A Level 1 Adventure with Genuine Stakes

In these fraught moments, the entire course of history can turn on a single act.
—Ptolian, Annals of the Kings of Ambarge

Tragedy has befallen the Kingdom of Ambarge—the king is dead; long live the king! Yet strife in the realm has only just begun, for the sole heir is nowhere to be found. The fate of the entire kingdom now rests with the grit and guile of a few humble caravan guards in a far-off land.

Queen’s Gambit presents a high-stakes one-shot adventure or the jumping-off point for an expansive campaign—a deceptively straightforward scenario with the potential to play out in countless ways. 

This is a complete overhaul of the 2011 Electrum Best Seller OSR adventure “Kingmaker” (retitled in part to avoid confusion with the Paizo product), extensively playtested and incorporating feedback on the 2011 original.

FEATURES 

• Dynamic Scenario: Open-ended encounters that capitalize on the fragility of level 1 characters to push creative problem-solving and thinking beyond the character sheet.
• Broad Compatibility: Designed for B/X, BECMI, and popular OSR rulesets like OSE and Labyrinth Lord. Also easily adaptable to 1E, 2E, OSRIC, and similar games.
• Weather and Terrain Tables: Optional tables to add variety and interest to overland travel.
• VTT Ready: Includes a complete set of VTT assets: backgrounds, terrain features, and tokens.
• New Items and Spells: Unique magic items and two new spells.
• New Monsters: Challenging new monsters with full-color illustrations, including the mad rock gnome Hogburl, deadly Harafi Locust Swarms, and vile Torpulus Worms.
• Quick Reference: Complete statistics for every character and monster (no need to reach for another book) and a summary in the appendix.

INCLUDES

• Bookmarked and extensively cross-referenced 30-page PDF 
• Printable and digital handouts
• Tournament scoring rules and pre-generated characters
• 2 VTT backgrounds (grid and no-grid versions)
• 16 VTT movable terrain features 
• 32 VTT tokens
• Bonus Monster: Stonehead Locust Swarm

Customer reviews for the original 2011 version (average rating 4.7 out of 5):

“Innovative escort scenario with a variety of possible outcomes and ways play might unfold. There is a mystery to solve, and plenty of opportunities for superior play. A number of tactics are described for the opposition forces tracking the PCs' group. Not suitable for a novice referee: there is a large cast of NPCs, and several attacks to plan. A welcome change from the usual sort of low level scenario. This was fun in play. Highly recommended.” —Valued, Purchased 2022

"One forgets that old school anything is not actually the past revisited. So I am happy to report that Kingmaker is not some rotten old Model T Ford you've just found under debris in someones barn, compared with such it would be a 1950s Morgan in showroom condition. Under the hood you find well recognized parts such as "hired on as caravan guards," still much in use today. You won't find "random encounter tables" or "meaninglessly populated dungeon rooms" or any such past unpleasantness. The plot is direct as old school should be, but it is strong, unlike many then and now. There is opportunity for roleplay, allowance for the take the money and run players, and, timeline and triggered events. If you have a fantasy campaign that involves travel then buy this scenario whatever system you are playing. Re-statting it is simple and it will at least be good to keep handy for an interlude. Kingmaker has already made its way into one of my campaigns. In short, a fine veteran sports car as it should have been, the past re-engineered." —Andrew, Purchased 2011

If you were to follow down a small, winding, nameless street, you would find yourselves in front of the old Library of Loch Casternaugh. If you were to be at its doorstep, you should thread in carefully, for as does wisdom, deception and danger lie in there… But be sure, stepping in will certainly be worth your while…

This adventure will have the players exploring an ancient, labyrinthine library, dealing with the shadowy folk known as the Whisperlings, and battling an evil seeking to grasp the secrets under the (almost) infinite bookshelves. The adventurers won’t take long to notice that only looking through the library can save their lives… and those of the realm’s inhabitants as well.

