Dungeon #122
The Ring of Storms (Backdrop)
by Keith Baker
The land of Xen’drik holds many secrets, wonders long forgotten by the children of the modern age. Cyclopean ruins recall the heyday of an empire of giants, whose savage descendents lurk in the shadows of their former glory. Xen’drik also hosts the runs of a mysterious sect of long-lost elves called the Qabalrin, whose shattered cities lie within the mysterious Ring of Storms.
The Ring of Storms is the setting for Dragonshard, a new real-time stategy game produced by Atari, Liquid Entertainment, and Wizards of the Coast. In Dragonshard, the forces of light and darkness clash for control of a source of immense magical power. This article describes the region prior to the events that unfold in Dragonshard, in order to allow your party of adventurers to discover this realm with all of its mysteries intact.
Final Resting Place (Adventure for 3rd-level characters)
by Michael Kortes
Most adventurers like to think that when their number is finally up, their colleagues will bring them home, either to be resurrected or at least returned to their families for a proper burial. But will the PCs draw the line at hauling and adventurer’s corpse out of the Underdark?
The DM can run "Final Resting Place" as a stand-alone adventure or use it to introduce the PCs to a larger, growing illithid threat.
Fiendish Footprints (Adventure for 6th-level characters)
by Tito Leati
A tiny map etched onto a small knag of wood puts the PCs on the trial of the Fiendish Foot, an item of vast necromantic potential. Will your heroes beat a band of hobgoblins to the Foot? And what of the object’s vampiric protectors?
The adventure takes place in the dungeons of a ruined keep in any temperate forest of the DM's world.
Root of Evil (Adventure for 18th-level characters)
by Mike Mearls
A sickness festers in the heart of a great city—the demon tree Malgarius spreads its diseased roots through paving stones and courtyards. Only the most powerful adventurers have what it takes to enter the demon tree and return alive.
Dungeoncraft
by Monte Cook
Twists and Turns, Plotting the Campaign (Part 2)
Planning out a campaign ahead of time affords a DM many luxuries. If you know generally what’s coming, either next session or ten sessions from now, you can plant clues or plan plot twists regarding those future events in the present session. You can foreshadow coming events, devise interesting plot twists, and even create a villain intended to rear his evil head more than once.
Campaign Workbook: The Cast
Atypical Enemies
by Chris Sims
But what does a good guy do when the enemy is not evil? The personal consequences of facing a foe of good alignment or virtuous motivation can be devastating, but resolving moral dilemmas can make for some compelling gaming sessions. Players must think carefully about their characters’ motivations, lest they also end up on the wrong side of good intentions.
Campaign Workbook: The City
A Town in the Aftermath
by Mark A. Hart
The next time your adventurers descend upon a town, use their visit to develop your campaign and plant seeds for some future adventures. Consider what happens to the town left behind.
Campaign Workbook: The Dungeon
Essential Works
by Hal MacLean
When a group of PCs stumbles upon a library, a bookshelf, or even an isolated volume carelessly tossed upon a villain’s night table, they often spend a moment or two skimming the pages. Each of the books detailed below comes with a description and a built-in plot hook.
Campaign Workbook: The Journey
Hazards of the Trail
by Richard Pett
Overland travel is fraught with difficulties. A huge network of broad roads, muddy trails, and dusty footpaths criss-crosses every campaign world. . . . Here ae a few hazards that might develop along a remote trail.
Cartoons:
Mt. Zogon
The Portent
Downer
Wil Save
by Wil Wheaton
True Seeing
The Ring of Storms (Backdrop)
by Keith Baker
The land of Xen’drik holds many secrets, wonders long forgotten by the children of the modern age. Cyclopean ruins recall the heyday of an empire of giants, whose savage descendents lurk in the shadows of their former glory. Xen’drik also hosts the runs of a mysterious sect of long-lost elves called the Qabalrin, whose shattered cities lie within the mysterious Ring of Storms.
The Ring of Storms is the setting for Dragonshard, a new real-time stategy game produced by Atari, Liquid Entertainment, and Wizards of the Coast. In Dragonshard, the forces of light and darkness clash for control of a source of immense magical power. This article describes the region prior to the events that unfold in Dragonshard, in order to allow your party of adventurers to discover this realm with all of its mysteries intact.
Final Resting Place (Adventure for 3rd-level characters)
by Michael Kortes
Most adventurers like to think that when their number is finally up, their colleagues will bring them home, either to be resurrected or at least returned to their families for a proper burial. But will the PCs draw the line at hauling and adventurer’s corpse out of the Underdark?
The DM can run "Final Resting Place" as a stand-alone adventure or use it to introduce the PCs to a larger, growing illithid threat.
Fiendish Footprints (Adventure for 6th-level characters)
by Tito Leati
A tiny map etched onto a small knag of wood puts the PCs on the trial of the Fiendish Foot, an item of vast necromantic potential. Will your heroes beat a band of hobgoblins to the Foot? And what of the object’s vampiric protectors?
The adventure takes place in the dungeons of a ruined keep in any temperate forest of the DM's world.
Root of Evil (Adventure for 18th-level characters)
by Mike Mearls
A sickness festers in the heart of a great city—the demon tree Malgarius spreads its diseased roots through paving stones and courtyards. Only the most powerful adventurers have what it takes to enter the demon tree and return alive.
Dungeoncraft
by Monte Cook
Twists and Turns, Plotting the Campaign (Part 2)
Planning out a campaign ahead of time affords a DM many luxuries. If you know generally what’s coming, either next session or ten sessions from now, you can plant clues or plan plot twists regarding those future events in the present session. You can foreshadow coming events, devise interesting plot twists, and even create a villain intended to rear his evil head more than once.
Campaign Workbook: The Cast
Atypical Enemies
by Chris Sims
But what does a good guy do when the enemy is not evil? The personal consequences of facing a foe of good alignment or virtuous motivation can be devastating, but resolving moral dilemmas can make for some compelling gaming sessions. Players must think carefully about their characters’ motivations, lest they also end up on the wrong side of good intentions.
Campaign Workbook: The City
A Town in the Aftermath
by Mark A. Hart
The next time your adventurers descend upon a town, use their visit to develop your campaign and plant seeds for some future adventures. Consider what happens to the town left behind.
Campaign Workbook: The Dungeon
Essential Works
by Hal MacLean
When a group of PCs stumbles upon a library, a bookshelf, or even an isolated volume carelessly tossed upon a villain’s night table, they often spend a moment or two skimming the pages. Each of the books detailed below comes with a description and a built-in plot hook.
Campaign Workbook: The Journey
Hazards of the Trail
by Richard Pett
Overland travel is fraught with difficulties. A huge network of broad roads, muddy trails, and dusty footpaths criss-crosses every campaign world. . . . Here ae a few hazards that might develop along a remote trail.
Cartoons:
Mt. Zogon
The Portent
Downer
Wil Save
by Wil Wheaton
True Seeing
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