IF THIS REVIEW WAS JUST FOR THE CONTENTS OF THE BOOK IT WOULD BE AT LEAST 3 STARS, MAYBE 4!

But sadly, that is not the case. The PDF quality of this book is atrocious, and frankly, unprofessional. It's a low quality scan of the physical book, complete with off-kilter pages and hard to read text that can not be selected by any PDF program I have tried. The maps are in a similar shape, being pretty low quality scans with strange blemishes on the edges.

On one hand I understand. This huge a product, that debuted right before the big push for publishers to make their products into PDF. If the files got lost, or proper digital masters never existed in the first place, then this would be a nightmare to retype the whole thing.

But on the other hand that doesn't change the fact that in its current state it is basically unusable and inaccessible to the modern gamer.

Well how about the contents? Are they good?

Yeah, sure! This book is as advertised. MASSIVE! Is everything a home run? No. Is the book pretty? No. Is the city rich and vibrant and full of cool adventuring hooks? You bet your britches it is!

There's just so much here that you will find tons of things you love, alongside stuff that you don't care for and can easily throw out.

In conclusion, don't buy this PDF at least as of my review. Its not worth while unless it gets some serious updating, which I sadly doubt. If you want to take the time and trouble to excavate through this book as an act of ttrpg archaeology, then by all means! I think you will have a good time doing it. Otherwise: Hard Pass.

First the good: This is a MUCH better quality scan than the PDF you may have seen out in the wild. The text is clear and legible, and the shading (such as for the read-to-PCs boxtext) is visible. Also, it DOES have searchable text! HOWEVER: it's based on OCR and not great. For example, on page 50 (52 of the PDF) what is supposed to read as: "A80. FIENDISH STIRGE NEST," in the OCR layer, says: "A00. FIENPISH STIRCE NEST". So naturally, a search for "A80" for example won't locate this section, and a search for "stirge" will hit many results, also not that header. Those kinds of OCR issues are all through it! BUT! It really is better than nothing! There's also no bookmarks!! They do break up the entire document into multiple PDFs based on the map sections -- so, bookmarks based on major lettered sections is moot. But there are a LOT of places where bookmarks would be VERY handy, not just for the indiuvidual rooms. But like, environment conditions and random encounter charts, etc. (I'm making do by adding comments and making a kind of makeshift bookmark list.) As for the maps, they're the GM's versions that came with the book. They zoom in OK and don't look terrible, but you still can't really use them in a VTT since things like room numbers and secret doors are annoyingly prominant. That's fine, I'm using the maps provided on http://www.james.neetersoft.com/wld/wld.htm Bottom line, is it worth $40? Not really. I mean, the dungeon itself is really massive, and unlike a LOT of big box campaigns where most of the dungeon is undescribed and left to the DM to fill in -- this is legit STUFFED with content! And some story arc! Sure, it has some issues, content-wise... but when it originally came out it was definitely worth (nearly but not quite) $100. But now, long after its release and everyone involed (hopefully) got paid... the quality of this PDF release is kind of sloppy and not really worth $40. I don't really regret buying it, because I AM using it for a 1st ed AD&D translation... but for $40 I would have expected: better searchable OCR (especially for something this massive!!), bookmarks in the PDF, and maps that can be used for VTT or at least show the players. $40 gives me some buyer's remourse, but $20 would have been perfect! I guess wait to get a good sale :)

The file was blank except for the front and back covers. What a jip.

The book portion is a pretty faithful reproduction of the print book. The maps are scans and split into four often-misaligned sections. Because of this, there are gaps between the sections that cause some rooms, encounters, or walls to disappear.

First: this is listed as a 5e module, which it is definitely not. I think it's 3.5E but not sure. Great theme and ideas, several fun encounters and overall a great, dark theme and mood. I wish there were more art and a better, bigger map. But I was able to fake together some other online resources and use those instead for the visuals.

The layout is very odd- if you have access to a pdf viewer/printer that can do "booklets", you can print this out and cut and/or fold it to be in a logical page sequence. But it's not that hard to just print out the whole thing and then read through the layout once you get used to it.