This adventure will have your players exploring an ancient, labyrinthic library, dealing with the shadowy folk known as the Whisperlings, and battling an evil which seeks to grasp the secrets under the (almost) infinite bookshelves. The adventurers won’t take long to notice that only looking through the library can save their lives... and those of the realm’s inhabitants as well.

For this purpose, the adventurers will have to look for the tomes, ancient books containing magical power, which will help them fight the forces of the Rakshasa Durankhan, the duke of Jade and Brimstone. Lots of magic, lots of secrets, and lots of bloodshed await you...
You just need to turn the page.

Note about the physical retail version

The physical retail version has a detachable cover, like old-school D&D adventures. The inside of the cover includes information to help the GM run the adventure, and it can also be used as a simple GM screen.

The story goes that a legendary pirate hid his last booty on Corpse Island, an enigmatic place protected by dangers and a stormy sea where storms destroy ships. Will the adventurers have what it takes to accompany Captain Jagger in the search for this legendary treasure?

In Secret in the Sea of Storms the adventurers will embark on an adventure of maritime exploration, crossing the dangerous sea of storms, they will discover the reasons for their unnatural storms to reach Corpse Island, where they will discover that the dangers are not only not over, but also travels with them...

On a far-away place known as the Corpse Island lies one of the greatest treasures ever seen by mortal eyes. Legends about the mythical treasure therein have circulated since the legendary Pirate Captain Bloodybeard, a genius of looting and piracy, wrecked his ship after the heist of his life.

Those who go in search of that treasure never return because of the terrible dangers that the sea of storms presents to even the most experienced navigator; however, there is a madman who thinks he can make this trip, although he will need a new crew…

Note About the Physical Retail Version

The physical retail version has a detachable cover, like old-school D&D adventures. The inside of the cover includes two maps to help the GM run the adventure, and it can also be used as a simple GM screen.

THE LINE EXISTS ON THE MAP. THE LAND DOES NOT KNOW ABOUT THE MAP.

In the 1870s American Southwest, the reservation system operated at the bloody intersection of official narrative and unsparing reality. On paper, the government promised permanent territories, federal annuity payments, and vital food provisions in exchange for land cessions. In reality, these treaties were signed under duress, payments were systematically stolen by political patronage networks, and the rations delivered were intentionally inadequate or completely inedible.

The San Isidro Reservation template drops your campaign directly into this pressure cooker environment. Established by the Treaty of Tres Rios in 1866, the reservation covers four hundred thousand acres of high desert grassland, scrubland, and ponderosa pine forest. But its survival is currently being choked out. A powerful mining corporation based in Santa Fe has filed a competing land claim that completely overlaps with the northern forest springs, the only reliable year-round water source on the western side of the reservation. By installing fraudulent field stakes and deploying a network of deep political connections, the company is moving to legally redraw the reservation boundaries and seize the water.

Lonesome Meridian #007: The Reservation Line is a 20-page A5 zine territory supplement designed for system-agnostic western tabletop campaigns. This module rejects standard cardboard stereotypes and moral lectures, delivering a complex web of deeply human, load-bearing tensions where players arrive as a volatile external force into a late-stage crisis.

Territory Features:

• The Dual Treaty Discrepancy: The heart of the conflict lies in a dark documentary secret. The text read to the Jicarilla Apache signatories promised a permanent boundary following the base of the mesa. The official federal text filed in Washington contains un-translated clauses that push the boundary east, legally excluding the vital springs.

• The Contaminated Infirmary: Explore the single-room agency infirmary managed by Elena Arqueta, the widow of the previous physician. Her meticulous hidden records document an unnatural clustering of severe gastrointestinal illnesses among families, pointing directly to a systematic, deliberate upstream contamination of the reservation's southern water supply.

