Wednesday, April 13, 2022

An Adventure in Restenford: A Lesser Known Lendore Isles Scenario

For fans of Len Lakofka's Secret of Bone Hill and the sequels Assassins Knot and Deep Dwarven Delve, there is another adventure set in the town of Restenford.

In Dungeon Magazine issue #71 is Priestly Secrets written by W. Jason Peck. The story involves the characters in a recovery mission for the church that definitely does not go as one might expect. Everything takes place in Restenford keeping the incidents contained and not involving overland travel other than movement in town.

No spoilers will be shared here since I hope readers will have a chance to play or DM the fun.

An object of importance has been "misplaced" resulting in a threatening infestation and worse. In the course of recovering the item and resolving the root issues, the party will not only encounter opposition in combat, but also challenges of a physical/terrain nature to overcome. 

I ran this for my old campaign group during the transition from second to third edition. The adventure is written for second edition, but can easily be converted to any other edition. The game went great and while the party made it through intact they did have some difficulties that almost resulted in losing a party member to a natural hazard.

While the characters will not get rich from the treasure available, there is the possibility that looting of the available treasure could give the DM the chance for a tie-in later in the campaign.

My original copy of issue #71 was, along with thousands of dollars worth of mostly gaming gear, "lost" during my last move. This is still a sore point. I just paid for a copy of the magazine from an Ebay vendor, it wasn't cheap, but at least I have it back in my collection.

Priestly Secrets will not make it into my Ptolus campaign as-is, but the premise is solid and the core elements easily fit into the setting. By placing the adventure in the Temple District or in North Market near the Necropolis, you can also have some of it take a detour through the sewers and it will still make sense. If it does make the cut, it will end up involving a priestly order that handles burial preparations and funerals, and I'll have to determine how to draw in the PCs since there won't be a Baroness requesting a cleanup.

You may discover a less expensive source for the issue than I did, and I highly recommend getting your hands on it if you are a DM.



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