This adventure, for characters of 5th-7th level, sends the party into a ruined keep that's crawling with undead where they'll have to find out what's causing the problem and face a tough decision between doing the right thing and lining their own pockets rather hansomely! The Players' Introduction explains that everyone knows about the lich who lives up there and so stay away, but of late it seems impossible to bury your dead hereabouts without them springing back out of their graves!

The GM Background explains what's going on and who is really behind all the trouble. Moreover the party receives not one but two job offers to clear out the keep... one of which is from the lich himself! Needless to say, the objectives of the two job offers are somewhat different, and whichever one the party decides to take, the other lot are bound to be annoyed and liable to cause them problems in the future.

The adventure begins in the bustling port of Heathwyck, which lies in the shadow of a mountain known as Covenant Hill. Here the party receives their first assignment from the Temple of Light, who want them to steal the lich's phylactery, the artefact that empowers his abilities to raise and control undead. The locals greet the news with delight, and start treating them as heroes even before they depart on their mission...

It's not too far to the keep, even if it is a bit of a climb and the road is overgrown. The keep is well-described and there's a good plan (but it's not player-friendly, you'll need to sketch something out to show them) - and the place is crawling with undead. Should the party study what they find they can discover the truth of the matter, which might change their opinions as to what they ought to do. A new form of undead and the phylactery itself provide the customary new monster and new artefact.

It's a fairly straightforward slog of a fight against a large - and I mean large - number of undead, although the twists and turns of who's actually doing what and the conflicting job offers make it just a little more than that. There are a few errors in the text (mostly spelling, but one bit that doesn't make sense - fortunately not an important one), otherwise it's presented clearly. A good session-worth of fighting to drop into a campaign. And of course there's the undying emnity of someone to contend with thereafter...

The Players' Introduction, or back page text, tells of ancient swamp dwellers exacting revenge for those they feel have abandoned them. The DM's Background explains a bit more - how the relationship between swamp-dwellers and villagers arose, and why the swamp-dwellers had wanted the alliance in the first place (something they conveniently omitted to tell the villagers). It involved a dragon, of course. One that was crippled and resorted to other ways to exert its power over its surroundings.

The adventure starts in a nearby town, where the sole survivor of the village has sought aid. This has set the entire town on edge, noticeable as the party arrives. In due course, the party will be offered work, their mission to find out what is going on in the village and why they were attacked. It's up to you to get them there: some frontier terrain, trackless and marshy, with a couple of encounters thrown in, is recommended but not provided. The devastated village is well mapped and described, with an interesting twist - the invaders actually want to talk! Parties who rush in to do battle straight away will not do themselves any favours.

There's some excellent scenes where the true otherness of the intruders is revealed, and the party will have to engage with their customs to make the best impression before venturing into the swamp itself to confront the problem that brought matters to a head. There's some interesting follow-up material to suggest directions in which your plotline might go given the outcome of this adventure.

Overall, a neat low-level advanture to give a beginning party a chance to make its name, with good portrayal of other races as really being quite different, requiring cultural adaptation to deal with them - they are not just enemies there to be slaughtered: they have reasons for what they do.

Unlike most of the Adventurers Keep modules, the text on the back cover (which serves as the players' introduction to the scenario) doesn't tell you much: it's more of a paen to the adventuring life than any details of the situation in which the party finds itself. The DM's Background does a little better, with a fairly convoluted tale about historic dragon mistakes with artefact creation that leads eventually to a present-day dragon attempting to discover said artefact... but the adventure proper begins with whatever settlement the party happens to be in being attacked by a dragon! That's enough to make anyone sit up and take notice.

They had better, seeing as the dragon has a task for them to complete... or else (the threat is to the settlement as well as to party members individually). Without going into too much detail, the task involves the retrieval of a book from a dragon's lair. A long-dead dragon, in fact. They have five days, and a trip through wild and trackless country to get there and back again. A couple of optional encounters are provided, but by and large it is up to you to get them there through a swamp to some higher ground.

