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
After the last adventure you are now on a quest to find a warm bed and good food. Passing travelers have pointed out that you are quite close to the Thorp of Marstan, a small settlement in the area under the control of the Earl of Sakov. His troops are well known for their horsemanship skills and after all your walking perhaps you may find proper mounts! What the party will find is a community fearful from recent humanoid attacks but with the passing of a guard unit they have hope….except the guard unit hasn’t been heard from since.
Awash in a sea of phlogiston, three wizards battle for mastery of reality! But with each new day all gains are lost and the game begins anew. It is up to the adventurers to upset this ancient balance, winning free of the shrinking demi-plane before all is reduced to the roiling stuff of raw Chaos! Will you strike a bargain, swearing fealty to one of the fell masters? Or will you attempt to master your own fate, pitting your luck and skill against arcane foes? Whatever you decide, you must act quickly, for gray worms press in from all sides and time grows short! An exploration-based adventure for 2nd level PCs, Fate's Fell Hand challenges new and old players alike. Only the most cunning of PCs can hope to thwart the machinations of three dire wizards and escape Fate's Fell Hand!
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
Eons-old secrets slumber beneath the forbidden Ghost Ice. Since the time of the Elders, the local tribes have shunned the crawling glacier, knowing it as taboo land that slays all who tread its frigid expanse. Now, the Ghost Ice has shattered, revealing hints at deeper mysteries entombed within its icy grasp. Strange machines and wonderful horrors stir beneath the ice… Frozen in Time is a level 1 adventure for any DCC RPG campaign. It also includes new material for judges who want to send their adventurers in a Stone Age setting!
Everyone who’s anyone has heard of Starburn Academy. The elite boarding school is famous for teaching students to excel in magic, history, fighting, and anything else a precocious child in the city of Seledor needs to know. But now, one instructor at the school is using his position to carry out a nefarious plot which is at best unethical and at worst deeply dangerous. The only people standing in his way are a mage with an unreliable reputation and the handful of talented children she picked off the street to infiltrate the school and get the evidence needed to take him down. That is, you.
"A series of disturbances plagues the Dyn Singh Night Market, an endlessly changing maze of stalls filled with incredible wares, enticing smells, and magical lights. Accusations fly as the characters become entangled in a feud between the well-respected Tyenmo and Xungoon merchant families of the Siabsungkoh valley. To prevent the families' conflict from escalating, the characters must earn the trust of the market's vendors and gain their help to unmask who's behind a rash of vandalism and thefts."
A welcoming desert oasis offers respite from the searing wasteland, but this paradise has perils. Castle of Sand is suitable for three to five 4th level characters.
TENTACLES. WHY DID IT HAVE TO BE TENTACLES? A colony of deep gnomes have had their main water source taken over by a group of kuo-toa, but are the fishy folk really the ones to blame for leaving the gem-loving svirfneblin thirsty?… This adventure was originally made for a West Marches campaign, but is designed to easily fit into any standard fantasy setting. There are many areas to insert plot hooks for your own world or campaign. A 4-hour adventure for 5th-7th level characters by ALAN TUCKER
The Isle of Ruk and the Dungeon of Klinis A sandbox adventure module and mini‑setting for classic fantasy play. Explore the bustling port town filled with factions and intrigue, wander the wilds where strange creatures stalk, and delve into the dungeons. New monsters, magic items, and two new character classes bring fresh flavour without adding rules. At the island’s heart stands the Dungeon of Klinis a three‑level ruin carved deep into the mountain, filled with traps, factions, and long‑buried treasures waiting to be uncovered. Whether your table prefers exploration, intrigue, or old‑school dungeon delving, Ruk offers a flexible foundation for emergent play. Inside you’ll find: A lively port town packed with NPCs, factions, rumours, and adventure hooks A hex‑crawl wilderness full of oddities, encounters, and strange phenomena The Dungeon of Klinis, a multi‑level adventure site designed for classic play New monsters and magic items that add flavour without adding rules Two new character classes to drop straight into your campaign A setting built to be hacked, expanded, or used as a launchpad for your own stories Design Inspirations This project draws on the spirit of Gary Gygax’s classic article “How to Set up Your Dungeons & Dragons Campaign – and Be Stuck Refereeing It Seven Days per Week until the Wee Hours of the Morning!” and the practical creativity of Ray Otus’s workbook approach to worldbuilding. The map were drawn with inspiration from Niklas Wistedt (Paths Peculiar) how to draw basic dungeon maps. The Graves design aided by James Holloway's The Tome of Tombs. The earliest seeds of the Isle of Ruk emerged while designing a character class for the OSE Class Jam, eventually growing into a full mini‑setting and adventure module,
A ruined monument to folly and ego, the Shadowed Keep stands atop an isolated bluff deep in a mist-wreathed forest. Sacked by marauding goblins decades ago the place was thought abandoned, but shadows now creep among the forest's great boles and footprints have appeared on the single, overgrown track leading to the keep. Travellers have begun to disappear with alarming regularity from the nearby road and the local folk fear some slumbering evil has claimed the ruin as its own. Dare you brave the terrors of the Shadowed Keep to crush that which lurks within or will darkness shroud the surrounding lands? Designed to be easily inserted into a GM's home campaign, Shadowed Keep on the Borderlands is an excellent starting locale to test the mettle of neophyte adventurers. Shadowed Keep on the Borderlands is designed for the medium advancement track. 1st-level PCs completing all the challenges of the place can expect to reach 3rd-level by the time they have exhausted all the keep has to offer.
