Last Halloween my group decided to run this as a one shot. I found this and made some group premade characters. One of the most entertaining nights of gaming. It even convinced a few non-gamers to play more.

The more your group is into acting in character the more fun with all the spirits.

Highly recommended.

Mysteries of the Razor Sea 1 is a first level adventure that pits a crew of characters, already at sea on a boat mind you, against a ghost ship.

The book is laid out in two column format. Art is minimal but solid. At 14 pages in length with no cover, the book is a quick play for a group used to getting things done. The adventure’s introduction provides a host of fearsome reasons why the Razor Coast is so dangerous and then gets to the specifics of this adventure, the ruins of the ship Seabear, a fairly well known ship that has outlasted seven captains and been on a thousand voyages.

On this ghost ship, the Game Master must have some reserves of his own. See, the players are in essence possibly, depending on saving throws, slowly taken over by the old crew which killed each other due to a curse. The Game Master is encouraged to sow the seeds of doubt and mistrust. For game masters who may be master narrators of combat but low on the interactive tricks required to make one player turn on another, this could be a little tricky. Read the sidebar a few times, write out ahead of time some of the frictions that may already exist in the party, and roll with what the party itself puts it there.

In terms of the role playing challenge required by the Game Master and players, I’d put this one right up there with Atlas Games old 3e module, In the Belly of the Beast. A good group and game master will make this an adventure you’ll talk about for a long time to come. A group more interesting in just hack and slash with a GM who specializes in that type of game may want to pass on this one.

Players gain personality traits and abilities, depending on which spirit takes them over. It’s an interesting twist in that it still leaves the characters in the players hands but gives them some tools to role play with. The players are able to explore the ship, seek to discover what happened, and either flee back to their own ship or put torch to this one over a series of encounters with a variety of entities and hazards.

In addition to the ‘proper’ adventure itself, the author includes several side treks with various amounts of information that will allow the GM to access several other possible adventurers with the proper fleshing out. For example, having a white albatross making a general nuisance of itself. But those who’ve read the poem or heard the Iron Maiden song know what happens to those who take vengeance on the bird eh?

In some ways the latter information is useless if you’re actually using this as a first level adventure. One of the encounters is the equal to a massive black pudding, another the equal of a elder water elemental. These are not things that first level or even fifth level players are going to be able to do much against save perhaps bleed.

On the other hand, if you’re buying this not only for the adventure, but for background information, knowing that the Snow Witch Ketrelda sends out giant icebergs to act as sentinels of the sea and that sealed crates found amidst flotsam and jetsam may include casks of sugar and spices valued at some odd fifty per barrel, you’ll find the information entirely useful.

...is really tangible in this great introductory adventure.
The hooks also rule.

Then look no further, Mysteries of the Razor Sea, provides any Dungeon Master with some interesting water based locales to take an adventuring party. Eerie banks of fog, devouring icebergs, undersea terrors near geothermal vents, all of these and more.

There’s nothing better than watching a master craftsman of adventure writing take an almost clichéd idea (the haunted ship) and turn out something so fresh and entertaining. At times it seems more like a ghost story than just an adventure. Particularly since it’s written in that distinctive “Loguian” style that has already given us “Chimes at Midnight” and “Mask of Diamond Tears” (one of my personal favorites for its sheer inventiveness) to name just two.
One of the most intriguing and memorable elements of this adventure is the way it handles the influence the ships’ restless spirits exert over the PCs as the claustrophobic setting slowly presses down on their psyches. In the hands of most writers this would get handled with a few Will saves and some sort of combat penalty but Logue goes so much further. He actually creates distinct personalities for each of the spirits and gives PCs both advantages and disadvantages should they fall under their sway. Many of the encounters contain additional information or challenges specifically tailored to of these entities, subtly affecting the way the adventure progresses based upon which spirits have cast their shadows over the party.
For instance, imagine fighting the decapitated zombie remains of one of the crew while his horrified ghost gibbers in the back of your mind. Who but Logue would think to include the impulse of putting on that zombie’s clothing once you defeat it? Or the frantic search for the rotting head (now a chew toy for a monster I won’t name just in case a player happens to read this)?
In addition to the adventure itself this product also includes a number of additional sea based adventure hooks. Several of them (particularly the one about the sentient ice berg) are worth the price of admission in and of themselves. All in all, this adventure offers DMs a huge amount of useful material in a very compact package. I don’t think anybody looking for a dark and suspenseful night’s entertainment

I bought this one looking for a mean iceberg-monster adventure, but -surprise-... It was not. But to my pleasure, the adventure is one the best ship-based, horror-adventure I have seen! And on top of that, this Indulgence include several easy adventure hooks that work great as sea encounters and a couple nice creatures (here comes the mean iceberg) as a bonus. I completelly recomend this Indulges 110% to all interested in running sea encounters and campaign, all for 2.50, quite a bargain!