Captured! While trekking across a trackless wasteland, your stalwart band has fallen into the clutches of a nefarious gang of desert raiders. Imprisoned in a subterranean chamber, you are bereft of all of your equipment and magic items, save for a few tattered loincloths. But as chance would have it, an opportunity to escape the cell presents itself. To escape, you must head deeper into an ancient sealed tomb, armed with nothing but your wits and anything you can find along the way. Getting to the surface is just one of many challenges, as you still need to recover your precious equipment, and flee the Lost Oasis, which is surrounded by an inhospitable sea of solid glass!
Centuries past, Lady Ilse ascended to scion of House Liis by trading the archdevil Mammon what he wanted most: her immortal soul – and a diabolical betrothal. The triumph proved hollow, for every year on the eve of her fell covenant, she was beset by visions of Mammon and her foul promise. Seeking to save herself, she was buried alive, swaddled in the holy symbols of a dozen divergent faiths. This desperate ploy held Mammon at bay for centuries…but a devil can afford to wait a very long time. After hundreds of years, the last of the holy wards has fallen. The devil has come to collect his due. Tonight a storm crashes against the ancient manor house and forgotten spirits rise from the muck and mire. The fallen belfry tolls once more, announcing the hellish fete. As the adventurers arrive to explore the Black Manse, Mammon calls for his winsome bride. He will leave with a soul at the end of the night. The only question is: Whose?
This is the laboratory of High Alchemist Sureves Epans. He led a group of alchemists in research for many years, but recently there was a bit of a mishap. He discovered his wife was cheating on him with one of his employees and while in a drunken stupor trying to create a discreet potion to deal with the two of them, he let loose an infectious plague on the lab which turned all but a lucky few in the facility into shambling husks of their former selves., fused with their own creations as their minds turned to know but one thought - rage. This dungeon has rules to modify all encounters for a group of players levels 4 through 6 and is intended for a party of four. If you have more players, feel free to adjust the difficulty up one level for each additional player or simply tune the monsters to your needs. This dungeon contains many original enemies, a unique puzzle, and an environment that is meant to bring a sense of terror and anxiety on your players. I consider this to be the Horror-themed adventure of the module so feel free to add some creepy music and extra details along the way to bring the area to life (or death).
Stopping an undersea war wasn't in your contract. The seas will boil with war, and you're going to be right in the middle of it. Pgs. 34-47
The night air is chilly, but the crackling fire you've started warms your bones comfortably. Crickets chirp, and you smile up at the stars, glad for the quiet evening. There is a loud roar, and you are blinded momentarily as the campfire suddenly surges up into the air. The flames split down the middle, revealing an abyss that leeches the warmth from your soul. Out of this hellish place stumbles a black-cloaked figure clutching a scythe. Quickly, you reach for your weapons. The strange apparition staggers for a moment. Then, gathering its strength, it pulls back the hood on its cloak. Beneath is a bleached skull with stars for eyes. "I am Azrael, Lord of the Undead," it hisses. "Or rather, I will be Azrael, after time itself has died." Even as Azrael speaks, decay begins to eat away at its body, and the god shudders. Holding one arm up to watch as tiny fissures form in its bones, the deity sighs, "Ah, sweet Entropy, come to claim me at last." It's gaze sweeps back to you. "But no, not just yet. First, I must set events in motion." Weakness begins to overcome Azrael, and it sinks to one knee. "Long ago, I became the most powerful of all the gods, in spite of my enemies' efforts to stop me. Delirious with power, I destroyed the other gods and eventually fell to feasting upon the souls of their worshipers. After devouring every living creature, I consume the planets and, eventually, the stars themselves, until I was left alone, in darkness." The god struggles to finish its message as its bones turn to dust and blow away, "Unexpectedly, I felt remorse for what I had done. I grieved for the universe I had destroyed, but I lack the power to recreate it. So, I have come to you, to beg you to do what I cannot." Azrael reaches into its cloak and produces a leather sack. "Take these items and use them." As Azrael dissolves, it gasps out, "Kill me tonight, or tomorrow will never dawn." All that remains is a pile of dust and a leather bag.
Nothing living guards this island - that's the problem. The party must clear a burned out abbey, only recently the home to a group of evil clerics.
Laveth, Lolth's half drow daughter, is plotting to seize power from her chaotic evil mother.
We’ve been running these fights since before my granddaddy helped drive them gnolls out. We have a proud history of taking care of the animals, too—we get ’em as pups from the dwarves up in Granitehold. Sure it’s bloody, but you’re not in the sot lands of kings and queens anymore, are you. Say, did you hear that?
A bizarre journey into the realm of sleep. A casual visit to a living, nightmare theater. The King sends the party to speak to the Oracle, a Titan named Andromicus and ask about the fate of the kingdom. But the titan is asleep and sleeping he draws the heroes into his dream! This very weird adventure imagines the titan is dreaming three different five act plays whose stories intertwine and intermix randomly. The heroes find themselves in a random act of a random play and must "solve" the central tension of the act to put the Titan's mind at ease and move on to the next Act. Once they solved five different acts (which may happen out of order and each be from different stories) they exit the dream and the Titan wakes, allowing the players to ask the Titan Oracle a question. Some acts are short roleplaying encounters, some are full on combat scenarios. While the players can earn experience, and might get some cash, any magic items they find are illusory! A unique adventure with a lot of promise for an open-minded DM. Seems very like a classic Star Trek episode and in fact follows many of the same rules about Gods and Dreams. Pgs. 5-15
The Walled City of Vandosia sits on the bay and is surrounded on three sides by water. One of the more interesting features of this city is its massive sewer system that keeps water and waste flowing out of the city. Rumors have it that these tunnels are home to special problems of its own. Are your players ready to brave the gritty underside of Vandosia?