I bought this as a pocket module when it was first published and it was wroth purchasing again in pdf. A good short adventure to drop into your campaign.

I bought this book from a FLGS years ago and have loved using it. However, I now play most of my games online. Having it in a PDF format will make my life infinitely easier when importing tables into Roll20. Great book. I suggest picking it up!

This Oriental-style adventure begins when a powerful lord's ancestral swords are stolen! War is brewing and it would be disasterous for morale if word got out... and the poor lord's lands, his whole heritage, are at risk. As you can imagine, it's really important to get the swords back preferably before anyone realises that they are missing!

That's all in the Player Introduction, printed as usual on the back cover of the module. It all seems quite straightforward... then the DM's Background explains how it's a bit more complicated than that. There's all manner of scheming and double-dealing going on, a quite fascinating story... but will it come out? There's some further background for the players, and a selection of ways of getting the party involved in this whole sorry mess.

The early part of the adventure, as can be imagined, is very much investigative but fear not, it soon turns into a delve into some quite interesting places underneath the lord's ancestral castle... places even he didn't know were there. There's a good plan of this underground complex for the DM, and notes on the myriad traps and other things to be found down there... and reasons for why they are there. It's not one of those implausible trapped mazes that are there just because, well, a bunch of adventurers might visit one day. However, some of the 'read aloud' text blocks seem to have drifted from the rooms they were intended for, so read through in advance and reassign them as appropriate - from Room #5, move them all up 2 rooms (i.e. the text block associated with Room #7 actually belongs to Room #5 and so on). It makes more sense when you look at it.

There's an interesting new monster which provides an added dimension to proceedings, and the opportunity for a good brawl at the end. The ramifications of different outcomes are explained clearly. Overall, it makes for an exciting adventure with real depth, and could provide one of the defining points in the early part of an Oriental campaign, giving the party an opportunity to get established.

Designed for an Oriental setting, this adventure plays upon the constraints imposed by a rigid adherence to the code of Bushido or similar comprehensive code of honour. A hitherto courageous daimyo is plagued with nightmares of his ancestors meeting their ends in inglorious ways, not the heroic deaths the legends tell of them, and wants his most trusted retainers (the party, in other words) to find out what REALLY happened to them.

The DM's Background explains just why poor Lord Jingoro is having nightmares, and contains a reminder that as his faithful retainers the party are charged with guarding his property as well as his person... when the entire adventure takes place in his palace, this means that they ought to take care when fighting or spell-casting so as not to do too much damage!

It all begins when the party arrives at the palace one fine summer morning and find Lord Jingoro's wife Suko in floods of tears. The poor fellow is in a terrible state believing his whole life to be built upon the lie of praising dishonourable ancestors and he is threatening to take his own life. The party will need to sift through the records and deal with ancestral spirits themselves to find out if this is true in an attempt to save their lord's life. There's a map of the estate for them to search through, scrolls to read and shrines to visit in their quest; as well as servants to question.

The whole thing is quite convoluted, but captures the essence of matters important to the oriental mind that would not concern westerners to such an extent. Plot and counterplot ensure that there's enough going on. There are some annoying typos, but it's easy enough to figure out what is intended. Virtually every possible outcome is noted, just about all of which have ramifications for the future of your campaign.

Very much intended for an Oriental setting, this adventure takes the party towards a tiny quiet village whose main aim seems to be to stay out of the public eye... but they are attacked before they even get there, by a bunch of bandits!

The DM's Background describes what is behind this attack, and tells the tale of a cat whose curiousity was so great that it became a powerful and mischievous spirit. We all know cats like that!

It's not made clear why the party's going to the village in the first place, perhaps they are merely passing through. After the bandit attack, however, they may wish to go there. Here they find demoralised peasants who claim to be under the power of a demon lord. There's no inn, so if the party want to stay they can either lodge with a peasant, stay in the temple or visit a nearby castle. There is some limited interaction to be had in the village, but it seems inevitable that the party will end up going to the castle where the demon lord is said to live.

