Under the Volcano

A horrific legend, about to impose its terrible truth upon a frightened people

Three comrades on a desperate mission to right an injury that calls out for justice

A glowering idol full of dark intent and cruel machinations

A deed of bravery that lives on to inspire in song and story

Bad Neighbors

An old feud between monstrous neighbors creates an opportunity for a band of mercenary adventurers

An ill-tempered Ogre whose violent demeanor masks an insightful intellect

A family of goblins, stubborn and set in their ways

A doubting cleric, uttering platitudes whose veracity he doubts

A young warrior unacquainted with the world eager to make his name and fortune

The Goblin Back Door

There’s always a back door… This little dungeon trick revolves around an ancient stone throne with a secret catch that causes the entire seat to spin, placing the occupant in a natural cave behind the throne room. There’s just one catch–the cave has become the den of a pack of fierce wolves.

There are a lot of ways your players could encounter a room like this. As part of a greater dungeon, it could provide an escape route for a hated nemesis NPC. If the NPC isn’t ready to handle the wolves, however, the escape could easily be one-way. Going the other way, the presence of an ornate throne in an apparently natural cave could be a party’s way into the dungeon proper.

I used a similar room in a megadungeon adventure using the Moldvay Basic rules a couple of years ago. A pack of starving wolves found their way into the dungeon, but couldn’t find their way out, making a surprising encounter for a party of PC (and, given the deadliness of wolves in that edition, the death of more than one adventurer [sorry, Ben]).

Oh yeah! Also, the original encounter was inspired by a room in Stefan Poag's epic Mines of Khunmar megadungeon!

Under Gavin's Woods

The fishing town of Gavin’s woods has been plagued by a determined band of Goblin highwaymen. Now, in a daring raid on the Old Trunk Road, they have captured the Baronesses sapphire torc. The constabulary has tracked the robbers to a hidden dungeon entrance under a boulder in the woods. Dungeon delving being no business of theirs, they’ve hired a likely bunch to recover the torc, with a nice cash reward offered.