paizo.com - Dungeon Crawl Classics #1: Idylls of the Rat King (OGL)

Dungeon Crawl Classics #1: Idylls of the Rat King (OGL) PDF
Goodman Games

An adventure for character levels 1–3.

Remember the golden days of role playing, when adventures were underground, NPCs were there to be killed, and the finale of every dungeon was the dragon on the 20th level? Well, those days are back. Dungeon Crawl Classics feature bloody combat, intriguing dungeons, and no NPCs who aren't meant to be killed. Each adventure is 100% good, solid dungeon crawl, with the monsters you know, the traps you fear, and the secret doors you know must be there somewhere.

This is a 3.5-edition update of the ENnie-recognized best-seller that started the Dungeon Crawl Classics line! In Idylls of the Rat King, goblin bandits are once again attacking the silver caravans, killing innocent miners and stealing cargo. The goblins have taken up residence in an abandoned mine northwest of Silverton. Someone must get rid of them. But this is no ordinary abandoned mine. It was deliberately barricaded generations ago when the Gannu family, founders of Silverton, discovered an unspeakable evil on its lowest levels. And these are no ordinary goblins, for the curse of the Gannu family courses through their veins...

Dungeon Crawl Classics can be inserted easily into any fantasy setting.

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The good.
Good back story. Very well laid out. Easy to prep. Nice dungeon crawl. Easy to inject into existing campaign.

The bad.
Felt like running an MMO dungeon with all the duplicate encounters (Trash Mobs). More fleshing out of the individual encounters would help.

The final bad guy in my opinion isn't the kind of thing you give level 3-4 characters to fight. It wasn't a good representation of the monster, as it had to be dumbed down to make it fair.

I would have ended the story with the rat king.

This was the one that started Goodman Games's successful line of Dungeon Crawl Classics, in which they claimed to be attempting to create the feel of the original 'dungeon bash' adventures of early D&D. Despite the rather depressing introductary statement that stated the NPCs were merely there to be killed, the line has actually produced excellent role-playing adventures which combined the best parts of Dungeons & Dragons as it has evolved over time.

In this adventure, a bunch of 1st-3rd level characters arrive (presumably while going about their own business) in the remote mining town of Silverton, whereupon their aid is enlisted to clean out a deserted mine full of rather nasty and aggressive wererat goblin bandits who have been making a nuisance of themselves in the area. Once your characters are in Silverton, three different ways are suggested for getting them involved - only one of which involves that stand-by of being approached in an inn. Indeed, the whole adventure is full of helpful suggestions for the DM, laid out clearly so that they are ready to hand just when you need them. A comprehensive, yet concise, backstory sets the scene for the DM.

However, conversation over the beermugs is not why we are here, and the rest of the product consists of a whole four levels of abandoned silver mine to explore. Well, 'abandoned' by its original miners - there are plenty of others in residence who really don't want to be disturbed. Everyone has their reasons for being there, and their own plots and plans to be busy with, but they would rather attack intruders than debate with them. For each room, there is a clear description of the contents and inhabitants, with detailed directions as to how they will react and fight once the characters enter.

If you are looking for a low-level adventure full of excitement and strenuous combat, in a well-designed situation where everyone has a good reason to fight, then look no further!