TEXT: Fantasy
  The
  Ultimate
  From Dreadful Dungeons
  Collection
  Adventures for D&D
  9
  
   
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  photocopy this document for personal use only. 
   2
  The Ultimate Fantasy Collection
  Editor: Glen Cooper 
  Forewords: Merric Blackman, Shawn Merwin, Glen Cooper 
  Cover Illustration: Mateusz Michalski                                                       
  Writers: Cody Ashby, Gary Whicker, Shawn Merwin, Chris Sniezak, William Buchanan, Richard Jansen, John Prichard, Glen 
  Cooper, Andrew Clissold, David Noonan, Stacey Janssen, Scott Bean, George Taray. 
  Artists: Neil Jary, Sebastian Wagner, Dave Allsop, Jeshields, Storn Cook, Andrew Smith, Gus Medi, Ryan Finegan, Liz Green, 
  David Noonan, Glen Cooper, Tom Bonin. 
  Proofreading and Playtesters: Nahuel Operto, Encoded Designs, Aurora Merwin, James Angus, Lachlan Crews, Shannon Lee, 
  Simon McLucas, Bill Williamson.
  Table of Contents
  Chapter 1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 
      Foreword  by Glen Cooper. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 
      Extra Credit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 
      What’s Included? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 
      Preparation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  4 
  Chapter 2. The Adventures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  5 
      Troll Trouble . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  5 
      The Five Temples of the Earthmother . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 
      Tree of Blight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  7 
      Vault of Iptiz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 
      The Maze Beneath the Maize . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 
      The Low Crater  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  10 
      The Claw of Winter  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  11 
      The Pristine City . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 
      The Crystalline Caves of Black Leaf Forest . . . . . . 13
  DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, D&D, Wizards of the Coast, Forgotten Realms, the dragon 
  ampersand, Player’s Handbook, Monster Manual, Dungeon Master’s Guide, D&D Adventurers 
  League, all other Wizards of the Coast product names, and their respective logos are trademarks 
  of Wizards of the Coast in the USA and other countries. All characters and their distinctive 
  likenesses are property of Wizards of the Coast. This material is protected under the copyright laws 
  of the United States of America. Any reproduction or unauthorized use of the m a t e r i a l o r 
  artwork contained herein is prohibited without the express written permission of 
  Wizards of the Coast.
  ©2016 Wizards of the Coast LLC, PO Box 707, Renton, WA 98057-0707, 
  USA. Manufactured by Hasbro SA, Rue Emile-Boéchat 31, 2800 
  Delémont, CH. Represented by Hasbro Europe, 4 The Square, 
  Stockley Park, Uxbridge, Middlesex, UB11 1ET, UK.
  Dreadful Dungeons
  Chapter 3. The Supplements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14 
       The Spirit Shaman Character Class . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 
       The Eladrin Race . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 
       The Shifter Race . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15 
  Chapter 4. Campaigning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 
       Foreword by Merric Blackman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 
       Pacing your Sessions & Campaign  . . . . . . . . . . . .17 
       Introductory Chapter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 
       Middle Chapter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18 
       Concluding Chapter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 
       Story Hook Suggestions . . . .  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  .19 
       Map of the Moonsshae Isles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  . 25 
  Chapter 5.  The Moonshae Isles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 
      Foreword by Shawn Merwin. . . .  . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26 
      Great Reference Material . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 
  Chapter 6. The Afterword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 
  Credits
  
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   3
  Hi! Firstly, if all this ‘getting to know you’ 
  saddle-goose is hindering you from enjoying 
  this marvellous product, then please feel free to 
  jump forwards to Chapters 2 and 3. Each 
  adventure and supplement contained within this 
  collection has been described and/or reviewed; 
  along with a few corrections and suggestions on 
  how to get the best out of them in your 
  campaign. Off you pop, we won’t judge.  
  Right, now all the whiffle-waffle have gone 
  please allow me to introduce myself. My name 
  is Glen and I am a Dungeon Master and 
  publisher of Dungeon’s & Dragons home-brew 
  content on the Dungeon Masters Guild. Like 
  many of you, but definitely not all, this is my 
  second stint at table-top role-play games. I spent 
  over 20 years away from the game and then 
  rediscovered Dungeons & Dragons when I was 
  introduced to 5th edition.  
  So why did I dedicate so much of my spare time 
  curating all these adventures and supplements? 
  The easy answer is ‘for the love’. Ever since I 
  returned to our hobby, I’ve been crawling all 
  over the Dungeon Masters Guild, borrowing 
  concepts for my own campaign. It’s full of 
  ingenious ideas which you too may also have 
  fallen in love with. However, I found a many 
  adventures far down the rankings which through 
  no fault of their own, never really got the 
  attention they deserved.   
  As 2016 came to a end, I developed a notion of 
  my own. I was inspired by the brand new 
  material which was being released day in day 
  out, yet I knew there were plenty of adventures 
  already written which were arguably just as 
  clever, if not a shade more original. 
  1. Introduction
  Foreword
  So I set about writing to authors of great 
  adventures that were far down the rankings on 
  the website, intent of doing ‘something’ with 
  them. Rankings are effective at bringing 
  excellent material to the surface, but that same 
  rankings system can also force older material 
  into a dire undeath. The mumblecrust of the 
  Dungeon Masters Guild. 
  After months of trading emails with other 
  authors; and working hard not to look too 
  desperate whilst trying convince strangers to let 
  me bring their products into this collection, I 
  began to break through. One by one, they said 
  yes. I was stunned, excited and a little relieved.  
  When I finally had my line-up of adventures, I 
  proceeded to organise them into a sequence, and 
  write my own commentary upon them. It was 
  during this time that I was introduced to the 
  Moonshae Isles, of the Forgotten Realms. The 
  Moonshaes are a collection of islands 400 miles 
  west of the Sword Coast region. I fell in love 
  with the Moonshaes and immediately began 
  figuring out how I could suggest ways in which 
  you Dungeon Masters might learn more about 
  this wonderful setting using this collection. 
  You are now the proud owners of a full and 
  frank visitation to each one of these unique 
  adventures, along with suggestions on how you 
  might integrate them into a campaign centred 
  upon the Moonshae Isles.  
  I congratulate you on your purchase.
  The Ultimate Fantasy Collection
  
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   4
  The credits for this collection are so important 
  that I felt it needed a section in it’s own right.  
  The owners of the products published here have 
  given me the opportunity to present to you their 
  work in an compilation of exceptional past 
  releases. This collection is also an exercise in 
  the recycling and celebration of creative 
  material. I was also able to contact a fantasy 
  artist named Mateusz Michalski and ask him to 
  recycle one of his pieces of fan art for us. By 
  doing some revisions and making it unique for 
  our pleasure, we got an outstanding piece of 
  cover art. 
  This section is dedicated to all the play-testers, 
  proof-readers, editors, artists and muses who 
  were not entirely mentioned in the credits of the 
  products included in this collection. If you are 
  one of the ‘unnamed’, then please consider this 
  a nod to you for a job weldone. We salute you 
  ALL; even though you may not have picked 
  up every last niggle or deliberate mistake 
  contained within ;)
  Extra Credit
  The preparation for this pack of adventures 
  heavily depends upon how you wish to play 
  through the material. 
  If you are planning to use these adventures as 
  single one-shots and integrate them into your 
  current campaign, then the only preparation you 
  will need is to read through the contents of each 
  product and organise exactly what you need in 
  advance. This by the way is a fantastic way to 
  get some rapid enjoyment from your purchase. 
  However if you are looking to link some of the 
  adventures up, then I have also provided a story 
  hook which is more sympathetic to the 
  collection as a whole, than those proposed by 
  the original authors. I would suggest reading 
  through the story hooks of each adventure 
  before aligning two or more of the adventures 
  up to create a mini campaign.  
  Finally, as I had previously mentioned during 
  the Foreword - amid the process of 
  curating this content I stumbled upon 
  an area in the Forgotten Realms 
  called the Moonshae Isles. They are 
  an extremely well documented and 
  fleshed out archipelago of islands 
  which are several ten-days journey 
  from the Sword Coast and the state of 
  Amn. With each adventure I have 
  written story hooks which have more 
  significance if your campaign is set in the 
  Moonshaes. The wealth of material present for 
  this island chain is extensive. In Chapter 5 I 
  have included a host of links to some of the best 
  mentions in Dragon, Dungeon and other dark 
  bloggy corners of the internet. In the chapter are 
  recommendations on what to read in preparation 
  for an incredible journey into the fey infused 
  isles of Moonshae.   
  For my complete Dungeon Masters Guild 
  Wishlist, containing all the products here, the 
  please check out this link - here
  Well, technically what you have are 9 
  adventures which will take your 
  players from level 1 through to level 9. 
  There are also 3 supplements which may 
  add value and variety to your role-playing 
  game, especially if you decide to run your 
  adventures in the Moonshae Isles. In total there 
  are 297 pages, which have been reviewed 78 
  times in the Dungeon Masters Guild with an 
  impressive average rating of 4.8. Hand picked 
  for your delight.  
  Ultimately though, this collection includes a 
  host of classic dungeon crawls, investigation 
  thrillers, exploration and role-play encounters. 
  As a D&D fan, you should know that this 
  collection represents over 60 hrs of fun with 
  your favourite dew-beaters. 
  What’s Included?
  Preparation
  
