Simon Collins
Explorer
Beware! This review contains major spoilers.
Three Days To Kill is an adventure module for characters of 1st-3rd level. It costs $8.95.
Production & Presentation: This is a softcover 32-page module. The front cover is an unusual but average piece of colour artwork. The back cover introduces the module and outlines its features. The front inside cover contains a basic map of the surrounding area and a more detailed map of the area around Trail’s End Villa. The back inside cover contains a basic but helpful map of the first and second floor of Trail’s End Villa itself. Further maps of Deeptown and three of its temples can be found within the module itself. These maps can be downloaded from www.atlas-games.com in Campaign Cartographer form. The text is well-defined and clear, making it easy to read. The text takes up about three-quarters of each page in a familiar two-column layout – the edge of each page is bordered by a totemic drawing – the pages at the chapter beginnings are 2/3 text in one column only. There are five pieces of pencil-sketch internal black & white artwork, some of which is of good quality and useful, some of which is unnecessary or average. There is also a photocopiable players handout of the route to Trail’s End Villa, which you could draw yourself.
The Story: The story is split into three chapters. Chapter One is 11 pages and is entitled ‘Backdrop’. This includes an explanation of the adventure and ways to customize it, an overview of the economic and political background, a description of the players base (Deeptown), a rundown of the local bandit groups, and information about the relevant temples in Deeptown that impinge on the adventure. Statistics are given for the important NPCs and a few local rumours thrown in for good measure. Chapter Two: Getting Started (7 pages), outlines the PCs arriving in Deeptown at the start of a festival sponsored by a sect devoted to an evil god of vice and debauchery. The scenes depicted in the festival are for use with a… how shall I put it… more mature roleplaying group. There is an amusing Drinking Game outlined in this section, which is supposed to be for roleplaying purposes, but could equally well be used in real life for those old enough to consume alcohol. The aim is to tell your opponent how you are going to kill him/her in the most amusing and creative way – get the module if you want the full rules for the game. The next section details the adventure hook – a disguised lieutenant of one of the local bandit lords offers the PCs a substantial reward if they disrupt a meeting between a rival bandit lord and some potential new allies (actually priests of the cult who sponsor the festival). The lieutenant also offers the PCs several magic items to aid them. An alternative adventure hook is given for ‘paladins and paranoids’. A number of tips are given to deal with PCs taking the scenario in different directions than the main one outlined. Chapter Three: The Trek North (8 pages) deals with the main focus of the adventure. On their way to Trail’s End Villa, where the meeting is to take place, the PCs come across some acolytes murdered by orcs. The next section details the defences organised surrounding the meeting and the layout of the villa. The next section outlines possible strategies that the PCs might take. Following that is an introduction to a very nasty item, The Bone Mirror, which is a portal straight to hell. The acolytes of the evil sect have brought the mirror with them to demonstrate their power to the bandit lord. There follows information on how to use the bone mirror to create chaos for the PCs and for the scenario as a whole, using this artifact. Three minions of hell are outlined, with statistics, and can be introduced via the mirror to toughen the scenario if necessary. To make things even worse, six orcs also show up at this point, looking to earn glory with their tribe by taking ears off a few of the bandits, acolytes, PCs or even the minions of hell. It’s one hell of an ending. Further information is outlined dealing with the possible consequences of the outcome and future adventures. A box at the end gives the Challenge ratings of all the opponents.
The High Points: I like the adventure hook – the PCs are hired by bandits to cause havoc for their rivals and a group of evil cultists. That has potential for further adventures right from the start. There are all sorts of scams and powerplays happening in Deeptown that started me thinking of several adventures that could be linked to them. The evil Sect of the Sixty, which promotes evil through vice and debauchery, seems an excellent organisation for long-term villainy, since its actions are never overt – it seeks to gain power covertly over time with insidious plots, blackmail and the like. I appreciated the introduction of some adult themes – this was done in a way that was not gratuitous, allowed the PCs to see the consequences of their actions at a later date, allowing mature themes to be threaded into the adventure in a responsible manner. The module allows for PCs to take alternative actions throughout the adventure and the final scene at the villa has many possibilities, dependent on the actions of the PCs – a refreshing change. I particularly liked the Bone Mirror and its possible uses for enhancing the scenario.
The Low Points: I felt that too much was covered in too short a space and that areas of the module that seemed particularly interesting were not fleshed out enough. Certainly the DM has to do some work to develop these ideas. This was also true of the NPCs – I would have liked more information on their attitudes and behaviours. The module warns that if the PCs charge into the final scene without a strategy they could easily get slaughtered – if you run a group who dives into combat without a second thought, the finale could be a harsh lesson. Also, if all the possible combatants are introduced in the finale, you may end up with a very complex final combat, which would tax even the quickest mind in keeping track of all the NPC groups and the PCs. I found the internal maps of the town and temples to be bland and uninspiring.
Conclusion: I have given this adventure a Good rating because I feel it gives a useful example of how to weave political, moral and religious themes into a relatively open-ended adventure. If they’d been able to flesh out the setting and the NPCs a bit more it could have been Superb.
