Ever the innovator, Richard Pett gives us an adventure centered around the PCs doing research in old libraries, a concept which fits perfectly within the Ancient Egyptian theme. So let's see how Shifting Sands measures up.
Likes
1) As I mentioned above, the idea of an adventure focusing on scouring libraries trying to find clues about an ancient mystery fits really well into this adventure path. I like the Research Rules that are presented here and think that they are a clever way to resolve things in a way that avoids giving the players a massive information dump. Unfortunately, I do have concerns that the overall design of this adventure will detract from the excitement of the Research Rules. (see below)
2) This is the first Mummy's Mask adventure that deals directly with the main storyline of the AP and this elevates the adventure in my view.
3) The main NPC introduced in this adventure, "Her Excellency Muminofrah of Sothis" is a very memorable character and I imagine some great roleplaying moments are going to come out of the PCs trying to get into her good books. The reason that the players need to be nice to Muminofrah is that she represents the only legal option available to the PCs to gain access to the ancient libraries of Tephu.
4) I was also intrigued by Udjebet, a medusa who is encountered in one of the libraries. She is obsessed by rings, magical or otherwise, and is looking for an artifact called the Uraeus Ring. Things could become interesting if the PCs don't just treat this as a combat encounter.
5) We also get a chase scene reminiscent of Ben-Hur and Indiana Jones when the PCs are ambushed by enemies during a chariot race.
6) The player handout called "Excerpt from the Scrolls of Inquiry" is very well done and really sets the tone. Unfortunately, it also points the players in a direction that the adventure is not ready to explore. (see below)
7) My favorite part of the adventure has to do with finding the entrance to a hidden library. Without giving too much away, let me just say that the Tower of Ra's Glory presents the players with an interesting problem which cannot simply be resolved by rolling dice but forces them to think creatively. Personally, I find puzzles that are designed to challenge players and not characters more rewarding and I would like to see more of them in future adventures.
Dislikes
1) The transition between part 2 and 3 assumes that the PCs tell a specific NPC that they have acquired the Mask of the Forgotten Pharaoh and that they should travel to Tephu to do research. Though not terrible, I think this is a weak hook. For instance, what happens if the players decide to keep it a secret that they have the mask?
2) NPCs: The adventure only has one NPC (Muminofrah) that the PCs can interact with in a meaningful way, and while she is a great NPC, the adventure overuses her. I suspect that most groups will grow tired of her before the end of part 1 due to her incessant need to be appeased. Her ending is also somewhat unsatisfactory as she is just whisked away on her barge. What if the PCs suspect that something is wrong and take it upon themselves to rescue her? It also isn't clear whether or not she is meant to play a greater role at some later point in the campaign.
The adventure introduces another important NPC who can provide access to the libraries but interactions with her are likely to be extremely frustrating to the players as the adventure states that all non-magical attempts to convince with her automatically fail. Her only role in this adventure seems to be to block the PCs progress. In a different adventure that might not be such a big deal, but when the only other NPC that the PCs can interact with is a pampered prima donna the potential is there for things to quickly go sour.
3) As I mentioned above, I like the new Research Rules. However, a big problem that I see with the adventure is that whether the party handles the research well or poorly makes little difference to the outcome of the adventure. There is no race against time or against rivals to make the players want to do their research more quickly. There is no irrevocable cost for doing poorly on a research roll except that it takes longer and the PCs might have to appease Muminofrah for more time. The risk then is for the Research Rules to become a mere formality or a dice-rolling chore rather than a subsystem where success and failure are truly meaningful.
4) The "Excerpt from the Scrolls of Inquiry" which is obtained in the second of three libraries that the PC will visit in Tephu mentions the exact location where the Heart of Hakotep was hidden in the city of Sothis. This is a problem because the adventure provides no guidance at all for what to do if the PCs decide to go searching for this artifact. The adventure assumes that the PCs will put this vital piece of information on the back-burner and keep looking for further clues in Tephu. It is hard to imagine that a group of PCs would not be tempted to immediately go looking for the Heart of Hakotep given that they already have the Mask of Hakotep.
5) I found the encounters for the Hex Crawl in part two to be the least interesting of the adventure because of their lack of connectedness to the overall plot and to each other. Also, the sole encounter map in part two (the hive) was sort of bland.
6) Although most of part 3, the Tomb of Chisisek, is ok, I didn't like the final encounters of the adventure which involve the PCs fighting two different types of golems in back-to-back rooms.
Other Comments
I meant to touch on these things in my earlier reviews:
-I love the new fiction format that provides more adventure content and maps.
-Kudos to the team who designed the inside covers for this adventure path as they are very nicely done. The front inside covers usually provide a short narrative and piece of artwork relevant to the adventure in question while the back inside covers is an ongoing narrative in 6 parts about how an ancient pharaoh's tomb would have been built.
Overall Impression
Because it deals more closely with the main storyline of the AP, I enjoyed reading Shifting Sands more than the first two parts of Mummy's Mask. As I mentioned, the theme appeals to me and some of the encounters make very strong set pieces. However, the adventure does suffer from having too few NPCs to interact with in the first part and from unconnected sandbox encounters in part 2. While there are quite a few ideas that I could see myself using in another campaign, I would not run the adventure from start to finish so I give it three stars.
