A Lion in the Ropes by Stephen Chenault is a role playing game supplement published by Troll Lord Games for use with Castles & Crusades. As such, it is covered by the Open Game License and some parts are considered to be Open Game Content as a result. This is an adventure for 4-8 characters of levels 2-4. It is also available in a version for Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition.
The supplement is available as a 20-page PDF for $7 from DriveThruRPG although it was purchased at a reduced price as part of a bundle. Two pages are the front and rear covers and one page is the front matter and Open Game License.
A Knight Upon the Green starts with some background flavour text then explains how to use the module. It has several different threads and it can be used as a prelude to the, not currently available outside a bundle, Rune Lore.
The Adventure explains that the lands of the aged Lord Galveston have been plagued by murders. It explains the true source of the murders as well as a creature that is wandering around that is being mistaken for something else, and a bandit group that’s causing problems.
Background for the Castle Keeper gives some history for the adventure, which is in the Aihrde setting, and explain the current situation.
Placing the Adventure explains that it has been slightly moved from its original location in Aihrde. It then mentions two of the threads.
A Lion in the Ropes is the adventure itself. The characters will arrive at a village and get a rather paranoid welcome, being told they should move onto the main one. There, they will discover the current situation and can be asked to do something about it. Some events follow a timeline and a small dungeon to explore.
New Monsters has the new creature encountered in this adventure.
New Magic Items describes a single new item.
Rune Spells has a new spell.
Finally, one and a half pages have maps of two locations.
A Lion in the Ropes in Review
The PDF lacks bookmarks and is long enough with enough sections that these would be useful. Navigation is poor. The text maintains a two-column format and a couple of minor errors were noticed. There are a handful of black and white illustrations, including a smaller greyscale version of the cover. Navigation is decent.
This is an interesting adventure. There are three different threads with only one of them being what is truly going on. One thread is a misdirection, another is a complication. This means that characters may think they’ve solved the problem, but haven’t actually, so a further murder could come as a shock. The reward is a decent one; they can end up being named Lord Galveston’s successor. Though the adventure is set in a specific place in Aihrde, it should be possible to move it without problems, as that has already been done once. Despite the location’s background, it should be easy enough to drop into any appropriate setting. A Lion in the Ropes is a nice little adventure and it can be found by clicking here.
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