Followup review: Since my initial review, I have run the above adventure again, and also both DAL00-11b When the Debt Comes Due and DAL00-11d The Love Triangle Contract (twice). Players reported excitement at the idea of visiting the planes of Hell, and they appreciated Pipyap being their travel agent for their adventures, particularly when they get paid when they reach home. They then experience the due amount of horror when they come face to face with the actual nightmare that is Hell! Finally, after all is said and done, they gladly seek out further opportunities to travel to Hell, particularly to discover a completely new plane to explore. The unique atmosphere of each planar setting is well described, and is brought to life by the challenges and encounters that the PCs face. It is particularly relevant to play these adventures during Season 9, where the theme fits in so well with the rest of the season content, and deeply expands on the player experience and engagement thereby building a more immersive aspect to the season.

Specifically, for DAL00-11b When the Debt Comes Due this is a fun Tier 1 adventure. The minions that the players received were welcomed, but somewhat overlooked during the adventure. Due to some of the open ended aspects, the adventure was difficult to run within 2 hours, but I think after running it the first time, I would be able to cut it down to two hours. The actual run time was 3 hours. I anticipated this and agreed with the players that we would take our time to enjoy this module rather than rushing through.

For DAL00-11d The Love Triangle Contract (Tier 2) the plane of Malbolge is almost fleshed out as though this were a sandbox adventure. This adventure could easily be stretched out for an extended period of time. During a fixed AL timeslot, multiple shortcuts will be required to complete the adventure in a satisfactory period. The players were very keen to get their PCs out of the prison as soon as possible, none of them expressed any desire to discover all the jail cells! They were curious about the terrain that they travelled on in this plane, but preferred not to ask too many questions! There is so much depth in this adventure, I found that I expanded my enjoyment of this experience on the second time around.

I ran through this module almost entirely in a limited time (3.5 hours while also including Liar's Night material), as a result I had to cut short the last component.

I enjoyed the content, storyline, mystery for the players to discover, horror to experience in a Halloween mood, fun and interesting NPCs for the DM to run. I found the section titles a little hard to follow, I prefer that they more directly describe the scene. I think the bonus objective structure in the layout does not suit the structure of this type of open non-linear adventure. I would prefer if these could be placed within the context of the storyline and location rather than at the end of the PDF.

As a suggestion, it would make life easier for the DM to understand everything if there was a simple sketch of the location layout showing the main features that are visited by the party.

My overall summary is that this really should be run as a four hour adventure, because to cut out any components including the bonus objectives is to sell the story short. I would like to run this adventure again with more time than I had allowed.

I ran this adventure at PAX AUS 2019 over the course of the three days, with a total of 18 players in three hour sessions, but time was limited. Overall, this adventure is ideal for a convention setting in that it offers both flexibility and depth for the DM, and challenges that fit well into the excitement of the convention. This module is primarily an investigation where the PCs make discoveries as they overcome various challenges. I also ran the module in the week prior to PAX AUS with a further 6 players in a three hour session.

My more personal reflections are that I love the NPCs, the mystery and the challenges in this scenario. The adventure is very well written with great humour and nuance. I definitely made modifications along the way to suit my preferences. The depth to the story provides a lot of replay value for the DM, I don't think I could ever get tired of running this adventure. The content is suitable for very young players, in fact I ran the game with quite a few younger players at the table. The theme of racism associated with Hillsfar is an important one, and is well treated in this adventure, but the DM should be careful not to overdo it.

How did it run? Most parties leap into Episode 2. This runs very well, with discovery and mystery. None of the players discovered the small brass tag. This Episode is good for getting the players interested in the mystery. One PC KO'd in this episode.

Two parties ventured into Episode 3, and enjoyed the interaction and events there. I used the Tarokka deck to run the game at the table, and the players got quite involved in this game and its outcomes. They dealt with the events following quite well, they initially thought it would be too tough. This is the most dramatic or serious Episode. One PC KO'd in this episode.