There's a map of the castle (but not one of the village or surrounding area), coupled with room descriptions and encounters therein. The place seems well-provided with traps... and with cats! There are other dangers as well.

While the adventure itself is rather basic, the party has quite an interesting moral problem to solve, based on the reason why the situation they faced arose. Their choice could lead to long-term ramifications... at least, if anyone finds out what they chose to do. It could work well near the beginning of an Oriental campaign, but has limited use if you are not running one.

Alstad used to be a prosperous town, bustling with life. Now it's deserted, animals are skittish, and a few gaunt faces peer out the windows. Then a ten-year-old boy asks the party for help - his parents have vanished! Can you help the lad, and maybe sort out the town's problem as well?

The DM's Background lays it all out, explaining the root cause of all the recent disappearances and how it came to be loose in town. Details are left purposefully vague, so that you can drop Alstad into a suitable location in your campaign world, although it is suggested that the adventure is best run in mid-autumn, with days shortening, the air getting chilly, and mists abounding. That said, the town itself is well-described, with a smallish map and notes on locations and notable inhabitants (or at least, who's left!). Conveniently there is someone in town who has the knowledge to realise what is going on - if only someone updates them on the situation and asks the right questions. You can use this person if the party are struggling to figure things out.

Perhaps the party has heard rumours that something odd is going on in Alstad, or they may have just arrived on other business (probably passing through) and find the place strangely deserted. Whichever way, the adventure begins as they are accosted by a scared small boy. Then they can explore the town and speak to the few still there.

Nearby there is a hill, Watchman's Hill, where the town's founder (a former adventuring wizard called Alstad) is buried in what used to be the town's cemetery. That is full now, and a new one has been started on the edge of town. Nowadays few folk go up Watchman's Hill, it has a reputation as a bit of a spooky place. This spooky feeling is now in town. Perhaps there's a connection?

It's a well-constructed story and serves to introduce both a nasty undead and a powerful yet flawed artefact, which you might wish to use outside of this adventure. Menace builds slowly but steadily, with the end being either the elimination of the threat or the elimination of the entire town (and possibly the party as well). Nice creepy tale, best played after dark...

If someone hires you for a 'simple bodyguard job' you know it's time to expect the worst, right? This one is no exception, as the party is hired to protect a merchant and the bodies begin to mount up. But will they stay dead?

The DM's Background explains all, introducing a new undead monster template, the revenant - a killing machine bent on revenge and it seems nothing will stop it. The plot itself concerns skullduggery in the clothing trade, and there seems to be plenty there to keep the party busy even without the introduction of undead... and of course they'll have to decide if they are protecting the right individual.

The adventure can start in any reasonable-sized city in your campaign world, when the party sees plenty of want-ads for good bodyguards and investigate further. There are events in town, messages in the dark and opportunities to fight or make a hasty exit, and hopefully the party will piece things together and realise not all their opponents are still alive although their employer's associates are departing this mortal coil at an alarming rate. Perhaps they can save one or two by getting there before who- or whatever is killing them off does. Eventually they should end up in a subterranean maze under a keep owned by one of these associates, where matters come to a head...

What was created as a vehicle for presenting new undead (to go along with Alderac Entertainment Group's sourcebook Undead) is a lot more, with a coherent backstory and a chance for plenty of interaction and excitement as the party try to keep people alive... but do they deserve to live?

This adventure, for characters of 5th-7th level, sends the party into a ruined keep that's crawling with undead where they'll have to find out what's causing the problem and face a tough decision between doing the right thing and lining their own pockets rather hansomely! The Players' Introduction explains that everyone knows about the lich who lives up there and so stay away, but of late it seems impossible to bury your dead hereabouts without them springing back out of their graves!

The GM Background explains what's going on and who is really behind all the trouble. Moreover the party receives not one but two job offers to clear out the keep... one of which is from the lich himself! Needless to say, the objectives of the two job offers are somewhat different, and whichever one the party decides to take, the other lot are bound to be annoyed and liable to cause them problems in the future.

