We have here yet another "sneak in someplace" heist mission for the Embers of the Last War campaign. My party's rogue is having a blast; the barbarian, probably less so...although there were combat encounters in this one, at the very least.

Like some of the other adventures in this series, it is a little lacking in the setup. It expects characters to gain entry to the ship by bribing, lying, or sneaking...but my players asked: can we just buy tickets for passage? I ruled that they couldn't, but the potential options should have been spelled out - or ruled out, with reasons why.

Then the characters are expected to roam around the ship. If they snuck on, then the question is: what to do when you're caught? The adventure-as-written seems to assume that they have to avoid everyone, and the guards are somewhat powerful for a group of four or five - combat is kind of ruled out? But they can also talk with folks and get answers. What would the reactions to the crew reasonably be upon seeing strangers on this ship? What kind of uniform or cover would they need to allay suspicions? It's all left very vague.

I appreciate that they're trying to leave it flexible for the DMs, but having potential paths at least thought through and addressed is the appeal of a published adventure and the justification for its price tag. When a published adventure doesn't deliver on that, I'm wondering why I paid the money for it. This seventh entry is not as bad as the third adventure in this path, but it's not great, either.