Two parties attempted Episode 4. I created my own rules for the first puzzle but still using the provided grid and the solution. The puzzle worked well for both groups who were highly intrigued about finding the solution. One party ran out of time, so had to move on, but the other had the time available to attempt the second puzzle. This is a really fun themed puzzle for DnD, and the Monster Manual came in handy as well as some Google searches on handheld devices. The clock beat them in the end, and I asked them to guess where the solution lay. They didn't guess right, but they were very close however! Note: There is a typo in the player handout: a whole row of tokens is missing from the handout, so your players will not be able to solve the puzzle unless you adjust this handout.

Episode 5 provides a lot of opportunity for improvisation in Scene C, and it has a lot of potential for a comedic climax to the adventure. It's the DMs job here to delay or thwart the party from carrying out their objectives. Most parties were distracted at least to some degree from completing their mission, and this component was a lot of fun. The final encounter is also very enjoyable.

Finally the party is left with a moral decision. Along the way, the players gather clues that will help them resolve this situation. Most will simply go along with the most straightforward solution. One party engaged in vigorous debate over the moral issues at stake, which resulted in a majority vote to decide. An excercise that provides a satisfying conclusion for players - they have done the work, gathered the information, and the final moments of the story are entirely in their hands. A perfect ending!

Adventure Rewards The item that appears in the story is not granted as a reward, tending to lead to some disappointment amongst the players in most of the games.

The Lonely Scroll Adventure Contest: Saltmarsh

First Impressions

When you first grab this collection of one page adventures, you are going to be struck by the high quality of the work contained within, particularly the wide range of visual styles, many of which reach very high design standards. There is obviously a lot of talent and creativity here, coupled with attention for detail, the collection aims to please the reader and succeeds admirably right from the first glance.

The Contest

The whole idea began as a wishful tweet from the curator, M. T. BLACK, and gradually grew into a solid concept, which gained strong support from many in the community. The collection includes a whole page of insights from the contest judge TONY PETRECCA.

The Highlights

The Dreams of Prince Papo by Anthony Joyce for 8th level characters

Contest Overall Winner

What srikes me about this adventure is the emotional impact of the story, which may well bring the reader to tears. It will certainly bring about a memorable moment for your game group, and undeniably will touch many hearts. The central NPC is immediately engaging, and lends a unique tone to the adventure.

Like a Fish out of Water by Chris Casciolli for 5th level characters

Best Dungeon Adventure

A mini-dungeon located close to the town of Saltmarsh is nealty and clearly laid out, providing a model response for this contest. Your adventurers will love the dragon theme with a challenging climax.

Eye of the Storm by Justice Arman

Best Wilderness Adventure

A unique vessel is the main feature of this richly described aquatic adventure, a worthy foe in the form of a colourful pirate, with the overall impact being totally immersive in sea theme that your players may perhaps burst into sea shanties, but will definitely remember for years to come.

Quite the Pickle by Trevor Salla for 5th level characters

Best Urban Adventure

The adventure begins in the streets of Saltmarsh where a colourful bunch of NPCs bring the PCs into their unusual lives. Saltmarsh will never be the same again, this hilarious escapade will most likely result in tears of laughter bursting across your players faces as their unexpected encounters unfold.

Esmerelda's Floating Circus by Christ Valentine for 3rd level characters

Best Nautical Adventure

The unique design of this adventure is quite striking, with a carnival theme that comes to life before your very eyes. A shipboard mystery with a wide variety of exploration and investigation awaits, with lots of fun for the DM and players alike.

Why Should You Buy This?

Firstly, as you read this, you will gain more and more inspiration for your own adventures. Contained within is such a diversity of adventures that you can't help but be inspired by this engaging content.

Secondly, each adventure is a worthy addition to your campaign, providing a single episode of diversion for your party of adventurers to be called upon whenever the party Owlbear eats your regularly prepared content!

Thirdly, if you have purchased Ghosts of Saltmarsh, or ever intend to, this is an excellent and substantial addition to that book, expanding your seaworthy campaign to further murky depths!

This is a beautifully designed and illustrated addition to the DMs Guild. The stunning layout is visually appealing and immediately strikes the reader with its thematic approach. The PDF quotes from the legendary strategist of ancient China, Sun Tzu. Players reading this might later recall these words of wisdom as they enter another round of TTRGP combat.

