This is a very open-ended adventure, which is both good and bad. On the good side, there are lots of different ways for creative parties to solve the encounters and plenty of RP opportunities. It's also a chance for less commonly used abilities and skills to shine, with limited or almost no combat if that's the party's preference.

However, on the bad side, there is a lot to keep track of as the DM. There's an entire caravan of 12 NPCs with their own motives and secrets who are doing things in the background. Juggling this with whatever the party decides to do and how that changes the NPCs actions can be a challenge and require a fair amount of improvisation. The adventure mentions some possible options and effects, but there's no way to cover everything that the party might think of. Parties who do prefer combat over RP or have very combat focused characters may also struggle to find ways to complete their mission.

The open-endedness also means that this can run quite long. My party went over 4 hours even handwaving the last section because they'd managed to creatively complete their entire mission earlier. Running this in a convention setting would likely be difficult and/or require urging the party along to keep the game on pace.

I largely agree with the previous reviewer.

This module begins with an interesting RP sequence which allows those types of skills to shine more often than they do in AL (especially since parties can't just persuasion their way through the whole thing). I also appreciate the fact that the adventure lists alternate options in case the party does fail since the DM doesn't have to come up with a solution on the fly.

The exploration section is fairly straightforward, but fun. The rooms do generally have reasons to exist (pointless rooms are a pet peeve of mine), with either rewards, information, or something else interesting. I also liked the NPC and my party enjoyed interacting with them.

The first combat is complicated for sure. There's a lot of stuff going on and while it does give a decent challenge, I could see it being confusing, especially for newer DMs. There are a lot of different enemy statblocks, plus spells and buffs, which can get overwhelming. In a shorter time slot, I'd also agree that it should be the main fight of the adventure. The final fight is best done as an exploration/sneaking segment in my opinion, just due to the numbers of potential enemies.

This adventure does suffer from a few things: if your party hasn't played the other adventures (or even if they have but it's been awhile or they're bad at names), there's a lot of people referenced who they may not know. The final section suffers from being a stealth/exploration part where the logical outcome of failure (fighting the entire camp) wouldn't be workable in a short slot and is generally just not that fun. That's not a fight I'd want to run as the DM.

It also does the same thing as many other DRW-OD mods, where it kind of just ends. These modules are much more of an ongoing storyline than many other AL adventures with just the basic acknowledgment that each one is a one-shot. So that can be rather jarring.

Overall, I quite enjoyed running this module. I've done it twice so far and both my parties managed to pull out a victory by the skin of their teeth.

The adventure itself has a good mix of combat and exploration without ever blocking off the plot due to failed checks, and interesting lore for those who care. The encounters can be tackled with a variety of options and still be challenging. It runs on the deadlier side, so I'm not sure I'd recommend it for newer players unless the DM is good at scaling. But for those who do want a challenge, this adventure can definitely deliver.

The main downsides I see for an AL module are: 1) the final encounter is best run for those who've never seen the adventure before. Because it does require such unique problem solving, it's difficult not to metagame when playing it again. There are also some party combinations who may simply not have a way to escape the scenario. 2) I could definitely see this adventure going long, particularly if the final section turns into a fight. I managed to finish within 4 hours for both of my sessions, but they also got out of the final section without facing Balagos. If the party does, it would be difficult to finish on time for a convention setting.

This is another solid tier 2 adventure. It's more combat focused than the others in the series, but still builds on the past adventures well.

The plot twist will make more sense if the group has played the others, but the adventure is good about summarizing the key points. It's straightfoward enough to run without much prep as well.

The final battle can be a bit too easy for an optimized party, in my opinion, but the Cyst adds some interesting mechanics and it's not too hard to scale.

This adventure is a kick in the teeth. I imagine that's the point but it can be an unpleasant wake-up call for groups that were just having fun racing dinosaurs and trekking through the jungle.

To sum it up, this adventure is deadly. It's entirely possible for the party to TPK in the first enounter and never make it to the boss, particularly if you're running the special Faction missions. Your players might have a similar issue if they're either bad with riddles or don't have a way to speak Chultan in the group.

That said, if your party is optimized or just likes a challenge, it can still be a fun game. In my opinion, the main thing is to make it very clear that fighting their way to victory really isn't an option against the endless zombie hordes.

I really enjoy all of the season 7 modules in this trilogy. This one and 07-07 tend to go back and forth for which one I enjoy more.

This module sets up the rest of the trilogy well and makes good use of the various NPCs in Port Nyanzaru for players who've spent more time in the city. You'll see a number of familiar faces and locations, as well as some personal favorites of mine.

This adventure can be difficult, depending on the party so I'd advise DMs to keep an eye on scaling. However, it also makes it a decent challenge for stronger parties if you play the tactics well.

One note, this was pre-content warning days, but if you have any players that have trouble with parasites, you may want to gloss over or reflavor the Spawns of Kyuss.

This is probably my favorite of the season 7 Tier 2 modules. It's got a good mix of different mechanics, which lets it work for a variety of player types and have more replayability.

The final boss and the encounter leading up to it are unique and fun in my experience, even if the sizing takes some suspension of disbelief. It's still a great time to slap a toy dinosaur down on the table and watch your players' eyes go wide.

The main reason I'm not giving it 5 stars is that some of the transitions/requirements can be hard to justify to players. It helps if you have a group that's prepared to go along with the flow.

This is an odd middle adventure trying to connect the mostly silly fun of 7-3 and the incredibly deadly 7-5. I generally enjoy running and playing it, but it can be very swingy depending on the party and the dice.

In particular, the travel section in the jungle can be a minor incovenience or a near TPK. I've seen both.

