On the arctic frontier, at the border between the mountains and the wastes beyond, looms Castle Thar-Gannon. For centuries, the Skull God ruled his domain from his blackened throne. But twenty years have passed since the routing of his armies, and the castle lies abandoned with riches unclaimed. Yet, death still lurks in the shadows of the ruins. An ancient doom arises from the depths of this place…
Gods of the Forbidden North is a massive, three-volume mega-adventure series written for the Old-School Essentials: Advanced Fantasy tabletop role-playing game by Necrotic Gnome. It details a campaign setting, a wilderness hex-crawl, a sprawling underworld connecting to multiple entrances on the surface, and most importantly, an enormous megadungeon.
The first volume is designed for a heroic party of seven adventurers to begin at 1st level and reach a minimum of 5th level by the book’s conclusion, although most parties will hit 7th-8th level if all wilderness encounters are exhausted. Though the mega-adventure was originally designed as a sandbox, it also supports episodic “adventure path” playstyles, as well.
*Designer’s Note: Some have asked why this module was designed for a party 7 PC’s. That’s because, as written, Necrotic Gnome’s Old-School Essentials assumes an ideal party size of 6-8 characters, and 7 is right down the middle of that range. (See “Adventuring” and “Party Organization” under those rules for suggested party size.)