The tactical roles for each PC in your party are outlined in a very practical Chapter 4. An assessment of the effectiveness of damage types is detailed in Chapter 6. In Chapter 7 some specific spells and abilities are highlighted for their tactical roles. In Chapter 8 you'll find a handy list of buffs that answers questions like ... what options do I have for increasing my armor class? Chapter 11 has advice about character class options. Chapter 12 provides guides to spell choices. Chillingly, the last words of this text are: TPK. Abbreviation for “total party kill.”

This is not a cheat sheet that give you an edge over other players, but more of a guide that you can help your party to work together more effectively. This will help you to better understand your PC and how to better prepare for your games ahead.

This companion bundle has been at my table throughout the six sessions that I have run to get my party to Skullport. The overall value of this bundle is that it is going to help the DM to get inspiration for bringing this dungeon to life for the party. There has to be a spark and some flair that the DM brings into play, and this companion is going to help you grab that. Particularly useful at all times is the monster stat blocks at the back of this bundle - so much faster than grabbing the relevant hard cover! I salute the author, you have helped bring this campaign to life in an exciting and engaging way! Thank you!

This adventure provides an exciting and entertaining Tier 1 adventure for Adventurer's League. Hailing back to 2014 when 5e was being brought into the world (thank you Mike Mearls), this PDF has some quirks such as referring to the Players Handbook instead of the Dungeon Master's Guide. Season 1 remains a strong favourite in the Adventurer's League back catalogue, and I highly reccommend that you take the opportunity to introduce these adventures into your game schedule.

On the plus side, the variety of encounters and challenges gives each of your players a chance to shine. On the negative side, the run of the adventure is very difficult to complete within a four hour timeslot. You'll need every trick up your DM sleeves to complete it on time. Consider the option of allowing more time for your game group to fully engage with the content.

It would be useful to have a guide to playing this particular adventure within Season 8 of Adventurer's League, and even more so a guide to the entire run of modules. I suggest purchase the bundle for the entire set of adventurers in this series. It's an important point to note because there are very strong themes in the storyline which relate to the wider story arc of these adventures, and have little bearing on the specifics of this adventure on its own.

Those players who think they can easily talk their way through the NPCs should be in a surprise in Part 1. None of them are going to tolerate any nonsense, and in particular the Black Fist are a harsh master. Drop hints about the strangeness of the location that the players arrive at in Part 3.

In Part 2, I also omitted the encounter as a time saving device. The final NPC is where I introduced my first strong accent which brings about the feeling of arrival in a strange place. Make this character as odd as possible to set the scene for the rest of the story.

In Part 3 is where the potential for the most play time to be consumed. The party were most interested in the landing and the village, and enjoyed their interactions with the young girl. I didn't use any accent for the girl, her character as the child is sufficient enough to give meaning to her role. It was at this point that the players challenged each other to question their own values and morality. It was a very powerful moment which made the preparation for this adventure worthwhile. Well done to the writers of this adventure!

Use Part 4 as a build up of excitement, and the real adventure hook. Make this as short as possible, as it leads the players into the action of Part 5.

In Part 5, the drama and adventure comes to a climax, and it's time for your players to get their hands dirty in an exciting and challenging scene. Prepare for this part by understanding the special rules that apply, and the actions and challenges for the players. Allow plenty of time to enjoy this section.

The magic item unlock is from table G, worth 20 Tier 2 TP, and so the players will need to be at least level 8 to be able to purchase it.

Be wary that there a lot of typos across the pages of this PDF, in particular a terribly confusing "The bones were ... gathered from random corpses they dug up"(top right of page 10) is extremely misleading.

Review (17 March 2019): Today I ran Chapter 1 of this supplement for a party of four adventurers: 4th level Bard, 3rd level Ranger, 2nd level Cleric and 1st level Paladin. The ability check DCs and combats were adjusted to fit the party strength.

I initially chose to run this supplement instead of the standard Waterdeep: Dragon Heist chapter because I felt that the players may have either read or played it before. This turned out not to be a factor, and the real reason for running it was that I enjoyed the whole concept and theme that this supplement presents. In the previous week, I ran Blue Alley, and this provides the opportunity for continuity in the location setting.

