackflame Curse, you and your party will unravel the twisted mysteries of Whitethorn Rose, a cursed town teetering on the edge of doom. 𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐞 • 36 rooms across 4 floors (Basement, 1st Floor, 2nd Floor, Attic) • 5 detailed maps with day/night and transparent variants Explore the haunted Huxley Manor, a sprawling, intricately detailed estate with 36 rooms and 4 floors, each filled with terrifying encounters and bone-chilling secrets. With 5 beautifully illustrated maps, including day/night variants, you’ll be fully immersed in a tale of fear and survival. 𝐅𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 • 13 monster statblocks, each with their own lore • A intense boss fight with the vengeful Morgana Blackflame Face off against 13 custom monsters, each with unique abilities and terrifying backstories. From creeping apparitions to vengeful spirits, every encounter will test your players’ courage and strategy. And when it comes time for the ultimate showdown? Prepare for a climactic boss fight with Morgana Blackflame herself, a ghost hellbent on consuming the town in flames once more. 𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 • 13 tragic ghosts, each with chilling backstories • 8-page Ghost Hunting Compendium as a player handout • Solve mysteries and exorcise spirits to lift the curse But it’s not just monsters you’ll have to worry about. The town itself is alive with haunted events and 13 restless ghosts, each carrying a tragic tale. Investigate, exorcise, and piece together the dark history that binds them to this cursed place. To help your players dive deeper into the supernatural, we’ve also included an 8-page Ghost Hunting Compendium as a handy player handout. 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞 • 7 homebrew magic items, including a powerful Fated Item with 3 variants • 6 different charms to protect your players from the curse • 9 Magic Item Cards to print and hand out to players, with artwork, in 2.5 x 3.5 inches (MTG-sized) • 43 haunted events to keep players on edge Don’t go into battle unprepared. Arm your adventurers with 7 custom magic items, including 1 Fated Item with 3 powerful variants. Stock up on 6 unique charms to ward off the curse, and keep your party on edge with 43 haunting events that can strike at any time. 𝐑𝐮𝐧 • 17 monster cards for easy reference, with artwork, in 88mm x 125mm (Tiny Epic size) • Ghost Tracking Sheet for smooth management of the adventure • 36 small room cutouts for quick navigation during gameplay • 24 VTT tokens for easy integration into your online games For GMs, we’ve made running the adventure easier than ever. With 24 VTT tokens for monsters and NPCs, a Ghost Tracking Sheet to manage exorcisms, and 17 monster cards for quick reference, everything you need is at your fingertips. Plus, 36 cutouts in the description of every room, provide clear guidance for navigating the sprawling manor. 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭 • 7 detailed town locations for investigation • 7 NPC background and roleplay sheets to add depth to the world • 1d12 Superstition Table to bring the town’s eerie atmosphere to life Bring the town of Whitethorn Rose to life with 7 detailed NPC background sheets and 7 town locations, giving your players more ways to explore, interact, and investigate. And for added flavor? A 1d12 Superstition Table to bring out the eerie quirks of the locals. 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐲 • Battle against the darkness with strategic challenges and eerie storytelling • Solve the murder mystery, lift the curse, and guide your players through an unforgettable experience With The Return of the Blackflame Curse, every decision matters, every room hides a deadly secret, and every ghost has a story to tell. Get your copy now and take your players on a journey into the heart of darkness. This is more than just an adventure—it’s a test of survival.
These are three one-shot dungeon delves. Each delve features nine rooms or locations full of challenges and interactivity. Each delve has only one type of monster, but they are complex, and there are lots of them! This volume of Wicked Little Delves includes three small dungeon adventures: - a tunnel complex full of dragons trying to eat each other, - a desert palace of sorcerous mummies trying to restore life to the wasteland, and - an ancient cathedral where zealots of Chaos try to summon unspeakable terrors from beyond the stars. SYSTEM: Each monster has stats for Fifth Edition, Old School Essentials, and Into the Odd. These adventures are intended for characters at levels 7, 8, and 9. They are mainly focused on exploration and combat, with some minor social encounters. Estimated run time for each: 1 session, or 2-5 hours. Each adventure includes one complex original monster and a variety of unique treasures. ADVENTURE TYPE: Mid Level / Combat / Exploration / One-Shot / Dungeon Delve DESIGN NOTES These adventures are intended for mid-level characters Level 7-9 9 unique encounter locations per delve (27 in all!) 3 original monsters with multiple abilities and weaknesses Dungeon maps and original illustrations
Odyssey of the Dragonlords is heavily inspired by stories from ancient Greek mythology. As we designed the campaign, we sought to include ideas from many different sources: The Odyssey, The Iliad, Jason and the Argonauts, The Oresteia, and others. However, Thylea is not ancient Greece. You will not find Zeus, Athena, or Apollo among the gods. As you explore Thylea, you will encounter familiar tropes, monsters, and treasures from Greek mythology—but the rules are different here. Mortals have only recently come to these lands. The world of Thylea blends high fantasy with the trappings of ancient history. Elves, dwarves, and halflings now live alongside minotaurs, centaurs, and satyrs. Our goal is to make your party feel like heroes from one of the greatest stories ever told—but the ultimate end of that story is entirely within your power. Your players will make choices that forever change the world of Thylea. As the gamemaster, we encourage you to embrace this idea and run with it. How will your players reshape history—and what does it mean to be a hero?
