This is a neat little adventure to throw into your campaign some time after your party has thwarted the evil plots of someone who managed to get away from them, or just have proven themselves a bit of a nusiance to someone... and what party doesn't manage to put backs up at least somewhere that they go in your campaign world? For this adventure concerns vengeance, vengeance wreaked against the party when they have managed to irritate the wrong people once too often.

The first part of the product describes the members of the Council of Wrath, a bunch of mercenaries who specialise in vengeance. You pay them, they'll deal with whoever has annoyed you. They are a well-developed bunch of ruffians, with varied and complimentary skills honed to their preferred line of business.

A few running notes are supplied to aid the DM, particularly in the opening phase, when the Council runs a surveillance operation on the party to determine exactly what they will be up against prior to determining the best opportunity to attack. Very paranoid parties might pick up on this, but it's unlikely - these guys are good at what they do. They also make sure they have an escape plan ready during the final stages of their investigation, when they attempt to engage the party in conversation, often asking about past exploits - it all sounds like casual conversation in a bar to the unwary.

In the next phase, they really show their professionalism, convincing some other group to take the party on just so they can watch them in action. You can draft in whoever you feel are appropriate, but some additional NPCs are provided in case you do not have suitable ones of your own. Their next move is just as impressive - they kidnap someone the party is known to value as an insurance policy... or to use as bait. And only then do they mount their attack, generally trying to draw the party into an ambush, possibly as they try to rescue whoever got kidnapped.

Should the party survive, it's likely they will want to know what was going on, and ways for them to accomplish this are also provided.

This is a neat idea, impressively presented. Keep it handy for when the need to take the party down a peg or two arises...

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Reviewed: 12 April 2016