Blacksink Marsh has always had an ill reputation. The thorns that grow there are poisonous, beasts and changed things rove the waters, lurking in wait for foolish travelers, and the twisted descendants of an accursed tribe hunt beneath the dark canopy of black willow trees. Explorers tell of strange crumbling buildings suddenly happened upon at dusk and vanishing with the last red rays of the sun, and gators who walk on two legs and drown men from a far with a mere glance. Something has risen from the mire and walked clumsily onto the lands of men. This broken creature from a bygone age of slaughter, wants to praise its dead god the only way it knows how: by drowning the children of his enemies in a mournful temple sunk beneath the bog—a stinking wet hell of weed, silt and slime where hungry things crawl and the dead refuse to lay buried. Still Waters is a harrowing adventure into the mires of Blacksink marsh suitable for four to six 6th level PCs, and includes two new monsters.
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Richard Pett delivers.
The adventure is lethal, well-crafted, spooky and challenging.
Environmental dangers, evocative battles and a writing that makes you really see the threats before you.
Two thumbs up, 5 stars.
I was looking for a good swamp adventure recently as I was happy to discover this little gem.
Blacksink Marsh is a land rich with monsters and a cool backstory and the adventure has multiple hooks to try and pull your party into checking out the whats and whys of the mysterious disappeances of slaves and children.
Pett does a great job making the journey in the swamp seem treacherous and difficult to travel. I really enjoyed the possibility of combat in the coracles which will probably end up needing Balance and Swim checks!
The Drowning Temple is unique with it's traps and obstacles and I love the final fight which involves trying to save those in the Hollow God from a watery grave. Excellent!
Last but not least, I'm always a big fan of new monsters and the Karikanti and the Slough Shade do not disappoint.
Disclaimer: I’ve met Nick and consider him a friend. Then again, who doesn’t?
It turns out $3 gets you a full-color, 15 p. Richard Pett adventure which is a rare bird these days. The whole package feels a bit like an adventure found in Dungeon Magazine: big enough for multiple sessions of play, but still small enough to drop into an existing campaign without taking it over. There are two new monsters complete with full illustrations, but the focus here is the watery dungeon. Fans know post-modern Pett means dark and so in “Still Waters” he brings the creep, i.e.:
Spoiler:
A gruesome monkey wight;
A giant wicker statue of a maw, of all things – with people trapped inside for a non-traditional sacrifice as they wait to be sucked into the muck for suffocation.
A savage girallon with a flopping broken arm – ewwww.
There’s only one map for the map-philes, but the cartography ranks. One of Rich’s stand-out strengths is his ability to name stuff. That’s partly how, I suspect, he succeeds at building memorable atmosphere. (Welcome to the “HungerMire”, best you don’t camp next to the “Warn Tree”). Almost every single room drips with a title that sounds like a place you don’t want your party to go (I.e. “The Throat” and “The Hollow God”). But you will go – Just don’t send me a postcard.
Because the adventure relies on environmental dangers layered on top of foes, it’s a tough thing to scale. If your PCs have potions of water breathing or solid Swim skills, I’d say you could handle it at level 5. If not, go for level 6 or you might not make it back.
There’s not a lot of information as to what happens next, after you at last crawl out of the muck with your last hit point in a jar, but perhaps that’s what the next adventure in the Indulgence line is for. I’d pick this one up again. It’s less expensive than the munchies you’ll bring to the game itself, yet more memorable than most adventures in its category.
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