In this short adventure the party will attempt to save a town from invasion only to find out that they’re too late, and are now destined to try and save those that they can and get them to a safe haven. The plot hooks provided require the characters to be willing to participate simply because it’s the right thing to do. It might be possible to entice them with an additional bounty however if needed, and indeed an award is presented at the end of the adventure. It would be relatively simple to mention it right from the start. Once the characters are ready they are thrown right into the action, as the start of the adventure is designed to be a hectic rush. The party arrives late, the fight has already started, plunging them almost immediately into combat. This continues as they must move on to try and save the town’s mayor from capture. It’s only once the characters are out of the ruined town, with the mayor under their protection, that the pace slows down slightly and the party isn’t rushed from one disaster to the next.

The party is now tasked with getting the mayor and his guard to a nearby town that has offered them somewhere safe to stay. To do so they have to stock up on supplies for helping cross the desert from a nearby village, which will require dealing with a shady shopkeeper, winning a camel race and avoiding an ambush. There are some interesting aspects here, notably showcasing how characters have to adapt to different environments, which is a good lesson to learn if you want an exploration heavy campaign. The camel race also introduces quite an interesting choice for the players. The race is based on a series of skill checks, where each success moves the camel forward in the race. What is most intriguing however is that each camel has different statistics, with different speeds and corresponding difficulty levels for the checks. The players therefore have to make a significant choice when they decide what camel to ride, trying to balance the risk/reward from choosing a faster camel depending in part on their skill bonuses. The adventure concludes once the characters have stocked up on the required equipment, enabling them to travel to the nearest safe town.

The module appears to be an excellent start for beginning players and DMs. There is a considerable amount of advice provided for DMs to adapt the adventure easily, depending on the number of characters and their average level. There is also a section at the beginning with DM advice and what is needed for prep before the game starts. These two segments, combined with the intended low character levels, point this adventure as being directed towards newer players. Unlike most adventures there are no tactical maps provided here, as the combat is all designed for theatre of the mind. This lowers the barriers to entry for new DMs, as it doesn’t require figurines or printing out maps, and means that it could also be easily played over voice chat for those that want to run a one-shot without having to figure out the workings of a VTT.

The plot occasionally requires that the players following the direction of the DM so as not completely derail the adventure. Also, there are a few moments in the adventure which might make players question the narrative, such as wondering about missing people, or the environment changing suddenly. The module does however also provide plenty of opportunities if the DM wants to integrate the adventure into a larger campaign. The invader that instigated the action isn’t defeated, providing a possible larger narrative. There are also seeds of future adventures woven into the narrative, such as a freed NPC whose presence isn’t explained and the mayor’s advisor still being kidnapped. These loose ends will either be an opportunity to seize or something that you really don’t want to deal with depending on your philosophy as a DM.

This adventure provides a short, punchy one-shot for a DM looking to introduce new players to the hobby. It provides a good basis for a larger campaign or series of adventures if wanted, with plenty of ideas to get your creative ideas sparking. Given the hooks for future adventures that have been left it is relatively easy for the DM to simply go wherever the players want to take the adventure. While the adventure is sparked by an invasion the main obstacle is simply finding a way of traversing the environment, which is an interesting change of pace for an adventure and one well worth exploring.