The Speaker in Dreams

The Speaker in Dreams An Adventure for 5^th Level Characters in the Dungeons and Dragons Game System.

By James Wyatt.

As always when reviewing game modules; if you are a Dungeon Master, there is no such thing as spoiler. If you are a player, stop reading here and mark this review "Very Helpful."

The Speaker in Dreams is not exactly a continuation of the previous two adventures, The Sunless Citadel, and The Forge of Fury, but it is a natural enough continuation. Where as the previous two adventures were site base dungeon crawls, this is a whole new kettle of fish; the urban adventure. A whole different set of rules apply.

The Introduction sets things up and helps the Dungeon Master (DM) prepare. It includes the Adventure Background, which gives the history relevant to the adventure and the Adventure Synopsis. A synopsis is a great idea, but it is not carved in stone. Adventurers are hard enough to corral in a mine shaft, in a city adventure, it can be like herding cats. So I suggest you remember how to get cats from point A to point B; go to point B and open a can of tuna. Figure out where you need the group to go, look at the area, and see what might appeal to one of them. I hate to admit this, but I used to have the last fight in a dungeon knick this one characters sword. When he got into town, the first thing he did was gone and bribed a smith to use his forge to fix it himself. Everyone else would be bored, and look around nearby. Set the hook there, and voila!

Next are the Character Hooks, a few suggestions what to use as the Tuna to get the ball rolling.

The next section is The Town of Brindinford. It is a little chamber of commerce overview of the community that lets the DM know how many people live here (Hey, are there any dwarf chicks? Probably about 75.) How much money exists, and what is the cost of the most expensive things that can reasonably be found in town. A town of 5000 will not have flying carpets for sale. For that, you need a bigger city.

Each neighborhood has a descriptive paragraph and just enough detail so a DM can tell the characters the flavor of the area they find themselves in.

The next section is Events and Encounters: Part One. This is a different kind of adventure. Instead of describing rooms and traps, this throws the characters into the Faire, and describes the events that happen. The other participants are described, just like in a dungeon, First, they characters arrive and have their weapons peacebonded; a requirement of the faire. Then they get to wander a bit, then Wererats attack! After they help save the people, the characters have options until the next event. There are a number of clues to follow.

These clues and events lead them into the web of events spun by an insane cult who worship things that man was not meant to know. Events should lead them to the next section:

Events and Encounters Part Two.

Set up like the other this focuses more on events than places. Eventually, they will make their way to a place called the Reality Wrinkle, the headquarters of the cult. Eventually it should play out that the heroes face the leader of the cult in a cataclysmic battle to the death!

The Conclusion helps tie up the loose ends and gives a few suggestions on how to expand the adventure if they choose.

The Appendix is wonderfully helpful, with all the Statistics for the monsters, Townsfolk and Villains helpfully laid out. The named characters and monsters get a little more detail. Their complete stats and possessions including spells in memory are available at a glance. Finally, the stats are given for a new monster, the otherworldly Wystes!

The last page, 32, includes a new feature, The Adventure Flowchart. This is hands down the best way ever to herd cats, I mean, keep adventurers from wandering too far from the adventures main action points.

As always, useful maps appear on the front and back inside covers.

This Adventure is a learning experience for characters. In a dungeon, a "kill everything in sight, then ask questions" approach, while not effective, doesn't land you in jail. As one of my players remarked, "I finally learned Fireball, and now I can't use it!" Fireballs and other spells of mass destruction can't be thrown around with impunity.

Also, wererats in human form and evil cultists look just like the bakers wife and the local serving wench. It gives the players a whole new problem with a whole new solution; sense motive, diplomacy, bluff and gather information checks.

This adventure is very adaptable, not so much as an adventure, but if you need a generic town of about 5000 people, well, low and behold, here you have Badger Falls, population 4,112, or Greenport, Population 5509. You get the idea.

At $9.95 for 32 pages, this is right in line with the others in the series, and well worth the price.