A01: Crypt of the Sun Lord by Jonathan G. Nelson is a role playing game supplement published by AAW Games for use with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game. As such, it is covered by the Open Game License and some parts are considered to be Open Game Content as a result. The supplement is also available in versions for Fantasy Grounds and Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition.
The supplement is available from DriveThruRPG as a 28-page PDF for $1.79, as a softcover colour print on demand book for $7.40 or as both PDF and softcover for $8. The PDF is the version reviewed although it was purchased at a reduced price as part of a special bundle. Two pages are the front and rear covers, one the front matter, one the Table of Contents and one the Open Game License. There is also a jpg map of the crypt.
Adventure Background explains about the Sun Lord and his tomb and the Adventure Synopsis covers the events. The Adventure Hook has a goblin steal something, which will get the characters to follow him back to the tomb.
Part One: Serpent Lake explains that this should be used if the Adventureaweek.com Campaign Setting is being used; otherwise, proceed to Part Two. Part One explains that the characters are a party that have been dispatched by the Klavek Kingdom across the Serpent Lake to a newly acquired village. There are maps of the lake, the area and images of the captured ship being used.
Part Two: A Short Respite has the ship stop along the way to the village. During this stop, an item is stolen by a goblin. If the later-published prequel, A00: Crow’s Rest Island, is used, an item received as a reward from that can be taken. Should the characters fail to follow, an encounter with a bear can be added – and bears are important to Klavekians, so killing them is bad.
Part Three: Into the Ruins has the characters exploring the crypt. There are various undead within and a minor artefact is the reward.
The final two pages of content have labelled and unlabelled versions of the crypt map.
A01: Crypt of the Sun Lord in Review
The PDF is decently bookmarked with major and minor sections linked. The Table of Contents is to a similar level of depth. Presentation is decent. The text maintains a two-column colour format and appeared to be mostly free of errors. There are a number of colour illustrations; bar the maps, these appear to be stock. The maps are good and there is a player-friendly version; sadly, not the separate jpg file. Presentation is decent.
This is technically an adventure for Pathfinder and D&D 3.5. It has stat blocks for both; there aren’t huge differences between the monsters but there are some. The hook is a bit iffy; low level creature manages to steal a piece of treasure and get away. Unless the players have attachment to the item, and unless it’s the one they got in A00, they may not, they might not feel about chasing the goblin. Even assuming it escapes.
The crypt itself contains a number of undead that wait around to be killed. Each will remain in its chamber until the characters arrive. This makes them much easier to crush. Having a minor artefact as the reward for an adventure aimed at level 1 characters also seems a bit excessive. A01: Crypt of the Sun Lord isn’t a bad adventure but it isn’t a great one either and it can be found by clicking here.
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