The Toxic Wood is a deadly wilderness adventure for Old School Essentials This hexcrawl adventure focuses on game-able content and being easy to use at the table. It is graphic and art heavy and utilizes a lot of random tables to make it easier for GMs to run with minimal prep. "You have been hired by a secretive council of wizards, who refuse to meet in person with you, to rescue the survivors of Mugwort - a town which was thought to have been destroyed and lies deep within The Toxic Wood. The Wood is corrosive and the air is not safe to breath there, so the wizards have given you a magical orb which will create a safe dome of air around you. The orb must be fed with fuel containing life force to continue operating properly. They have also gifted each of you a less effective necklace which will create a temporary small bubble of clean air around your head as an emergency measure. The Wood became noxious a couple of years ago after a dragon known as Ion moved in. You will have to navigate to Mugwort without Ion noticing if you are to conduct a successful evacuation." The toxic wood is home to many strange entities; spiteful mutated horrors, ancient insectoid witch sisters, bloodthirsty redcaps, a mushroom witch and a corrosive dragon cult. Noxious gases produced by alien plants slowly coil through the air creating an endless red haze. Anything that is not part of the woods lethal eco-system is rapidly corroded, with all evidence of its existence erased within days. Details: 32 pages Single column text 8.5 x 5.5 aspect Black & White Bookmarks Hyperlinks Random tables Hooks and rumors for your players Rules for surviving in the toxic wood using the orb and other means 16 keyed hex locations Backgrounds for characters to aid roleplay New monsters Key NPCs A timeline of events for the DM to structure their sessions around Flora of the wood Random treasure tables Prompts and resolutions for what happens if players take different actions Cursed Items and Powerful Artifacts: Scattered throughout the wood, offering potent abilities but often with dangerous drawbacks.
The Drunderry River runs narrow and fast through much of its course, before tumbling into the lowlands beneath the Fallow Hills, in the shadows of the Blacktooth Ridge. From there, the river spreads out across fertile plains, laboring slowly to the south before emptying into the Elmarsh Lake. Until recently this area was unsettled, but a writ of the King's has brought many people to the area. The village of Malforten, nesteld along the banks fo the Drunderry River, near the Fallow Hills, is just such a place. A quiet village with simple people, they learned the hard way the Blacktooth Ridge casts a deep and dark shadow. Seeing rich prizes in cattle and grain, people and other movables, Gritznak the Gnoll has come down from the Blacktooth with loot on his mind. All they've done to drive him off have failed, at their wits end the villagers turn to others, more experienced in combatting evil. They look to a rising knight to save them . . . . Also available for 5E: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/160855/A0-The-Rising-Knight--Adventures-for-5th-Edition-Rules
Utopian Tower is a solo adventure which brings a new PC/player to the small Halfling village of Phebus on their way to a job opportunity. While the PC has time to spare they learn of a haunted tower that has the villagers on edge and is asked to investigate for a reward! While in town the PC meets a bard also headed to a job opportunity leading to a potential fellowship…if they survive! An excellent setting to teach a player new to the game on the basic mechanics. The adventure ties in roleplaying in a town environment, overland and dungeon movement, as well as combat encounters!
