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ShortQuests -- individual adventure modules! An all-new collection of digest-sized D&D adventures designed to plug in to your game.

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="JoeGKushner" data-source="post: 2009237" data-attributes="member: 1129">Lands of MysteryEdited by Brian Jelke & Mark PlemmonsPublished by Kenzer & Co.80 b & w pageswww.kenzerco.com$15.99Lands of Mystery is a collection of old, out of print modules that Kenzer & Co put out when Kalamar was ‘meant for any system’ but included AD&D 2nd edition stats.  This is the 2nd module collection Kenzer has published, the first being Harvest of Darkness.  The four modules here are The Sirocco’s Kiss, In too Deep, Night of the Rot Lord, and Unguarded Hoard.  The modules are arranged in level so The Sirocco’s Kiss is for 1st-3rd level characters is first, while Unguarded Hoard, for 5th-8th level characters is last.  The Sirocco’s Kiss is perhaps one of the easiest adventures to transport to any setting.  While there is a fair amount of background information on Bet Seder, and it includes over ten different locations that characters can explore, the majority of the action takes place on the Sirocco’s Kiss itself, a boat.  This boat that has pulled into harbor hosts a terrible evil, a powerful rakshasa.  Normally, such a powerful monster is beyond the strength of characters in this level range, and if the player’s aren’t crafty, there is every possibility that Rhingarr the rakshasa, will tear them apart.  Fate however, is kind, and provides the party with the tools necessary to finish the job.  The extra information on Bet Seder is useful for GMs wishing to reuse the city and perfect for those with the Pekal Gazetteer. In Too Deep pits the party against the charms of a clan of Water Nixies and a pair of Sirens.  The problem with the module is that it continues the stage set by the first module in providing the characters some easy solutions.  How do the players breathe underwater?  Why, they ask the friendly Nixies for help.  How do they assist the leader of the friendly Nixies, a Naga whose intelligence has been drained?  Why, there is a scroll of lesser restoration that can be found in the Naga’s own chest.  Of more interest to me was the puzzle of the Mask of Races, a powerful item hidden away in a riddle guarded, trapped laden barrow.  Here, different heroes of different races have been buried and protected with various traps and the party, if wise, will only try to find the tomb with the Mask of Races.  Another side benefit of his module is that it too is set within the Pekal region and GMs can use this to augment such campaigns.Night of the Rot Lord pits the power of a priest of disease against the party.  The group must save the villagers of Bhorr’s Bend from the horrors of the Rotting Flesh disease.  The party will get the chance to pit their might against the foul priest Gharr and his orc minions, but again, the module provides an easy out.  In one of the encounters, the party can find Keoghtom’s Ointment, which can cure the plague.  Of more interest to me then the adventure, as a GM, was the section on Diseases of the Sovereign Lands.  Each section includes a stat breakdown of How is the Disease Contracted, Who Carries the Disease, Stages of the Disease, By What Method Can the Disease be Cured, and the stats of the disease itself.  Included are Rotting Flesh Disease, Orc Shingles, Goblin Pox, The Black Plague, The Rotting Death, The Blue Death, and the Dancing Death.  These diseases can add a lot of depth to any campaign that needs to augment the variety of infection found in the setting.The last adventure, Unguarded Hoard, is another relatively short beast.  The party is contacted by the government of Bronish, a free city in Svimohzia, to deliver a message to their gold dragon guardian.  The problem is that the hobgoblins of the area have already slain said guardian and there are looters at the lair already.  The party must battle a group their own strength.  I felt that Kenzer copped out here by suggesting that the GM just copy the character’s sheets and use those as templates.  This isn’t an inexpensive module and providing some options would’ve been of great value in such a situation.  The majority of this section is actually taken up by details of the Free City of Bronish and includes background, a map, numerous details on different city quarters, government, economy, military might, and templates.  These details are the true meat of this section and provide the GM with opportunities to use the city of Bronish several times over.  The information on the Dark Elves and Lizard Folk can help the GM set up a short term or long term campaign and hopefully Kenzer will build up on this material in future modules as the death of a gold dragon is no small thing.The maps are very good and easy to read although their placement is somewhat puzzling. For example, why is the Dragon’s Lair from Unguarded Hoard placed before Gharr’s den, or the village of the Nixies and the map for the Sirocco’s Kiss is the very last map provided?  The ImageQuest tool, large, well done illustration on perforated pages, is another excellent tool for newer GMs.  These sixteen pages provide illustrations for key events and scenes in the module.The layout is standard two columns.  Text to be read aloud is boxed in gray.  The modules share a similar layout in that it starts with an introduction, provides background, an adventure synopsis, and adventure hooks.  Most of the adventure hooks are simple matters that GMs can customize for their own use.  Another important tool that is the Winding Road sidebars.  The Winding Road provides the GM with quick ideas on how to use the adventurers in this module with other modules already published by Kenzer.  The interior covers are used to provide the GM with city maps.  The first interior cover illustrates the city of Bet Seder, or at least the Seaport district.  The rear interior cover provides the City of Broish and almost 40 locals.  Because this is an official product, there is no D20 License and no open content within the module.So what would this module have to do to earn a five rating?  First off, competitively speaking, it’s a little too high in price.  These are old modules redone for 3rd edition and the original creation stages are already done.  Both Fiery Dragon and Necromancer have similar sized or larger books out for a smaller price tag.  Second, there are no notes on how to Scale the Adventure. Third, two of the adventurers, the Sirocco’s Kiss and Unguarded Hoard are so short, that they should’ve been either rewritten entirely, or removed.  Sirocco’s Kiss is less then five pages of adventure and Unguarded Hoard is about five pages.  The background provided for the two cities is fantastic and can provide the GM with numerous additional sessions but this is an adventure book first, sourcebook second.  Fourth, the module should’ve included stats for the looters in Unguarded Hoard.This is a nice collection of modules for GMs and with two of the adventurers, the lower level ones at that, set in Pekal, it’s perfect for those GMs who wish to establish a campaign there.  The Free City of Bronish is an excellent touch for those who want to get outside of Pekal and the material here provides the GM with enough information to last several sessions.</blockquote>

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