On the surface, this is a straightforward adventure, with the characters being asked to help a mining community that is plagued by lizardman attacks. But from the outset, there is depth and subtlty: the community's leader insists that a peaceful settlement be reached with the lizardmen tribes, and the problem has attracted a few unsavoury folks who see an opportunity to vent their general hatred of lizardmen under the guise of being helpful.

As the adventure unfolds, the layers of complexity in the plot are revealed. The lizardman tribes to be found in the swamp each have their own distinctive character and motivations, and their reasons for behaving in the way that they do. There's a clear feeling that this is a 'real' community into which players and DM can venture and whith whom they can interact - it's not a case of, 'here are the opposition lined up for you to defeat.'

Moreover, although there are opportunities for some good fights, a party will not be able to complete the adventure by sword and spell power alone. They'll need to use their brains and their tongues as well. Characters who jump to conclusions are likely to make a mess of things... but like the best adventures, all eventualities are covered and the outcomes of a range of character actions are provided.

While it's a stand-alone adventure you can put anywhere there's a suitable swamp, run, and then move on; it could be the jumping-off point for a whole series of adventures as, well, without giving too much away, the Divine Alligator is not the only one... and if you choose to make the reasons why he's there a major threat to your campaign world, there's the scope to keep your adventurers busy for a long time.

Presentation-wise, the adventure comes in the standard Master Adventures format, complete with battlemap illustrations of two key locations where combat might break out as well as maps of other places the characters are likely to visit. It is also accompanied by a whole PDF of battlemaps associated with the Divine Alligator's Temple for those who wish to make use of them.

As a complete package, both in terms of the adventure itself and the way in which it is resourced, it is hard to beat.

Return to The Divine Alligator page.