The module was an incredibly enjoyable little jaunt. It's a very fast run. It took us a total of 3 hours, about half combat.
The good: it's a unique location and has unique challenges. It definitely invites parley more than many scenarios. It's an easy run. The story can easily be picked up and put into any location. Moreover, it can easily tie into any campaign because the threads are so concise. It's fun--the players are engaged and stay engaged. It really does work as a story and it's absolutely great.
The bad: First, most of the treasure are the trappings of the observatory or belongings of the dead astronomers. Players looting the observatory is...just odd in this context. For my own benefit, in the lockbox of the guard (who has all his life savings stored in this chest filled with 500 gp ish), I added his will and rolled his family to which he was requesting it go. That at least gave them a hard choice about "Do I steal this dead guy's life savings or seek out his surviving family". And they did choose to make a quest of it. But in this vein, the treasure that they get from the astronomers shouldn't just be expected to be taken. It doesn't work well for a good party, and even the descriptions make it feel like a typical dungeon.
Second, the treasure that isn't the dead astronomers/belongings of the observatory is pretty wild. Like, there's the following: +1 short-sword, +1 leather armor, ring of protection, and a lens that grants the owner immunity to shadow strength-drain. For the non-magical treasure from the observatory alone (much of which doesn't require any effort to take), the total gp value is 49,500. This is a combination of: 2 bookends (1200 gp each), 11 books (500-5000 gp each for an average of 30,000 gp total), 1000 gp book, 1200 gp jewel, 7 paintings (1000 gp each), 10 bottles of high quality wine (100 gp each), 7 curtains (700 gp each), and 2000 gps in coins. Those are just the biggest ticket items. And sure, there are probably 8 total 8HD goons plus 4 shadows of 4HD plus the 8 HD boss. But considering that most of the valuable treasure can be gotten by taking down only 3 of the 8 goons, that really is a lot of GP value for little effort. The lens (the main focus) isn't even the truly valuable treasure.
Which brings me to third, my players breezed through those guys. Now, admmittedly, my party was a party of 8. The module recommends 4-6. That said, it recommends a party of 8-10th level characters. My party was 4th-5th. So, I would definitely recommend running it at a lower level than recommended. I can see, however, if your party fails to take out the opponent magic-users that it would be harder. But since the cultists are almost exclusively encountered in groups of 3, the party will outnumber then 2 to 1, which makes the combats easier, until reinforcements are called in. That said, since the cultists are mostly busy searching for things, a smart party can avoid most combats or win combats before they begin. My party succeeded mostly by using invisiblity spells and thief backstabs plus well-placed fireballs. Mileage may vary depending upon the party.
And the final thing, which is that the PCs largely don't get clues as to how bad a thing is going on. Done right, the PCs don't know until the end of the module exactly what's going on. This is where it's important to let the PCs parley. If they talk to NPCs, the module is far more enjoyable. But if they do typical murder-hobo, the module loses a lot of its charm. And again, it's because, per design, the PCs have utterly no clue what's going on or why.
Overall: despite the above listings, I found it thoroughly enjoyable. In fact, even the above things aren't so egregious. It's just the only things I noticed while playing that left it feeling a little lacking. But that said, for $1.28, I couldn't be happier. The module worked very well. It was incredibly fun. It could be completed in a 3 hour session. And, more importantly, the players really enjoyed it. Five stars. Really good work.
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