Dawn of the Serpent
Heart of Amun Khonshu, The
Temple of the Iron Codex
Adventure Boosters (series II):
d20 Adventures
(16 pages, 4 1/4" x 11")
Alderac Entertainment Group, $2.49 each
Here are reviews for three more of the half-sized adventures produced by Aldederac Entertainment. As mentioned before, these adventures are a tad expensive for what you get, but are still worth a look, considering their uniqueness (and possible collectiveness in the future).
Dawn of the Serpent by Steve Hough
This adventure for 3-4 characters of 5th-7th level is set along a road running through a large forest. The adventurers stumble across an eerie campfire at nightfall, and encounter an ambush setup by bandits nearby. After fighting their way out (or into) the ambush, the group is then led to the main villains of the module, a Medusa and her mate, living in a cave near the road. Finding and eliminating the two creatures involves some cave exploration, and is somewhat challenging. The module even introduces a new monster (the Medusa's mate), and an interesting new magic item as well (I won't spoil the fun by mentioning it here - sorry). In all, this module contains a decent amount of information to run the adventure in one night, and has enough ideas left over to possibly carry it beyond the limits of this small booklet. Definitely one of the better of these so-called Adventure Boosters.
The Heart of Amun Khonshu by Marcelo and Kat Figueroa
Set in a desert tomb, this adventure is for 5-8 characters of 8th-12 level. The module starts out with a stranger asking the adventurers to help him find a gem in the desert tomb of Amun Khonshu. The adventure supplies a short list of monsters to encounter on the trek into the desert. Once at the tomb, it's basically a matter of guessing which is the proper way to the actual resting place of the Heart of Amun Khonshu. Any wrong guess ends up with nasty trap or combat, and I do mean nasty. Some of the traps are the 'bam, you're dead' type, which I don't really care for. The final encounter is a tough fight with Amun Khonshu himself. In all, this adventure is for the hack'n'slash type of gamer. There is little substance or plot to this whole module, but it does have a new monster and treasure for the GM to use. This is one of the lower class of modules in this series, and should be at least glanced through before deciding on a purchase.
Temple of the Iron Codex by Ree Soesbee
A dungeon adventure for 3-5 character of 7th-10th level, the Iron Codex is a difficult challenge for any adventuring group. After a large earthquake, an underground temple is opened, unleashing evil upon the city. The adventurers must enter the temple and fight their way through many trecharous combats (rooms) that will challenge any seasoned gamer. The final challenge of finding the Iron Codex, a powerful magically book, and returning it to its proper resting place can be a bit daunting, as it is hidden rather well. Even after completing this mission, the module is open to further adventure, and could lead to quite a decent twist for any campaign. However, the module as a whole has that 1st edition feel to it, and is more of a dungeon crawl than anything else. There are even quite a few places where the writer keeps switching between the word 'turn' and 'round' for the same time frame. However, if you you like a good dungeon crawl, with a new monster and a powerful magic item, you'l like this adventure.
(review (c) March 2002 / David Flemming)