It's a horrible time to have a curse! Each wielding a powerful item to a family legacy, your players are a group of young adventurers who barely survive an attack on their order of vampire-hunters by agents of Dracula. After escaping, they discover Dracula has placed a curse upon the land which makes restful sleep difficult outside of hallowed areas. Dracula, "alive" on another plane but dead on this one, must be resurrected so they can kill him, end the curse, and avenge their dead. To accomplish this goal, the player characters must journey through forest, marsh, hill, and underground paths to retrieve relics of Dracula's last life from keeps and fortresses overrun by monsters and the undead. If they can resurrect him, he will be weak and easy to kill... but the adventurers aren't the only ones who want Dracula on the Material Plane, and Dracula is not the only vampire in the world. Gameplay overview This adventure takes the players from 2nd through 9th or 10th level on a milestone basis as they choose where to travel in what order to retrieve what they need. Starting at a happy gathering at the Belmonte Order, which the characters are hereditary members of, the campaign kicks off with a bang as the group retrieves their chosen legacy items, salvages what other gear they can in a race against time and a growing number of foes, and then escapes to begin their quest. In addition to the six main "dungeons," there are two optional regional lairs, traveling vampires, and many foes along the way. Most of the towns in the area have managed to survive, providing points of light at which the party may stop, long rest safely, acquire supplies, and socialize. Travel is hazardous! 5e classes are balanced for resource management across a 5-8 encounter adventuring day. The campaign is designed to have a semi-variable flow of encounters as the party traels around the area. Encounters grow progressively more difficult as time passes and the party spends more time within a region. These are not random encounters rolled on a table, but encounters designed to be unique to each area's geography, combat terrain, and mix of foes. As the party spends more time in a region or revisits it, the encounter difficulty increases. Dracula's curse requires a Constitution saving throw to successfully long rest outside of Hallowed areas (towns). The difficulty scales up over time, forcing the party to balance speed and safety as they try to accomplish their goals without pushing beyond the limits of what they can handle. The game concept, general map layout, and some enemy distributions are loosely inspired by Castlevania II for the NES, one of the forerunners of the "Metroidvania" genre. Dracula's Curse is indeed a game in which the forests are dark and full of monsters, and every night is a horrible one to have a curse. Includes 15 Legacy items, from weapons like whips and swords to a shield, a belt, or a decanter of holy water 60+ enemy statblocks 8 unique dungeons with unique layouts & challenges 5 inhabited towns with multiple named NPCs 100+ travel encounters (expect to use 30-50%) The module is printer-friendly with no artwork and straightforward grid maps for location-based encounters which require one.
A Little Bit of Thievery is an unconventional freeform adventure for level 1 characters. The players are contracted to steal a magic item at a noble's fancy party, and are forced to abandon their weapons and rely on their wits to survive. Mayhem required and violence (mostly) optional. Success might bring the ire of an elite with a panache for vengeance and money to burn. Beats killing giant rats in the safety of a basement for a few silver pieces, right? Although it is specifically written for the 5th edition’s basic rules, the adventure can be dropped into any rules system or campaign with minimal modification. (Pay What You Want)
Something is plaguing the farmland around the village of Oxdale, out in the middle of nowhere. The beast visits regularly and carries off an animal, disappearing into the hill country north of the village. Word is that it is also buzzing around the new goblin camp to the northwest. It wasn't too big of a deal until it tried to carry off a village youngling; now the mayor and the citizens want it dealt with immediately. (Spoiler - the beast was sent by a gentleman vampire who doesn't like hunting for himself. Find him in his cave or encounter him once he ventures to the village to find out what happened to his machine, should it go missing.) The Draining Caverns of the Winged Beast is a one-shot 5e adventure for a party of four 5th or 6th level characters. This adventure can be slotted into most 5e adventures (maybe with some reflavoring if it's a frozen setting), or stand alone as its own adventure. This adventure includes: The adventure PDF, with several combat encounters, and opportunities for exploration and roleplaying encounters Four maps - one region, one village, and two battlemaps, both in the adventure and as separate JPEGs Random encounter table for trekking through the hill country One magic dagger held by the vampire.
Over the top low level dungeon takes you through the sewers to stop a blood worshiping madman his Kobold minions.
This scenario was originally designed for five PCs of 13th level as a one-shot. A string of successes by the party has resulted in a high demand for their services. This new challenge involves an intrusive Ancient White Dragon extorting funds from the countryside of San Doral. Can your party cross Garnet Gorge and show this nasty Wyrm who’s the boss?