  $1.00 
  I’ve been playing D&D since 1977, starting 
  with the boxed set of OD&D. During those 
  decades I’ve spent my fair share time behind the 
  screen running my own home brew adventures 
  and official modules. Modules were scarce in 
  the early days, anyone remember Palace of the 
  Vampire Queen? I’ve also seen the hobby 
  change dramatically over the years for the 
  better. With RPGs becoming more inclusive and 
  accepted in the mainstream. The image of a 
  D&D player as an impossibly awkward young, 
  male basement dweller has been turned on its 
  head. Even at the venerable age of 52 I still DM 
  and play in three games a week. I doubt I shall 
  ever get tired of these grand adventures of the 
  imagination! 
  Gary Whicker
  Author Biography
  1. Troll Trouble by Gary Whicker
  Desperately needed supplies have failed to arrive at the long suffering 
  frontier settlement of Ravendale. Rumors are flying that the 
  supply wagon must have fallen foul to the legendary troll of 
  Stonebottom bridge. The townsfolk are in need of heroes 
  to reclaim their supplies or the town won't survive the 
  encroaching winter!
  ‘Troll Trouble’ was released during week one of 
  the Dungeon Masters Guild, in 2016. It is a 
  fabulous starter adventure. My first 
  recommendation is to thoroughly read the 
  A d v e n t u r e 
  Background, and 
  Overview. It is well 
  written and gives you 
  (the DM) just enough 
  information to get you 
  started; without over 
  loading you with an 
  complicated back 
  story.
  My thoughts on this Adventure
  Ever since it’s release Troll Trouble looks to 
  have slipped well down the rankings, and this 
  has absolutely nothing to do with it’s level of 
  quality. Gary Whicker’s creation has amassed 
  15 ratings with an average of 4.6 stars out of 5. 
  This is no mean feat at all! 
  The adventure offers several excellent 
  roleplaying opportunities, plus it even has a neat 
  table which lists the level of information 
  gleaned from a simple survival skill check. This 
  is an excellent way to introduce both you and 
  your players to the merits of the d20 system in 
  D&D  ;) 
  After the players meet the ‘Troll’ of 
  Stonebottom bridge, who is actually an ogre in 
  disguise with a rather catchy song to sing, the 
  adventure becomes a tad crazy. Fun crazy. 
  Along the way, the players are drawn into small 
  skirmishes with strange mutant creatures and 
  goblins, as gradually they make their way 
  towards the main event. This happens to be a 
  delve into a dungeon called ‘The Shrine of the 
  Demogorgon’, where they must save a girl, stop 
  a ritual and defeat an evil boss. #Standard.  
  Troll Trouble has role-play, exploration, 
  investigation, combat and bunny-wolves. What 
  more could you ask for from of your parties 
  very first adventure together?  
  For additional story hooks and ways to integrate 
  into a campaign, see Chapter 4: Campaigning.
  $0.30 
  Levels 1-2
  3-5 Players
  2-4 hrs Play
  Author on the DM’s Guild
  
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   6
  $4.95 $1.49 
  I began experimenting with RPGs in the 1970s 
  with AD&D at the age of 10. My professional 
  design and editing work in the roleplaying game 
  industry has spanned almost 20 years and over 3 
  million words of content. My Dungeons & 
  Dragons work has ranged from 3rd to 5th 
  edition, showing up in sourcebooks, adventures, 
  articles, and Organized Play. I’ve been a driving 
  force in several Organized Play programs and 
  written material for Wizards of the Coast, 
  Kobold Press, Modiphius Entertainment, 
  Pelgrane Press, Goodman Games amongst 
  others. I have contributed to The Dracula 
  Dossier, and am currently working on the 
  upcoming Star Trek Adventures. 
  - Shawn Merwin 
    
  Author Biography
  2. The Five Temples of the Earthmother: Life and 
  Moon  by Encoded Designs
  High King Derid Kendrick, the ruler of the Ffolk of the 
  Moonshae Isles, summons you to hear a proposal. He 
  reveals to you a prophecy that speaks of the disappearance 
  of the Great Druid, and the return of the ﬁve lost Temples 
  of the Earthmother. The perilous Dernall Forest awaits…
  The synopsis and story hooks for this adventure 
  are written incredibly well, and as a DM you 
  will find some excellent ideas on how to 
  integrate them with your long standing 
  campaign or a simple one-shot. ‘Life and Moon’ 
  is the only adventure in this collection designed 
  specifically for the Moonshae Isle campaign 
  setting. So if you intend to go on a journey to 
  the Moonshaes, then this adventure will be an 
  essential ingredient to getting your players 
  acclimatised to the area.  
  Shawn and Chris have 
  taken great care to give 
  your players an enviable 
  opportunity to role-play 
  with one of the most 
  important NPC’s and rulers 
  in the Moonshae Isles, King Derid of Alaron.  
  The slow build up to the final encounters in the 
  Temple of Life and Moon are not too bogged 
  down with rules or an impossible to escape rail 
  road. The journey is sketched out for you, and 
  you are expected as the DM to flesh it out for 
  your group. I loved this. I have played many 
  modules before and the light, subtle touches 
  provided by the writers is very much 
  appreciated. The maps are also gratefully 
  received.  
  All in all, a delightful adventure to spring on 
  your group at almost any time. For additional 
  story hooks and ways to integrate into a 
  campaign, see Chapter 4: Campaigning.
  My thoughts on this Adventure
  Levels 1-3
  3-5 Players
  12 hrs Play
  Authors on the DM’s Guild
  
   
   
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   7
  3. The Tree of Blight by Dreadful Dungeons
  A blood curdling scream shatters our adventurers rest as they set 
  up camp for the evening. Without warning the forest 
  comes alive and a heroic struggle begins, as our 
  adventurers battle to avoid becoming the forest's 
  latest victims. 
  $1.95 $0.59 
  4-5 Players
  Levels 1-5
  2-3 hrs Play
  Author on the DM’s Guild
  It’s me! Yeah sorry, I though it would be a good 
  idea to include one of the few adventures I have 
  written for the DMs' Guild. However I couldn’t 
  review it myself (awks), so I asked the 
  very experienced, the one, the only 
  Merric Blackman to take a look and give 
  you his thoughts. Enjoy! 
  So I first became involved with AD&D 
  2nd Edition when I was 15 years old. I 
  shared the dungeon mastering responsibilities 
  with a few of my school mates, but then quickly 
  became the main DM for our gaming group. I 
  fell in love with roleplaying and writing 
  adventures during this time in my life, a time 
  where having a creative outlet was as important 
  to me as breathing and eating. After playing for 
  almost 5 years, I took a 22 year break and 
  rejoined in 2016 when I was re-introduced via 
  D&D 5th Edition. My mind was 
  blown open once again, but 
  most importantly there was 
  a way for me to publish 
  my ideas and share my 
  love for the game - on 
  the Dungeon Masters 
  Guild.  
  No sooner did I find 
  another roleplaying 
  group, did I begin writing again.  
  - Glen Cooper
  This isn’t your standard dungeon crawl. Yes, 
  there are tunnels. Yes, there are 
  monsters. However, The Tree 
  of Blight is all about how 
  unsettled you can make your 
  players. If you can instil in 
  t h e m 
  a 
  f e e l i n g 
  o f 
  claustrophobia and dread, you’re 
  doing it right. 
  This isn’t a long adventure; it’s a singular 
  problem that, if left unchecked, might grow to 
  threaten the land. It’d be interesting to return to 
  the Tree if the players, having dealt with the 
  obvious problems, left it alone afterwards. What 
  new allies and power might it 
  acquire? 
  Dim the lights. Play the 
  atmospheric music 
  t h e 
  a u t h o r 
  suggests. And see 
  how much you 
  can frighten your players. There are many more 
  places I’d prefer to be than crawling through the 
  earth infested with evil plants. 
  For additional story hooks and ways to integrate 
  into a campaign, see Chapter 4: Campaigning.
  Merric Blackman’s thoughts on 
  this Adventure
  Author Biography
  
