Dungeon Crawl Classics #77.5: The Tower Out of Time 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. This is an adventure for level 2 characters.
The supplement is available as a 12-page PDF from DriveThruRPG for $6.99 but was purchased at a reduced price as part of a special bundle. One page is the front cover and a fraction of a page is the Open Game License.
The opening paragraph states that if this adventure is being used for Free RPG Day, the judge should use the pre-generated characters provided. However, this supplement lacks such; they may have only been available with the original product.
Adventure Background gives some details. Eons ago, a serpent-man sorcerer, S’lissakk, set off on a voyage to the stars. His apprentice remained behind in a tower that travels through time, reappearing in the time stream now and then to broadcast a signal to his master for when he arrives home. That time is now.
The characters hear about the appearance of a comet in the sky, followed by a mysterious tower by a dark lake suddenly appearing in a forest. The characters will head to the tower to investigate it and, perhaps, stop the sorcerer from returning home safely. Not that there appears to be any way for them to know he is coming, or what their actions will accomplish. The tower itself is the main focus of the adventure.
Following this is Serbok: The Slithering Shadow, which is a new patron for DCC. The final page is a map of the tower.
Dungeon Crawl Classics #77.5: The Tower Out of Time in Review
The PDF lacks bookmarks and has enough different sections that these would have been useful. Navigation is poor. The text maintains a two-column format and appeared to be free of error. There are a number of illustrations that look as if they are custom, including almost a full page one for a trick. Presentation is decent.
The background for the adventure seems more than a little wasted. There appears to be no way of the characters finding any of this out during the adventure. Even the return of S’lissakk seems a bit pointless; characters do not know he is returning and their actions seem to have little influence on this. The adventure would probably play out in the same way if S’lissakk was removed from it. S’lissakk’s return is basically an idea for further adventures; if a GM has no plans in that direction and isn’t playing the adventure as a one-shot, S’lissakk could be changed or removed entirely. There are a few useful tips on playing the adventure, though. Dungeon Crawl Classics #77.5: The Tower Out of Time is an okay, but not great adventure, that is rather expensive at full price and it can be found by clicking here.
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