• Deeply Layered Non-Unified NPCs: Interact with an array of distinct actors. Meet Tohono, an elder who maintains a meticulous secret notation system of federal broken promises and outlasted four agents. Engage with Nayeli, the agency interpreter who speaks four languages with native fluency but occupies a structurally impossible position where she is trusted by no one. Confront Agent Clarence Dodd, a well-intentioned but comprehensively ineffective federal bureaucrat who reads a great deal but remains completely blind to the crimes occurring under his nose.

• The Illicit Boundary Runners: Differentiate three young native runners who move fluidly through the cedar posts of the boundary. They carry strategic geographic intelligence in both directions, tracking the corrupt survey teams and hiding the identity of an agency mole.

• A Conflicted Corporate Surveyor: Cross paths with Aldous Peel, the survey team leader for Consolidated Land and Mineral. He has accurately measured the springs and knows they belong to the reservation, but faces severe professional pressure from his corporate employers to falsify his upcoming field report.

• Interconnected Campaign Hooks: Features six distinct entry vectors to draw your players into the agency compound. Deliver lost cartography maps from Dispatch #001, answer a highly personal letter tied to the Penitent archetype, or investigate federal inspector inquiries before the mining company moves to erase the evidence.

He painted the fort in the distance because the fort was in the distance. By the time anyone read the painting as history, the fort had moved to the foreground of everything.

Mage: The Ascension – Tradition Horoscopes

Ever wondered what the cosmos has planned for your Awakened life… or at least what kind of magical disaster is statistically most likely this week? This weekly-style horoscope covers love, work, and imminent metaphysical inconvenience.

You may get information about the Paradox risk level and get the lucky sentence of the week.

Use it as:

• Session inspiration for character-driven complications
• Flavor text for downtime scenes and correspondence
• A comedic insert between chronicle arcs
• Or a reminder that even enlightened mages still have bad weeks

Warning: May induce sudden resonance shifts, existential laughter, or arguments about whether horoscopes are vulgar, primitive, or alarmingly accurate.

The Endless Dark Awaits

Deep beneath the surface of the world, clusters of abandoned mines, forlorn temples, and fallen fortresses form a great, sprawling labyrinth stretching myriad miles in all directions and reaching untold fathoms into the dwimmer-dark below; a kingdom so vast none hold claim to its crown — save perhaps the twin lords of death and darkness. Here, spilled blood buys gold, and courage wrests secrets from aeons long forgotten. Here, steel and despair forge mortal deeds into legends.
Here, the endless dark awaits, calling the bold, the desperate, and the foolhardy. 

Build a Megadungeon in Minutes!

Since 2023, the Dungeon Domains series has inspired GMs everywhere by offering a selection of hand-drawn geomorphs representing unique dungeons, caverns, sewers, and catacombs, fleshed out with flavourful and detailed descriptions of each area, supported by deep lore about the dungeon itself, as well as the growing world of Rasna. Every one of our maps has been designed to connect seamlessly with any other Dungeon Domain, allowing GMs to construct or expand dungeons of any size and using any system or setting with minimal effort.

The Codex Carcerum Contains:

What are Dungeon Domains?

Dungeon Domains are hand-drawn geomorphs representing sections of dungeons, caverns, sewers, or catacombs, fleshed out with flavourful and detailed descriptions of each area as well as a unique legend explaining the dungeon’s history, all to provide GMs with inspiration to create their own dungeon-delving adventures using any system or setting of their choice.

Every Dungeon Domain has been designed to connect seamlessly with any of its sister products, allowing GMs to construct or expand dungeons of any size with minimal effort.

Singed!

Princess Delphine has been kidnapped by a vile wyrm who seeks a great ransom from her father, the king. Doubting the treacherous dragon will trade treasure for his unharmed daughter, King Arneld has decided to hire brave heroes to infiltrate the wyrm's lair and rescue the princess. Will the adventurers succeed in avoiding the many traps and dangerous foes of the ancient castle and dungeons below, and triumph over the evil dragon? Will they save Princess Delphine or perish in their attempt?

A Dragonslayer RPG Adventure for 4-6 characters of 5^th to 7th level.

