The trouble began several weeks ago when a duergar excavation team went to work in a long-abandoned temple. Drawn to the temple by stories of riches and artifacts, the duergar hired several giants as laborers before cracking the temple’s sealed doors. The largest of the giants, a loathsome Thursir mutant named Huppo, used his acidic vomit to expedite tunneling into the temple’s collapsed hall of worship. Then, Huppo found the horn—an unusual instrument made from a single piece of stone, with a mouthpiece so intricate only a master carver could have made it. The horn became the giant’s obsession. Seeing only the horn’s potential sale value, the dwarves demanded Huppo turn it over to them, but Huppo refused. To force compliance, the dwarves stopped feeding the gluttonous brute, but Huppo had already found his own source of food; in deep areas of the temple, worms were chewing out of the rocks, and Huppo ate them by the fistful. He also played the horn. Then, after several days of blowing the horn and devouring the strange worms, Huppo released a belch so noxious the dwarves had no choice but to lock him in a sealed chamber and carefully consider their next move. The horn’s call, however, had caught the attention of passing nomadic orcs. They set up camp outside the temple entrance in the hope of finding the horn and its player. That’s the current situation at the temple: the giant refuses to stop blowing the horn and belching out deadly clouds of stomach gas; the dwarves are frightened and edgy while their leader is obsessed with malevolent whispers; orcs are threatening to overrun the place; and the population of worms grows steadily as something awakens deep in the stone beneath the sanctuary of belches.
A local monolith which is the nearby town's good-luck charm and tourist attraction is taken as a lair of a wandering wind harp devil. Will the heroes banish the devil, or come up with a dark bargain?
A small band of centaurs have seen their water source fouled by unknown magic. When word of their plight reaches the party, they embark on a day's travel to the centaur camp. Along the way, they encounter injured wildlife and panicked bugbears. Terrifying storms beset the region, raining down acid and oozes. Agreeing to investigate the small corrupted lake, the adventurers discover a long buried evil has awakened—bringing with it oozing undead. The party must navigate the wilds, face the ooze storms, and confront a reanimated warrior who betrayed her god.
The noble dwarf Wulfstan vom Meer seeks adventurers to travel on his one remaining ship to the clan’s village, and to protect his vessel against any threats at sea. When they meet the White Worg Reavers, he wants the party to negotiate for the loan of two longships and their crew. Vom Meer offers 500 gp to anyone willing to undertake this task. It seems like easy money. However, the Wolfheim clan has troubles of its own—a group of trollkin bandits known as the Mossback Raiders have been competing with the White Worgs for territory west of Wolfheim. Their rivalry is coming to a head. When the PCs arrive at the White Worg homestead, they learn that the reaver dwarves are recovering from a recent attack. Their homestead has been sacked and vom Meer’s kinsman, Knud Stoneson, has been slain. Without a family connection, the clan’s chief will agree to vom Meer’s proposal only if the PCs will help rid them of that troublesome band of trollkin. If the PCs are to succeed in their task and help vom Meer, then a reavin’ they must go! This adventure for the 5th Edition of the world’s first RPG is meant for four 2nd and 3rd-level characters. Designed by Lou Anders, with cartography by Dyson Logos and cover art by Phil Stone.
"Doom Croaker's Branches" is a lindwurm lair suitable for four or five 4th level characters. This adventure can be completed in one session.
A powerful evil plots to corrupt the fey audience attending a theatrical performance. Her priests pose as convincing performers who set the stage for their master’s arrival in the final act. While staying in the fey community and perhaps as partial reward for some previous accomplishment, the party is invited to the performance. In this dramatic and deadly adventure, the party witnesses a strange performance and the corruption of the fey audience before defeating a herald of darkness and her priests.
The spire has existed for as long as locals can remember. Rising above the sand near the ocean, the spire is topped by a natural cave system. Stories about the place circulate around the docks and taverns of the nearby towns—dark tales of ritual sacrifice and the worship of long dead gods of lightning and storm. Many claim the victims of the old cult still crawl through the tunnels accessible at the peak of the spire. Others say a new scaly threat now lairs there, and the storms of late have been most violent near that place. In this explorative and perilous adventure, the party ascends a great rocky spire to face the place’s past and the blue dragon that presently resides there.
A great threat lopes toward a small city at the edge of a wasteland. One of the leviathans of the wasteland, a gigantic malevolent creature known locally as a “walker,” appears to be on a course directly through the city. The PCs are called to heroism by the city’s council, who have learned that the walker is being directed by a foul darakhul who has gained control of the creature and directs it from atop its shoulders! Scouts have discovered a portal used by the ghoul to teleport atop the walker. With a hastily scrawled map, the party must navigate the wild hills to locate the magical doorway. In this epic and deadly adventure, the party must navigate wild hills, locate a teleportation portal, and slay the Darakhul and his minions on teetering platforms built atop the shoulders of the walker.