Three Days To Kill is an adventure module for characters of 1st-3rd level. It costs $8.95.
Production & Presentation: This is a softcover 32-page module. The front cover is an unusual but average piece of colour artwork. The back cover introduces the module and outlines its features. The front inside cover contains a basic map of the surrounding area and a more detailed map of the area around Trail’s End Villa. The back inside cover contains a basic but helpful map of the first and second floor of Trail’s End Villa itself. Further maps of Deeptown and three of its temples can be found within the module itself. These maps can be downloaded from www.atlas-games.com in Campaign Cartographer form. The text is well-defined and clear, making it easy to read. The text takes up about three-quarters of each page in a familiar two-column layout – the edge of each page is bordered by a totemic drawing – the pages at the chapter beginnings are 2/3 text in one column only. There are five pieces of pencil-sketch internal black & white artwork, some of which is of good quality and useful, some of which is unnecessary or average. There is also a photocopiable players handout of the route to Trail’s End Villa, which you could draw yourself.
The Story: The story is split into three chapters. Chapter One is 11 pages and is entitled ‘Backdrop’. This includes an explanation of the adventure and ways to customize it, an overview of the economic and political background, a description of the players base (Deeptown), a rundown of the local bandit groups, and information about the relevant temples in Deeptown that impinge on the adventure. Statistics are given for the important NPCs and a few local rumours thrown in for good measure. Chapter Two: Getting Started (7 pages), outlines the PCs arriving in Deeptown at the start of a festival sponsored by a sect devoted to an evil god of vice and debauchery. The scenes depicted in the festival are for use with a… how shall I put it… more mature roleplaying group. There is an amusing Drinking Game outlined in this section, which is supposed to be for roleplaying purposes, but could equally well be used in real life for those old enough to consume alcohol. The aim is to tell your opponent how you are going to kill him/her in the most amusing and creative way – get the module if you want the full rules for the game. The next section details the adventure hook – a disguised lieutenant of one of the local bandit lords offers the PCs a substantial reward if they disrupt a meeting between a rival bandit lord and some potential new allies (actually priests of the cult who sponsor the festival). The lieutenant also offers the PCs several magic items to aid them. An alternative adventure hook is given for ‘paladins and paranoids’. A number of tips are given to deal with PCs taking the scenario in different directions than the main one outlined. Chapter Three: The Trek North (8 pages) deals with the main focus of the adventure. On their way to Trail’s End Villa, where the meeting is to take place, the PCs come across some acolytes murdered by orcs. The next section details the defences organised surrounding the meeting and the layout of the villa. The next section outlines possible strategies that the PCs might take. Following that is an introduction to a very nasty item, The Bone Mirror, which is a portal straight to hell. The acolytes of the evil sect have brought the mirror with them to demonstrate their power to the bandit lord. There follows information on how to use the bone mirror to create chaos for the PCs and for the scenario as a whole, using this artifact. Three minions of hell are outlined, with statistics, and can be introduced via the mirror to toughen the scenario if necessary. To make things even worse, six orcs also show up at this point, looking to earn glory with their tribe by taking ears off a few of the bandits, acolytes, PCs or even the minions of hell. It’s one hell of an ending. Further information is outlined dealing with the possible consequences of the outcome and future adventures. A box at the end gives the Challenge ratings of all the opponents.
The High Points: I like the adventure hook – the PCs are hired by bandits to cause havoc for their rivals and a group of evil cultists. That has potential for further adventures right from the start. There are all sorts of scams and powerplays happening in Deeptown that started me thinking of several adventures that could be linked to them. The evil Sect of the Sixty, which promotes evil through vice and debauchery, seems an excellent organisation for long-term villainy, since its actions are never overt – it seeks to gain power covertly over time with insidious plots, blackmail and the like. I appreciated the introduction of some adult themes – this was done in a way that was not gratuitous, allowed the PCs to see the consequences of their actions at a later date, allowing mature themes to be threaded into the adventure in a responsible manner. The module allows for PCs to take alternative actions throughout the adventure and the final scene at the villa has many possibilities, dependent on the actions of the PCs – a refreshing change. I particularly liked the Bone Mirror and its possible uses for enhancing the scenario.
The Low Points: I felt that too much was covered in too short a space and that areas of the module that seemed particularly interesting were not fleshed out enough. Certainly the DM has to do some work to develop these ideas. This was also true of the NPCs – I would have liked more information on their attitudes and behaviours. The module warns that if the PCs charge into the final scene without a strategy they could easily get slaughtered – if you run a group who dives into combat without a second thought, the finale could be a harsh lesson. Also, if all the possible combatants are introduced in the finale, you may end up with a very complex final combat, which would tax even the quickest mind in keeping track of all the NPC groups and the PCs. I found the internal maps of the town and temples to be bland and uninspiring.
Conclusion: I have given this adventure a Good rating because I feel it gives a useful example of how to weave political, moral and religious themes into a relatively open-ended adventure. If they’d been able to flesh out the setting and the NPCs a bit more it could have been Superb.
