An Enigma Lost in a Maze by Richard Pett is a role playing game supplement published by Kobold Press for use with Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition. 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 available from the Kobold Press store as a PDF for $9.99 or as a softcover for $19.99. The PDF is the version reviewed, although it was purchased at a reduced price as part of a special bundle. The PDF has 52 pages with two pages being the front and back covers, one the front matter, four pages are ads, one the Open Game License and two pages are blank.
The adventure is set in Roshgazi, a city in the Southlands of the Midgard Campaign Setting, and the former capital of the Moon Kingdom of Tes-Qamar, the cultural home of the minotaurs, until it was all but destroyed by dragons, dragonkin and kobolds.
The Adventure Summary explains that the characters essentially seek and explore various places, with brief outlines of each part.
The Adventure Background gives details on Roshgazi and the events leading up to the current situation from several hundred years ago.
Recent Events has the most recent events in the city and a sidebar has a possible link between this adventure and Mad Maze of the Moon Kingdom. There are some Adventure Hooks and a brief description of Occupied Roshgazi.
Part 1: Introductions has the characters meet a minotaur who asks for their help with the Heart of Roshgazi. After agreeing to help, the characters will, somehow, introduce themselves to the dragon and kobolds they need to see. A sidebar mentions the birds some kobolds are riding and how the characters can benefit from returning some. The Temple of Hecate is the dragon’s lair.
Part 2: Finding the Labyrinth has a map of the city and an explanation as to how characters can find the entrance to the labyrinth. There are various complications.
Part 3: The First Labyrinth has the characters exploring the four mazes of the labyrinth, which is potentially dangerous.
Part 4: Facing the Dragon has them driving the dragon away after solving the problem inside the labyrinth.
Concluding the Adventure wraps a number of things up.
Part 5: Monsters and NPCs starts by explaining that the monsters come from the Monster Manual, Creature Codex and Tome of Beasts, with stats for the latter two included. Only the NPCs have any fluff with them; the monsters just have their stats.
An Enigma Lost in a Maze in Review
The PDF is decently bookmarked with major and minor sections linked. Navigation is decent. The text maintains a two-column colour format and appeared to be free of errors. There are a number of colour illustrations, many of them custom – there are some monster images that may have been reused – as well as colour maps. Presentation is good, though sadly the maps don’t come in player-friendly versions.
This is a bit of a different adventure, having the characters trying to find their way into an intelligent maze, and one that can no longer really be classified as being sane. A downside of this, and the portrayal of the minotaurs, which is probably different to the majority of their portrayals, is that it is perhaps rather more strongly linked to the Midgard setting than would be liked, and could be difficult to drop into other settings, though not impossible. An Enigma Lost in a Maze is an interesting example of a different urban adventure.
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