This is the second episode of The Black Tower, designed for use with Rolemaster or AD&D. The first part of the scenario appeared in issue 1 of ADVENTURER.

When elf noble Caracticus Swordstar approaches the party with a fetch quest, it seems simple enough. But the item he seeks was brought deep within the forest, stashed in a long-forgotten mansion, and guarded by a sentimental banshee. The party must navigate the mansion and the entangled pasts of the Swordstar and Shandorel families to finish the job, or find themselves the next undead guests of Giltred. Pgs. 61-67

As fledgling adventurers, your group is looking for anything to increase their fame and line their pockets with gold. Upon crossing the countryside your group comes to Creedo’s Trail a small thorp in the Duchy of Starryshade. Upon arrival in town you find an inn to stay indoors finally and a job opportunity hanging at the Bagel Inn purporting an “easy job” for a “big reward”. The poster is reputedly a crone or witch who has need for some components for an experiment she is currently working on. Easy job AND big reward…what’s not to like!

Towering obelisks stab the sky. Monstrous knights with blazing lances prowl the night. Huts burn, and entire villages are taken as slaves to be fed darksome pits. The cries of terror and panic give the horrors a name: the Beakmen have come. But you are no mere peasant or serf, cowering the in the dark. You and your companions are reavers, with bloodied blades and spells wrenched from the dreams of demons. You stride through chaos while others flee, turning your steps towards the great stone obelisk, the source of the beakmen and their alien magics. Whether for the cause of justice or merely to acquire these strange blazing weapons for you own, tonight there shall be an accounting: a blazing brand thrust into The Shadow of the Beakmen.

Sometimes things are not what they seem. While the PCs are sailing through pirate-infested waters, a crewman spots the floating wreckage of a sailing ship. Two survivors are standing on the deck waving frantically. The survivors — an eccentric old man, and a noble woman, claim to be merchants from Waterdeep, but are in fact pirates. During an attack on a merchant vessel, the old man, a mage, had missed with a fireball and hit their own ship causing serious damage and killing several crew mates. As punishment, the pirate leader left them marooned on the wreckage, taking the ship they had attacked. This is a short module focused on roleplay. Combat is unlikely as the pirates have no reason to attack or threaten their rescuers. The female survivor seeks a hidden treasure, which could provide a hook for ongoing adventure. While the module isn't explicitly written for solo play, it could be easily adapted for any group size provided the power balance between rescuer and pirate is maintained. Pgs. 24-25

While resting in the merchant City of Gurdikar, a merchant approaches the party to investigate the disappearance of his nephew, whom he believes was betrayed by a rival house. The party must go into the into the mountain valley to find the missing nephew, return him if alive and discover any evidence of suspected treachery. Pgs. 43-51

Terror roams the dark and brambled paths of the Kryptwood. A pack of giant spectral hounds rule the night, savaging those foolish enough to brave the forest. The villagers of Hendenburgh cower in the shadows of the ancient boughs as each morning heralds a newly savaged corpse. Explore the ancient paths of the Kryptwood in a 25-hex hexcrawl. Discover the mysterious Tyrant's Tomb. Negotiate, serve or betray the factions of the Kryptwood (a ghostly despot, a gang of highwaymen with excellent PR, a horrifying witch coven, and the eccentric inhabitants of Hendenburgh). Fight new monsters such as owlboars, kryptwood hounds and ghostly tyrants. Hounds of Hendenburgh is designed for use with Cairn by Yochai Gal but compatible with other OSR systems. If using OSRIC, OSE or other OSR rulesets then the adventure is best suited to low-level parties (1-3). Reviews Hounds of Hendenburgh is an adventure brimming with potential energy, like a domino run—any prodding by the players is sure to set off a chain reaction, but where any individual piece will end up is anyone’s guess . . . For me, Hounds of Hendenburgh is a major highlight of A Town, A Forest, A Dungeon. I’m eager to bring it to the table, and I expect it’s the sort of adventure that will reward referees who run it multiple times. - Dododecahedron Blog This 22 page adventure presents a delightful little romp through a colourful town, a dreadful forest, and a small haunted dungeon/crypt. Would that everything I reviewed were at least this good. A credit to county Donegal! - Bryce Lynch (tenfootpole.org)

