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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Simon Collins" data-source="post: 2008545" data-attributes="member: 9860">Beware! This review contains major spoilers!Madness In Freeport is an adventure for four characters of levels 4-6 and the final part of the trilogy which began with Death In Freeport. It cost $10.95.Presentation: Madness In Freeport is a 48 page softcover module. The front page offers an excellent piece of colour artwork depicting a yellow-eyed being wearing a feather headband and rolling a skull in his hands. The back cover has a black and white drawing of a PC emerging through a trapdoor, and an overview of what the module offers. Both the inside covers have maps of different lvels of the lighthouse, Milton's Folly. The first page contains credits and the OGL (which partly bleeds over into a later page. The last page is an advertisement. The internal black and white artwork ranges from poor to good. The maps are clear and scaled. There is little white space and the margins are narrow.The Story: Madness In Freeport is the final instalment of the trilogy that gegan with Death In Freeport and continued with Death In Freeport. The PCs have investigated a cult worshipping the Unspeakable One. The lord of Freeport, Milton Drac, is also a high-ranking cultist. Drac plans to build a lighthouse that has the power to project the sign of the cult into the skies above Freeport, an act which will cause all who see it to become insane - this insanity is infectious and will spread to other lands. The PCs have previously discovered two temples of the cult and thwarted some of Milton Drac's minor plans. In Madness In Freeport, the lighthouse is completed, and the PCs must stop Drac performing the ritual which will bring about the infectious insanity. The module begins with an overview of Freeport and what has gone before. It then gives an adventure synopsis and covers a brief history of the Council of Freeport, giving an insight into some of the politics. Part One: The Grand Lighthouse Ball covers Drac's alternative plan to frame Councilor Verlaine, after the PCs actions in Terror In Freeport. In order to eliminate the pesky PCs, Drac decides to invite them to the inauguration ball at Drac's palace. The PCs can gain plenty of information from those attending the ball from interacting with the guests. There are two main events that occur at the ball - a ploy to get the PCs arrested for attempting to assassinate Drac, and the arrival of a mysterious man who reads out an ancient poem giving the PCs a clue as to the way to stop the ritual coming to fruition. Seventeen NPCs, guests at the ball are then described. Each NPC gets a third of a page which includes a description, quote and roleplaying information as well as the faction they belong to (a supporter of Milton Drac, Lady Elise - Drac's political opponent - or neutral) and a mini-portrait. There is also a sidebar describing some of the other political plotting that is happening above and beyond the main plot of the adventure. The PCs should by now have discovered clues that they need to search for an artifact, the Jade Serpent of Yig, somewhere in the sunken city of Valossa. They follow further clues to reach Part 2: Black Dog's Caves, the secret caves of Black Dog the Pirate, braving traps and creatures (including the spectre of Black Dog himself) to reach Part 3: The Sunken Temple of Yig. Yig was a god of the serpent-people who opposed the cult that is currently flourishing in Freeport. By retrieving several magic items from around the temple, they gain the help of a good-aligned undead serpent-person (shadow serpent, a new monster). The PCs face traps, evil shadow serpents, and cunning puzzles to gain the items. The good Shadow Serpent then asks for a sacrifice of blood from one of the PCs (which equates to the loss of 2 permanent points of Constitution) in order to cause the Jade Serpent of Yig to appear on an ancient altar. In Part Four, Milton's Folly, the PCs approach the lighthouse on the night of a new moon, attempting to stop the ritual using the Jade Serpent. There is a useful sidebar on modifying the timing of the PCs entry into the lighthouse so as not to seem too contrived, but still reach the climax of the plot. The PCs must deal with cultits, a gibbering mouther, a serpentman wizard before facing a final showdown with Milto Drac and his minions at the top of the lighthouse. The module goes on to give options for dealing with the aftermath of the showdown (its hard for the PCs to prove Drac's plan and they face murder charges from Drac's supporters on the council). There is then a short section giving four adventure hooks for further play in Freeport. The module ends with stats for NPCs, three new creatures (shadow constrictor snake, shadow serpent, and zombie constrictor snake), and two player handouts.The Good: Madness In Freeport offers the same plot complexity, depth of NPC character and enthralling atmosphere as the previous two modules in the series. This module has more focus to it than the previous two with the PCs under a time limit to stop the ritual that will bring madness to the entire world - its global implications heighten the tension. There is a good mix of roleplaying and combat within the adventure and in particular,the information backing up the NPCs in The Grand Lighthouse Ball section was an excellent basis for encouraging some great role-playing.The Bad: Though most of the encounters were well-balanced, the final climactic encounter was EL 13, which seems a little high for a party of four PCs of levels 4-6, though reading the encounter, some of these opponents attempt to move out of the area rather than attacking the PCs, effectively reducing the real EL. My preference is to see the stats for a NPC or creature in the main text rather than at the back of the book, an EL summary and a relatively thorough sidebar regarding Scaling The Adventure, but this is nitpicking.Conclusion: An excellent finish to the series, well-balanced and exciting. Works best as the final part of the trilogy but could be used standalone at a pinch. Has new monsters that could also be plucked out and used elsewhere and a style and infrastructure that serve well as an example of constructing and pacing an adventure.</blockquote>

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