The AD&D Guide to Trees [Desmond Reid]
A nice little thingy detailing twelve different varieties of trees found in the Forgotten Realms. Although intended to be world-specific, it is perfectly usable as an alternative source of inspiration to any campaign. I wish you people would write more of these sweet little works. There are other aspects to a good campaign setting than loads upon loads of dangerous monsters, fantastic spells, evil cults, and magic items, you know. Nice to read something about real life, real nature, for a change.
PDF / 81 kb / 10.01.2000 | Word 97 / 10 kb / 10.01.2000

A Night in the Boudoir [Ross W. Gould]
Another of those sweet little works that has nothing to do with new spells, monsters, or magic. This one-page little gem is a presentation by Alymer, Master Alchemist, of himself and his repertoire of cosmetic products for wealthy women. A humorous read, and definitely worth the download.
PDF / 87 kb / 23.07.2000 | Word 2000 / 5 kb / 23.07.2000

A Quick Guide to Creating Memorable Non-Player Characters [Rich Staats]
Along the lines of Designing Cool PCs and Forming a Gaming Group, Rich Staats here utilizes the same acronym method for creating non-player characters. While the value of non-player characters is often underestimated, campaigns and scenarios never fully reach their potential without interesting characters for the PCs to interact with, so this work could also (along with GM Principles) be considered compulsory reading for game masters.
PDF / 45 kb / 06.04.2000 | Word 2000 / 14 kb / 06.04.2000

Adventure Sketches [Jason Seeley]
Nine adventure ideas; some are quite elaborate and well-written, but a few are very short.
HTML / 8 kb / Oct/Nov 1999

Alternative Spell Uses [Unknown Source]
A few, very imaginative descriptions of how one can use ordinary spells to great effects. Quite funny.
ASCII / 1 kb / 01.01.1997

Blackmoor -- Another Point of View v1.1 [Irving Galvez]
The author here speculates a bit about the mysteries of the ancient land of Blackmoor from the Old D&D game, and how things are today.
Word 6.0/95 / 6 kb / 17.12.1996

Book of Arrea [Cris Kincade]
Somewhat of a campaign sourcebook, this file of close to ninety pages contains a lot of information about the world of Arrea and its inhabitants. Within are also detailed descriptions of Arrea's races, monsters, and deities, as well as new weapons, kits, spells, magical items, optional rules, and some notes on NPCs some of their adventure journals. The information here is tailored for the world of Arrea, but is easily adapted to other worlds and campaign settings.
PDF / 444 kb / 14.08.1999 | Word 97 / 157 kb / 14.08.1999

Book of Tricks and Traps [Jason Seeley]
Almost 50 imaginative tricks (and traps) to challenge your players.
HTML / 9 kb / Oct/Nov 1996

Combining Story Lines and Character Freedom [Unknown Source]
Detailing the three campaign types (railroad, open ended, and matrix), these notes explain these terms and provide information about how they work for the creative DM.
ASCII / 3 kb / 01.01.1997

Curse, Curse, Curse Them ALL! [Source Unknown]
A short little thing with some ideas for curses. (Time for the DM to have some fun, too, heh.)
PDF / 51 kb / 19.05.2000 | Word 2000 / 4 kb / 19.05.2000

DAGE -- Dark Ages Campaign World [Eric Dobbs]
A richly detailed and well-written campaign world. Includes a map.
HTML + GIF / 87 kb / 08.01.1997

Designing Cool PCs and Forming a Gaming Group [Rich Staats]
Using clever acronym methods, Rich Staats here gives advice on how to create interesting player characters, as well as on how to assemble a party of adventurers. Whether you're an inexperienced or seasoned player or game master, this article can help breathe some new life into your campaign. Three pages of very valuable material.
PDF / 27 kb / 06.04.2000 | Word 2000 / 10 kb / 06.04.2000