Once the party reaches the cliffside lair, they will have to deal with plenty of traps and any opportunistic wildlife that lives there. Actually finding the book is quite hard (the text notes that you may want to make it a bit easier if the party struggles), but assuming they succeed and are heading back to their rendevous with the dragon that tasked them, they will be in for a bit of a surprise. Let's just say that more than one dragon is interested in the book...

With an exciting climax that could involve two dragons brawling with the party also involved in the fight, it's quite a neat adventure concept, and reasonably well-resourced although a good proof-read would have helped. If the party boasts a bard, he ought to get a song or two out of this one!

Turmoil in a city, where the 'lower classes' are convinced that some dread terror stalks the streets and the ruling elite will have none of it. This is an open-ended adventure, with the DM's Background providing information as to what is really going on, the encounters designed to enable the party to find out... and then it's up to them what they decide to do about the situation.

It doesn't matter why the party is in town, or if this is their regular base or a first visit. They meet a rather crazy fellow ranting in the street about disappearances, and are then contacted by a priest from the Church of Salvation, which has a temple in the poor part of town, who asks if they'd investigate the disappearances. It appears that past disappearances were linked to a 'lizard cult' and some people say the current crop are similar... that is, those who have noticed anything at all. Merchants brush it all off, more concerningly they do not seem to trouble the town guard either. However some indications point to a seedy tavern, the Green Stag. This hostelry serves a distinctive red ale called Dragon's Blood and also has a rather strange cook...

Plans of both the Green Stag and the Church of Salvation's premises are provided, and there are various options available to the party, depending what they actually discover or deduce. Ultimately there's a power struggle going on, but do the party wish to take sides, elimiate both... or do they even realise that there is more than one antagonist involved? There are plenty of ideas as to the different directions in which this could play out, and whatever choice the party makes, they could be dealing with the ramifications for a long time... a neat twist.

The early parts of the adventure involve a lot of investigation, and may prove frustrating if you do not ensure that there is plenty to be discovered wherever it is the party decide to ask their questions. In some ways it's more of an adventure outline than a complete adventure, but it has the potential to be both challenging and interesting, especially if the party begin interacting with both factions involved.

Silver dragons are the embodiment of all that is good and honourable... so why is one tearing up the countryside, terrorising villages and heading straight for the peaceful and prosperous settlement of Brookvale? It doesn't look like it has come for the museum, the library or the temple, either.

The DM's Background explains all, including the identity of the silver dragon and why it's behaving in the way that it is... and why it's going to be quite tricky to deal with the dragon without causing further problems for the town.

It's suggested that for best effect, the party should already know Brookvale - as residents or frequent visitors - so that they'll be invested in a cultural centre with a fine library, a museum full of historic artefacts and a big temple, all cared for by a kindly wizard and the local high priest. The adventure proper starts when they are there and residents of an outlying village, which is under attack by a dragon, flee into town and ask for their help. They suggest that a visit to the wizard, one Calendrus, could be helpful...

Hopefully, the party will be able to defeat the dragon and will discover what is going on. Then they'll need to deal with it, which involves a visit to the swampy lair of a different dragon. Local residents and swamp insects cause problems as they try to get there, not to mention the dreadful smell emanating from the lair itself. Swamp gases and some original uses of gelatinous cubes and oozes make the lair a perilous environment, and that's before you meet the dragon who lives there.

This adventure is built on a neat concept and sustains it well throughout, although the main villain's motivation is a bit unclear - just being 'evil' I suppose. Designed to support AEG's book on Dragons, it certainly brings said creatures right into the centre of the game that bears their name.

Trade is the lifeblood of nations and peoples, and this book presents a temporary trading settlement that springs up and opens for business with just two core rules: stay out of trouble and don't close your purse strings too tightly. Sounds ideal for weary adventurers wanting to offload loot and stock up on supplies...

The DM's background tells you more. The Azulites are often derided as gypsies or vagabonds, but see themselves as a 'travelling village'. The reasons why are laid out for you. Following this is a description of the standard layout used by the travelling village and details of some of the main inhabitants and the goods and services that they offer. These include an illusionist who puts on spectacular entertainments with the help of three acrobat brothers and the local bard, the bard himself, and an elf who is an exceptional cook - she'd probably have a couple of Michelin stars if such were awarded on your world!

