Product Link: https://www.dmsguild.com/product/493...ANTASY-GROUNDS

Much like Arcavios has Strixhaven, the Sword Coast has Headmaster Vance’s Academy of Adventure. No finer training can be found, either up or down the Sword Coast, than that of the Academy. Here, an adventurer can learn firsthand from the masters of their craft. The Academy currently serves as the training grounds for the next generation of heroes of the Forgotten Realms — the future Elminsters, Drizzts, and Laeral Silverhands of Faerűn.

The Academy of Adventure is a fully fleshed out locale that can be easily inserted into any homebrew or published campaign. Also included is a modular adventure intended to take players from 1st to 3rd level. This product as a whole has enough material to accommodate more than 20 hours of gameplay, yet can be easily adapted to play as a one-shot.

Within this adventure’s hallowed halls can be found:

  • A fully fleshed out academy campus that includes an arboretum and a zoo.

  • Five additional adventuring parties which can serve as antagonists or allies – the Demodragons, Iconics, Marauders, Shadowslayers, and Meepo’s Minions!

  • Dozens of curricular encounters, ranging from socialization to battle, designed to teach the nuances of fifth edition to newer players while also challenging veterans.

  • Underground grottos filled with genetically engineered abominations, cheered on by students wagering over who can survive the longest.

  • The deadly Caves of Shadow, where a long dormant evil stirs from its ancient slumber.

  • A race against time to rescue a Thayan mage from a drow elf prison.

  • An epic encounter in Shadowfell Keep to save the world from the incursion of the Thing from the Portal.

  • A terrible secret so powerful that it will literally shatter the world of those who survive discovering it….


Although accessible to veteran players, the adventure is true to its name and provides many opportunities for the DM to “teach” the game to new players. It can easily be used as a springboard into any larger campaign, but is optimized as a lead-in to the Rise of Vecna, the second installment of the Doomed Forgotten Realms adventure path.