I haven't followed the series, and I haven't run it yet but hope to adapt it to my campaign, with that understood my review is ; it's a middle part in a series or mini-campaign running on 5E, altogether 14 pages beginning with a nice topical picture on the cover (albeit it's taller than what's in the story), eight and a half pages of main text (about 1/3 illustrations, block text and stat-blocks), appendix A is three pages with a color map to the region ( but no scale is given) and another (keyed) for the village where the adventure begins while the third page is for the target dungeon (with 11 locations), appendix B is the final page and that repeats two stat-blocks seen earlier along with the details of a humanoid NPC introduced at the dungeon. The adventurers, searching for a family kidnapped from the village move through the forest to some ruins scryed by their employer/patron. I would like to see some chance of a woodland encounter and a couple of opportunities to find some trace of those they pursue. Maybe howling wolves in the distance, cawing crows who might converse, a wayward or waylaid lumberjack from the Village, or an aloof or rude Druid as a distraction. At the ruins the party finds indications that someone has been camping here but no one is in sight, and no hazards detailed unless they press on through the (abstracted) complex to reach the cellar (the mapped dungeon). Now the action begins! Spaces in the dungeon have a sufficient amount of detail, each is distinctive enough. The dangers are mostly assorted lower CR Undead. I do think that the trademark stench of a Ghast should give the party a chance to negate its surprise. I also doubt the laired ghoulies would leave the human corpse unmolested - unless there's a good reason (maybe add a Foul Flesh Amulet there). If the PC's sweep through this dungeon they can gather up about 275 GP, 635 SP, a gemmed dagger worth 100 GP, one Magic Ring, an ever convenient Take-Your-Pick fragment of a Spell Book and a Gem of Brightness ! And don't forget the wine ... Also there's a piece of set decoration described as a "gilded claw", what is it exactly, what's its value (is it supposed to be part of the series' plot) ? Pages 7-9 cover the next Location, the 60 foot tall Tower hinted at on the cover. This is fairly abstracted ; Ground Floor, Second Floor and Top Floor - no maps are given and the text doesn't actually state its shape or diameter. One of the typos, "As the players accent the stairs" ... they encounter a couple of CR 1 guards, then their main opponent - a 6th Level Necromancer with six Attack Spells, several Defensive Spells and the option of Flight - with which he is intended to Escape “I will have my revenge". This villain has 4 basic Skeletons to hold back the Party and the author has provided a twist to assist them if things get rough. The rewards here are a +1 Dagger (why isn't the Necromancer using it?), three Potions, 78 GP and 430 SP. I would have liked to see a lot more Color at the Tower. And some in the Village too - what's distinct about the people the party is tasked to rescue ?

This was, for me, a peak ending for the mini-series. It was fun because the installment was more challenging than the previous one. I did several modifications with the enemies (namely, higher HP and AC) as well as encounters, but since that is what most DMs do anyway, I guess it's normal. Plot-wise, I think that it can still be played without the previous three adventures, but for continuity it would be best to start with A Chance Encounter.

This adventure is pretty solid. It's part of a larger 4 or so part series of related adventures but I plucked it out on its own and inserted it into my ongoing campaign with out much trouble. The upside to using it in sequence is that it comes with several maps including the local town and the local region if you want them, including a high level magic user who acts as support/patron/quest giver, but that's easy enough to remove if it doesn't fit your setting. While those are great I would rather have not had those and had maps of the the tower itself where the final series of encounters takes place which unfortunately are not included. Thankfully finding generic tower maps is not a difficult task. I also would like to have seen a bit more information on Zalath, their goals and connection to the world but if you're using it as a one shot its not absolutely necessary and if you're splicing it into your ongoing campaign you can use whatever feels most applicable to your setting. All and all while it could have been better it was a very enjoyable adventure and for once wasn't crazy loot heavy for a prepackaged module making it easier to add into your campaign.

My party played through the whole series and eagerly aniticpated the climax to the kobold storyline, as did I after I spent some time massaging Zalath's stats and making him a badass wizard boss fight.

However, I found this adventure to require even more planning, preparing and hole-plugging than the previous three. The party could enter the ruins of the keep, which they absolutely should otherwise they would be cutting this adventure in half, only it ends in a very unsatifactory dead end. There are lots of details which raise questions; bodies, scorch marks, a plinth with something missing... but, again, absolutely no context is provided for the DM.

If you're not careful to really do your homework and plan the session out with your own answers and depth, you will find yourself pummelled with questions and confusion from any party that is remotely inquisitive.

Having done this planning and fitting the adventure into my ongoing campaign, I managed to make something pretty epic to round off the series with. My problem is that I just didn't feel like the adventure, as-written, was working with me.

I look back and wonder, what was in those letters Chariz recieved? What was the point of sending the party to collect an item underneath a stone circle? What was the battle that killed all the kobold? Maybe the answers are there, or purposefully kept loose for you to make it your own, but instead I anticipate that they just weren't thought through.

An ok adventure, but there is no map for the tower. A weird oversight considering. A good wrap up to the previous 2 adventures. You can tell they are getting better. There is no good overview, so here it is. A Necromancer has tricked a tribe of kobolds into serving him by Major illusioning himself to look like a kobold. He is having them search for an item for a ritual he wants to cast at his tower.

Well written, and the encounters play out well. It's nice not having options other than "fight this mob." I ran this with my wife and son as a one shot to introduce him to D&D in a manageable way. He freaked out when the Kobold popped out of the barrel, ran between his legs, and tried to run away. It was amazing and he has been hooked since. I look forward to running this together with the rest of the set as a mini intro-campaign for new players.

Thanks for another fun adventure - this writer is highly recommended!

Very nice campaign. I started the 1st part with new players and plan to finish it all. The plot is convenient to continue from that to a larger campaign. All four stories, contain a small glimpse of many aspects of the game (traps, exploration, dungeons, NPC talking, villains come and go and come back later on, maybe).

I think the rewards at the end could be a little more than I would like, for my taste at this early level (if I wanted to keep playing after that point), but nothing that would affect the overall experience both for GM and players.

The small village area, will help new players learn the game without sandboxing in a big city.

There is a minor issue on the DM description for this 4th part. By mistake the 3rd story DM description was used (copy paste error, my best guess). It doesn't affect the story at all. Instead of a rescue mission it states it is, it is an investigation and evil-resolution (big bad villain) mission.

I just finished GM'ing this series for my family -- I'm new to GM'ing and they're new to D&D. We really enjoyed playing and are looking forward to seeing more...

This was a fun adventure, thanks for this! Im a newer DM and this was laid out very nicely and easy to run

This is a pretty well-constructed adventure! A simple "out and down" in the classic sense, it presents a small party a series of challenges which can result in some interesting roleplaying as well as combat. The combat encounters should be challenging for PCs of the number and level indicated, and the final challenge encounter is a corker.

The art is first rate, as are the maps.

If the adventure suffers a structural flaw, it feels a bit linear. If the PCs don't do things exactly according to the adventure, it just, well, stops. That said, the railroad is easy to ride, with decent direction to keep the PCs clickety-clacking along. I submit, however, that the wise DM will familiarize herself thoroughly with the area in play, and have some backup encounters at hand, in case the PCs go off the tracks.

Also, the text could do with a touch of editing, as it suffers from some spelling and grammar errors. I suspect the author's mother tongue is not English; if this is so, his English is better than mine! But I maintain putting this in the hands of an editor will improve it.

TL;DR: If you need a quick, classic, "out and down" adventure for this weekend, give this a look.