With a very Egyptian flavour, this adventure casts the characters as tomb raiders out to find and explore a long-lost pyramid. The early stages involve investigation and intrigue as they find out about the pyramid and attempt to get hold of an artefact necessary to get in. Needless to say a rival group of treasure-hunters is on the same quest and do their best to get to everything before the characters do, if not worse. The characters then have to travel 50 miles across a desert and then venture into the pyramid itself.

The early stages of the adventure presuppose that the characters have an interest in antiquarian matters and exploration for the purpose of discovery (and maybe profit) rather than adventure. If your players don't fall into this model, the easiest way to use the adventure is to have them hired by someone who is. Despite the adventure being categorised as a 'journey' the trip across the desert, probably a couple of days on camelback, merits only a couple of paragraphs and only rival tomb raiders for opposition: if you think about the perils of a desert (or have Sandstorm) you can make the trip more challeging if desired.

The main bulk of the adventure is the exploration of the pyramid itself. Replete with numerological puzzles, mechanical and magical traps and the remains of those who were buried here, it gives an appropriate feel without drawing directly on Egyptian ideas. Some parties may not be inclined towards understanding what they find: if this is yours it may be best to pick another adventure. But for those who are curious about more than what they can hit or loot, this provides a memorable and different adventure.

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Reviewed: 22 January 2008