Ten days ride north of the great city, there is a small town named Treefall. Up until recently, this town was well known for its rich harvests, happy villagers, and prosperous weather. These days, however, the once-proud details from Treefall have turned darker. Instead of tales of unending prosperity, you hear hushed whispers of a great curse that has struck the once-happy village. Word has it that, where once roamed contented cattle, now strange beasts hunt by the moon's cold light and terrorize the hapless region. You have scoffed with the others at these stories. Despite the things you've seen in you adventures with your friends, the thought that such ill might befall such a sleepy town strikes you as terribly unlikely. There is plenty of evil in the world, true, but there are also much bigger and better targets. But, tonight despite the firmness of your disbelief, the stories come to find you. You have been traveling north along the roads on your own business, enjoying the rich fall colors and warm afternoons. Your camp os small and secure, with a roaring fire and meat cooking over the flame. It's one of those crisp autumn days that makes you long for a warm hearth after a long ride in the cool air. Still, the fire is good enough for now and you and your friends have a wonderful meal, talking and singing and laughing, anticipating a restful sleep beneath the blanket of stars. Until the beast attacks.
The Tower. Standing on a grassy hilltop, it seems unremarkable from a distance. Two stories high, cylindrical, thatched roof. Simple and idyllic. There's even a whisper on the breeze, or maybe a thought in the back of your mind: There's nothing to see here. What brought you in the first place? Just turn around and go back. Those that venture nearer find that it's much more than meets the eye. The closer you get, the taller the tower seems to be... until standing at its base, the tower rises dozens of floors and pierces the sky. Do you have the courage to enter the unknown sanctum? What could possibly await you within? Gather your allies and find out!
Mother Haggle is an elderly crone who runs a Lost & Found Emporium on the edge of the Misty Forest. The old lady pays her mercenaries well, and attracts all kinds of talent to send on her various errands. Mother Haggle doesn't deal in world shaking problems, but it's uncanny how often simple tasks like "fetch that cow" or "bring me a boggle" end in embarrassment, grievous injury or death. As she always says, it really can't be helped. Using the streamlined Plausible Complications and Unlikely Disasters layout, Mother Haggle's adventures are one-sheet wonders ready to pick up and play with groups of the specified level. Mother Haggle wants her cow back. It seems to get lost a lot, but she doesn't care how much she has to spend as long as her darling gets home safe. Included in Mother Haggles's Notice Board - The Missing Cow are six standalone bovine adventure seeds in which Mother Haggle's cow needs rescuing. She should really keep that cow in a better pen, or lock the gate or something, but who needs common sense when you have money and mercenaries?
A flock of kenku bandits have discovered the ruined remains of a temple site, and have used it as their hideout while they raid unsuspecting travelers on nearby roads. It's up to the PCs to clear their nest, recover stolen goods, and rescue their hostages. Will the players be bested by these dirty birds? Or will they have the bandits eating crow?
A magic shop, The Travelling Salesman, has appeared in town just in time for the party's arrival. This shop specialises in being in the right place, at the right time, with the right equipment, for the right adventurers. Its wisteria-covered frontage adorns any old blank wall space, and immediately looks like it's been there for decades. Large paned windows are smeared with age-old dirt and hint at the vast array of interesting objects inside. The shop belongs to Yannik Willowbough, an exhausted-but-jovial halfling with a passion for helping others. At least, it belongs to Yannik now. It was once home to a lich, Verdenia Siskin, who has recently concocted the perfect way to exact her revenge. She just needs a party of adventurer's to turn to her point of view. This adventure contains: - A (hungry) planes-travelling magic shop and former home of a powerful lich. - A lich who takes particular delight in winding adventurers around her little finger to do her bidding. - A planar tear that threatens to pull the whole town (or more!) into the Shadowfell. - A spooky house of delights. - NPCs whose motives will be thoroughly questioned by the party. - A 3—10 hour adventure for a party of any level and composition - Depending on the outcome the party may also benefit from: - A planes-travelling base of operations - A recurrent NPC quest-giver and/or helper - A devious, and eternally patient, antagonist. - Four original hand-drawn maps to support combat and exploration, with seperate versions suitable for VTTs. - Advice for new DMs to run this adventure smoothly. - A separate accessible adventure pdf. This adventure was written as part of the Storytelling Collective's Write Your First Adventure workshop. Content warnings: Horror, gore
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…
This module is based on pre-Columbian Meso-America. Some changes from historical reality have been made to make the transition from reality to fantasy easy to accomplish. It is recommended that the DM research one or more of several historical works in order to more accurately recreate the atmosphere established in this adventure.
While on the search for a dear friend who went missing on the Serpent Hills, rumor has it that he has been captured by the Yuan-Ti. Following a trail, your party has been lead to an unknown settlement guarded by Yuan-Ti. Are you brave enough to venture deep into its secrets? Are you strong enough to get out alive?
People keep asking for "beginner" dungeons. Everyone can name "classic" dungeons - Tomb of Horrors, Barrier Peaks, Ravenloft, etc. - but in order for those adventures to make sense, there needs to be some sort of introduction. It's like all the adventures we have are Bach concertos. People keep writing amazing works of staggering genius, but someone needs to write a book on how to play the piano. I had the same questions, and since I couldn't find anything satisfactory, I decided to write the kind of dungeon I would have loved to find. I wanted to write the best basic OSR dungeon for beginners that I could, and I also wanted to show the design process. If you like this dungeon, please share it, tell people about it, print copies and leave them lying around local game stores, or email this post to friends who have "always wanted to try D&D but don't know where to start". The entire thing is and always will be free.