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   8
  After a 15 year unintentional hiatus, I 
  rediscovered Dungeons and Dragons and started 
  up a group with some friends who had never 
  been exposed to the hobby before.  The first 
  session rekindled my passion for dungeon 
  crawls, and in short order I began developing a 
  home-brew campaign for my new table.  Not 
  long after, I discovered DM Scotty's crafting 
  channel on YouTube and began building 
  miniature terrain for my games.  This new side 
  to the hobby was so exciting that I started a 
  channel of my own: Wyloch's Crafting Vids. 
  Eventually, I came up with the idea to design an 
  entire dungeon specifically around my crafted 
  tiles - a one-shot adventure that could be totally 
  laid out on the table in realtime for the players 
  as they progressed through it; thus was 
  conceived the Vault of Iptiz.  Later, I revisited 
  the concept with Julinda's Gauntlet.  As of now, 
  the Wyloch brand is going strong with a 
  YouTube channel, a line of revolutionary 3D 
  printed dungeon tile models (TrueTiles), and 
  more DM's Guild releases on the horizon. 
  - William Buchanan
  4. The Vault of Ipitz by William Buchanan
  There is the well-known regional legend of Iptiz, a spirit naga whose 
  greed was remarkable even among its own kind. Murderous raids and 
  relentless pillaging yielded a hoard so valuable that the creature 
  needed some place to store and protect it. Thus was the Vault 
  conceived: an underground complex custom built to destroy 
  anyone who is not its creator.
  YES! A good old fashioned dungeon delve! As 
  you might be able to tell I was excited when I 
  first read The Vault of Iptiz. An unashamed 
  crawl through a dangerous dungeon with traps 
  (lots of traps), some roleplaying, investigation 
  and plenty of combat. This adventure is one of 
  the few which hardly require any reading up
  front. However, I still advise that you do fully 
  read through the content several times before 
  playing it. 
  So apart from my obvious love for these kinds 
  of adventures from a DM’s perspective - what 
  else can I say? 
  Firstly, this adventure is dangerous. Even at 5th 
  level, some of the damage which your players 
  could suffer from the traps and 
  oddities hidden within the 
  dungeon, may end your 
  session pretty quickly. As the 
  DM, keep an eye on your 
  players hit points, as they may 
  end up getting deposited into 
  the final room with big bad 
  naga with little to no health 
  left. Or even a man down! 
  This is definitely not a criticism though, it is an 
  excellent side-quest which will challenge your 
  group. William Buchanan also managed to 
  furnish us with an excellent map, a home-brew 
  monster and some new magical gear. 
  I do have a very small nit-pick with the module 
  though and that is the story hooks were a bit 
  light on content. You may wish to think more on 
  how to introduce your players to this adventure 
  or…. 
  For additional story hooks and ways to integrate 
  into a campaign, see Chapter 4: Campaigning.
  My thoughts on this Adventure
  Author Biography
   PWYW $1.71 $0.51 
  4-5 Players
  Level 5
  4-6 hrs Play
  Author on the DM’s Guild
  
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   9
  Cody sometimes DMs, but is mostly a player 
  and the numbers guy: If I were a D&D class I 
  would be probably be a wizard, sorcerer or 
  scribe. Whenever I’m not writing and balancing 
  the content that Broken Knives releases I am 
  accused by others of trying to "break the game”. 
  One of my proudest moments of doing so was 
  manipulating time to avoid a TPK because "the 
  rules for time travellers were in the books you 
  gave me." I co-write classes, adventures and 
  other content for Broken Knives. 
  -  Cody Ashby 
  Ryan is the forever DM and artistic half of 
  Broken Knives; I was abandoned in the forest as 
  a young man and raised by a parliament of owl-
  bears. Discovering a battered, moth eaten tome 
  called the "Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd 
  Edition Dungeon Masters Guide" in a log one 
  day sent me down the path of creating worlds 
  for greasy, Cheeto stained fantasy fans. I have 
  an obsession with drawing maps and graphic 
  design and an aversion to math. I co-write and 
  illustrate adventures and content for Broken 
  Knives. 
  - Ryan Finegan
  5. The Maze Beneath the Maize   
   
  by Broken Knives
  The farm, which has been in the family for generations, was the best 
  producing in the region. It now faces ruin. Hugh Therayle, the current owner, 
  is at wit's end trying to reestablish even a modicum of control over the 
  disrupted land. But, when Hugh saw the ancient doorway jutting 
  up from the middle of the field where his corn used to be, he 
  knew that this wasn't the type of problem a plow could solve.
  This adventure was released during the middle 
  of 2016 and when I stumbled upon it I was 
  really impressed by it’s quality and story-
  telling. Currently we have a renaissance going 
  on in the DMs’ Guild, where production values 
  have reached an all time high - perhaps due to
  the additional customers who are buying more 
  home-brew products, but I’d like to think it’s 
  because our prolific writers are taking more 
  financial risks by adding value to their creations 
  for our delight. 
  However, this adventure is a diamond in the 
  rough. I am completely floored as to how it 
  never got the recognition it deserved at the time 
  of its release. This adventure never even 
  reached the ‘Copper Best Seller’ status (that’s 
  less than 50 sales!). It’s my belief that if Maze 
  Beneath the Maize was released today it would 
  probably make the top 10 for at least a few 
  days, if not weeks.  
  This is a story with a 
  mystery, and lots of 
  opportunities for your 
  players to investigate have 
  been provided. The maze itself is home to a 
  whole host of new magical items, including a 
  genius magical item idea (read it, it’s there, it’s 
  awesome), plus… for the sheer fun of it the 
  writers created two new oozes! These are so 
  incredibly weird that you will looking for other 
  ways to shoe-horn them into your campaign - 
  especially the Sthoth. OMG… the Sthoth. It has 
  legendary actions! All in all this adventure 
  deserves to be played and enjoyed, and not lost. 
  I’m really glad I found it, and was able to 
  introduce you to it.  
  For additional story hooks and ways to integrate 
  into a campaign, see Chapter 4: Campaigning.
  WILD 
  CARD
  Author Biographies
  My thoughts on this Adventure
  $5.95 $1.79 
  4-5 Players
  Level 5
  6-8 hrs Play
  Authors on the DM’s Guild
  
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   10
  powered. Their difficulty classes (DCs) are so 
  low that a 5-6th level player with a high Passive 
  Perception would be alerted to them in no time. 
  So please consider raising the difficulty to at 
  least a DC 16 or above, and provide more of a 
  challenge for your party.  
  In contrast, when I was reading through the stat 
  blocks for the home-brew monsters they 
  appeared to be quite dangerous - especially in 
  the Temple with the Half-Dragon and statues. If 
  your players are not careful or do not strategise, 
  we have the makings of a 
  TPK here. Also there 
  appears to be a mistake 
  with the CR rating or 
  experience points on the 
  Half-Dragon. One to watch 
  out for.  
  The final battle with an 
  animated dragon skull and 
  two claws is also a tough one. The kobolds who 
  remain, sacrifice themselves to animate this 
  dangerous undead monster. It’s a real challenge 
  to deal with after all that has happened before it. 
  All in all, this adventure has a ‘deadly’ feel, and 
  so it should. Underneath all the clawing and 
  biting is a horde of gold, gems and several 
  magical items. Well worth the effort and near 
  death experiences. A classic module with home-
  brew monsters to boot. Your players will enjoy 
  it, and that they mostly survived… 
  For additional story hooks and ways to integrate 
  into a campaign, see Chapter 4: Campaigning.
  My first experience of D&D was one that would 
  have seemed crazy more than a decade ago. It 
  wasn’t through a friend or family member 
  passing down their old books, or even picking 
  up one of the boxed sets from a gaming store. 
  No, I fell in love with D&D because watched 
  some people playing it on the internet. 
  I was a fan of Penny Arcade, and when they 
  posted the video of their first live Acquisitions 
  Inc. game at PAX I thought I’d check it out. The 
  party’s antics were entertaining, but what really 
  entranced me was Chris Perkins’ DM’ing. 
  At that moment I knew I didn’t just want to play 
  D&D, but to run my own campaign and write 
  my own adventures. I first started playing 
  around with putting my work on the page in late 
  2015, so when the DM’s Guild launched it 
  seemed like a golden opportunity. 
  - Richard Jansen
  6. The Low Crater  by Winghorn Press
  Dare you venture where the Sable Spears failed, and explore the 
  Low Crater in search of treasure, glory and adventure? Or 
  will you join the sheepish ranks of adventurers turned 
  aside by the prospect of tangling with Kobolds?
  Author Biography
  Now we’re talking. Choose one of the Monster 
  Manual’s weakest, low level creatures and 
  organise them in such a way that they become a 
  far more challenging force. Such is the life of a 
  goblin or kobold, and D&D 5e lends itself so 
  well to it.  
  After reading this adventure several times, I 
  came to the conclusion that actually the kobold 
  skirmishes and some traps were quite under- 
  My thoughts on this Adventure
  $2.00 $0.60 
  4-5 Players
  Level 6
  4-6 hrs Play
  Author on the DM’s Guild
  