Dead from Above is intended for use with four to six player characters of levels 6 to 8. It will likely take two game sessions to complete. The adventure is set in (and above) a hilly region at the outskirts of civilization, presumably one near the base of a mountain chain. With a little work, the GM can place Dead from Above wherever he or she desires in the campaign world.
Een gevallen ster inspireert moed! Samen met de jonge priesteres Volana zullen helden een spannende tocht ondergaan waarin kracht, kennis en geloof een hoofdrol spelen. Onderweg krijgen ze te maken met sluwe vijanden, unieke bondgenoten en een duistere macht welke de vonk der goddelijkheid maar moeilijk kan weerstaan. Word een groter deel van het avontuur dankzij deze mogelijkheden: - Begin jouw legende: drie nieuwe subclasses voor fighter, cleric en druid - Aspectgeborene: een nieuw speelbaar ras met een elementaire connectie - Maanzeiler en Zandklauw: twee aan Padkust unieke backgrounds voor spelers - De stad Padkust: gedetailleerde informatie over de stad en zijn leiders - Magische voorwerpen: bekende maar ook unieke schatten om te verkrijgen
A wizard has kidnapped a young lumberjack... What macabre ritual will he preform with his blood? What devil will he conjure to occupy his body? In to what kind of aberration will he transform the young man? A maiden wants to recover her fiancé, a father wants to recover his son, a village wants to recover it's hero. The village anxiously hopes the road will bring courageous characters, who have the valor they lack to undertake the journey to the tower of the wizard. A caravan can be seen on the horizon... Un mago ha secuestrado a un joven leñador… ¿Qué macabro ritual llevará a cabo con su sangre? ¿Qué demonio conjurará para ocupar su cuerpo? ¿En qué aberración convertirá al joven? Una doncella quiere recuperar a su prometido, un padre quiere recuperar a su hijo, un pueblo quiere recuperar a su héroe. La aldea espera ansiosa que el camino traiga valerosos personajes que tengan el coraje del que ellos carecen para emprender el viaje a la torre del mago para rescatar al joven. Una caravana se divisa en el horizonte… Published by Caravana
All the children of the Blight know the nursery rhymes about Bloody Jack Carver, cautionary tales for naughty or overly inquisitive children to mind their manners and obey their parents. However, their parents know the true horror of those times 30 years ago when the lunatic serial killer known as Bloody Jack Carver stalked the fog-shrouded streets of the Blight and abducted children. The killing spree finally ended, but the perpetrator was never caught. When the PCs are deputized to assist in a homicide investigation, they find terrifying clues that point to the three-decade-old Bloody Jack killings and signs to indicate that they were just the beginning. Now the PCs are in a race against time across the breadth of the decrepit and deteriorating city that is the Blight as they attempt to stop a new killing spree before it can start. The PCs’ investigation takes them from the halls of the Capitol and the seedy streets and alleys of Toiltown to the garish carnival piers of Festival and the pollutant-crusted banks of the Great Lyme River. Only they stand between the children of this decayed city and new nursery rhymes being written in their blood. Bloody Jack is a stand-alone adventure set in the Blight for 4–5 5th-level characters.
Straight from the garage of Chris's mom—and 1981—comes this homegrown, truly old school adventure of malign druids, twisted tree demons, evil blink dogs, arboreal gelatinous cubes, magical pecans and certain death. Though sadly missing half its original key, the release has been painstakingly recreated by the author as a grown man. More or less.
On the Purple Planet, amid the frosted Ancestor Peaks, the adventurers have encountered a small pyramid thrusting skyward from the bottom of a ravine. This is the Tomb of Dust, one of the ancient cairns found throughout the area. Here, the PCs find deadly puzzles, encounter the Moth Mother and her hungry brood, and face the tests of Anh-Tho the Learned, a forgotten scholar of a bygone age. If they manage to thwart these dangers they gain access to Anh-Tho’s Archive, a perilous repository of potent lore!
A ten-part, fourthcore megadungeon designed to take a party of 4-6 players from level 1 to level 10. The Voice of All spoke three times before falling into silence. The first time to give shape to the Ancients. The second to give them the world as their domain. The third to build the TOWER for the war that was to come. And war did come. The Ancients, primordial warriors charged with protecting the world, were subverted by three great crusaders, vindictive and powerful. The Ancients were stripped of immortality and cast from the heavens to serve and suffer with the rest of humanity. The crusaders claimed new bodies for themselves, and became the Triumvirate, god-tyrants of all realms. The long line of descendants of the Ancients is dwindling, along with humanity’s last hope. What few remain have gathered to enter the TOWER OF THE ASCENDANTS. Crumbling stone tablets of ages forgotten say that a mortal who ascends the TOWER that pierces the heavens and slays the gods who dwell in its highest bower will reclaim lost immortality.