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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Simon Collins" data-source="post: 2008541" data-attributes="member: 9860">Beware! This review contains major spoilers.Terror In Freeport is an adventure for PCs of levels 2-5, although designed for four 3r-level PCs. It is a sequel to the Death In Freeport module. It costs $7.99.Presentation: Terror In Freeport is a 32 page softcover module. The front page offers a superb piece of colour artwork depicting a skeletal warrior in ridged armour and horned helm, clutching a morningstar. The back cover has a black and white drawing of an orc gang waylaying a messenger, and an overview of what the module offers. Both the inside covers are blank. The first and last pages contain the OGL and credits. The internal black and white artwork is average to good. The maps are clear and scaled. There is little white space and the margins are narrow.The Story: The introduction deals with a brief history of Freeport (the setting where the adventure takes place), a summary of the action from the previous module, Death In Freeport, and an adventure synopsis. There is also a 1/2 page map of the districts of Freeport with a key showing locations relevant to the adventure. For those who know nothing of the happenings in 'Death In Freeport', the basic plotline is that Milton Drac, the sealord of Freeport, is actually a high-ranking cultist of the Unspeakable One. He is constructing a lighthouse using magical bricks which is the focus of the sealord's nefarious plotting and the adventure series itself (the plot culminates in the final part of the adventure, Madness In Freeport). Milton Drac is duping one of his councilors, Verlaine, to front the building activities - the councilor knows nothing of the true machinations of Sealord Drac. At the beginning of the adventure, the PCs suspicions are aroused that the threat they discovered in 'Death In Freeport' is not being dealt with as efficiently as they might have expected. As they investigate further, they discover clues that imply that Councilor Verlaine is preventing the destruction of the temple the PCs previously discovered. In fact, Drac has ordered Verlaine to guard the outside of the temple, but Verlaine is unaware that it is still being used as a hiding place by the cultists. Meanwhile, a new temple is being constructed - beneath Verlaine's home. Whilst investigating the old temple, the PCs may discover the magical bricks which are being produced for use in the construction of the lighthouse. In the meantime, Drac has ordered Verlaine to investigate the PCs as troublemakers. Verlaine attempts to haul the PCs in for questioning and there is an opportunity for a face-to-face confrontation with Verlaine (including a selection of answers to awkward PC questions). Just as the threats from Verlaine's guards are about to lead to a fight, the PCs friend Brother Egil saves them in the nick of time; however, 'Brother Egil' is actually a cultist disguised with a potion of alter self, pretending that Lucius has been kidnapped again (as per Death In Freeport). In fact, Drac intends to lead the PCs into the centre of a twisted plot to brand the church of knowledge as the serpent cultists. The highlight of Drac's plot will be that all his opponents will be killed - the clerics of the temple of knowledge, Verlaine and the PCs. The disguised cultist attempts to lure the PCs down the sewers into a deathtrap. If the PCs escape, they can investigate the new temple beneath Verlaine's house (where they can discover the real Brother Egil) and the house itself, before returning to the temple of knowledge. The PCs arrive just in time to attempt to foil the plan to kill off all the clerics with clues gained from the new cultists' temple. The module finishes with some adventure seeds for play between Terror In Freeport and Madness In Freeport, some statistics for NPCs, a couple of handouts, and four example PCs.The Good: Terror In Freeport follows in the tradition of Death In Freeport with an engaging plot, that has some really nice twists to it. Scattered through the text are boxes outlining the 'real story' behind the red herrings, to keep the GM up to speed with whats going on, and this keeps the proceedings manageable, despite the complexity. There is plenty of information on how to handle NPCs (including the very useful section on the confrontation with Verlaine). There are opportunities for combat and a rather nasty trap, in addition to the plethora of opportunities for detective work and NPC interaction.The Bad: Though the plot itself differs from its predecessor, 'Death In Freeport', the theme itself is essentially repeated here - follow clues to learn of the subtle plotting going on, and discover the cultists temple. If you liked 'Death' and want some more, this is fine, but it isn't as fresh second time round and doesn't pack the punch of the last in the trilogy, 'Madness In Freeport'. Conclusion: This adventure is still a worthy successor to Death In Freeport, and is best used as a sequel. It has limited use outside of this context, but its complex, twisting plot should prove a memorable experience for mature gaming groups. I would have liked to see some of the suggestions for dealing with any PC actions that move away from the plotline, put into sidebars with an 'If the PCs do this...then do this...' focus, and an expansion of this approach. The module might also have benefited (although lost its intensity perhaps) by adding in some less plot-orientated scenarios to intersperse with the main focus. A more detailed explanantion of how to scale the adventure for PCs of different levels and an EL summary would also have been useful.</blockquote>

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