The people of Northwood’s Rest need help. Winter is coming, and something’s been slaughtering the livestock. Surely it must be the orcs of the Northwood! Heroes are needed to hunt them down. Will you answer the call? Welcome to Hunted! The latest adventure from the critically acclaimed platinum best-selling author Tony Petrecca. Hey, that’s me! I’ll stop with the 3rd person talk now. My last release, Killer Kobolds, was all about unadulterated, non-stop run and gun action, and quite purposefully contained absolutely no moral quandaries. Its theme was simple - Kidnapping Kobolds needed killing… now go! The result was an absolute blast, but with Hunted! I wanted to explore notably different themes. With Hunted! Exploration, investigation, and role play go hand in hand with unexpected twists and turns to present an adventure I’m quite proud of. Worry not, action hounds, as there’s plenty of combat to be had, but with Hunted! mindless murder hobo’s need not apply. Set in the frontier town of Northwood's Rest, a simple thorpe on the edge of a forest, Hunted! lends itself to easy insertion into any campaign setting and would make an excellent side quest for Storm King's Thunder. With direct tie ins to Acererak, Hunted! fits naturally within any Tales of the Yawning Portal campaign. Scaled for a party of 4-6 adventurers of levels 5-7, Hunted! can be easily tweaked to accommodate parties of lesser or greater strength. Featuring gorgeous cartography by Ennie award winner Elven Tower Cartography, beautiful art, a bevy of new creatures, new locations, several potential plot twists and a fun new magic item, Hunted! should provide six to ten hours of outstanding Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition adventuring fun.
Base of Operations is a short adventure intended for four 5th-level characters. DMs can easily modify the adventure to suit higher- or lower-level adventurers, or larger or smaller parties of adventurers. Simply adding a few monsters to every encounter area makes the adventure more challenging for larger parties, and adding levels to any of the humanoids can make them more of a threat to high-level groups. For low-level adventurers, make the relationship between the two factions within Brightstone Keep more strained, and take away a few monsters from each group. You can remove levels from some of the humanoids in the adventure to make it a lower-level challenge, but it is important that the orc cleric (described in encounter area 8) still have the ability to animate the dead. Still, he can have fewer minions around him when encountered, and that makes him less of a challenge for a lowlevel party.
The humble hamlet of Brackinstone is home to a small community of halflings dedicated to the goddess Yondalla. When a raiding force of bullywugs threatens the isolated settlement, the player characters are asked to intervene on Brackinstone's behalf. However, it soon becomes apparent that something sinister is at work in the otherwise innocuous hamlet. What's included: 1 uncanny adventure divided into single-page sections for easy running 3 extra encounters that can be added in to add tension or increase the difficulty 2 fully-colored maps with unlabled versions for players (made with assets from 2-minute Tabletop) 9 custom NPCs with clickable links for quick access to statblocks 4 story hooks to continue the adventure afterwards (depending on the characters' actions) Content Warnings: Violence, death, abduction, psychological manipulation, body horror
Tragedy has struck the Dwarven Kingdom of the Hammerskin Clan. Recent quakes have opened the Dwarven mines to a humanoid invasion that have taken over the Stonegate and Irongate sections of the kingdom. On your last foray into the Dorgel Mountains you were tasked to deliver a plague cure for the town of Timel. On your way through the trade route you discovered the invasion and fought your way through to deliver the remedy. Now you must return to help the Dwarves secure their domain!
The Forbidden Book - Caverns of Kehill is easy to implement in any setting and provides tools for real player motivation, interesting NPC interaction, exploration and meaningful combat by context and engaging situations. This adventure can be run in one session. The Forbidden Book is an old demonic artifact, that was destroyed and is manifesting after two hundred years. Cults are practicing rituals all over the world and the heroes will find one of them. It is the story of a group of adventurers, that stand valiantly against the darkness, rescue and old friend and if they succeed, become heroes of the small town of Kehill. Complete and ready to play with dungeon maps, a village map of Kehill and stat blocks directly on the pages. Featuring an additional print friendly version, all hand drawn maps (included additionally as separate files), beautiful artwork and two all new magic items. Published by StLion
A vibrant circus has just arrived, setting up on the edge of town. Run by the charismatic half-elf ringmaster, Marlow, the performers bring with them dazzling displays of magic and talent, artifacts with incredible powers to behold, and strange creatures most people would never get the chance to see close up. Behind all of the joy and revelry, the circus holds a dark secret, for Marlow keeps tyrannical control over his performers with both whip and word. As this latest performance reaches its height, two acrobats decide to take their chance at freedom, making use of a distraction to steal something valuable from Marlow and make their escape. Marlow will do anything to get the two back under his power, and so turns his significant charms upon a hapless band of adventurers attending his circus.