The adventure begins in the bustling port of Heathwyck, which lies in the shadow of a mountain known as Covenant Hill. Here the party receives their first assignment from the Temple of Light, who want them to steal the lich's phylactery, the artefact that empowers his abilities to raise and control undead. The locals greet the news with delight, and start treating them as heroes even before they depart on their mission...

It's not too far to the keep, even if it is a bit of a climb and the road is overgrown. The keep is well-described and there's a good plan (but it's not player-friendly, you'll need to sketch something out to show them) - and the place is crawling with undead. Should the party study what they find they can discover the truth of the matter, which might change their opinions as to what they ought to do. A new form of undead and the phylactery itself provide the customary new monster and new artefact.

It's a fairly straightforward slog of a fight against a large - and I mean large - number of undead, although the twists and turns of who's actually doing what and the conflicting job offers make it just a little more than that. There are a few errors in the text (mostly spelling, but one bit that doesn't make sense - fortunately not an important one), otherwise it's presented clearly. A good session-worth of fighting to drop into a campaign. And of course there's the undying emnity of someone to contend with thereafter...

The Players' Introduction, or back page text, tells of ancient swamp dwellers exacting revenge for those they feel have abandoned them. The DM's Background explains a bit more - how the relationship between swamp-dwellers and villagers arose, and why the swamp-dwellers had wanted the alliance in the first place (something they conveniently omitted to tell the villagers). It involved a dragon, of course. One that was crippled and resorted to other ways to exert its power over its surroundings.

The adventure starts in a nearby town, where the sole survivor of the village has sought aid. This has set the entire town on edge, noticeable as the party arrives. In due course, the party will be offered work, their mission to find out what is going on in the village and why they were attacked. It's up to you to get them there: some frontier terrain, trackless and marshy, with a couple of encounters thrown in, is recommended but not provided. The devastated village is well mapped and described, with an interesting twist - the invaders actually want to talk! Parties who rush in to do battle straight away will not do themselves any favours.

There's some excellent scenes where the true otherness of the intruders is revealed, and the party will have to engage with their customs to make the best impression before venturing into the swamp itself to confront the problem that brought matters to a head. There's some interesting follow-up material to suggest directions in which your plotline might go given the outcome of this adventure.

Overall, a neat low-level advanture to give a beginning party a chance to make its name, with good portrayal of other races as really being quite different, requiring cultural adaptation to deal with them - they are not just enemies there to be slaughtered: they have reasons for what they do.

Unlike most of the Adventurers Keep modules, the text on the back cover (which serves as the players' introduction to the scenario) doesn't tell you much: it's more of a paen to the adventuring life than any details of the situation in which the party finds itself. The DM's Background does a little better, with a fairly convoluted tale about historic dragon mistakes with artefact creation that leads eventually to a present-day dragon attempting to discover said artefact... but the adventure proper begins with whatever settlement the party happens to be in being attacked by a dragon! That's enough to make anyone sit up and take notice.

They had better, seeing as the dragon has a task for them to complete... or else (the threat is to the settlement as well as to party members individually). Without going into too much detail, the task involves the retrieval of a book from a dragon's lair. A long-dead dragon, in fact. They have five days, and a trip through wild and trackless country to get there and back again. A couple of optional encounters are provided, but by and large it is up to you to get them there through a swamp to some higher ground.

Once the party reaches the cliffside lair, they will have to deal with plenty of traps and any opportunistic wildlife that lives there. Actually finding the book is quite hard (the text notes that you may want to make it a bit easier if the party struggles), but assuming they succeed and are heading back to their rendevous with the dragon that tasked them, they will be in for a bit of a surprise. Let's just say that more than one dragon is interested in the book...

With an exciting climax that could involve two dragons brawling with the party also involved in the fight, it's quite a neat adventure concept, and reasonably well-resourced although a good proof-read would have helped. If the party boasts a bard, he ought to get a song or two out of this one!