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   11
  $1.50 $0.45 
  John Prichard is a lifelong Dungeon Master 
  living in Los Angeles, California, who writes 
  products to help gamers create lasting memories 
  at the gaming table. He loves introducing new 
  players to the RPGs, and encouraging them to 
  try Dungeon Mastering for themselves. He can 
  be found at discerningdm.com. 
  -  John Prichard
  8. The Claw of Winter by John Prichard
  High in the Stormhorn Mountains lays the monastery of 
  Chauntea, a place of worship, hard work, and careful study of 
  nature. When a grisly murder occurs, and a noble-born 
  pilgrim is the victim, the characters must track down 
  the killer, no matter who - or what - it is.
  Another ‘sandbox’ style adventure which allows 
  for a great many possible encounters and 
  outcomes. It is very well written by John 
  Prichard, who has gone deep into the history 
  and of the immediate area - Cormyr. This 
  adventure has a similar feel to it as an 
  Adventures League product, and even though 
  John does not recommend using all the content 
  he has provided (this is your game after all), the 
  additional detail is welcomed in my opinion.  
  So, let’s talk about the adventure. Your players 
  are about to become investigators as they are 
  gradually introduced to a rich history and 
  backstory whilst they uncover clues. I think this 
  is a clever adventure, yet I can’t help but feel 
  that because the main sites are separated by a 
  distance, that your players may need a helpful 
  nudge from time to time, or they risk running 
  over the same ground and u-turning. However, 
  John mentions this himself during his tips and 
  suggestions. 
  Personally, I think that a small scale sketch of 
  the surrounding village, monastery and 
  graveyard would have helped to tightened up 
  the experience from a DM’s point of view. 
  Making it somewhat easier to track progress 
  and describe back to the players their exact 
  locations and travel times. 
  The story-telling has a real satisfying feel to it. I 
  can imagine my players becoming embroiled in 
  this adventure, chasing the Shade, only to find 
  that the truth wriggles and writhes beneath their 
  feet again. If they haven’t already deployed a 
  ‘divine sense’ type ability then they will 
  probably begin to 
  d o s o . J o h n 
  p r e d i c t s t h i s 
  course of action 
  and gives you, 
  ( t h e 
  D M ) 
  guidance on how 
  to handle it. Very 
  useful indeed. 
  Some of monsters included are home-brewed 
  from different editions of D&D, obviously 
  before they showed up in Volo’s Guide to 
  Monsters. Use which ever version you like, but 
  I absolutely love the main villain in this 
  adventure. I don’t know about your players, but 
  mine will get a real buzz when heads begin to 
  float up from bodies to attack them. Spoilers! 
  For additional story hooks and ways to integrate 
  into a campaign, see Chapter 4: Campaigning.
  4-5 Players
  Levels 5-10
  4 hrs Play
  Author on the DM’s Guild
  Author Biography
  My thoughts on this Adventure
  
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   12
  Stacey: Stacey Janssen has been playing games 
  since she was a kid and started working in the 
  games industry as a writer for the MMORPG 
  Aion. She went on to write for Guild Wars 
  2, TERA, ZMR, and Kritika Online. Her first 
  adventure, “Massacre at Misty River,” appeared 
  in Dungeon 215. More recently, she edited 
  Wizards of the Coast’s Princes of the 
  Apocalypse and Twogether Studios’ Phoenix: 
  Dawn Command. Her current D&D character 
  has a giant weasel named Baroness. 
  Because obviously. 
  - Stacey Janssen 
  David: David Noonan started playing D&D as a 
  child when he read a newspaper article about it. 
  With no access to rules or other players, he 
  reverse-engineered the game as best he could 
  from the description in the article, and he’s been 
  teaching his friends to play ever since. He 
  counts more than 50 products for Dungeons & 
  Dragons (3rd, 4th, and 5th edition), the 13th 
  Age Roleplaying Game, and Pathfinder among 
  his credits. A two-time ENnie winner and 
  member of the Science Fiction & 
  Fantasy Writers of America, Noonan has also 
  written extensively for video games, most 
  recently Middle-Earth: Shadow of War for PC, 
  Playstation, and Xbox One. When he’s not 
  designing or playing games, Dave is running 
  trails, chauffeuring his kids, or fighting the one 
  arch-villain no homeowner can vanquish: 
  entropy. 
  - David Noonan
  7. The Pristine City by Dastow Games
  A perfect, untouched city has been discovered deep underground—a 
  city created to honor a legendary dwarven clan. No one lives 
  there...but as you’ll learn, that doesn’t mean it’s deserted. 
  Can you explore the city on behalf of the dwarves, or will 
  you too become part of its buried history?
  Author Biographies
  The Pristine City has a star studded cast of 
  creatives who wrote this adventure, and it is the 
  first of only two ‘sandbox’ style adventures that 
  this collection contains. 
  To begin with your players are thrown into an 
  engaging role-play encounter with a room 
  full of greedy dwarves. Then 
  you (the DM) are given a 
  plethora of amazing ideas 
  on how to completely 
  ‘hook’ your players into 
  this amazing storyline.  
  Once you and your 
  adventurers are ankle-
  d e e p i n t o t h e 
  adventure and they 
  arrive at the Pristine City, 
  then all havoc breaks loose. The whole 
  city begins to attack them as it slowly fall apart 
  around them. Your heroes get to smash their 
  way through almost 20 well detailed mini 
  encounters/dungeons all over the site! Simply 
  put, this is a BEAST of an adventure, written by 
  a pairing of veteran writers for our enjoyment. 
  In total this campaign sized adventure may well 
  take you and your friends 5-10 sessions to 
  complete. It is epic in proportions and delivers 
  to us several new magical items and some pretty 
  tasty new ‘clockwork’ monsters to fight with. 
  For additional story hooks and ways to integrate 
  into a campaign, see Chapter 4: Campaigning.
  My thoughts on this Adventure
  $4.99 
  4-5 Players
  Levels 5-7
  15-21 hrs Play
  $1.50 
  Authors on the DM’s Guild
  
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   13
  $5.00 $1.50 
  I have been playing Dungeons and Dragons 
  since Basic and AD&D – and have been 
  delighted to see 5th ed recapture the magic of 
  AD&D. As a writer, I have taken most of my 
  inspiration from the adventures written by Gary 
  Gygax. In the adventures I write, I try to give 
  opportunities for puzzle-solvers, role-players, 
  and monster-slayers, with both problem-solving 
  and hack-and-slash. 
  - Andrew Clissold
  9. The Crystalline Caves of Black Leaf 
  Forest by Nectar of the Gods
  In the Crystalline Caves of Black Leaf Forest there is rumoured to be an 
  entrance to the dark elf city of Ithilanx, a city radiant with precious gems 
  and minerals far beneath the earth. The entrance is protected by one 
  of the dark elf houses of Ithilanx, nobody knows which one. 
  Find the entrance and then escape the caves - if you can!
  Ok, so the inclusion of this adventure will split 
  opinion. It is so ‘old skool’ that it’s existence 
  may even surprise some of you. I LOVE it 
  though. The Crystalline Caves of Black Leaf 
  Forest (TCCoBF) is another dungeon delve, 
  and in it’s relentless pursuit of your player’s 
  demise - it may just bring out the best in you as 
  a Dungeon Master.  
  Just like many Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 
  adventures before 
  i t , T C C o B F 
  delivers page 
  after page of 
  encounters which 
  are built off the 
  b a c k o f o n e 
  another. Their 
  outcomes very 
  rarely reflect upon the follow on rooms or 
  encounters though. Of course, you are the DM,
  so you should step in when necessary to provide 
  some continuity for the adventure as a whole. It 
  is your responsibility after all and is one of the 
  main reasons for why I love being a DM. It is 
  clear that Andrew Clissold spent a 
  great deal of time carefully 
  thinking about the contents of 
  each encounter and no doubt 
  balancing it, so that the heart and 
  soul of the proceedings don’t fade 
  away before the the end of 
  adventure. Possibly a whole 12 
  hours of adventuring. 
  The proposition is a simple one for your 
  adventurers; explore and map a really 
  dangerous underground location. “Report back 
  with your findings. Try not to get killed yah 
  hear! Byeeeee!!” 
  Be warned, the adventure takes your players 
  towards certain doom, unless they have 
  prepared some kind of escape plan. I keep on 
  referring back to it’s 
  ‘old skool’ feel, but it 
  really has. Even down 
  to the beautiful pen and 
  ink artwork found in the 
  appendix for important 
  e n c o u n t e r s . T h e s e 
  sketches are a real treat 
  for the eyes, and make 
  great handouts too.  
  For additional story hooks and ways to integrate 
  into a campaign, see Chapter 4: Campaigning.
  WILD 
  CARD
  4-5 Players
  Levels 8-9
  12 hrs Play
  Author on the DM’s Guild
  Author Biography
  My thoughts on this Adventure
  
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   14
  Back when I decided on a ‘theme’ for this 
  collection of adventures, I had highfalutin ideas 
  that I would include a whole host of Moonshae 
  Isle flavoured supplements. I spent a solid few 
  weeks scouring the Dungeon Masters Guild and 
  found a large number of possibilities. They were 
  great, some were amazing - but none were 
  written solidly with the Moonshae setting in 
  mind. There was always something missing. 
  3. The Supplements
  If any of you are inspired by the content 
  provided in this product then please be sure to 
  read through the wealth of reference material 
  and articles freely available online - listed in 
  Chapter 5. Then if you do manage to create 
  arch-types, pacts, druidic circles, oaths, races or 
  classes etc, specifically for the Moonshae Isles, 
  t h e n 
  p l e a s e 
  c o n t a c t 
  m e 
  o n 
  dreadfuldungeons@gmail.com. I will do my 
  best to promote any great content you point me 
  towards.  
  So here are the 3 supplements which I decided 
  to include. Please enjoy them all.  
  The Ultimate Fantasy Collection
  $1.99 $0.59 
  10. The Spirit Shaman by Dragon Rock Games
  The Spirit Shaman is a spell-casting class with moderate melee 
  capabilities. If you enjoy playing outlanders, barbarians, druids, 
  rangers, or other nature based character types, then the spirit 
  shaman class may be for you.
  WILD 
  CARD
    