Hushed Hills is an adventure location set in a haunted town nestled in hilly woodlands. It doubles as a toolbox with encounters and NPCs to support DMs in running a gothic horror adventure. You can use it in three ways: 1. Run the Hushed Hills as a Tier 1 adventure that takes one, two, or three 5-hour sessions (based on the starting quest you select). 2. Select the best encounters and NPCs to add to your game. 3. Use the presented content as fuel to inspire your ideas. This toolbox is packed with assets and consists of: • 50 encounterswith 4 quests to tie them into an adventure. • 21 NPC outlines (including eldritch chimeras), • 3 multi-phased boss battle against the Godless Chimeras. Assets are grouped into 3 regions, including Crestfall Abbey, Town of Kletva, and Mirage Forest. Each region has a high-resolution map and each NPC a portrait. Published by: Immersive Adventuring
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!
Player characters attacking the lair of monsters that have been menacing the local village is a common D&D trope. This adventure turns the trope on its head. In Goblin Defense, the players create goblin PCs, and have to fight off repeated attacks by adventurers who are stronger and better equipped than they are. Starting at level 1 and running until level 7, this module encompasses 16 battles against unique and typically themed groups of adventurers built using player character classes and rules. The module is designed for 3 players, each of whom takes on an individual role within the tribe, granting unique bonuses or options for actions outside of combat. Goblin Defense can also be played with 4 players, but is not recommended for 5 or more players without substantial revision. The players aren't alone. Each commands a squad of goblin minions who can help in combat... but goblins are fragile, and adventurers hit hard. Life as a goblin is often brief and violent. Many will die, but as long as some survive, the tribe will carry on. A simple ruleset is provided for managing actions during the downtime between each attack. During this time, players can work to train their minions to use better gear, hunt for food for their tribe, recruit replacement warriors, brew potions, and - most importantly - improve their lair and its defenses by adding walls, traps, tunnels, doors, alarms, and anything else their creative minds can come up with. As the exact layout and placement of defensive features is critical, this is designed to be played on a grid. A PDF is included with the map scaled to print on 24"x36" (Arch D) size paper, available at most print shops. DMs may enjoy the chance to briefly try out many different character class and subclass combinations as they attack and eventually fall to the goblin pests they're trying to eliminate. Page count: Information for the DM only 6 Information for the players 4 Adventurer statblocks 37
The follow up to the ratfolk warlock lair, A Rat Among Us, Part One. It is suitable for four or five 3rd-level characters. The lairs can be run separately or together as one longer adventure. The Demon Lord of Rats is making his play for control of the city. Will our stalwart adventurers find the source of his power and thwart him?
Your party approaches a barrow at the base of the mountain. A raging storm brews overhead, and as you approach, a bolt of lightning strikes down on the peak of the mound, lighting up the world all around you. A thunderclap momentarily deafens you, and as your eyes adjust to the resuming grey of the dark day, you see a flicker of firelight emerging from the two gaping holes built into the side of the hill. You’ve found the pirates camping within the Barrow of the Raging Storm. As I delivered it to my players, the premise of this Midnight Sun adventure is that some pirates have been attacking ships returning from raids. They have been stealing the loot and the corpses of any slain Nords. Among their victims, a ship from Valthis returns to tell them that the pirates sailed upriver (to hex 506), where I placed the Barrow in my Shadowdark RPG campaign. The adventurers started from there and explored the dungeon thoroughly. The adventure was created using the tools described in the Shadowdark RPG core rules. I created it in about 6 hours between 2024-03-08 and 2024-03-09 and ran it for my group on the 9th. It took about 2.25 hours to play to completion. The party consisted of two level 1 characters and one level 2 character. I had so much fun making and running this that I will continue creating more Midnight Sun Adventures, so stay tuned!
Summary The party is sent to deal with a problem that should be instantly familiar to all rookie adventurers - exterminating giant rats that have taken up residence in a beer cellar. However, if they are to achieve their goal our heroes are going to have to get their first taste of a real dungeon as they explore the ruins of an ancient Wizard’s Tower. What is this adventure? This first-level adventure is designed for D&D veterans and complete beginners alike. It only uses rules, items, monsters and concepts found in the free basic ruleset that can be downloaded from the Wizards of the Coast website. That means that you and your friends can play this without having to buy anything other than snacks, drinks and maybe some dice - though even these can be replaced by the many free Dice Roller apps available for phones and tablets.