Dungeon Crawl Classics #98: Imprisoned in the God-Skull 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 6th level characters.
The supplement is available as a 37-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 is the front matter, two are ads and about half a page is the Open Game License.
The Introduction explains that the characters will travel to an ancient prison in the Void of Stars and that the adventure will challenge even characters of their level.
The Background explains that in the early days of the world, a sorcerer-king called Ubrul the Destroyer rose amongst Men. In order to defeat Ubrul, on the Scions of Law sacrificed its life so that Ubrul could be defeated and imprisoned in the dead god’s skull. Monks later made contact with the guardians of the God-Skull, but recently a thing called the Wormwood impacted the skull and the occupants rushed in.
Starting the Adventure has some adventure hooks to involve the characters. This is followed by a d12 table of legends and rumours that characters would know about the monks and the God-Skull.
Chapter One: The Dawa Monastery has the characters arrive at the monks’ monastery, for whatever reason they needed, only to find it devastated. They will need to make their way through the monastery, now mostly inhabited by hostile creatures from the Wormwood, and find the way of getting to the God-Skull.
Chapter Two: The God-Skull has the characters arriving at the prison on the Void of Stars – a sidebar explains that this isn’t space as we know it – where they will need to defeat the creatures from the Wormwood. It’s entirely possible that the characters may decide to free Ubrul to help defeat the Wormwood.
Ending the Adventure explains what benefits the characters will gain if successful (if they aren’t, they’re dead) which will depend on how they behaved themselves.
Appendix A: New Magical Items has some new, and powerful, magic items that can be found during the adventure. Though they are powerful, powerful does not mean safe to use. More the opposite.
Dungeon Crawl Classics #98: Imprisoned in the God-Skull in Review
The PDF is bookmarked with most major and minor sections linked. Navigation is reasonable. The text maintains a two-column black and white format and a fee minor errors were noted. There are a number of black and white illustrations, all of which appear to be custom, plus the maps. Presentation is very good.
This is one of the higher-level adventures for DCC, and it’s definitely not a safe one. Perhaps even less safe than most. The characters are going to be up against some dangerous, and sometimes disturbing, entities, and the powerful magic items that can be found are already being used by the foes. No magic left lying around just for looting. Dungeon Crawl Classics #98: Imprisoned in the God-Skull is an interesting, dangerous adventure exploring an unusual and potentially deadly location and it can be found by clicking here.
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