Beware! This review contains major spoilers.
This is not a playtest review.
Song Of Storms is an adventure for characters of levels 7-9. It is set in the Stormlands, a region close to Torassia, where Monkey Gods' 'Tsar Rising' adventure was set (though this is by a different author). At $16.95 for 88 pages, fairly good use of space (though with slightly larger than average margins), this represents fairly average value for money in terms of amount of content.
The internal art is mostly poor, as are the maps, though the front cover is an evocative pastiche of images that makes good use of colour. The writing style is generally excellent with a few minor editing errors.
500 years ago, a brilliant bard drew the attention of the goddess of song. Nine months after their night of passion, the goddess reappeared to the bard, handing him their child. The child (called The Siryn) grew to be a great bard in her own right, and travelled with two adventurers (Drummer and String), performing daring deeds. The adventurers joined forces with a powerful wizard (Ibonis) in order to defeat an evil enemy, and The Siryn and Ibonis fell in love once the enemy was killed.
The Siryn, Drummer and String planned to build a powerful fortress on an island where they had previously destroyed a white dragon, in the midst of the cold seas of Stormland. Ibonis was due to follow shortly, convinced to remain on another island nearby to advise the Jarl (lord) of the island. In truth, the evil Jarl's daughter had planned the separation, and used a potion to charm Ibonis into falling in love with her. The Siryn returned to the Jarl's island only to find Ibonis in the arms of his new lover.
Insane with rage and grief, the Siryn returned to the completed fortress. Begging aid from her mother, the Goddes of Song, The Siryn was taught a dreadful ritual by the goddess - the Ritual Of The Soul Storm - a horrific song that brought a crimson-clouded storm of negative energy scudding towards the Jarl's island. But Ibonis had escaped using his magic and the curse rebounded on The Siryn, turning her into a spirit and forcing her to re-enact the ritual on the night of the new moon and for a night either side every month.
The storm still wracks the Jarl's island 500 years later and is, in fact, becoming worse. The rain from the storm turns those caught in the sownpour into undead Storm Wraiths (a new monster) and the negative energy lightning paralyses those hit by it, making them even more susceptible to the effects of the crimson rain. The PCs arrive on the Jarl's island the day before the Soul Storm hits and experience the tetchiness and fear of the locals.
After experiencing the nightmare of the storm, the PCs are asked to travel to the island haunted by the Siryn in order to set the curse of the Soul Storm to rest. The PCs land on the island, and hopefully gain entrance to the fortress. They meet with the undead, but good-aligned String, one of The Syrin's old adventuring companions, after negotiating various monsters. They are pointed to a possible solution to the ending of the curse - a magical harp that lies in the caves beneath the fortress. After negotiating a slew of cunning and deadly traps, and a variety of creatures, they finally come across the harp, protected by the other adventuring companion of the Siryn, Drummer, who has survived this long through a magical ability to turn himself into a statue.
The climax is reached when the PCs confront The Siryn as she once again tries to raise the Soul Storm. They must use the harp to set her soul to rest, though other endings are also discussed.
In the Appendices, five new creatures are detailed, 3 spells, ten new magical items, and 2 new races - Stone Dwarves and the related prestige class (the Stonemaster, whence Drummer's ability comes) and Stormlander (a human sub-type suitable for the cold environment of the land where Song Of Storms is set).
Conclusion:
There are some really excellent aspects to this adventure. The storyline is good, the NPCs are well detailed and have information on actually roleplaying them (rather than just background, history and description). The setting is also evoked well and the good quality of writing brings setting, character and story alive. The adventure begins with plenty of opportunity for roleplaying on the Jarl's island, moves on to more combat-orientated scenarios as they enter the keep, concentrates on traps and skill use as they move underground and ends with a rousing climax where the PCs and the players are encouraged to think before they act.
All this is somewhat spoiled by two factors: the most obvious one is the amount of treasure to be gained in this adventure, which is truly stupefying. Monkey God have acknowledged this factor themselves and GMs are strongly advised to completely redesign the amount of treasure available. I also found a number of inconsistencies in the stat blocks, and these would have to be checked thoroughly before use. The use of odd-numbered ability bonuses for races is another weakness. The challenges put before the PCs, though singly within the limits for the character level the adventure was designed for, will be very tough over the whole adventure, especially the plethora of deadly traps in the underground area.
For me, the excellent setting, story, and characters, took this adventure well beyond the merely average. GMs who are not willing to check the stat blocks and redesign the treasure available are strongly advised to avoid this product. However, I would be willing to put in the time to be able to run such a good plot and characters, hence the score I have given.
