Just came out of a in-person game run by the author at a DDAL event yesterday. As described by the author, it's the third installment in a loosely connected series of Spelljammer titles that are all set in the Echo system. The adventures are in each of the three tiers, and don't connect in a sequential way. The Echo system is a remote Wildspace in the Astral Sea that contains long lost treasures, hides ancient secrets and harbours deadly foes.

The game was incredibly immersive and one of the most thematic adventures that I've played. The DM's own style obviously played a part in this, but the adventure itself reflects the author's cinematic bent on the whole D&D experience.

Place yourself in a Spaghetti Western, where you reach an remote outpost, the occupants destitute, barely surviving the combination of the isolation and harrassing attacks from marauding evil doers. Are you there to right the wrongs of the lawless wilderness and impose a sort of vigilante justice? Or do your eyes have the glint of someone who's just one step away from finding the wealth they always dreamed about?

There's a little bit of setup for the players to work out what's going on, and then get a sudden interruption along the way. But once the main part of the adventure kicks in, the players are at the wheel of this story, and it's all eyes on the prize. It's all incredibly risky, you are at the mercy of a commoner name Roscoe, and you really don't know what lies ahead. "Every gun makes its own tune."

You find yourself face to face with the rival gang. You ask yourself, are we any better than them, or are we just all playing the same game? There's only one answer: "Mmmm, yeah, but I've got six more bullets in my gun."

There's a final showdown that demands the accompaniment of The Ecstasy of Gold - L'Estasi Dell'oro by Ennio Morricone. "When You Have To Shoot, Shoot. Don't Talk."