Whilst this isn't an adventure per se, more of a setting, several adventure hooks are provided if you want more than just having your party encounter the travelling village and wandering about it for a pleasant evening, trading and being entertained. You could run several through a very busy evening at the encampment, or a different one each time the party goes there - assuming that both party and village are travelling in the same area for a while - or even build one into a larger plotline as you see fit. Alternatively, you might want to latch on to the quarreling kingdoms that caused the village to start travelling in the first place and build a whole campaign - or at least several adventures - around that.

With a new magic item and a new spell to be found here, it makes Azul a delightful place to visit, be it for an evening's rest and entertainment, to stock up on supplies and sell loot, or even a chance encounter on the road. As for where to put it in your campaign world: well, as they wander it could be just about anywhere... they may have strayed far from those two squabbling kingdoms by now.

Rather than an adventure, this is a campaign setting with plenty of adventure potential. Long ago a primitive race of lizardfolk dwelled in a settlement they called Hssith, in a swampy area that suited them. Then there was a massive earthquake that caused a mountain to tumble and water rush in, destroying a dark elf city in the process. Managing to salvage their library, the dark elves swore to restore their city to its former glory, but in the meantime they took over Hssith, enslaving the lizardfolk and renaming the place Hosuth. The dark elves are open to visiting humanoids, especially if they want to trade.

This setting is suited to combat-heavy adventures or ones that feature lots of political intrigue, so whatever your group prefers you can make use of its varied terrain - swamps, mountains, rivers, lakes and wilderness surround the city - and all that's going on within city limits. The city is made up of two distinct parts: the beautifully-manicured vegetation covered dark elf section and the wilder, more primitive areas where the lizardfolk dwell.

This work seeks to describe the city, its occupants and locations. It's up to you how the party gets there and why, but once there the very descriptions may suggest ideas for plots even before you reach the Adventure Hooks section. This lists a wide-ranging selection of ideas which you'll need to develop into full-blown adventures, they are but a paragraph apiece. A few prominent NPCs are also provide, and of course there is a map giving an overview of the entire city.

This has loads of potential, but it requires plenty of DM preparation before anything more than a 'just passing through' session can be run. Nice ideas and excellent evocation of atmosphere make it worth considering, though.

The city of Rahbaud is peaceful and prosperous, sounds lovely until you realise its wealth is founded on the slave trade! However the slaves have had enough, and a revolt has broken out... As this adventure was produced in support of Alderac's Evil sourcebook, the party gets hired to quash the rebellion! Working in the service of Prince Sukhir Blackhammer, the Iron Fist of Law, they are tasked with stamping out the revolt and bringing the ringleaders to justice.

The DM Background gives a few more details on the opulent settlement and the origins of the revolt, which started amongst gladiators. Worse, a neighbouring kingdom promptly declared war in the guise of 'freeing the slaves' (although wiser heads claim it's because the nation is broke and the people are starving...). The Prince will lead Rahbaud's army against this invasion, while the party (with the help of the town guard) quell the revolt.

The adventure starts with the Prince summoning the party. It's up to you how he heard of them, and indeed where Rahbaud is within your campaign world (you can, of course, change its name!). He sends them off forthwith, with some 60 guardsmen, to begin their task. The centre of town is a full-blown riot - it's suggested that you run sample encounters rather than attempt to play the whole thing out - and the docks are on fire, threatening warehouses stuffed with trade goods from the known world... and several slave galleys whose crews are about to burn!

There's a lot to take in at once and decisions need to be made right away. A series of general locations are provided along with an overview map of town so you get an idea of where everything is. The leaders of the revolt are covered in some detail, and they have based themselves in the gladatorial arena... but the party will also have to track down a safe house where a prominent sympathiser is to be found, and a good final brawl is to be had.

