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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Simon Collins" data-source="post: 2008656" data-attributes="member: 9860">Beware! This review contains major spoilers.This is not a playtest review.Price: $9.95Pages: 64Price per page: About 15 cents per page.Designed for Characters of Level: 1-2.Front Cover: A superb piece of art depicting the villainess surrounded by an appropriately gruseome horde of undead.Extra Page Use: The back cover gives a brief introduction to the adventure and the Iron Kingdoms setting. Both inside covers are blank. The first three pages contain credits, contents and the OGL and d20 Licence. The last 1/2 page gives a brief overview of future Privateer Press releases.Internal Artwork: The internal artwork are superb, black-and-white sketches with a dark, brooding style to them.Maps: Though some are a bit dark, the maps are clear with a 10 ft. per square scale.Writing Style: The style is fairly standard stuff, occasionally lapsing into informality. What is being written about tends to be better than the quality of the writing itself. There are fairly regular typos scattered throughout the text.Layout: The text density is good. There are some chunks of white space and a wide graphic margin, although sidebars do overlay this at times. The monster stats in the appendix are in a reduced font size to maximise text density for these aspects.The Adventure:The module begins with some advice on how to run the module and an adventure summary. The PCs are asked by Father Pandor Dumas to investigate some bodysnatching from the local graveyard. Dumas' niece is behind the thefts, as she practices necromancy to eventually avenge her mother's death in a recent witch-hunt by the city. A wizard, Vahn Oberen, was secretly the man behind the witch-hunt. He is now manipulating the insane niece in the hope of gaining access to a magical sword which was the motivator behind the original witch-hunt. The sword has absorbed the powers of the witches that were killed with it and Oberen seeks to gain access to those powers himself.In the next section, The Iron Kingdoms, an overview of the setting is given. Some in-character descriptions of the kingdom of Cygnar, and the city of Corvis, where the adventure series takes place. Three interesting areas in Corvis are previewed - the Undercity (the oldest part of the city now swallowed by the surrounding swamp), the Quad (merchants quarter/market) and the Waterfront (the rough end of town). The section goes on to deal with Law and Order in some detail and includes subsections on The City Watch, Taxes, and a sidebar on Crime & Punishment. There is also a sidebar on Firearms, as a magical version of gunpowder is available in very limited quantities; the sidebar contains a brief synopsis of craft, profession and knowledge skills related to firearms.The setting information continues with an overview of the Merchants of Corvis, where different types of merchants are located in different areas of the city, before going on to give specific examples of noteworthy shops and shopkeepers. Four important guilds are covered - the Merchants Guild, the Thieves Guild (actually a number of unrelated organisations), the Wizards Guild (actually just 11 wizards), and the Engineers Guild (also known as The Union). There is a sidebar on Steam Power, which is an important part of the setting as (amongst other things) it powers steamjacks, metal giants powered by steam but given a basic intelligence through magical means; the sidebar contains a brief synopsis of craft, profession and knowledge skills related to steam engineering. The section ends with an overview of the nearby Widower's Wood, with legends of undead, lost gold, and a mysterious dragon. There is an accompanying sidebar detailing random encounters in the wood, with some thoughtful modifiers. There is also a rough map of the region.The adventure itself begins with the PCs entering Corvis with a merchant caravan after suffering an ambush in the surrounding swamps. They visit Father Dumas to deliver goods from the caravan and receive healing. Dumas raises the issue of the missing bodies and asks the PCs to investigate. There is a sidebar on the 'Human Religions in the Iron Kingdoms' and more information on this (and other Iron Kingdoms info) can be found at http://ironkingdoms.com. Some background information is then given for the adventure to the GM before the PCs move on to investigating the grave robberies. Several areas for investigation are detailed, along with a sidebar on clues and some information for the GM as to whats going on behind the scenes.One of the strongest leads the PCs discover is information on the witch-hunt and the relation of this information to the Witches' Tomb, an ancient tomb dating from the Orgoth Empire (there is a sidebar giving some background info on the empire) where the witches bodies were laid 'to rest'. The tomb is curently being used by a tribe of Swamp Gobbers - a new monster - chameleon-like Goblinoids. The PCs have a chance to interact with a frightened gobber, explore the secrets of the tomb, face a new type of undead (the Thrall, crafted by a necromancer using arcane glyphs to animate the dead), discover some interesting treasure and, possibly, deducing that Dumas' niece (actually a necromancer) is behind the grave robberies. Various options for dealing with the PCs' plans and reactions are detailed, with plenty of encouragement for letting the PCs have some free reign as to how to deal with the situation.The PCs get an opportunity to follow Dumas' niece (Alexia) back to her hideout in the Undercity of Corvis, whatever the outcome of the PCs actions. If they brave some traps, they can find Alexia and interact with her to discover her motivations and arguments behind her actions. However, she has the ability to escape from the PCs using her magic (she is significantly higher level than the PCs), leaving them trapped in her hideout. Further exploration of the area reveals more secrets and a way out via a temple dedicated to the Iron Kingdoms equivalent of a saint, an Avatar of the gods. When the PCs return to Corvis, they meet the Watch Captain, who offers some advice and some equipment to help them discover more of Alexia's plans. This includes some explodable powder kegs detailed in a sidebar. He also points them in the right direction to Alexia's lair - an abandoned keep - and hints at interference in his attempts to bring Alexia to justice from high within the government of Corvis.  The PCs reach the keep to discover that Alexia ia raising an army of undead and must fend off the attacks of a group of assassins sent by Oberen who wants Alexia to launch her attack so that he himself can steal the sword.The final part of the adventure involves the launch of Alexia's attack on the city by her undead army and her attempt to recover her mother's corpse and the magical sword from the church. Various sidetracks during the invasion are given to keep the PCs occupied and details of the enemy plan are given. The climax of the attack comes with the PCs defending the Church and the attempt by Alexia and Oberen to take the sword for themselves.The Appendices give descriptions and stats for 10 new creatures (Bog Constrictor, Cavewort, Devil Rats, Gorax, Pygmy Boar, Razorbat, Swamp Gobber, Swamp Shambler, Swamp Squid, and Thrall), Generic NPCs (e.g. Thug, Merchant, Watchman), and the major NPCs of the module.High Points: A fascinating setting, a strong and twisting plotline, well-developed NPCs, some original new monsters, and rules for Firearms and Steam Power. In addition, the module introduces a powerful artefact, an army of undead, a a dark sorceress and high-level political intrigue, yet still manages to make it a balanced and worthwhile experience for the low-level characters the adventure was designed for. The art is very atmospheric and there is plenty of advice for running the adventure and keeping the PCs options open.The Low Points: Minor stuff really. The regular typos and the occasional glitches with text for reading to the players being outside text boxes. The adventure could be modified to a more generic campaign world, but you'd miss out on the idiosynchrasies of the setting that make it so unusual and interesting. There is little information on scaling or modifying the adventure in the module. I would have liked to see the existence of monsters, treasures and traps highlighted in each encounter area for ease of use during game play.Conclusion: One of the best low-level adventures I have read. A balanced and rich adventure with depth and verve. A few minor design faults do not detract from this overall impression.</blockquote>

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