If ever a party was railroaded into an adventure, it would be this one. The Player Introduction tells a tale of abduction, ending with the party in a rat-infested dank cell with a voice saying they have a job for them to do...

The DM's Background explains about the Temple of the Eternal Flame and what the party will have to do. It's intended that the party members are kidnapped individually, so you could use this as a campaign-starter - provided that they actually survive a fairly tough dungeon delve. It may be more suitable for a one-off adventure, so if the worst happens at least nobody has lost a favourite character!

The temple itself is a pyramid, and the first trick is to figure out how to get in. Thereafter, the place is replete with traps and puzzles, as well as hostile denizens. None of them seem inclined to do anything but leap into combat as soon as they are encountered... well, one offers the party a single chance to leave, but only after at least one party member has been killed.

The whole background is a bit hazy, referring to an old and bitter feud between the fellow who abducted the party and someone based in the temple - the DM is encouraged to work out the details of the feud if they want to know more. There is a high element of railroading, with the fellow that abducted the party being regarded as 'too powerful to be dealt with' and left without details of level and capabilities. If surviving characters want to wreak their revenge later when they have become more powerful, again it will be up to you to determine his capabilities.

That said, the temple is well-described and everything therein works (once you know where it is). It's a bit overpowered for the level of character suggested, but that seems to be kind of the point. The party's supposed to feel pretty powerless, pawns in someone else's quarrel. Not many adventurers are going to like that, and they may want to do something about it, which could make for some interesting follow-up adventures.

Return to The Temple of the Eternal Flame page.

Reviewed: 14 October 2017