  Spirit Shaman 
  Dungeons & Dragons 
  5th  Edition 
  Character Class
  15 Pages
  Author on the DM’s Guild
  Scott was introduced to role-playing games in 1981 when he began playing 1st edition Advanced 
  Dungeons & Dragons; his first character was a ½ elven ranger named Jarik Silverstone who made it to 
  17th level before falling beneath the cruel claws of Tiamat. By 1983, Scott was running games as the 
  dungeon master for his local group of friends. As each edition of the greatest game on Earth was 
  released, Scott continued to run games and develop content – he embraced customization.    
  Currently, Scott is the founder of Dragon Rock Games; the company specializes in developing 
  customized content for the Dungeons & Dragons 5th edition game for release on the Dungeon Master’s 
  Guild website. The company also has plans to develop SRD content soon. We are now focusing on 
  developing character options and adventures, but look forward to expanding those selections soon. We 
  hope you enjoy the Spirit Shaman character class 
  - Scott Bean
  Author Biography
  
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   15
  $1.00 $0.30 
  11. Eladrin: Racial Option by George Taray
  Eladrin are graceful warriors from the Feywild who occasionally 
  venture in mortal worlds. Despite their humanoid appearance they 
  are as fey as any other faerie, satyr or sprite and because of that 
  they can off putting to a mortal. More than anything else 
  Eladrin are creatures of magic, art, pleasure and 
  knowledge. 
  Racial Option
  2 Pages
  Author on the DM’s Guild
  $1.00 $0.30 
  12. Shifter: Racial Option by George Taray
  Shifters are the answer to the age-old question “man vs 
  nature?”. They blend human ingenuity and adaptability with 
  animal instincts and physical fitness, creating a unique hybrid 
  that could survive, even thrive, in a variety of 
  circumstances. 
  Racial Option
  2 Pages
  Author on the DM’s Guild
  George Taray, hailing for southern California, is a software engineer by trade, but a Dungeon Master 
  and game designer at heart. He has been running D&D in various incarnations for nearly 15 years, and 
  his games have spanned quick one-shots to five-year epic sagas.  
  George is an organizer and DM for the Edgemont Roleplaying & Adventurer's club in Brea, California: 
  a group of more than 40 people that gather every week to play roleplaying games. When he's not 
  thinking about D&D (which doesn't happen often) he enjoys painting, cooking, and scuba diving. 
  - George Taray
  Author Biography
  
  The Ultimate Fantasy Collection
  4. Campaigning
  Foreword by Merric Blackman
  In 1983, I borrowed a copy of Queen of the 
  Demonweb Pits, and was entranced by it. It 
  described an amazing dungeon – with the 
  passages overlapping and allowing the 
  adventurers to be attacked from above if a 
  monster should be at an overpass when they 
  were crossing below. It was wild, it was 
  exciting, it was everything an adventure should 
  be. 
  Of course, I was also very young. Q1 is far from 
  perfect. However, adventures don’t have to be 
  flawless. They just need to excite the 
  imagination: to inspire the Dungeon Master and 
  the players to create something great. And that, 
  Q1 did.  
  Adventures fascinate me. They are 
  tremendously difficult to write, and once 
  written, a Dungeon Master must interpret them: 
  a completely different challenge! I had the 
  strange privilege of watching James Introcaso 
  run Chris Perkins and friends through an 
  adventure I wrote. What emerged was not the 
  adventure as I envisaged it, but did that make it 
  less valid? No. The adventure’s text is the 
  starting point, not the end. 
  In this product, Glen has gather together nine 
  (9!) adventures from the early days of the 
  Dungeon Masters’ Guild. Some I’m familiar 
  with, others I’m not, all are interesting. In the 
  early days of the new edition of D&D, I desired 
  to review every new adventure that came out. 
  That quickly fell by the wayside once the Guild 
  appeared – I don’t have the time to read all of 
  the adventures, let alone review them. This is a 
  wonderful thing, by the way. Just a little 
  overwhelming. 
  How not to be overwhelmed? Look for ratings, 
  look for reviews, look for collections like this 
  one. And if you give ratings to the products 
  you’ve bought, you’ll help the next person who 
  looks at the ever-growing list of products on the 
  Guild make a better decision. 
  So, here you go. More adventures, and 
  adventures that are recommended for your 
  attention. Go and have fun with them!
  
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   17
  As it would be virtually impossible for me to 
  propose a story idea which would suit ALL your 
  campaign needs; I therefore have chosen to 
  describe a method in which you can pace your 
  own individual sessions and then tie them 
  together into a singular storyline. Bear in mind 
  that many, if not all adventures or campaigns 
  can be reduced down to the same master plot 
  idea - and this is: 
  Some one wants something badly and 
  is having difficulty getting it.  
  Just as with most films, the pacing of our 
  individual adventures and campaigns can be 
  split into an Introduction, a (2-part) Middle 
  and then a Conclusion. For the 9 adventures in 
  your collection, we can group them together in 
  3’s like so: 
  Chapter 1 - Introduction 
  1.1 Troll Trouble (Introduction) 
  1.2 The Five Temples of the Earth and Moon 
  (2-part Middle) 
  1.3 The Tree of Blight (Conclusion) 
  Chapter 2 - Middle 
  2.1 The Vault of Iptiz (Introduction) 
  2.2 The Maize Beneath the Maize (2-part 
  Middle) 
  2.3 The Low Crater (Conclusion) 
  Chapter 3 - Conclusion 
  3.1 The Claw of Winter (Introduction) 
  3.2 The Pristine City (2-part Middle) 
  3.3 The Crystalline Caves of Black Leaf 
  Forest (2-part Conclusion) 
  If you do decide to do this, then you will easily 
  be able to track where you should be in each 
  segment of your ongoing campaign. Let me try 
  to explain more about this methodology. 
  The adventures of this collection are diverse in 
  style and presentation. I deliberately chose them 
  so you could experience a wide range of 
  excellent ideas, and learn from a few new ways 
  to tell a story.  
  By virtue of this collection being so varied, 
  tying them all together into one over-arching 
  campaign would naturally be quite difficult, but 
  not impossible. Some of you may only wish to 
  run though 2 or 3 of these adventures, in which 
  case please take a closer look at each individual 
  module and they should easily slip into a 
  campaign of your own choosing.  
  Where in the world you decide to play these 
  adventures is entirely up to you. However, I 
  have come up with a suggestion on how to slot 
  the adventures into a campaign centred on the 
  majestic isles of Moonshae, in the Forgotten 
  Realms. Remember that in the most part, almost 
  every monster, NPC and location can be 
  changed to suit your own needs. You do not 
  need to follow what the writers suggest in each 
  one of their modules. 
  Over-arching Campaign Ideas
  Pacing your Sessions & 
  Campaign
  
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   18
  Introductory Chapter
  Lady Erliza Daressin of Snowdown, is 
  collecting powerful artefacts for some nefarious 
  reason. This must never be allowed to happen. 
  The middle chapter should leave no one in any 
  doubt as to who the players are working for. 
  Their journeys will conclude by travelling to 
  Snowdown, and into the crater of a crash-landed 
  land mote, which was said to have been a 
  dragons lair many hundreds of years ago.
  In the first chapter you should be bringing your 
  adventurers towards the major NPC’s which 
  you have created to drive your master plot idea. 
  To illustrate this I will use my Moonshae Isle 
  master plot which involves my main NPC, High 
  King Derid of Alaron. He has become frustrated 
  with High Lady Ordalf, the Fey Queen of 
  Sarifal on the island of Gwynneth. To date she 
  has ignored his pleas to re-establish their 
  ancestral home Caer Corwell, on the isle of 
  Gwynneth. After building alliances with the 
  dwarf clans of Dwarvenhome in the Fairheight 
  Range, King Derid has decided to re-open the 
  Tunnels of Dwarvenhome. Thus providing a 
  super-highway under the Strait of Alaron and 
  into Winterglen. This is the northern most 
  kingdom in Sarifal, and an important strategic 
  foothold for the region.  
  So the first 3 adventures in this collection will 
  involve our heroes establishing a relationship 
  with King Derid, by deliberately or accidentally 
  involving themselves in his plans.  
  The first 3 adventures are also further broken 
  down into their own Introduction, Middle and 
  Conclusion. When your heroes are introduced 
  to this campaign they will be known by no-one, 
  least of all King Derid. During the Middle of 
  the Introductory Chapter, they will hopefully 
  establish themselves as worthy of a king’s 
  attention. Then finally, the Conclusion of 
  the Introductory Chapter will see your 
  players working directly for the King 
  himself, thus proving their worth, in 
  readiness for the Middle Chapter.
  Middle Chapter
  During this stage of the campaign, the 
  adventurers should be working directly for the 
  King or one of his many Lieutenants. Perhaps 
  even finding ways to help the dwarves of 
  Dwarvenhome. Just as before, this chapter must 
  have a conclusion to it. In this case, I have 
  decided that King Derid wishes the players to 
  investigate rumors that of one of the many 
  thorns in his side, 
  Concluding Chapter
  You do not need to follow my ideas in their 
  entirety, but this method is incredibly useful for 
  keeping your players on track. 
  After becoming King Derid’s preferred 
  adventurers and problem solvers, he finally tells 
  them of his master plan to re-open the 
  Dwarvenhome Tunnels deep beneath the Strait 
  of Alaron. Our heroes are introduced to this 
  after journeying high into the Fairheight Range 
  to meet with Derid’s dwarven allies. During the 
  middle of the concluding chapter, the players 
  are sent into the tunnels to chart a long lost 
  dwarven city. Success will re-unite the disparate 
  clans of dwarves in Dwarvenhome. Failure will 
  fracture their clans integrity and perhaps bring 
  about their swift destruction from an organised 
  force of drow who seek to use the tunnels for 
  themselves AND a shadow dragon 
  who wishes them to be 
  obliterated too. 
  Finally, the concluding 
  adventure to the concluding 
  chapter sees our heroes escape 
  the lost city and rediscover a 
  route into the underdark, where 
  they must bring back news of where 
  the drow forces hail from. Then King 
  Derid, and his alliance of Firbolgs, 
  Northlanders and Dwarves can march on the 
  drow city to finally lay claim to their birthright, 
  the Tunnels of Dwarvenhome. 
  