The outcome notes assume the party's success in their mission, and makes the note that anyone who went wild will not prosper - ruthless murderers are of no use to the Prince. Those who bring the ringleaders of the revolt to what passes for justice will, however, be rewarded. Even though this is billed as an adventure for evil characters, it could as easily be presented as extremely lawful. Set aside modern ideas about the awfulness of slavery and treat it as maintaining the status quo, upholding law and order. You could twist this round if the party want to throw their lot in with the slaves instead, but it's not designed that way... although I see potential with devious parties who might pretend to serve the Prince yet aid the slaves instead, although things would go really badly for them if they were caught out!

In this adventure, aimed squarely at characters who are as villainous as they come, a war-torn kingdom is led to peace by a mysterious paladin proclaiming himself as a long prophesied 'God-King'. Needless to say, not everyone is happy about this and a large price is placed on his head. Will the party take the contract?

The DM's Background provides a few more details, as well as a rival bunch of villains also after the money; and also suggests that if your party is of a good persuasion it's fairly easy to switch things around and have the self-styled God-King as the villain of the peace. Or - this is my thought - perhaps the party is hired to protect the God-King, who may be good or evil as you please, and face the choice of defending him or turning on him as they see fit. The possibilities are endless.

The opening scene lays it all out for the party, with a covert gathering of the discontented explaining what has happened over the past week - for the God-King's ascension to power is very recent - and ending with them hearing a very large price put up for the God-King's removal from power by whatever means can be found. It seems that although he is 'good' he's also quite totalitarian and many feel the weight of his boot on their necks. Put it this way, you even need a permit to leave the city and face gaol if caught sneaking out...

From here a bunch of options are explored: the one difficulty with running a game with an evil party is that they come up with plans to which you then have to react, rather than the more conventional way of you thinking up a plot and the party reacting to it. Still, most things they might come up with are covered and this gives you a starting point to shape your response. All-out attack or assassination might be the first thoughts, but what about blackmail, planting false evidence or even seeking to corrupt the fellow? Whatever they decide upon, it's likely they will end up visiting the temple in which the God-King dwells. A detailed description of the temple including map, room descriptions, occupants and their likely reactions follows. Finally the true nature of the God-King is revealed, along with a new magic item.

This adventure leaves a lot unsaid, but it provides an excellent framework on which you can hang your own plots. Provided you are willing to put in the work, there is great potential here for some epic adventuring.

If you're the sort of person who'd like to have a demon at your beck and call, you're probably of the evil persuasion (at least as far as alignments are concerned). Designed for evil characters, this adventure sends them in quest of a dagger that is said to be able to summon and control the demon R'Godae, a quest that sends them into a powerful wizard's former home that is now used as a training centre for good-aligned wizards and warriors, even paladins. So as a bonus these evil characters get to beat up on some of the brightest and best upcoming good guys!

The DM's Background expands a bit on the powerful wizard, whose name was Folnar, explaining how he came about the dagger and its powers. It also details how Folnar's apprentices set up a unique training centre in his fortified mansion after his death where wizards, clerics, paladins and other good-aligned warriors study tactics combining might and magic in the fight against evil. It's up to you how the party gather the information about the dagger, what it can do and where it is currently located. This adventure pits the party against the mansion and its occupants.

You are provided with plenty of information about leading personalities at the rather remote mansion (no wonder it is fortified), physical structure, daily routine and defences. There's a plan with detailed room notes, but it is suggested that either miniatures or a dry-erase board are used to keep track of everyone once the party begins its penetration. Crafty parties who try some advance reconnaisance are catered for with notes on what they can discover or observe, whilst likely actions on the part of the inhabitants once they realise they are under attack are also included.

Finally there are notes about the dagger, the ritual and possible outcomes - here, you will have to decide if all the legends are for real or if something else happens... or nothing at all. Many options provide scope for a myriad of follow-up adventures if not a whole campaign.

There's a fair bit of fighting, and often what might be deemed skirmishing - not a pitched battle but reasonable numbers of opponents to handle - so the suggestion of some means of visual representation could be helpful in keeping track of what's going on. This book can be seen as a core idea, from which you could built an entire campaign from first hearing rumours about a dagger with which a demon can be summoned right through to the ramifications and subsequent adventures of the party who attempts the summoning. Of course, that would mean quite a lot of work but for a group determined to play an evil campaign, this could make a good - if that's the right word - framework.