As others have said, the pickpocketing section feels fairly random. However, it does add to the theme/flavor of the setting and now that the gold limits are gone again, potentially losing that money isn't as big a deal.

For a DM, I think the most important thing is to make sure the players understand the plot throughline of investigating Wanderlust. That's what ties the story of this mod together and links it to the rest of the trilogy. It's also important to keep things moving, even if the exploration settings threaten to bog down.

I love running this adventure. I've never had any issues with players being willing to join the race like some other reviewers. "Join the race to make sure no one cheats" has always worked just fine.

However, it's the race mechanics themselves that I really enjoy. It's something unique that you don't see very often and the race manages to be both fun and a decent challenge for a variety of skills.

In person, my preferred method to put tiny dice on the colored race map and track the teams that way. This works great to give the party a sense of their lead (or how much they need to make up).

My only real complaints are that the betting system is a bit confusing - I think there may be a typo in the table - and some of the NPCs can turn into caricatures if you aren't careful. I find that avoiding any stereotypical accents helps with that.

This is a unique module as it's the only set of 1-hour adventures for tier 2 characters. With the current rules, it's a great way to quickly level tier 2 characters and a decent intro to Chult for anyone not familiar with Season 7. The fact that the Death Curse no longer applies to Season 7 modules is also a bonus.

That said, last time I ran this module, it took about 12 hours total. Unless you have a very focused group, it's difficult to finish each adventure within that 1-hour mark.

However, it's still fun and has a nice variety of content.

This is one of the better sets of one-hour adventures in my opinion. It's a fun introduction to season 7's themes and settings, plus dinosaurs of course :). There's a decent variety of exploration, combat and roleplay options between the different mini adventures, so most player types and clases have a chance to play a part.

My main issue is that, as with many of the "1-hour" adventures, it's difficult to actually keep them to that time estimate. I averaged about 2 hours per adventure with a fairly focused group.

The core of this adventure is a straightforward dungeoncrawl. Which is sometimes exactly what you want. My group really enjoyed the game but it has a couple flaws that keep it from being great.

-The map isn't numbered, which can make it hard to tell which room of the temple is which at a quick glance. -The final battle is very undertuned for a Tier 3 party. If you have an optimized group, be prepared to scale things up. -The underlying background plot is a bit confusing and easy for the party to miss.

This isn't a bad adventure but it has a few flaws that keep it from being a good one either. Overall it's fine and it can be fun with a good DM or a group who really likes puzzles, but it's not one I'd generally recommend.

Pros: -A decent mix of combat and puzzles, with some exploration and roleplay options as well -The module has several tools the DM can use to tweak difficulties and/or assist players like NPC companions and trap adjustments. -If you have a party that likes difficult combats, the finale of this module can provide.

Cons: -The puzzles are very complicated. DMs will likely need to read through them a few times to even understand what's going on and if you have a party that isn't good at puzzles, be prepared to offer a lot of hints/accept alternate answers. -Puzzle #4 doesn't seem to offer to any way to figure out the answer beyond guessing or asking the NPCs for help. -Some of the content in the handouts doesn't match the adventure text. -There's a lot of different traps and environmental effects for the DM to keep track of. -The final fight can easily skew too hard if you have a less optimized group. -The plot is fairly cliche overall and while it does offer a hint for the next adventure, it doesn't really link up with the rest of season 7 otherwise.

I enjoyed this adventure, but I think it's on the lower side of 4 stars for me. This is largely because a lot of the module felt very open-ended and I kept having to fill in the gaps, though the Aladdin theming also seemed a little jarring. Some of the former may just have been my particular group, but it was noticeable.

For example (expect some spoilers), my group was very interested in the other contestants, to the point that they wanted to speak with them and make alliances. While the module gives some potential contestant options, that level of detail I had to invent on the spot. I also felt like it wasn't very clear what, if any, effect the desert temperature should have and how to adjudicate that beyond lots of Con saves. Finally, I found the last sequence confusing. The module describes the location and NPCs, but it didn't feel like I really knew what was supposed to happen. Both in the potential fight/freeing the Rakshasa and the final test of worth.

That said, this adventure definitely has some cool moments. The desert exploration has several interesting encounters and the art is simply gorgeous. My players also enjoyed the riddles, but I'm glad the module offers other options for the less puzzle inclined.

In the final sequence, my players were super paranoid up to the final tablet and then freed the Rakshasa almost immediately. Which I'd honestly expect from most of my groups based on the information given in the module. If the trick is supposed to be more obvious, that wasn't clear to me. That said, my party was well-suited for it and while it was an extremely rough fight, they did manage to defeat the enemy in the final round. I was very proud.

To start, I should mention that I rarely give 5 stars to a module (they pretty much have to be perfect), but I really did enjoy running this adventure.

Of the ZODIAC mods I've run, this one seems to lean into other references the least and I think it's better for it. There's a hint of the Greek labyrinth/minotaur myths, but overall it focuses much more on the ZODIAC race itself. The opening section gives players the chance to do some investigating/care about the village, the fight on the water was a solid challenge for my group and I think the maze has a lot of replay value since it can change every time.

A few spoilers here, but the end sequence can be a bit confusing, which is the main reason I didn't give this one 5 stars overall. My players also began ringing gongs during part 3, which actually seemed like a reasonable reaction, but it meant that part 4 wasn't a standalone section and we ran fairly short.

I think more guidance about what kind of arguments each voice should make could also be helpful for DMs who aren't good at improvising NPC dialogue. For my group at least, they didn't even consider listening to the Shadow despite the difference in what both creatures could say, so I'd be curious to see how that shakes out across different groups. I also appreciated the callback to the ZODIAC race and having that information actually matter.