Flower Powers [Jon Winter]
Another of those wonderful works that helps flesh out the atmosphere and reality of role-playing games, as opposed to most works that are usually crammed with new rules and stats. This is an eight-page really nice work detailing exciting parts of the Planescape flora, but although this is intended for Planescape campaigns, I see no problem spicing up one's conventional gaming world with whatever is found within this ingenious piece of work. Combine this with Desmond Reid's AD&D Guide to Trees and you've pumped some real life into your campaign, literally.
PDF / 145 kb / 19.05.2000 | Word 2000 / 21 kb / 19.05.2000

Generic Traps [Unknown Source]
Eleven new traps to trouble your characters. Diagrams accompany some of them. Imaginative and surely fun to play.
ASCII / 7 kb / 22.12.1996

Glossary of Castle Terms [Unknown Source]
Confused by architectural concepts in fantasy literature? Well, here's a comprehensive guide to medieval architecture, castles in special, with each term explained. Can't remember where I found it, though.
ASCII / 8 kb / 12.12.1996

GM Principles [Rich Staats]
A short little thingy detailing a set of five principles and axioms that are essential to good game mastering. There are many different ways one can game master a campaign or an adventure, and while possible to have fun using almost any method, I firmly believe that the principles given here are essential to good game mastering. These have also appeared in print and in seminars several times, but as the saying goes, "good things can't be said too often" (or something like that). And this is definitely the case here. Compulsory reading for game masters, seasoned as well as inexperienced ones.
PDF / 4 kb / 06.04.2000 | Word 2000 / 4 kb / 06.04.2000

Guidelines for World Design [Rich Staats & Juha juuso Vesanto]
A detailed and well-organized work describing how to make the most of world design. Good procedures helping you to design realistic worlds -- This is a must for the creative DM.
HTML / 11 kb / 17.12.1996

How to Have a Great AD&D Campaign [Jason Kuznicki]
62 rules and recommendations on how to make your campaign work better.
ASCII / 5 kb / 13.01.1997

Jim's Weather Generator [Jim Heath]
A tiny work that nevertheless seems quite sufficient to handle enough weather for any adventure or campaign. Simple, but adequate, unless detailed weather is essential to the campaign.
ASCII / 2 kb / 14.01.1997

Kengir [Kurt A. Johnson]
Kengir, The Land of Rivers, is a new campaign setting loosely based on the historical land of Sumer about four thousand years ago. It includes every bit of information you need to start a campaign in this very alternative and exciting era of human history. Very well written, this work has been designed using a large amount of reference material and historical notes, and is without doubt one of the most exciting works of this kind I have ever seen. A real gem, and a must-see.
Word 2.0 / 97 kb / 27.12.1997

Liber Ivonis - The Paths of Darkness [John Cunningham]
"The Paths of Darkness" is an excellent work detailing the various dark cults and Quabals thriving in the Gothic Earth (Ravenloft). Well written and with a very good design, this work provides the information you need to run those cults, with all their background information, their granted powers, their roles in society, and the individuals belonging to those groups. A good reference source, with a dark and evil touch.
PDF / 104 kb / 19.05.2000

Making an Adventure [Mark Green]
A valuable aid for new and experienced DMs alike who want to create their own adventures. Includes hints and tips, as well as addressing issues such as open and closed system adventures.
ASCII / 4 kb / 20.10.1997

My Castle Design [Unknown Source]
An interesting angle on the construction of your own castle, this work tells the story as it really happened in someone's campaign. It covers both construction in general, and how the castle's defenders would best react to special forms of attack (i.e. magic). I can't remember where I found it, though, or who really made this.
ASCII / 7 kb / 17.12.1996

The Mythos of Polynesia Revisited [John Storch]
A nice, interesting article about Polynesian mythology and how it can easily fit into the AD&D game. Included are notes on many gods and their avatars, as well as several new magic items. An alternative and interesting read, this is a fitting diversion from the "standard" medieval gods and mythos almost all of the typical AD&D campaigns revolve around.
PDF / 37 kb / 13.03.2000 | Word 2000 / 19 kb / 13.03.2000

NetBook of Riddles [Mark Manning]
A nice collection of riddles to puzzle your players.
ASCII / 22 kb / Oct/Nov 1996