Released in conjunction with the Evil sourcebook, this adventure sets the party as candidates for membership in the Minutemen, the local thieves' guild. They are handed a list of items they are to 'acquire' over a single night... and if they fail, they will be handed over to the town guards and imprisoned for whatever crimes they have committed (or for which they need someone to take the rap)! No pressure then...

If you've used Honour Among Thieves, another adventure in the Adventurer's Keep series, you will have met the Minutemen already, in their home town of Desburgh (or wherever you located it). Use the same bunch again, or maybe this is an affiliate operating in another town that's more convenient for your overall plot. Any class of character may apply for membership provided they are neutral or evil in alignment, and several possible reasons for them wishing to join the Minutemen are provided - although you may need to engineer the conditions that would bring those reasons in to play in prelimary adventures of your own. Alternatively, it can be run as a one-off for a group who want to have a go at being the bad guys for once. A neat system is provided to enable you to create a new 'Gauntlet' every time you run this module, or you can use the example that is detailed in full.

The adventure begins with the party meeting with a representative of the Minutemen in an empty warehouse in the early evening, where they are given the list of items (less one, they're told they will be informed about the last one later on). You may well wish to devise some earlier scenes to cover the party contacting the Minutemen and applying to join, of course. Locations are mapped and described clearly, with plenty of detail to let you deal with whatever the party decides to do.

Notes are provided as to how to deal with success and failure, either during the night or once they meet the Minutemen representative again with their spoils. There are some good ideas for follow-up adventures as well. Overall, it makes for an excellent adventure for a party that doesn't mind getting its hands dirty or is considering (or already leading) a life of crime. Or they might be working undercover... Whatever, it makes for an entertaining and hectic evening!

Across frozen wastes hidden away lies the Kingdom of the Seven-Day Sun, but it has worse problems than a chilly location. They found the king sitting on his throne murdered, and during the coronation of his successor, Crown Prince Hess, someone had a go at him too. Fingers of suspicion point in all directions, not least the Table of Lords (all of whom could stake a claim to the throne)... and all turn to the party, who were visiting for the winter festival and are now trapped here like everybody else, to find out what's going on.

The DM's Background reveals who the murderer is and why he committed it, the adventure itself is one of investigation and interaction as the party - distrusted by just about everyone because they are outsiders - hunt for the truth. The party gets embroiled in the matter because they happen to be standing in the crowd watching the coronation beside a fellow who pulls out a crossbow and takes a pot-shot at Hess. Hopefully they tackle him - if they don't the crowd will bring him down, dead!

By its very nature, the adventure is quite freeform. There's a background timetable that ticks along irrespective of what the party does, loads of people to talk to, and a very loose framework against which you can let the party loose to do what they please. A plan of the royal castle, complete with room descriptions, is provided, as well as 'thumbnail sketches' of the people that are under suspicion that the party is supposed to interview. With the odd assassin and one evil creature to contend with, opportunities for combat are there but not frequent yet, should the party figure out how to defeat the evil creature, they have the chance to save the kingdom from more than a regicide.

Study the adventure carefully before running it, the material is a bit confused in places and could have done with a read-through by someone who didn't know the plot! That said, it's a nice winter investigation with potential for the party to make their names as something a bit more classy that pure adventurers who raid monsters and steal their stuff.

The Players Introduction sets the scene: while browsing in an adventurers' supplies emporium, the party discovers the proprietor in a distraught state. His supply ship has been lost at sea, and worse than the loss of the cargo apparently he had what he refers to as a 'family heirloom' aboard... and he's willing to pay well to have it retrieved. When the party starts to ask about it, it turns out that the ship has run aground on a reef rather than sunk, but the crew refuse to return to it despite it not being that far away. Smell a rat? Or is the lure of the reward too great?

The DM's Background explains the real story behind the wreck and the true nature of the family heirloom. Interestingly, the adventure provides a good test of the party's honesty. Brief notes cover the trip to the wreck - you'll have to fill in any details or encounters you deem necessary - then the party will have the ship to explore. There's a good plan and notes on what's where aboard. Rather oddly, the ship hit the reef broadside on, staving in the side - anyone knowing much about sailing ships should realise that's somewhat unlikely.