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   19
  Story Hook Suggestions
  in the Dernall Forest, plus a little bit of 
  information about the re-consecrating of the 5 
  temples of the Earthmother. Take what you need 
  from p3 of TFTofEM.  All this will be on a 
  bloodied piece of parchment found either in the 
  hands of Jorgan, or what’s left of the clothing of 
  the poor unfortunate Owlbear mutant. From 
  then on, the PCs will have a clue as to where to 
  go next.
  So now you have seen how easy it is to apply a 
  simple system (Introduction / Middle / 
  Conclusion) to organise your master plot and 
  campaign storyline. I urge you to go off now 
  and choose a monstrous villain and then 
  randomly roll his or her plans using p94 in the 
  Dungeon Masters Guid (DMG). Apply the 
  above system to it and begin to lace together 
  your adventures by revisiting the story hooks in 
  each module. They will need adaptions to the 
  locations, monsters, items and of course the 
  main NPCs themselves. For the final part of this 
  chapter I am going to re-visit each adventure 
  myself and suggest ways to fit them in with my 
  Moonshae Isles master plot idea. Some of these 
  changes will be subtle, some will need to be 
  extensive. 
  1. Troll Trouble (TT)
  2. The Five Temples of the 
  Earthmother (TFTofEM)
  This adventure was written with follow on 
  episodes in mind. However all we need is to 
  complete the first one, to get the attention of 
  King Derid, so that the PCs can move swiftly 
  onto the next adventure after this.  
  So far the PCs will have a small clue that they 
  may get a reward from King Derid for some 
  kind of re-consecration work. It’s the kind of 
  opportunity which simply would not have been 
  given to these unknown adventurers. Make sure 
  they know how lucky they are, and that by 
  returning news to the King may well bring their 
  little quest to an end. Filling the boots of the last 
  unfortunate adventurers is a timely opportunity, 
  and time is of real importance. 
  Should they decide to take on this quest, 
  have them encounter all the goblins that 
  preceed ‘Lehigh’ on p7 of TFTofEM.  
  Once they reach Lehigh, have a new NPC 
  meet them and guide them through what 
  needs to be done. Giving them any useful 
  information which they missed by not 
  being part of the original meeting 
  with King Deird. This will also 
  give the PCs the chance to either 
  own up to the fact that they are 
  not the ‘chosen’ heroes, or 
  perhaps they attempt to 
  assume different identities? 
  Either way could be fun :)
  There is very little to change with this adventure 
  seeing as it is the introduction to the 
  introductory chapter. However, we need our 
  PCs to safely move on to Caer Callidyr, Alaron 
  and the House of Kendrick in the Moonshae 
  Isles. Therefore I will set this single session 
  adventure in a village just outside Ogden on the 
  edge of Dernall Forest, near to the High King’s 
  Road.  
  There is little else I’d like to change with this 
  adventure except the ending. The weakened 
  Owlbear monstrosity is to have been the 
  only surviving member of another 
  adventuring party who got caught 
  unawares by the goblins. These adventurers 
  were employed by King Derid as per the 
  instructions in the second adventure: The Five 
  Temples of the Earthmother (TFTotEM). The 
  remaining human captive, Jorgan will 
  pass over all the information he knows 
  as per p8 of  TT, PLUS he will tell them 
  that the Owlbear was on an important 
  mission for the High King Derid no less! 
  There will be instructions for a party of (same 
  size as the PCs) to meet with a guide at Lehigh
  
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  things will get even more interesting from here 
  on in. However, if they fail to bring back the 
  news, or fail to destroy the gulthias tree then 
  perhaps make them carry out another small task 
  for the High Druid if they are light on 
  experience points, ready for The Vault of Iptiz!
  After completing the adventure, it is at this 
  point that our PCs must feel the need to head on 
  towards the House of Kendrick to see King 
  Derid, revealing their progress - and introducing 
  themselves for the first time. 
  At this juncture, you can use all the useful 
  information from the beginning of this 
  adventure to role-play out this role-play 
  encounter with King Derid. 
  The King will be saddened to hear of the demise 
  of his ‘favoured’ heroes, but pleased to see that 
  even more loyal subjects saw the urgency and 
  volunteered to carry out his wishes. He will not 
  completely trust them quite yet, and decrees that 
  a new group of adventurers are be formed to 
  continue with his quest to re-consecrate the 
  temples. Nothing personal, but he doesn’t know 
  them well enough yet…  
  Instead, he decides to appease the now paranoid 
  High Druid, and arrange for PCs to search for 
  the High Druids’s prodigy who went missing 
  over 10 years ago in Stagford, the incredibly 
  wild and dangerous western area of Dernall 
  Forest. This is a story hook directly into The 
  Tree of Blight adventure. 
  3. The Tree of Blight (TToB)
  4. The Vault of Iptiz (TVoI)
  The Vault of Iptiz signifies the PCs transition 
  on to the Middle Chapter. They have proven 
  themselves worthy adventurers, and now they 
  are given a highly sensitive mission to 
  complete. It will take them to the far south of 
  Alaron, and then onto the isle of Snowdown, 
  home to one of King Derid’s most hated 
  enemies - Lady Erliza Daressin.   
  They are told of how Lady Daressin secretly has 
  captured Maddoc, one of the King and Queen’s 
  sons, holding him hostage in the city of Caer 
  Westphal on Snowdown.  
  Saving their son is far too dangerous at the 
  moment though, and an all out attack may 
  provoke several nations to rise up against him. 
  During this period of ‘cold war’, rumours of 
  Lady Daressin’s plans have come to light. Spies 
  have discovered that she has found something 
  of significance in the foothills of the Andover 
  Heights on Snowdown. It wasn't until a few 
  years ago that a site, which was thought lost 
  forever - suddenly re-appeared. The House of 
  Kendrick needs our heroes to investigate it. 
  In the meantime however, news reaches 
  court that  Mintarn mercenaries who are 
  held up in Alaron’s most southerly city, 
  Kythyss, are leading expeditions 
  i n t o t h e c o a s t a l m u d f l a t s 
  surrounding it. A map of an ancient 
  Spirit Naga’s horde appears, and it 
  seems to indicate that amongst a 
  dungeon full of treasure, one of the 
  Beacons of Selune may also be found. 
  Legend says that when it is united with it’s two 
  sister beacons, that it has the power to control 
  the waves and flood entire island nations.  
  Again, there is very little to change in this 
  adventure. The PCs will arrive at a nearby 
  village, deep in the Dernall Forest, perhaps on 
  the bank of the river near a shallow, rocky 
  crossing. From here they can explore the 
  village and forest to learn of what 
  they may be facing. 
  Ending this adventure will mean 
  bringing news of the corrupted 
  druidess Nereza back to King 
  Derid and the High Druid. If 
  they manage to halt the twig 
  blights and the gulthias tree 
  encroachment into the forest, then 
  they will be hailed as heroes and 
  
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  Now would be a good time to move on the 
  middle of the Middle Chapter. 
  Maybe these events are not connected, maybe 
  they are, but King Derid is eager to lay his 
  hands on the beacon if it is really buried there.  
  The adventure plays out just as normal except 
  the yuan-tis are in-fact Mintarn mercenaries and 
  spies for Lady Daressin. She is indeed trying to 
  secure ownership of all the beacons and this one 
  is the furthest away from her.  
  Allow the PCs first crack at the dungeon. The 
  entrance is only accessible during a low tide, 
  and a unit of mercenaries are 
  camped out, outside of Kythyss 
  in readiness to ride out at 3pm, 
  when the water subsides. 
  Allow the PCs to work out 
  how to access the dungeon. 
  They could pretend to be 
  mercenaries themselves and 
  travel with them, or perhaps 
  they could lay in wait and 
  race ahead in the hopes of 
  reaching the entrance first. 
  Let them work it all out.  
  What they don’t know is that 
  a number of mercenaries are 
  already in the dungeon, after 
  missing their opportunity to escape before the 
  tide come rolling in.  
  Finishing the adventure: if the PCs do well, 
  they may be able to complete the dungeon and 
  lay claim to one of the Beacons of Selune all in 
  one go. Then they can fight their way out and 
  eventually send the artefact back to King Derid 
  via armed guards. Congratulate your heroes and 
  prepare them for the next set of instructions 
  from their king. 
  However, if they fail by having missing the tide 
  or splitting their expedition in two because of 
  injuries - then by the time they reach where the 
  beacon was supposed to be on p6 of TVol, it 
  will already have been stolen by an Amnian spy 
  from Snowdown. 
  5. The Maze Beneath the Maize 
  (TMBtM)
  After arranging for the Amnian interlopers from 
  Snowdown to be removed or arrested in 
  Kythyss the heroes can be given time to rest up, 
  perhaps train and purchase all they need for the 
  next part of the campaign.  
  They will either have a Beacon of Selune or be 
  wondering where it is. This is the time to have 
  them come across an old sage on the street 
  corner with a very timely prediction for the isle 
  of Alaron. In a busy market place he chants and 
  warns all that pass him by, that soon Alaron will 
  fall beneath the waves of the Sea of Swords. He 
  will speak of the 3 sisters who conspire to rob 
  Selune of her tears, and bring about a 
  cataclysmic event. He is referring to the fact 
  that if the beacons are re-united then the 
  asteroids which trail behind the moon (Selune) 
  will crash land into the Sea of Swords causing a 
  tsunami which will possibly obliterate Alaron. 
  The old sage is a diviner and has sensed the 
  presence of one of the beacons. He also ‘sees’ 
  where the second one is… surrounded in a maze 
  for the mind, full of translucent goo and death. 
  If he is pressed for more information, he will 
  speak of the idyllic surroundings and a 
  farmstead which shrouds the real danger 
  beneath a field of maize. “Look to the south… 
  to Lac Sule… you will find what you seek!”. 
  Lac Sule is a mountain lake on the northern side 
  of the isle of Snowdown. A bit of research will 
  reveal that there are a number of prospering 
  farmsteads and merchant homes in this area.  
  If the PCs failed to find the last beacon, then the 
  sage will mention that he senses that two of the 
  sisters are converging upon each other. Hence 
  meaning that the beacon they missed is now 
  travelling south towards Snowdown.
  