A burning bus smolders in the middle of nowhere, its black smoke rising like a distress signal no one should answer. The road is empty, the desert is silent, and whatever happened here may not be over yet.

Variants

• Day (Grid/Gridless)
• Night (Grid/Gridless)
• Storm (Grid/Gridless)
• Snow (Grid/Gridless)

Resolution and Scale

• Resolution: 120 pixels per square (Static) / 60 pixels per square (Animated)
• Grid dimensions: 32x18
• Recommended Scale: 5 ft. or 1.5 m/yd per square
• File types: JPG, WEBM

A burning bus smolders in the middle of nowhere, its black smoke rising like a distress signal no one should answer. The road is empty, the desert is silent, and whatever happened here may not be over yet.

Map properties:

• Resoltuon: 3840x2160
• Grid dimensions: 32x18
• Versions: Static and Animated, Grid and Gridless, Mute and Sounded
• Variants: Day, Night, Storm, Snow

Features:

• Static and Animated versions - use the ones you like best
• Mute and Sounded versions - use a ready-made sound or your own
• Grid and Gridless versions - use a ready-made one or apply your own
• All objects are arranged with a grid for your convenience
• 4K resolution - you can play with any scale convenient for you
• 4 different file formats (MP4, WEBM, JPG, WEBP) - suitable for any VTT

The Scarred Lands have come to Savage Worlds Adventure Edition!

Scarred Lands Creature Profiles are an ongoing series of monthly releases to introduce monsters and key NPCs drawn from the world of Scarn.

In the eyes of the gods, the giants were all titanspawn, and they were justly punished after the defeat of their titan masters. The storm god Enkili passed down a most ironic punishment to the Hundred-Hand Ones, a group of the most magically gifted and most arrogant cloud dwelling giants, for the role they played in the Divine War. The Trickster tore their physical forms asunder, making them as hollow as the wind. Thus, these giants, who had formerly crushed dwarves with one blow of their mighty fists, were reduced to cloudy, ephemeral beings, doomed to an eternity as strange creatures of the clouds and mists.

A celestian giant appears as giant, translucent, vaguely humanoid form, its cloudlike, amorphous body wavering and shifting as it moves. Huge crystal blue eyes stare down with a cold, startlingly fierce intelligence.

This booklet contains game traits, tactics, and a brief overview of the celestian giant's history and appearance. This booklet also includes plot hooks for introducing the celestian giant into your campaign!

This game references the Savage Worlds game system, available from Pinnacle Entertainment Group at www.peginc.com. Savage Worlds and all associated logos and trademarks are copyrights of Pinnacle Entertainment Group. Used with permission. Pinnacle makes no representation or warranty as to the quality, viability, or suitability for purpose of this product.

In the early days of role-playing games, many classic, iconic monsters were created that have become defining creatures in every edition of the game since then.

These are not those monsters.

This book features 10 weird, unusual, and in some cases, horrifying monsters from monster books you may have played with or flipped through back in the 80s, such as the Giant Portuguese Man of War, Boggle, Bowler, Executioner’s Hood, Retch Plant, Carbuncle, Sheet Phantom, and Mujina. These aren't just updated stat blocks. Each monster is paired with adventure ideas designed to turn an obscure creature into the centerpiece of an unforgettable session.

For each monster you get

• A stat block compatible with 5.5 edition D&D (2024)
• A description of each monster
• Three adventure hooks to give you ideas to get you started with adventures featuring some of the weirdest, forgotten monsters originally published between 1977 and 1984.

Plus, you six hand-drawn colored-pencil monster illustrations by myself and my kid.  They’re not professional drawings, but we had a blast creating them between gaming sessions. It also allowed me to make this product pay-what-you-want, since all I spent on this project was time.

This fan work is published under the Wizards of the Coast SRD 5.2 Creative Commons license and is a tribute to some of the wonderfully strange monsters that captured my imagination as a teenager. I hope they inspire a new generation of Dungeon Masters to give them a place at their tables.