Dungeon Crawl Classics #75: The Sea Queen Escapes by Michael Curtis is a role playing game supplement published by Goodman Games for use with Dungeon Crawl Classics. 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 as a 28-page PDF from DriveThruRPG for $6.99 and is also available in printed form from sites such as Amazon. 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 an ad and a small part of a page is the Open Game License.
What would be the inside of the front cover in the printed book is a handout.
The Introduction explains that this is an adventure for six 3rd level characters, but could be adapted for larger or more experienced parties.
Background gives an explanation as to who the Sea Queen is and what happened to her.
Beginning the Adventure states that the characters find a strange token, which can be found amongst treasure in another adventure, a scrimshaw idol depicting a woman dressed in a gown made from kelp. After this, the characters will start having dreams where the depicted woman is asking for help, as she was imprisoned by an evil mage. The characters can ask around and find out some details on this mage, who has not been seen in some time.
The adventure itself is divided into three parts. The first part sees the characters exploring the mage’s sanctum, looking for a clue as to where the key to free the imprisoned Sea Queen might be.
This leads them to a second location, that where the key is hidden. There’s a curse here that might cause problems.
The final location is the prison of the Sea Queen.
Ending the Adventure wraps things up and the characters can then find out some details from the Background.
The Sunken Kingdom of Ru is called a mini-campaign setting. Ru was the realm of the Sea Queen, and is a land that the gods sank below the waves, though one granted the remaining inhabitants the ability to survive under water. This section has a map of the kingdom, some history of it and a description of its people, places of interest and some adventure hooks.
Dungeon Crawl Classics #75: The Sea Queen Escapes in Review
The PDF is bookmarked, though not to any great level of depth. Navigation could be better. The text maintains a two-column black and white format and appeared to be free of errors. There are a number of black and white illustrations, which appear to be custom, as well as maps of the locations. Presentation is good.
The adventure in many ways is a pretty straightforward one, including the fact that it is a twist; it’s a rather standard twist for this type of adventure. Though it might seem like the theme is underwater, there are very few places where this is the case. There are some decent rules provided for underwater actions for when this happens. The addition of the Kingdom of Ru is a nice extra. Though it plays no real role in this adventure, given the kingdom is underwater, it will be easy enough to drop it into most campaign settings. Dungeon Crawl Classics #75: The Sea Queen Escapes is a decent little adventure with some nice features and it can be found by clicking here.
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