Centuries ago, a powerful wizard locked himself in his inner sanctum to dedicate his life to the pursuit of knowledge. His discoveries and magic remain sealed inside to this very day. Solve his riddle and unravel the fate of the wizard Maalzinabar and the sinister evil lurking in the depths. A 2-3 hour adventure for 5th-12th level characters

Short, ready-to-play scenario. "The Moment of Truth" has been written as a short adventure, but would work best if integrated into a current campaign. The events described should be used in the order in which they are presented, but DMs should intersperse them with events from their own campaigns. The locations of each event have been left deliberately vague, since it is intended that DMs should run them at any convenient point within the context of a long-term adventure.

A level 3 temple incursion adventure by Brad Kerr. In a golden temple of healing on a sundrenched island, blissful amnesiac patients are held prisoner by monstrous caretakers. Intruding PCs will need their wits and their swords to unravel the temple’s secrets, snatch its treasures, and escape. For Old-School Essentials (OSE) Included as one of four adventures in "Old-School Essentials Adventure Anthology 1"

The Purple Planet: Where tribes of man-beasts wage an endless war beneath a dying sun. Where mighty death orms rule the wastes, befouled winds whistle through ancient crypts, and forests of fungi flourish in the weirdling light. Where ancient technologies offer life ... or a quick death. Bereft of patron, friend or god, your survival depends on quick wits and a strong blade. Will you and your companions stand as conquerers atop this alien land? Or will you fall beneath the blast of an ink-black death rays, just another corpse left to litter the wastes of the Purple Planet?

The Black Tower is an adventure designed for use with either the Rolemaster books Arms Law, Claw Law, Spell Law and Character Law; or the Advanced D&D Players Handbook, DMG and Monster Manual 1. Rolemaster parties should consist of 5 to 8 characters, level 1-3. AD&D parties should consist of 5 to 8 characters, level 1-4. The main part of this adventure is written in a form which makes it partially independent of the games system chosen. The details of NPC's, creatures and specific magic items are presented at the end of this episode. This is the first part of the Black Tower adventure, though the tower itself does not appear in this issue. This scenario introduces the characters to the area, and to some of its inhabitants. Characters playing this episode should have both the equipment, and a reason, to enter the tower in the next issue. Magical weapons given in the adventure will have two plusses, one for the twenty-sided dice based ADED system, and one for the percentile dice based ROLEMASTER system. eg. +1/+5 meansa +1 AD&D weaponora +5 ROLEMASTER weapon. This will also apply to magical armour and shields. The ROLEMASTER weapons will be superior, not magical, except where specifically stated.

The druids gave the forest a mind of its own; that their creation would turn evil was not part of the plan. Remember: Only you can prevent dire forests. The party must purify the sentient Black Oak at the heart of an evil forest. Pgs. 35-44

In an age obscured by mist and memory, Sir Galen the Brave and his knights struck down the Drake of Crestmoor with steel and flame. But as the years turned, and the heroes returned to dust, their deeds faded into myth. Doubt lurked where awe once dwelled, and in time, the bards sang of lesser deeds. In the hollows of the wilderness, the stones of their forgotten tomb crumbled beneath ivy and shadow. The Cursed Knights of Crestmoor is a short dungeon crawl for four characters of levels 1-2 using Shadowdark RPG ©. The adventure is designed to be easy to run for new game masters. Players should not be cavalier in their approach to this dungeon. There are threats in the tomb which could easily kill foolhardy player characters. Long ago a band of knights led by Sir Galen slew the black dragon known as the Drake of Crestmoor - a malevolent creature whose true name was Morghast the Black. With his dying breath, the dragon cursed Galen and his friends that they would never find rest in death. Today, the once well-kept tomb has fallen into ruin. Some time ago a band of kobolds moved into the subterranean mausoleum and began using it as a base of operations. More recently, a lizardfolk shaman named Kall’eth and his warband arrived and took over, pressing the kobolds into their service. Kall’eth came to Galen’s tomb to recover the knight’s Fireblade - a sword of dwarvish make used to slay Morghast long ago. The tomb is crawling with kobolds, lizardfolk, and the restless husks of Galen and his compatriots. A magic sword, a missing wedding ring, and plenty of adventure await you in…The Cursed Knights of Crestmoor!