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  The journey to the location of the last beacon is 
  a treacherous one. The PCs will need to cross 
  the Andover Heights during a storm and seek 
  refuge in a monastery on top of a mountain 
  peek. It is here where you can make some kind 
  of reference to the next adventure - The Claw 
  of Winter. Perhaps one of the monks misses his 
  or her brother who is the harevestmaster at the 
  Huthduth monastery. They have not heard word 
  for months and they wish to travel to 
  Fairheights of Alraon sometime soon. 
  The monks given them shelter 
  before warning them that a 
  brotherhood of knights 
  travelled past this way not 
  3 days ago headed for a 
  large crater in the 
  mountains. Apparently 
  this is the site of a 
  crash landed dragon’s 
  lair. They are keen not 
  to let any evil folk from 
  running off with any 
  powerful artefacts which 
  must make up the horde of such 
  an ancient dragon.  
  If the PCs head that way quickly, 
  they will be ahead of Lady 
  D a r e s s i n ’ s f o l l o w u p 
  expedition. Since her last 
  o n e 
  f a i l e d 
  s o 
  catastrophically. 
  Travelling to Snowdown: To do this without 
  alerting Lady Daressin is important. Suggest to 
  your PCs that they should dress like humble 
  merchants and jump onboard a chartered vessel 
  for one of the many ports on the north side of 
  Snowdown. Your players will now have enough 
  treasure to pay for ‘no questions asked’ travel to 
  Snowdown. If they are clever, they may even 
  find a way to bring the sage along with them. 
  He can track the vague whereabouts of the any 
  one of the beacons, and help to keep them on 
  track. 
  Once they reach Snowdown, they will easily 
  find passage to a low lying region of farmsteads 
  which makes full use of the fertile soil at the 
  foot of Mal Feargal. From here on in, you can 
  let the adventure TMBtM begin as written. They 
  will gradually uncover the dark past of the 
  maze, and may well need two sessions to 
  complete its exploration. It might be good to 
  have the PCs either attacked by an Amnian 
  assassin if they were not very 
  secretive during their voyage, 
  plus find one or two spies 
  dead in the early stages of 
  the maze.  
  This adventure has a 
  storyline with its own 
  introduction, middle 
  and conclusion. The 
  PCs should be engaged 
  with trying to find the 
  second Beacon of Selune. 
  If they reach the end, then 
  find a way in which they can 
  claim the beacon for themselves. 
  Perhaps Houn knows where it is? 
  Maybe it is through the portal and in his 
  study deep under the kingdom of 
  Thay? Or perhaps Zurn is retrieving 
  the second beacon for Lady Daressin, and 
  in which case has it - when they meet 
  him at the end. I’ll leave those details 
  for you to tie up.  
  6. The Low Crater (TLC)
  By this time, the PCs will have one beacon, or 
  maybe two of them if they intercepted the last 
  owners as they headed home. Your heroes may 
  wish to take this opportunity to go home with 
  the artefact(s), so provide them with a clue 
  during their engagement with Zurn that the 
  location of the final beacon has been identified 
  high up in the Andover Heights. Tantalisingly 
  close.
  
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  homes for celebratory meals in their honour. 
  Ham it up and make sure they feel loved; before 
  you send them off to meet the dwarf clans and 
  quite possibly their most dangerous quest to 
  date.
  From here on in, the adventure will be the same 
  as the one written by Winghorn Press. However 
  there will be a time limit. The PCs MUST 
  complete the dungeon in one go, with only a 
  single short rest before Lady Daressin’s newest 
  expedition party arrives and camps out on the 
  edge of the crater. This will provide a tough 
  challenge for the retreating heroes to deal with, 
  as they pass back over the Andover Heights and 
  back towards north of Snowdown. Please feel 
  free to play with this idea, perhaps send scouts 
  ahead to ambush them and eventually lose the 
  scouts high up in the mountains.  
  The final beacon will be part of the dragon’s 
  horde if they manage to complete this tough 
  dungeon full of inventive kobolds. 
  7. The Claw of Winter (TCoW)
  You have now reached the Concluding 
  Chapter. Your PCs have thwarted the plans of 
  Lady Daressin, one of King Derids arch-
  enemies, without her even knowing where they 
  came from! A truly inspiring feat. Or did she 
  learn about them, and are now are hunted? 
  As reward for their valour and loyalty to the 
  House of Kendrick, King Derid gives them a 
  diplomatic mission into the Fairheights to take a 
  valuable cache of treasure to the dwarf clans of 
  Dwarvenhome. On the way, the PCs can easily 
  stop to pass a message on to the Harvestmaster 
  at the monastery in Huthduth.  
  The Claw of Winter is a side quest and has 
  little to no bearing on the overall campaign, yet 
  it does open up introducing the heroes to a 
  rumours of a sink hole in the forest on the 
  opposite side of the Fairheights. This rumour 
  may well help them when adventuring in the 
  concluding session.  
  There is very little to change here, give your 
  players an opportunity to relax for a few days 
  before the mystery of this adventure begins to 
  unfold. Have them invited to important NPC’s
  When your heroes eventually find their way 
  deep under ground to the  dwarven settlement of 
  Dun Lodar in the Fairheights, they will be 
  greeted by three dwarves, just as the adventure 
  states. In this instance though, the players are 
  here to deliver a cache of treasure to help bring 
  the many dwarven clans together under one 
  banner. Unfortunately for our heroes though, 
  whilst the chieftain of Dun Lodar, Tali Bazasst 
  wishes to follow though with aligning the clans, 
  a recent discovery in the 
  under dark has been the 
  cause for some bitter 
  quarrelling. 
  As per the original 
  adventure, the Pristine 
  City was discovered 
  during one of the many 
  attempts to excavate and 
  repair the opening to the Dwarvenhome Tunnel. 
  Instead of galvanising the clans, it has driven 
  many fractures between them. Dwarves are 
  superstitious and the recent discovery of the 
  long lost city built in honour of the Thundraxe 
  clan has caused them stop tunnelling. Dun 
  Lodar has laid claim to the city and it’s 
  contents, but an ancient pact between the clans 
  means that no dwarf from any clan may enter 
  the city, until the Thunderaxe clan returns that 
  is. 
  Tali will explain to the PCs that even though the 
  gold and treasure from King Derid is 
  appreciated, it is of little help to them at the 
  moment. The only way to resolve the 
  quarrelling is to explore the city and bring 
  8. The Pristine City (TPC)
  