The people of Feycircle believed the fairy ring for which their town was named protected them from the encroaching sands of the Western Wastes. When the ring withered, they learned they were right. Feycircle’s dewflecked pastures and verdant forests succumbed to the Wastes in an instant. Feycircle sank deep into the sands and was soon occupied by a tribe of fanatical dust goblins, a herd of dogmoles, and the giant worms that caused the blight. The PCs may explore the keep—the only structure remaining in the dusty sinkhole now called the "Pit of the Dust Goblins." Inside the keep is an entrenched gatekeeper who can divulge that two children remain in town, imprisoned by the goblins. The dust goblins have summoned and imprisoned a selang—a shadow fey—inside the blighted fairy circle. The goblins fear open combat and have laced the sunken keep with traps, and would sooner parley than fight.
The interrogation of the rogue wizard, Askalan, by the magocracy of Bemmea exposed his creation of unstable magical artifacts built in a ruined ley-line conduit. This Leystone, built by the mages of Vael Turog, had been dormant for centuries until Askalan discovered a way to power it. Now, after his untimely death, the Leystone's unstable power continues to grow at the edge of the Western Wastes. The magocracy hires the characters to find the awakened Leystone, uncover the mystery of this growing power, and return the source of the power to Bemmea for study.
History states that Zobeck was reborn in blood 80 years ago, thanks in part to the creation of gearforged by a revolutionary coalition of workers and mages. Unfortunately, history has recorded only part of the truth, and the Praetors will do anything to make sure the rest remains buried.
Navigate court intrigue in the Shadow Fey realm to save the city of Zobeck. Earn status in the court through duels, quests, and negotiation to survive the machinations of factions and nobles to gain freedom for the city of Zobeck from the King and Queen of the Shadow Fey. Also available in 5e format.
Throughout the land, legends of the Dusk Queen persist. They speak of a sometimes kind, other times cruel, yet always mysterious fey queen who ruled from her Dusk Tower—a tall spire of smooth, dark stone in the heart of a great, shadowy forest. Perhaps the most gripping legends, however, whisper of the Dusk Queen’s sudden and mysterious disappearance. Also available in 5e format.
Last Gasp is an adventure set in a desert setting, exploring the cursed tomb of an ancient king of great magical power, a magical river, and includes both deadly combats and mysteries to confound tomb-robbers. Seek out the riches of a king, and may fortune favor you!
"A Triangle in Shadows" is an umbral vampire lair suitable for a party of four 15th-level characters. Magic weapons are highly advised. This adventure can be completed in one session. The City Fallen into Shadow is the domain of the fiendish umbral vampires, and they are rarely found outside it. But one named Caragorn has fled the city after coming between the lovers Philadon and Zenobia. Philadon and Caragor, however, are secretly meeting at Caragorn's tower behind Zenobia's back. Zenobia suspects them of collusion, and is seeking out the two male umbral vampires to get revenge.
Bodies are turning up in a city (or large town). The organs of the victims appear to have been turned to solid crystal; in a gruesome twist, the hearts of the victims have been carefully removed. The mayor and the guard captain have hit an impasse in their investigation. Agreeing to assist in finding the murderer, the party find themselves under attack by infernal assassins as they follow the clues to a gemcutter's workshop. In this rich and devilish adventure, the party must find and face a murderer and a charming devil.
Within the darakhul city of Gonderif, at the nadir of a thousand‑foot‑deep chasm, is the site of a vile tournament where Gonderif ’s most rebellious slaves and war prisoners are forced to fight to the death—and through undeath after undeath—until only one living champion remains. Whether they came as captives or as liberators, the PCs must survive the Undying Tournament.
A serpentine lamia lair suitable for four or five 4th-level characters. A matriarch lamia leads a large consortium of merchants from a distance and through intermediaries. However, she has recently descended into the common madness of her kind and set up a 'celebration' at an abandoned mine for her consortium and their guards. Will you survive the party?
In the thriving city of Zobeck, a breakdown of the vital Puffing Bridge is throwing a wrench into the entire city. Workers can’t reach their jobs, merchants and goods can’t reach markets. In short, if this problem isn’t fixed quickly, there’ll be chaos in the Free City. Of course, this isn’t a simple mechanical breakdown but an act of sabotage, and the saboteurs are still at work when characters arrive to investigate.
A venom maw hydra lair suitable for four or five 10th-level characters. The Red Craw Marsh, so called because of the delicious and plentiful red crayfish that live in the area, is a boon to the nearby village. More than a few intrepid souls brave the swamp each season to collect the crayfish. They either sell the crayfish to local establishments or ship them to nearby cities, where they earn a good price as the crayfish is a delicacy among the wealthy. The villagers have established a tentative peace with a clan of trollkin that inhabit the swamp. The crayfish collectors pay a small fee to the trollkin, who allow them to ply their trade in the marsh without (much) interference. It is a tense but profitable relationship for all involved. A powerful creature has moved into the marsh, however, threatening the delicate balance. When a venom maw hydra decided to move to the area of the marsh between the human and trollkin villages, it brought along a number of creatures that worship and serve it. This hydra and its allies have killed some of the crayfish hunters and some of the trollkin. Each side, unfortunately, believes that the other has broken the truce, thus stirring up animosity and putting both groups on the verge of war.