This adventure in the campaign The Sinking sends the characters into the Army Quarter, showing them some of the aftermath of the cataclysm there... as well as, wherever you might go in the Great City, how adventure, danger and opportunity are never too far away!

As in many of the best adventures, it is a seemingly minor event that sets the whole thing in motion. The sort of event that the best GMs slip in just to make their alternate reality come alive in their players' minds, in this case used as a neat way to begin the adventure. Better yet, it's an adventure that poses a moral quandry to the characters, faced with conflicting pleas for assistance, who should they help?

The adventure revolves around some former slaves, who took advantage of the cataclysm to part company with their previous masters, and other denizens of the sewers and catacombs in which they have taken refuge. It begins, however, where adventurers are often found: in a tavern. As usual, several hooks are provided to encourage the characters to get involved, ranging from employment opportunities to a barmaid offering one of the characters... er, well, you know, we'll say her favours. However they become involved, a merry chase through the sewers ensues.

The sewers are well-described, although the map is rudimentary. The text will enable you to set the scene well, and the characters should soon realise that anyone living there by choice must have a very good reason for not emerging into the world above. Naturally, whatever the characters do has consequences, including raising the ire of the slavers, leading to a climatic scene on a yacht in the harbour. All very nicely done, there is the real feel of this being an operation in progress that the characters have happened upon, that would be going on whether or not they were around, rather than something provided for them.

In reviewing 0one product, the fact that the company's native tongue is not English is normally only apparent by occasional clumsy turns of phrase, but this one alas is dotted with errors that at times make it quite hard to figure out just what is being said. A good proofread, preferably by a native English speaker, would have been of benefit.

The aftermath of the adventure will leave the characters with both enemies and allies for the future, but provides a satisfactory conclusion if you choose to run this as a one-off. Overall it is a good and exciting adventure with plenty to do, and scope for characters who enjoy interaction as well as those looking to exercise their sword-arms.

Return to Tunnels of Despair page.

Reviewed: 27 May 2011