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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Simon Collins" data-source="post: 2008657" data-attributes="member: 9860">Beware! This review contains major spoilers.This is not a playtest review.Price: $9.95Page Count: 64Price per page: About 15 cents per pageDesigned for Character Level: 3-5External Artwork: A superb piece of colour art showing the main villainess holding a sword and packing a pistol, to a background of huge mechanical gears and mechanised test tubes.Extra Page Use: The back page gives an introduction and overview to the adventure. Both inside pages are blank. The first three pages give credits, OGL and contents.Internal Artwork: Excellent black and white sketches which fit the theme and mood of the module well, and enhance the text appropriately.Maps: The maps are a little dark and the scale is not defined.Page Layout: Good text density, with little white space, but fairly wide margin on the page side.Writing Style: Engaging style, though perhaps a little informal at times for my liking (a minor example, the use of the word 'grungy'). Regular but sparse typos that do not interfere with reading.The Adventure:The module begins with some conventions and an adventure summary before going on to give some detail on The Iron Kingdoms, which the adventure is set in. This information seems mainly new compared to that given in Part 1 of the trilogy, and details information on the various kingdoms, including elven and dwarven lands beyond the Kingdoms.The adventure begins with the PCs learning from their ally (from Part 1) Father Dumas that his niece (the main villainess from Part 1, Alexia) is headed towards the Temple of Cyriss, the Clockwork Goddess. Alexia is attempting to resurrect her mother using a mechano-magical device located within the temple. The temple lies in the swamps to the north of the city of Corvis where the PCs are currently located. The PCs also receive a threatening note from the evil wizard Oberen asking the PCs to recover the magical sword from Alexia which she took from Dumas' church in Part 1. There is a sidebar giving some information on the temple of Cyriss. The PCs must discover where the temple lies from roleplaying and Gather Information checks, and hire a boat to reach the temple. Various boat options are given, though one boat and its crew are detailed. The PCs journey through the swamp on a steam-powered paddle boat. On the way they encounter some locals who can give some advice and rumours (there is also a sidebar on food and drink), some swamp shamblers (undead), an ambush by swamp gobbers (humanoids), a tower containing razorbats and a thrall (undead) left by Alexia to harass pursuers, the shipwreck of a group of Inquisitors, men loyal to Oberen sent to pursue Alexia (there is also an amusingly titled sidebar 'Nobody Expects The Cygnaran Inquisition!' which details the background of the Inquisitors), an ambush by Gatormen (reptilian humanoids) which severely damages the steamboat, and a chance to roleplay a possible alliance with the Gatormen as the PCs head overland towards the Temple of Cyriss.The PCs then enter the temple, which is a very strange location packed with mechano-magical machinery guarded by worshippers of Cyriss and machines called Servitors. In addition, worshippers killed by Alexia, who has already infiltrated the temple, now rise as undead to threaten the PCs. The PCs must work their way through the maze of the temple facing various enemies, tricks, traps, secret doors, and magic before finally catching Alexia and (hopefully) defeating her. If the PCs recover the magical sword, advice is given for helping the GM to deal with situations of players trying to use this powerful artefact.When the players return to Corvis, the previous ousted ruler of Corvis, Raelthorne the Elder has reappeared and taken control of the city using Inquisitors and the forces of a new race, the Skorne, who the ex-leader has been feting during his absence from Corvis. Various options are given for sneaking into the city, where they discover from an ally in the Watch that Father Dumas has been taken to be tortured by the Inquisitors. The PCs can then attempt to rescue Father Dumas from the clutches of the Inquisition by entering the dungeons below the courthouse through the sewers. The PCs have a chance to rescue and interact with several other important political and criminal prisoners. The adventure wraps up with some options for hiding Father Dumas after his rescue and some future adventure options.The Appendices give stats and descriptions for new monsters (Cane Leech, Clockwork Priest, The Coveners, Gatorman, Great Oyster, Servitor of Cyriss, Skorne Warrior, Risen, and Tunnel Terror), and Characters. There is a final section detailing firearms and ammunition, including a sidebar on the use of Feats and Skills in relation to firearms, and some sample firearms. The High Points: An unusual and original setting, a well-balanced mixture of roleplaying, combat, skill use, and traps. There is a complex but cohesive plotline, with well-detailed NPCs and plenty of useful advice for the GM for running the adventure. The art is excellent and well-suited to the dark nature of the setting.The Low Points: Unlike Part 1 of this trilogy, I found the thought of using this adventure in a generic setting to be an overwhelming one. The main location in the adventure, a dungeon built of mechano-magical artifacts, and the heavy influence of steam and firearms would make modification of this part much more difficult than Part 1. Some of the plotline felt a little bit railroaded at times, though not to the overall detriment of the adventure.Conclusion: An exciting adventure in an unusual setting, that would be tough to modify to a more generic setting. Loads of original ideas and interesting sidebars and a must if you are using the Iron Kingdoms setting and enjoyed Part 1 of the trilogy.</blockquote>

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