The city is gripped in fear! The Ripper has returned after a 125-year absence and is once again carving a trail of blood through the slums of Millers Court. Also returned is the ghost of Mari Kell, his last victim from more than a century ago, and she haunts the streets where she was killed. The city watch is at a loss to solve this supernatural mystery, much less apprehend the Ripper himself. All the clues point back to the hovel where Mari Kell was slain long ago. If the heroes are brave enough to enter, will they find the Ripper himself there?
At last year's CafCon we put together this little gem. After locating strange golden scrolls on your previous adventure, you have gotten word that the sage has been able to transcribe them. Much to your amazement, you learn that the sheets lead you to the lost scriptorium! What magic & spells will you discover within the ancient temple of learning?
While searching for a series of missing people in the Galago Hills, the party comes across a cave decorated with disturbingly life-like statues. What lurks in the cave isn’t anything as simple as a monstrous basilisk, however. After all, what evil could possibly be as dark and dangerous as that which lurks in the heart of mortal men?
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.
Stepping through a door can mean a grand adventure - or a horrifying death. The shortest distance between two points is not always a straight line. A number of magic towers connected by failing teleportation magic. Abandoned in ages past, other creatures now make the towers their homes, and provide challenges to parties of varying levels.
In Temple of the Dragon Cult, the characters are called in to pursue a dragon that the king’s army was able to wound but not kill. It seems straightforward enough: the army tracked the dragon to its lair, and all the characters have to do is go in and kill it. But this dragon has a devoted cult of dragonblood followers who worship its every breath. Its lair is their temple — and they’ll fight to the death to defend their dragon-god…
Welcome to the youngest and most turbulent of the Realms, a mountainous expanse known as Tirna'Cel. This place was once well known for its power mongering warlords, magic wielding Sorcerers, and archfiends from the deepest pits of the Abyss. But in the last six hundred years, this has changed. Tirna'Cel is a peaceful and welcoming land now, doing no small part to the efforts of the warlord Tirna'Gael, a member of the lands founding nobility. Tirna'Gael turned against the other rulers without warning, attacking and overwhelming them without remorse. He is said to have suddenly grown stronger and more powerful. The reasons for his remarkable gain in power unknown, so they are routinely connected to items believed to have been entombed with him by the then newly-formed paladin's Order of Garadon. After his death, Tirna'Gael body was interred in his central citadel, a large stone fortress suspended over an immense lava pit. There he is rested for nearly six hundred years, protected by the surrounding hostile environment and a small cadre of supernatural guardians summoned and permanently bound by the Order of Garadon. But recently, rumors have reached the corridors of Tirna'Cel's capital city that invaders have struck the fallen heroes burial place, in search of one or more of his legendary magic items. So far, all that is known of these foul creatures is that they are native to the environment, being resistant to the fiery dangers of the area. Your party has been summoned by the Lord of the realm, who has charged you with ending the threat to Tirna'Gael's tomb and the potential destruction of the lands long enduring peace. If the sources of Tirna'Gael's power were to fall into the wrong hands, it could mean the end of the nation as you know it.
A member of the Thieves Guild Ebonclad has betrayed the guild and left a trail of bodies in his wake. The incident leaves the guild in a vulnerable position, and now a cleaning crew is necessary to find the rogue agent and cover the guild’s tracks. The party has to track down and eliminate Rikus Nickol, a guild defector. Rikus violated the honor among thieves when he murdered his teammates and made off with an enigmatic coral tablet that they were sent to steal from a building on the Ohlrise campus. The party is encouraged to retrieve this tablet as well, though eliminating Rikus is the most important goal. The party plays the role of investigators. The mission primarily deals with investigating a botched job on the Ohlrise (College/Wizard) campus, though it culminates in searching for a thief who defected from the guild. The characters are confronted by the rogue agent, forcing them to react to the situation as it unfolds.
Twas the week before Christmas and all through the house...Hey folks here is our holiday special (free) scenario. It appears that a local gift giver has had his magical sleigh taken by some drunken Elves in his employ. Their associates have requested you retrieve the item before the owner discovers it is missing! This adventure setting was designed for 5th Edition AND AD&D for the Filbar Campaign, for a quartet of 2nd level character. This one page-ish offering was designed for our friends at Murder Hobo Inc (@mhoboinc).
Legend tells of a long-dead empire of sphinxes, ruled over for millennia by a great queen named Ankharet. She fell into darkness and her empire was shattered, as her subjects rebelled and cast her down. Unable to kill her, it is said that they bound her with great magic and buried her in a tomb, to wait for the foretold heroes who would be able to slay her and end her evil forever. Their empire in ashes, the sphinxes scattered to roam the world in bitter freedom, save a single great androsphinx. On the edge of the mysterious Barren Hills, between the mountains and the Great Desert, there is a gigantic statue of a crowned gynosphinx, ancient beyond reckoning. At its feet, a great androsphinx known as Khubsheth the Prophet has dispensed counsel and prophecy to all who come to him for longer than mortal records can tell. The heroes have come to visit Khubsheth, whether for counsel, prophecy or out of curiosity, but as soon as he lays eyes on them, he attacks! Upon his defeat, he tells them that they are the heroes foretold by the legend of Ankharet. Ankharet ruled over a long-dead empire of sphinxes, but she fell into darkness. Her subjects rebelled and cast her down, but were unable to kill her. It is said that they bound her with great magic and buried her in a tomb, to wait for the foretold heroes who would be able to slay her and end her evil forever. Kubsheth the Prophet tells the heroes that they must enter the tomb of the long-dead sphinx queen, kill her, and destroy her cursed crown, an artifact of tremendously evil power. As his blood seeps into the sands, a doorway opens at the base of the statue, leading down into darkness…