Along the caravan routes that tie the Cities of the West to the Kingdoms of the East, many tales are told of the mountains called the Towers of the Sun. One of these legends concerns a dark road said to be hidden among the twisty trails that spiderweb the mountains. Into the earth the road leads, into and through a series of vast caverns filled with treacherous traps and cunning monsters. Yet dangerous though the path is, many a party of adventurers have been tempted to walk it, for the stories say that the loot of a hundred lost caravans lies concealed along that evil way. [Comment: Uncertain for what levels of play this adventure is designed]

The Anchorin Family and its namesake home, Anchorin Manse, have gone quiet along with many of the townsfolk of Adwher who worked in the manse or on the grounds. The patriarch of the family and accomplished artificer, Webster, has inherited a fascination with the multiverse from his father and now has created a machine that has allowed an entity from the far realm into his home. With his obsession growing and the help of this entity, Webster modified the memory of his family and sequestered himself in a separate wing of the manse to continue digging into the nature of the multiverse. Soon after, his recklessness released a deluge of planar energy into the home, transforming most of the inhabitants and staining areas of the house with the unique planar effects of the various planes. Now the family’s estranged son Eccles has returned to discover the fate of his family and potentially collect his inheritance but is unable to enter his childhood home. Eccles and the few remaining townsfolk are looking to hire a few bold adventurers to investigate what happened to the family, the manse, and potentially collect some very rare, perhaps legendary magical items. Enter the manse, tour the planes, take a villain, leave a villain, it’s up to you. One thing is certain, verity and villainy is relative in a manse of special purpose.

In this action packed scenario the players will be led down a violent path of vengeance. While traveling, the party encounters a beautiful foreign girl in danger. She only utters "help" before collapsing. After the quick and deadly skirmish the players learn that a poor girl is in fact a daughter of the eastern ambassador. She tells the players of all the terrible things that happened to her and begs them to act as her katharas, warriors who will return her honor. The bloody trail of revenge brings the players in a conflict with a vicious captain and his 30 warriors in several fully detailed combat encounters. They'll have to attack a bandit camp, defend a village against a raid and finally pick a champion for 1 on 1 duel to the death. 30 Dead Men features a short action adventure scenario. This adventure scenario is focused on combat encounters and strategic thinking.

While investigating rumors of a dangerous blue dragon wreaking havoc in the deep desert, the heroes tumble under the sands into the magically sealed dome of an ancient palace. The temporarily weakened dome reseals above them, and they are left to explore the golden palace of Zahadran, once seat of power for the legendary Caliph Ardishir the Magnificent. But the dome is weak because it has been assaulted by the mythical storm demon Azi Dahaka and his trapped minions, evil creatures that were sealed under the magical dome to keep them from ravaging an unsuspecting world.

All the PCs did was help a dwarf recover his magic ring. So how did they end up in the middle of a tragic love triangle? The Ring of Truth is a short adventure for 2nd level PCs. Includes a 5th edition version of the necrophidius, a classic monster from the 3rd edition Fiend Folio.

This exploration adventure is planned to be played by 4 to 5 level 4 characters. The characters, led by old Maddie (who also hides a big secret), will go deep into the swamp and into the caves to retrieve the green heart.