The backstory to this adventure sets the scene for the GM: a dastardly druid, a distraught treant and a bunch of inbred lizardfolk creating a fetid mix that attempted to bring woe on a village near the swamp in which they dwelt many years ago... and it looks as if they have resumed hostilities, given recent evidence of attacks. Once you've got that straight, there's a synopsis as to how the adventure might play out, and then we're off!

The actual locations used in the adventure are richly detailed, but their surroundings are not: thus it is easy to set it anywhere suitable in your own campaign world - just find some swampy woodlands and you are good to go. It's also self-contained enough to make a good one-off game, you ought to be able to run it in an evening's play.

Several hooks are provided, you can choose whatever seems best to get the party interested. What's even nicer is a selection of 'pre-hooks' - rumours that you can sprinkle into your campaign in advance of running this adventure that set the scene for when you do decide to unleash it. Getting the party to the lair is, however, otherwise left up to you - although some unpleasant splashing through a smelly swamp is recommended.

Once the party has arrived at the location the detail kicks in. It's not a nice place to live, dank and smelling of mud (and probably worse) and with a river actually flowing through it. There's a wealth of information about the lair and its residents, making it all come to rather unpleasant life and giving you everything you need to run the party's exploration and every encounter. At least twice, encounters are written two ways: one way should the party decide to fight and one way should they choose to try negotiations first. (Of course, if talks break down you can always go into fight mode.) Detailed stat blocks and tactical notes are provided, along with scaling notes if your party is more or less capable than the four 5th-level characters for which the adventure is intended.

Handouts/play aids provided include an unlabelled map of the lair (with or without a grid), details of magic items that may be found and copies of some of the artwork to use as 'this is what you see' when certain individuals are encountered. There are also six pre-generated characters, should you be running this as a one-off and are in a hurry to get going. Two new magic items and a couple of drugs/diseases are also included.

Fancy seeing your party splash through a fetid swamp? This is for you!

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Reviewed: 29 March 2016