I had the party engage with Mirt, the NPC from Blue Alley, who gave them a side quest to get them started. It is while they were engaged in this side quest that they began the first encounter. The party managed to thwart their opponents peacefully and send them on their way (only to have them turn up again later!). The stake-out was in fact interrupted by the returning foes. The party were very blind to spotting anything, but very cunning and fortunate in their battle with the kidnappers (including strong ranged attacks on the flying opponents), and ended up saving their target from capture. A clever set-up for their stake-out provided useful strategy to control the battle. Planning a staged combat is fun for the players, and the unknown factor adds an edge to the tension.

The party were full of anguish trying to piece together the clues and they dreaded finding out what would happen next (I emphasised the drama and the threats of the unknown), but as they headed to the next location after a significant and successful battle and armed with more clues from the main NPC, they were full of confidence and sailed through the rest of the adventure with great enjoyment. The whole setting of the lair was so amazingly inspirational, and as a DM, its a lot of fun. The players enjoyed the conclusion, and finished in high spirits in just over four hours. The challenge at the beginning as they tried to figure things out makes the successful adventure all the more enjoyable.

My advice to DMs is to keep referring to the hardcover alongside this supplement as there is a lot of material relevant to Chapter 1 in the book, and the supplement can't be run without the book. As I haven't run the hardcover version yet, I can't really compare them, but if I have a chance to run this again, I would use the supplement as I enjoyed it so much.

I'm lucky enough to have in my hands both a copy of WOTC's Waterdeep: Dragon Heist and also DM Guild's Blue Alley. Blue Alley slots easily into the options based Dragon Heist framework, where alternate options make this campaign structure quite replayable. Blue Alley will add an additional option for your party to choose from, ideal for those who dislike being "railroaded". Having this adventure in your arsenal will make you look like the amazing DM who thought of everything! In saying that, the adventure will work equally well in any city setting - it's nature is fantastic rather than urbane, and it will spark the imaginations of your players with it's devilish fantasy rather than involve them in deep intrigue.

"... everyone knows Blue Alley is a deathtrap ..."

This warning appears on page 2, suggesting that your party might want to get some adventuring under their belt if this is their first introduction to D&D. A party with their wits about them and who's blades have a few notches in them will be able to jump in at level 1. The cryptic nature of the adventure is the real adversary here, a challenge to the players' intellect rather than their melee damage output.

Episode 1 introduces some interesting NPCs who might become features in your campaign including the main character: Mirt. Episode 2 details the main challenge of the adventure, while Episode 3 provokes the party to consider the consequences of their actions. Appendix 1 reprints one creature from Volo's Guide to Monsters, the rest of the encounters require the Monster Manual. Appendix 2 has the single page map, while Appendix 3 provides some tips for the DM.

I haven't yet run this adventure, but my advice is that you read the puzzles and traps carefully, so that your players' screams of frustration are equally matched with their ecstatic squeals of triumph!

In summary Blue Alley will add immense value as a feature within your Waterdeep campaign. ~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~

Results of Play Through Sunday 10 March 2019 at Melb DDAL (Adventurers' League) Party: 4 x level 3 adventurers (Storm Sorcerer, Celestial Warlock, Bard, Fighter). Session Duration: 4 hours.

I spent a lot of time preparing for this session, and every moment of preparation paid off! I printed out the incredibly beautiful high res map on A3 for me as a guide alongside the module print out. I printed each monster stat so I didn't have to open my Monster Manual (in fact I left my Monster Manual at home to lighten the packing weight). I printed all the phrases of the riddle to hand out to the players as they found them. I wrote up the DDAL player rewards including magic item unlocks. The only preparation I didn't do was look up certain magical and spell effects, for which I resorted to the hardcovers during the session. I prepared the Waterdeep map to show them the exact location of Blue Alley - something that was a lot of fun to research.

