As with all the Arcane Library adventures (I own three of them), the layout of the adventure is exactly as advertised: amazing. You can definitely pick this up and run it without reading through it even once, and is designed for maximum usability at the table, especially if you're using a computer to DM.

The only thing I take issue with is this being a two to three hour adventure. I honestly can't imagine how this adventure would take this long -- it's essentially four encounter areas, and most of them push the group to keep going forward to outrun a slow-moving threat. Once in that room, there's a major final boss who is clearly such, so player characters will almost certainly go nova and use all their resources to bring it down. (Which is good, since it's pretty tough for second level characters.)

We finished the adventure in about 90 minutes.

That said, the adventure once again has plenty of creepy flavor. Since the character with the highest passive perception in my group was a druid, I described the black spots on an NPC's tongue as resembling a parasitic fungus, which was both good foreshadowing and which also ratcheted up the tension.

The only other quibble I have, other than the inaccurate length is the offered reward suggestion (a keep) is really good. I made it an overgrown keep in Golden Valley, which the player characters view as a mixed blessing, but it's a pretty major and potentially game-changing reward to drop in instead of something more traditional.

Overall, an excellent adventure, especially when you need a flavorful adventure to run on short notice.

Another great one-shot game from Arcane Library. It screams, "Run me if you have five minutes or less to prep but still want a good time." First, the layout. It's attractive and makes it easy to extract information from each page (especially because of the bolded keywords), even if you are running this on the fly. The text itself helps, too. There's just enough information to make everything clear and easy to run, and there's not so much that you have to spend time searching. The Dramatic Questions make it easy to begin and end scenes, and the PDF itself has incredible functionality. If you DM with a tablet or laptop nearby, there are built-in links to the SRD that can make looking up a monster or item a breeze. (There are also item and monster cards included that can save you from flipping through books if you run a tech-free game.) And of course, there is a custom boss monster that will be nice to have around if you want to extend the story or drop into your own homebrew adventure. Basically, if you want something fun and easy to run, get this. Likewise, if you are thinking about publishing your own adventure, get this to see how high the bar for making DM's lives easier has been raised.

In fair disclosure I received a copy of this adventure in PDF form for a fair review.

Valley of the Gilded Tower is the follow up adventure to Masque of the Worms, which resides in the Edgar Allan Poe series of adventures. This means that each adventure has coloring and themes described in these stories and poems and they are clearly presented in the first pages of the adventure and carry through the adventure.

This adventure clocks in at 16 pages including cover and OGL statement at the end.

Pros: Layout is well done double column with full color art that fits the theme and tone of the adventure well. Playable in what looks to be 2-4 hours each NPC has a block when introduced in a scene, with their Appearance, Wants, and a Secret - leaving room for trhe DM to expand on these Each encounter has a page dedicated to it and gives enough that you can shape the adventure to your tables need and your style. A new unique monster to challenge your players. The addition of Dramatic Question in each encounter and aftermath of the adventure. Makes for easy running and finishing the adventure.

Cons: Looking for a con I would go with the background for printing. If you wanted to print a copy of this to take with you to the table, it would be difficult. It would be nice if a printer friendly version was included.

comments: This adventure module is bordering on what I consider the OSR, not all situations can be resolved with combat and should be discouraged. Smart play is what will get you the most rewards. The rewards from the adventure are not just monetary and would make for a springboard into future adventures. The inclusion of what happens should you succeed or fail makes this a living adventure and will encourage future play. I look forward to future products and adventures from the Arcane Library and encourage anyone who wants something different to take a look.

What a great little one night adventure this is! A great followup to "Masque of the Worms"!

The adventure is well though out and can be played right after Masque of the Worms, as a series or really by itself. I feel my PCs had a bit more of an attachment by by playing Masque of the Worms first.

In my group, I ran ran Massque as their second adventure and then ran a few other sessions. Almost two weeks, in game time, had passed since the Masque session, and I ran this little gem. My PCs were hired for for a job on an nearby island, but had to wait a few days for their newemployer to get ready and for the boat to arrive. I slipped in this adventure in as a 'while you wait' adventure.

Baron Rennet had been putting up with his haunting for 2 weeks by this time and was paranoid and losing it mentally. The PCs had helped him before with finding his wife (in Masque of the Worms), so he call on them again to take her remains to her family buriel ground. The PCs of course said "Sure, we have a few days before we leave town anyway.."

The Module is well laid out and we played it in a 4 hour session. It can be done quicker than this, but my group roleplays a lot. You can pretty much play it as written. It is in the right order, has great descriptions and you just fluff a little with your own world setting to complete the description. This can be run in any fantasy setting, but be sure there is a place for an over grown wooded valley, where the bulk of this adventure takes place. You do need to describe the forest/brushy, unkept area with lots of wierd looking weeds/flowers, to your players very well as they get closer to the tower. Assuming they are alive at the end of the adventure, you can explain the difference thay see, for full impact of the adventure.

The adventure is well paced, has maps that you can print out, a great story and good ending. I highly recommend this adventure as a nice stand alone, plug & play adventure, or a follow up to 'Masque of the Worms'. GMs, you dont need a lot of prep at all.