The Charred Rose is a short straightforward adventure set in the domain of Sithicus (I'm personally super happy to see more Ravenloft content set outisde of Barovia).

The adventure has some strengths and some opportunities but on its most basic level I would definitely say it's great value for it's price. I enjoyed the theme and the locations and really appreciated a fantasy-horror themed adventure that didn't fall back on undead or lycanthropes as it's go to baddies.

PROS: -easily used as written or dropped into any deep forest setting -Sword Of The White Rose is a unique and interesting level appropriate magic weapon -the mix of; investigation, combat and role-playing opportunities should keep most groups engaged

CONS: -feels a bit on rails, not a lot of branching options or secondary characters to fillout the central story -final encounter seems a but unsatisfying, the PCs can't truly 'overcome' the adversary, and there's no grand revelation or immediate sense of reward for rescuing Gathan

Overall I liked The Charred Rose. When I run it I'll definitely populate the adventure with some more NPCs of atleast some degree of signifigance and I'll either swap out the big bad at the end for something more level appropriate or I'll seed Gathan with an item or note relevant to a another gaming session to give the final encounter a bit moe impact.

Some small changes were made to this review to better reflect updates made to the adventure.

I'm a huge fan of the mood and themes in the Ravenloft setting, so when I saw this adventure I bought it right away.

Visually, it beats out most comparable products published on DMs Guild, but it's not quite professional quality. The cover itself is intriguing, but the rest of the art inside is lacking. The layout is fine, but the art varies in styles and quality. There are two maps included: One is a hex map, but as there's only three areas of interest, it's not particularly necessary. The other map is a simplified version of the same area for presentation to the players. There are adequate pictures included for most of the NPCs.

Some Spoilers Follow

The first chapter (two pages of material set in a small village) has the makings of an interesting adventure. Mostly, the PCs are making ability checks related to investigation as they poke around the village. There's a fun bit of foreshadowing between a song sung in a village tavern and the lingering scent of rose perfume in several areas. In my opinion, it's a creepy touch and one of the 'gothic-horroriest' things about this adventure. There's a body or two thrown in the mix as well, with prompts for horror checks from the PCs. I'd suggest getting rid of these or at least lowering the DCs, since 3rd level PCs are likely to have seen a bit of gore, but your mileage may vary.

The second chapter (two and a half pages) takes place in a nearby forest. The confrontation therein can conclude a couple of different ways, but ultimately the monster is readily identifiable, since the party conveniently stumbles upon them mid-evil act. A lack of red herrings, other suspects, or interaction beyond running or fighting seems to preclude any possible mystery or chance that the glaistig will get away.

The final chapter (little more than half a page) is by far the weakest of the three, being only loosely related to the much more interesting narrative in chapter 1 and 2. The PCs track down a missing NPC and must make a perform check to rescue him from a giant worm monster. There does not seem to be any other means of resolving this scene. The worm's CR exceeds the player's capacity to defeat without some extremely creative tactics (not a problem from my perspective, but might cause some problems with bull-headed characters itching for a fight).

When I run The Charred Rose, I'll remove or rewrite the 3rd chapter entirely. The giant worm seems a little out of place in a horror adventure, and the glaistig is a far more interesting antagonist anyway. The first two chapters could also use some elaboration. Perhaps Caitrin's spirit, not merely content to follow her possessed body, takes some initiative and attempts to warn the villagers, leading to strange incidents of haunting. A couple more NPCs in the village couldn't hurt either; I'd consider setting up one of Caitrin's suitors as a possible suspect for the disappearances.

End Spoilers

All in all, The Charred Rose is a short adventure in need of some TLC but with a lot of potential. Worth the price of admission.