The party found themselves very quickly highly engaged with this module, and were determined to leave no stone unturned. I kept the pace fairly quick to give them a chance to finish everything, but they only just managed to complete the primary objective in the four hours. However, I believe that they would be able to complete the adventure's bonus objectives within another hour or so. This adventure contains so much content densly packed within the pages, its very easy to underestimate it as the text is so economical. The players knew when to respect danger, so they were cautious to heed the warning signs, and to avoid most of the deadly situations. I rolled a d20 to see which items were tidied up by the cleanup crew, and a bag of sand and the fighter's shield were lost to oblivion. I got one player to map out the dungeon old school style which was in keeping with the overall theme of this adventure.

The result? Four adventurers with a healthy respect for the dungeon of Blue Alley!

I ran this module last night as a first time DDAL DM, long-time DM. We had 7 players in our table with characters between levels 1 - 4 (a very strong party). I liked that the setting ties in well to the Dragon Heist storyline, and gives an introduction to Waterdeep, particularly one of its famous locations, and several notable characters. There are numerous tie ins to the hard cover plot line and also lore related to the city and the adventures of Season 8. If you ever wanted to run an adventure that is solely within a tavern, this is a good one to try.

This adventure will require some in depth understanding of the purpose that the writer is aiming to achieve for a variety of adventuring parties, and the options that are presented by the module. So you'll need to read it a few times, and then start to think about how it applies to your group. Start making notes about the structure that you intend to run. These notes can form your reference for running the adventure, rather than the module itself. Prepare a large map for the interior locations if you use miniatures, I wasn't able to print out the rooms at the sufficient scale necessary for use with miniatures. Print out as much as you can from the module so that you have handouts for your players to share around the table. The module provides the full stats for most of the opponents except for Bandits (Monster Manual p. 343).

The adventure provides the inspiration, structure and resources that the DM will need to create their ideal adventure. The characters provided in the story are richly documented and so you can springboard off this to get your character acting skills into action. The conflicts and challenges are fun and get the players involved as their characters end up in unexpected situations. Increase the intensity of dramatic moments so that your party feels the focus on these crucial story moments at the right time.

Be ready to balance the combat and add in extra opponents to balance out a strong party. And there are a range of options available to ease the party out of danger if necessary - the opponents can attack NPCs, the City Watch can arrive to intervene. The final battle requires some planning to maximise the effectiveness of the opponents so that you can present a serious challenge to the party.

For the running of this adventure, I focussed on the party providing an example interesting character for each PC. This adds some background to their character and lends interest through their career, and might help to develop their characters further. I chose the villain from this list to suit the intended run of the module that I had planned out, I selected the Apprentice Wizard stat block for them, but for a strong party, you should chose a higher CR rating option than this one. I used another of the interesting characters as the plot hook to get the adventure started. I used the letter from Dragon Heist Forgotten Tales as the item. The letter is generic enough that the party knows not to waste time investigating it, and it's fun to have as a prop. The party selected a role playing challenge which required a knock out blow to be delivered by a tankard. This ended up providing a lot of entertainment, as most of the party selected tankards instead of their weapons in combat. I selected the traitor plotline as the most appealing to me, it contains some entertaining situations in the second section, and a straightforward battle at the end.

There is one typo, in the box of Scene 2A-4 - replace [the interesting character] with Jarlaxle Baenre.

In summary, this is an excellent adventure packed full of entertainment and role playing opportunities. The DM will need to put in significant preparation time. The module is well presented and structured to aid the DM in preparation.

Dungeon Tales Volume 2 is a substantial compilation providing over 130 pages of adventure for your D&D group. The intention is to unearth worthy authors who's material might overwise be buried under the immense weight of publications available via DM's Guild. Each of the eight adventures is authored by a different writer, and the whole set is produced by MT Black.

Starting with The Amulet of Shavaka, the ruins of a tomb lie buried under the desert sands and are occupied by a host of undead. The exotic races such as Tabaxi and Yuan-Ti will feel at home here. Can the party steal the amulet without awakening Shavaka himself? I enjoy the atmosphere created here by the storyline and setting.

The Ballad of the Dark Maiden, is a ship-board voyage and provides details on handling the ship and its encounters. The players must overcome a series of fast paced challenges in what at first seems a routine mission. I like the sketches in this adventure!