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  of Alaron. Everyone is motivated to make this 
  union work right now.  
  Following the discovery of a heavily armoured 
  drow force using the old tunnels as their own 
  method of transport, the dwarves need another 
  route into and behind the enemy lines. They 
  must find out where the drow are based and cut 
  them off from any further reinforcements.  
  The newly re-united clans contract the PCs to 
  travel deep into enemy territory and find out 
  where the drow city is. It is at this time, that the 
  PCs might volunteer their knowledge of a 
  sinkhole at the base of the Fairheights in a 
  hidden forest next to the Vasty Drink, a well 
  known lake. 
  The dwarves agree to load the PCs up with 
  weapons and armour and send them to explore 
  the sinkhole in the hopes that this may be 
  another entrance into the mines. They are 
  interested in discovering any entrances to drow 
  city, so that they can lay siege to it and keep the 
  drow from making too much of a nuisance of 
  themselves. The continuous excavation and 
  repair of the tunnels will take years, and 
  protecting the tunnellers is of paramount 
  importance.  
  From here on in, the heroes 
  can follow the adventure 
  as per Andrew Clissold 
  has presented it :) 
  Finishing the 
  adventure, the 
  PCs will need to 
  e s c a p e 
  t h e 
  tunnels back up 
  to the entrance 
  where the dwarves 
  from Dun Lodar are. 
  O n c e 
  t h e golden doors of the drow city 
  have been discovered, the dwarves will use this 
  information to clear a passage back to the city 
  and set up a strong line of reinforcements for a 
  continuous tunnelling operation. 
  back the dwarven artefacts left there hundreds 
  of years ago. This provides the PCs with an 
  opportunity to volunteer themselves forward to 
  do this task, all in the name of forming a long 
  lasting alliance between the House of Kendrick 
  and the dwarves of Dwarvenhome. 
  The dwarves will thankfully accept their 
  generous offer, and give them everything they 
  need to begin their quest deeper into the 
  underdark, plus a reward for doing so. 
  From now on in, the adventure will be as 
  designed by Dastow Games. Upon completion, 
  and depending on how many and which 
  Thunderaxe artefacts are recovered the PCs will 
  discover that the dwarven clans are brought 
  together and are much more optimistic. They 
  will continue their mining of the old tunnels. 
  The PCs will be offered a place to stay, rest and 
  to watch over the final stages opening up the 
  entrance to the Dwarvenhome Tunnel. Once it 
  opens, then all hell breaks loose once again. 
  They find that the tunnels have been the hunting 
  grounds of a nefarious drow noble house from a 
  city hidden in the depths. The heroes are called 
  to the hall of dwarves once more to discuss a 
  new plan. 
  9. The Crystalline Caves of 
  Blackleaf Forest
  The concluding adventure to the 
  concluding chapter is meant to 
  provide a closure to High King 
  Derid’s plans and to formalise his 
  alliance with the dwarves of 
  Dwarvenhome, several clans of 
  Firbolgs who guard many of the main 
  routes across the Fairheights, and the 
  Northlanders from Gnarhelm.   
  What the PCs and King Derid do not know is 
  that the dwarves have another enemy, a shadow 
  dragon and his minions. The opening of the 
  tunnels will provide them with more protection 
  and a welcome alliance with the Ffolk
  
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  Each campaign adventure location has been 
  marked to assist with identifying your groups 
  approximate location. Please take a look at 
  Mike Schley’s illustration for an incredibly high 
  resolution set of gorgeous maps. Links are 
  provided in Chapter 5.
  Map of the Moonshae Isles
  
  Sometimes reading a single book can change 
  your life. 
    
  For me, that book was Douglas Niles’ 
  Darkwalker on Moonshae, the first Forgotten 
  Realms novel. Fantasy fanatics of my 
  generation generally have one setting that 
  speaks to them. For most it is Middle Earth or 
  Narnia. For others it is Hyboria or Shannara. 
  The Moonshae Isles comprised the setting that 
  sparked my imagination the most. 
    
  The Moonshaes were never really fit into the 
  rest of the Realms, and that was fine with me. It 
  was a little more wild than the Dalelands, a little 
  less dominated by the powerful heroes who held 
  sway on the mainland. The gods definitely 
  affected life in the Moonshaes, but they did not 
  regularly walk the earth there. The islands each 
  had a different flavor, yet a single theme tied 
  them all together. The land itself was both a 
  setting and the most important character. 
    
  The Moonshae Isles are an ideal place to set a 
  large-scale campaign. The area offer players and 
  DMs an isolated and homogenous location, yet 
  each of its discrete parts is different enough to 
  provide a new atmosphere and play style as 
  characters explore. The most civilized parts of 
  the isles are wild and untamed by Faerûn’s 
  standards, giving characters plenty of hack-and-
  slash action. Even so, individuals and groups 
  struggle to gain the upper hand against others 
  through diplomacy or trickery, giving politically 
  motivated characters a chance to scheme and 
  connive. 
    
  The Moonshae Isles will always be fantasy to 
  me.
  5. The Moonshae Isles
  Foreword by Shawn Merwin
  It has been an exciting time for me reading 
  through the vast amounts of material which has 
  been created for the Moonshae Isle area of the 
  Forgotten Realms. Because the works are so 
  extensive I genuinely believe that it will be a 
  waste of all our time if I were to regurgitate it 
  for you.  
  To put it simply we are better off if I list all the 
  material I found during my search so that none 
  of it gets lost again. Along side Douglas Mile’s 
  novels and the material readily available on the 
  Forgotten Realms wikipedia pages, here are 
  some essential reading which will inspire you to 
  run your first  Moonshae Isles campaign: 
  AD&D Forgotten Realms - 
  Moonshae. This is an 80 
  p a g e o f f i c i a l A D & D 
  s o u r c e b o o k f o r t h e 
  Moonshae Isles. It is still 
  available in the DM’s Guild 
  for the bargain price of 
  $4.99! Click Here! 
  Dungeon #196 - Backdrop: 
  The Moonshae Isles. This 
  is an 18 page article on the 
  recent state of affairs in the 
  Moonshaes by none other 
  than Shawn Merwin. It is 
  still available in the DM’s 
  Guild for the price of $4.99 
  Click Here!
  The Ultimate Fantasy Collection
  Great Reference Material
  
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   26
  Dragon #376 - Realmslore: 
  Sarifal. This is an 7 page 
  article on the fey kingdom 
  of Sarifal in the Moonshaes 
  by Brian R. James. It is still 
  available in the DM’s Guild 
  for the price of $4.99 Click 
  Here! 
  F o r g o t t e n R e a l m s 
  Alternate Dimensions: 
  Issue IX, The Moonshae 
  Isles. This is an extensive, 
  multipage overview of the 
  e n t i r e s e t t i n g o f t h e 
  Moonshaes along with 
  historical referencing. It is 
  available to download for 
  free here - Click for Page 
  Grand History of the 
  Realms. This tome of 
  h i s t o r i c a l k n o w l e d g e 
  includes the timelines which 
  surround Moonshae Isles 
  too. It is available to 
  download from the DMs 
  Guild for $14.99 here - 
  Click Here! 
  OR if you’d like a shortened text edited extract 
  which only contains history pertinent to the 
  Moonshaes, it is available to download for free 
  from here - Click for Page
  Heretics of the 
  Harlot's Coin. This 
  is a campaign log 
  for an adventuring 
  group called the 
  Heretics of the 
  Harlot's Coin. It is 
  jammed packed 
  fully of amazing 
  material for anyone wishing to travel to 
  the Moonshaes - Click for Page 
  Times of Turning - 
  Forgotten Realms 
  RPG Campaign - 
  M o o n s h a e s 
  Sourcebook. This is 
  another campaign 
  l o g 
  f o r 
  a n 
  adventuring group 
  and it too is full of 
  free material to plunder for your own 
  campaigns - Click for Page 
  Mike Schley Prints 
  & Downloads - 
  Moonshaes Isles 
  Maps. Stunningly 
  b e a u t i f u l 
  cartography from 
  the legendary Mike 
  Schley. The maps 
  found on his website 
  will add serious bling to any campaign 
  in the Moonshae Isles - Click for Page
  
  What an amazing journey. I'm so thankful and 
  proud of all the authors who contributed to this 
  collection.  
  I've been a fan of the DMs Guild potential to be 
  a force for creativity, ever since I stumbled 
  across it in the middle of 2016. All those 
  adventures and supplements; such an amazing 
  place to find talented new writers, editors and 
  artists. I've seen the Guild grow and change a 
  considerable amount over the last 10 months. Its 
  web-masters are seriously dedicated to making 
  sure that the community content always gets top 
  billing too. I found the Dungeon Masters Guild 
  community to be made from people just like 
  you and me, DMs who now had a platform to 
  share their great ideas with the world. 
  There is always plenty of content to choose 
  from whilst surfing the guild, and in my honest 
  opinion the ratings alone do not do justice to 
  some of the products I have found. Not every 
  author built an amazing launch-pad for their 
  products. Some of the adventures contained 
  within this collection were stand alone products, 
  released when the guild was still in its formative 
  first few months. Many of them were simply 
  interesting ideas waiting for a DM to come 
  along and plunder their coffers full of fun and 
  excitement. 
  6. The Afterword
  You see, a good adventure need not just be a 
  professional looking product. It's a melting pot 
  of ideas, and inspiration, with space left in its 
  pages, so we as DMs can add our own flair and 
  personality to it. 
  What I learned the most whilst curating all this 
  wonderful content, was that each and every 
  adventure has validity, passion and a story 
  behind it. Before I began reading what felt to be 
  hundreds of products I initially was quite 
  snobby about the way they had to be written. 
  I'm a game mechanics connoisseur and if a 
  'locked door' DC wasn't precisely specified, I 
  freaked out a little. 
  Not any more though. Who cares about tiny 
  details or a refined presentation if the DM isn't 
  energised by the whole adventure? Will your 
  players still enjoy it as a result? Yes they will. 
  The moral of this story is that players and the 
  DM must be allowed to have fun, and not just 
  follow a well manicured storyline. Plus, finding 
  both interesting and great content in a library as 
  large as the DMs Guild is never an easy task. I 
  do suggest that you look out for products like 
  this one in the future, community member 
  curated collections or bundles.  
  Finally, I really hope that you enjoy this 
  collection I’ve curated. Now let’s play some 
  D&D! 
  - Glen Cooper
  The Ultimate Fantasy Collection
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Dungeons & Dragons [multi]/5th Edition (5e)/3rd Party/Dreadful Dungeons/Ultimate Fantasy Collection/The Ultimate Fantasy Collection.pdf