D&D Beyond Releases Free Forgotten Realms Adventure

D&D Beyond has a new Forgotten Realms-focused adventure that focuses on battling the forces of Orcus. Today, D&D Beyond released The Tenebrous Stone, a new adventure that will appear in the upcoming Forgotten Realms: Adventures in Faerun book. The adventure is a Level 3 "Deity Adventure" set in Helmsdale and sends players into a basalt quarry to track down an evil artifact. Players will battle several undead creatures before a final encounter at the hidden location of the artifact.

The adventure is one of many in the book and is similarly structured as the quick adventures found in the 2024 Dungeon Master's Guide. There's a map, three encounters, and a brief overview of the adventure, but otherwise The Tenebrous Stone is relatively light. D&D Beyond has also loaded up the adventure on its Maps VTT, complete with both maps and monsters pre-loaded for the DM.

Forgotten Realms: Adventures in Faerun will be released on November 11th.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

I think the format is fine, and it is a pretty cool encounter!

However, I agree with others that this shouldn't ever be called a free "Adventure". It is a free Encounter, slottable into any adventure, and it should be celebrated for what it is.

 

[Zaukrie]

I think the format is fine, and it is a pretty cool encounter!

However, I agree with others that this shouldn't ever be called a free "Adventure". It is a free Encounter, slottable into any adventure, and it should be celebrated for what it is.

This.

 

[Parmandur]

I mean,by my count it is 3 Encounters...and 3 pretty gnarly ones for Level 3, plus a map and a basic setup. It is a mini-Adventure, a oneshot even, but it is there.

 

[dave2008]

take a look, it’s only 2 pages anyway… I see nothing innovative here, a mine map
with two encounters and little else. Nothing clever, nothing unexpected, nothing interesting.

Confirms everything I already didn’t like about the adventure stubs in the DMG. Was not interested in those, certainly do not want 50 more for FR

IDK, I find the map interesting. With all those elevation changes and places to hide I could conjure up some fun encounters with that.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

IDK, I find the map interesting. With all those elevation changes and places to hide I could conjure up some fun encounters with that.

I think the map makes for a very, very interesting multi-part encounter.

I'll acquiesce that it can be seen as more than a single encounter, but I still don't think it should be called an "Adventure".

Looks like we might need some new words to describe the scales between Encounter, Adventure, and Campaign!

 

[GarrettKP]

I think the map makes for a very, very interesting multi-part encounter.

I'll acquiesce that it can be seen as more than a single encounter, but I still don't think it should be called an "Adventure".

Looks like we might need some new words to describe the scales between Encounter, Adventure, and Campaign!

Having run all 5 of the DMG one page adventures, I think they count as adventures. There’s just enough there to kill 2-3 hours, depending on the adventure in the DMG.

Haven’t got to run this one yet, but I did play through the 5 they previewed at GenCon and those all filled a solid 2 hours, with some feeling like they were a little rushed.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

Having run all 5 of the DMG one page adventures, I think they count as adventures. There’s just enough there to kill 2-3 hours, depending on the adventure in the DMG.

Haven’t got to run this one yet, but I did play through the 5 they previewed at GenCon and those all filled a solid 2 hours, with some feeling like they were a little rushed.

A single session's worth of material!

Honestly, it's about time that things were written for that timescale. I still don't like the term "Adventure" for that, but I guess that it fits. It reminds me of the word "Module", which some of us old folks still use interchangeably with "Adventure". Though in this case, that might be more apt! Maybe the term needs to make a comeback!

 

[Selas]

Module is still used in OP; at least in the Legends of Greyhawk OP it's used for each of the adventures. But yeah, it should be used officially to refer to these mini-adventures they've done in the DMG and the new FR book

 

[FitzTheRuke]

Module is still used in OP; at least in the Legends of Greyhawk OP it's used for each of the adventures. But yeah, it should be used officially to refer to these mini-adventures they've done in the DMG and the new FR book

It could be, like I suppose that it once was, short for "Modular Adventure".

 

[I'm A Banana]

This is a slightly upgraded Orc and Pie. "Adventure" implies a lot of content that isn't there.

For what it is, it's fine. Pretty cool map, and a unique little vision encounter. There isn't a lot of room for thematic resonance or compelling character moments or whatever, but it's not aiming for that. It's a building block. It's a perfectly cromulent building block.

If the adventure book has a bunch of these, that's an interesting choice. Maybe not a super great one -- it's a little monolithic. But I can see where they're going and I don't hate it.

Overall, I like the format, and I'm MUCH more likely to run this than to run a 100-page hardcover adventure, that's for sure.