Most of the critters the party encounter will attack without much thought, but it may be possible to enter into negotiation with the final encounter (who was behind the wreck in the first place) although as he's a bit of a religious fanatic they are unlikely to sway him from his purpose. The end of the adventure assumes the party come back to their patron, the owner of the ship, and deals with various options - although one fairly possible one isn't covered at all, you'll have to work out your own response to it. There's a neat new magic item and the new 'monster' is that final encounter.

This makes for a neat little adventure to spice up a shopping trip in a seaside town, but more could have been made of the moral dilemma.

It's a bit awkward for a kingdom when their king goes missing. The Players Introduction tells us that King Ivol Lareth II was misplaced when his castle was under attack by barbarian hordes... whisked away into safekeeping by the court wizard, one Keland the Magnificent, who unfortunately then died without telling anyone where he'd hidden the king. Now his realms languish under his talentless son, and the citizens really, really want King Lareth back. Can the party help?

The DM's Background provides the low-down on what Keland did with Lareth, and where he is now. There is more on just why Lareth's son Mellan isn't up to ruling, and so affairs are being managed by one Kaylin, a very smart elf who is Lareth's seneschal. Kaylin doesn't want to use the Royal Guard to search, as she thinks the barbarians will be back soon, so she's seeking to hire in. There's also a note that this adventure doesn't come with a map. The kingdom's a pretty basic city-state with some mountains to the north - you can sketch something if you feel the need, or find a suitable location in your campaign world.

If the party has a reputation already in this region, Kaylin will send to them for help. Otherwise she advertises, and it's up to the party to respond... well, they are supposed to be adventurers, after all. Once they present themselves at the castle, it's clear that everyone's desperate for King Lareth to be found. The only suggestion Kaylin has is that they start by seaching Keland's quarters for clues. They've been sealed since he died about a week ago. Few venture into a wizard's room uninvited, even once he's dead, so it's not been disturbed...

Everything depends on the party finding a single clue, so you may have to 'help' them a bit to find it. Once they do, indications are that Lareth is somewhere to the north, in the mountains some three day's travel away. Some encounters are provided for along the route - even a passing dragon - but eventually they ought to reach their destination, although this is going to require some actual mountain climbing. The party will also have to contend with other denizens of the mountain... and rescue the missing monarch, once they have identified him. Oh, and then they have to get off the mountain safely again!

With a final twist in the tale, this is a cracking little adventure with an interesting quest and a lot of fun to be had along the way. It also bodes fair to increase the reputation of successful parties, and a bard or two ought to be able to get a good song out of it!

If ever a party was railroaded into an adventure, it would be this one. The Player Introduction tells a tale of abduction, ending with the party in a rat-infested dank cell with a voice saying they have a job for them to do...

The DM's Background explains about the Temple of the Eternal Flame and what the party will have to do. It's intended that the party members are kidnapped individually, so you could use this as a campaign-starter - provided that they actually survive a fairly tough dungeon delve. It may be more suitable for a one-off adventure, so if the worst happens at least nobody has lost a favourite character!

The temple itself is a pyramid, and the first trick is to figure out how to get in. Thereafter, the place is replete with traps and puzzles, as well as hostile denizens. None of them seem inclined to do anything but leap into combat as soon as they are encountered... well, one offers the party a single chance to leave, but only after at least one party member has been killed.

The whole background is a bit hazy, referring to an old and bitter feud between the fellow who abducted the party and someone based in the temple - the DM is encouraged to work out the details of the feud if they want to know more. There is a high element of railroading, with the fellow that abducted the party being regarded as 'too powerful to be dealt with' and left without details of level and capabilities. If surviving characters want to wreak their revenge later when they have become more powerful, again it will be up to you to determine his capabilities.

That said, the temple is well-described and everything therein works (once you know where it is). It's a bit overpowered for the level of character suggested, but that seems to be kind of the point. The party's supposed to feel pretty powerless, pawns in someone else's quarrel. Not many adventurers are going to like that, and they may want to do something about it, which could make for some interesting follow-up adventures.