Net Plots Book Volume I [Aaron Sher]
Plots and twists -- Many ideas for new adventures and encounters.
HTML / 26 kb / Oct/Nov 1996

Net Plots Book Volume II [Aaron Sher]
Plots and twists -- Many ideas for new adventures and encounters.
HTML / 32 kb / Oct/Nov 1996

Net Plots Book Volume III [Phil Scadden & Aaron Sher]
Plots and twists -- Many ideas for new adventures and encounters.
HTML / 63 kb / Oct/Nov 1996

Net Plots Book Volume IV [Phil Scadden]
Plots and twists -- Many ideas for new adventures and encounters.
HTML / 39 kb / Oct/Nov 1996

Net Plots Book Volume V [Phil Scadden]
Plots and twists -- Many ideas for new adventures and encounters.
HTML / 59 kb / Oct/Nov 1996

Net Traps Book [Jason Seeley]
An extensive collection of traps, this compilation has enough trouble for your characters to keep them occupied for a long time (if they still live, that is).
HTML / 7 kb / Oct/Nov 1996

Pantheon of the Empire, 5th Edition [Robert Hall]
In short: A magnificent fantasy pantheon. Long version, according to the author: "This document contains a detailed, integrated pantheon for a prosperous human empire, suitable for use in any heroic fantasy setting. The Pantheon of the Empire contains a universal creation myth, along with the individual deities' holy symbols, portfolio, areas of interest, allies, foes, holy days, temples, worship, philosophy, personality, manifestations, undead effects, priestly benefits and limitations, specialty priests, and unique spells. A CC2 library of the holy symbols is also included. Contributions, enhancements, and corrections to this NetBook are welcomed." That pretty much sums it all up, eh? As always, Robert Hall delivers a very nice work. Highly recommended.
This 5th Edition update is pretty significant, so be sure to get this one.
HTML / 1.691 kb / 05.09.2000 | PDF / 2.587 kb / 05.09.2000 | Word 2000 / 2.351 kb / 05.09.2000

Plots and Adventure Ideas [Benjamin Jud Quinton]
Twenty-five plots and adventure ideas, spanning a wide variety of topics. Some "standard-type" plots are here, but there are also many quite original ideas that could easily be expanded into full-fledged adventures.
ASCII / 2 kb / 23.09.1997

Realms of Infernus [Justin Winters]
Well, here it is: The most professionally designed and written, and in my opinion, simply the best non-commercial campaign setting ever published on the net. It details a campaign set in a place similar to (if not) Hell, and is wonderfully fleshed out with both rich descriptions and nice graphics. You'll find a lot of information here, from implementing completely new PCs and NPCs, as well as descriptions of the many monsters, deities, artifacts, places, and other entities that inhabit the Realms of Infernus. It is a huge download, but I'll guarantee you that if you do take the time to download this treasure, you won't regret it for an instant. Do so, print it, and lie down for a gooooood read.
Due to the massive download this is, I have broken it up into eight separate pieces, each of them a single chapter. All the files can be extracted into the same directory; the path stored inside the zips is "Realms of Infernus", and the files all have the proper names.
PS! If you look at the page numbers, you might find a few pages missing. These are graphics-intensive cover pages, not intended for web-distribution, but all the original text is still here. (The original PDF file includes these pages, but the file is 230mb in size, far too big to post here.)
Part 1 - Infernus PDF / 1.706 kb / 09.06.2000
Part 2 - Character Classes PDF / 1.517 kb / 09.06.2000
Part 3 - Character Races PDF / 410 kb / 09.06.2000
Part 4 - Artifacts & Magic PDF / 197 kb / 09.06.2000
Part 5 - Elders PDF / 1.364 kb / 09.06.2000
Part 6 - Elderkind PDF / 1.224 kb / 09.06.2000
Part 7 - Infernal Denizens PDF / 741 kb / 09.06.2000
Part 8 - The Elder Gods PDF / 2.939 kb / 09.06.2000