In Dead of the Howling Hills, a small dungeon awaits the party - a mysterious hill top tomb which holds the long lost secrets of the local tribesfolk. A dark feeling pervades this adventure.

A Danger at Deepforge sees the party set on a mission to a Dwarven mine to recover a lost item. It sounds simple enough, what could possibly go wrong? Yet the Dwarves are a curious lot, and their mine is long abandoned. You'll have to venture into Deepforge to find out!

Safety Guaranteed invites us into the world of a Forgotten Realms "game convention" paradoxically mirroring modern day game conventions, and to take your mind on an even further twist, the adventure itself was performed at an actual game convention! A set of amusing treasures complements the adventure (my favourite being the Startled Cat Carrier), each one submitted by fans from social media.

Temple of the Dragon Priestess is a series of caverns and tunnels, wherein the party will find themselves eventually running into the Dragon Priestess and her minions that infest the underground complex. Your players will enjoy this traditional dungeon crawl with plenty to explore.

In An Uneasy Truce the (higher level) party is called upon to investigate a strange situation, and will find themselves trying to unravel a complex plot. A small adventure of monstrous proportions!

Valanche's Eye provides the players with a gnome and an offer they can't refuse. Soon enough, the party enters into the mysterious world of the gnomes and discover what trouble they get themselves (and the party) into. Like An Uneasy Truce, this adventure is less battle, and more plot unravelling. The party will never look at a gnome the same way again!

I have yet to play these adventures, but I highly recommend this collection as a way to dip into a variety of writing styles and add depth to your own campaigns.

My D&D group ran this adventure last night.

As with all adventures that I use from DMs Guild, it was heavily altered and adapted to our current campaign.

I printed the room icons on A3 paper to show to the players, they enjoyed working out which rooms they should visit next.

This adventure is fun to run and can offer a mental challenge, as well as a refreshing scene change for the players. It takes them out of their usual element, and the sights sounds and smells of the adventure should be emphasised by the DM to make the game more immersive. Take the opportunity to engage some new character voices. To the players, the challenge of the world of steam punk is exciting and brings a new dimension to their game.

I hope that you are able to enjoy this adventure as much as I did!

I'm pleased to download the PDF of Tal'Dorei and finally the world of Critical Role comes to life, living and breathing in the text and images before me. The campaign guide is comprehensive covering many different aspects of the setting. A location guide includes references to Earthly histories to give you context and inspiration. A set of guides for anything from Gods, religions, creatures and organisations will get you started on your plot lines. Magic items and character class options will enhance the players' experiences. I enjoyed the character quotes. The art is spectacular, with varying interpretations and styles, you're sure to find at least some images that you will totally fall in love with. The art is all orginal and really bring the book to life. A really great job has been done in bringing this work to print, and I for one am greatly appreciative. Thank you so much!

This is a useful addition for anyone running a game in the Waterdeep city.

As a general city sourcebook it can function as a resource for DMs to pull out ideas, NPCs and encounters. I enjoyed the material on Tarot cards. It doesn't have anything specifically that inspired me to add to my own game. I will keep reading to get more value out of this book.

The book is nealty laid out and easy to read. Its a high quality product with poential but it may not deliver much value to your city game. Its worth a look.

This new adventure is sure to give your players an interesting challenge to add to their city adventures. Its definitely going to be lots of fun for your players to uncover the masses of rumours and intrigue that exists around the central storyline.

I really liked the layout, its very clear and colourful. To the point and simple, while visually very strong. The information is presented in the order that you need it, so you don't need to flick about the pages. The monster stats are right there, so you can scribble the combat results as you go rather than having to dive for the monster manual.

The atmosphere is well generated by the NPCs, all the information the players can discover, and the setting. The events give planty of leverage for integration with a wider story arc.

As a modification I would add an extra challenge - the players must break their own way through B4 to B5! This principle could apply to any of the challenges in the adventure. If your players are finding it easy or running through too quickly, make them work harder with challenge rolls at each step. Motivate role playing by giving advantage where appropriate.