Mini Quest: Curse of the Amber Princess by David Dudka is a role playing game supplement published by Survive RPG for use with Dungeons & Dragons based games, although no particular version is specified. This is a short adventure, part of the Mini Quest series.
This is a six page PDF that is available from RPGNow as a Pay What You Want supplement, with around a third of a page being ads.
It starts with characters being approached by a merchant who believes he has discovered the location of a legendary lost city in the desert. He will either show the characters the location for a cut of the treasure or sell them a map to it for a, fairly significant, upfront fee.
The city can be found quickly and then entered, as most of it is now below the sand’s surface. There are a number of encounters with mites, who will largely attempt to defeat the characters using subterfuge rather than direct action. A sphinx can also be summoned, who will tell them what happened to the city. The city was lost when the ruler sought immortality; the sphinx was able to stop this but the only way to defeat him completely is to free the princess, who is encased in impenetrable amber.
The characters may choose to help the sphinx, or they may decide to help the now-undead and perpetually-regenerating ruler. Wholesale looting of the former inhabitants is inadvisable, as that causes them to attack as undead.
The final page has a game, Lions & Jackals, which can be played against the sphinx to get him to help.
Mini Quest: Curse of the Amber Princess in Review
The PDF lacks bookmarks and doesn’t truly need them at this length although they would have been appreciated. The text maintains a two column format and there are a number of minor errors; the main one, as is the case in many supplements in this series, is using “it’s” instead of “its.” The supplement has a substantial number of custom black and white illustrations, as well as a colour handout; presentation is very good for a short supplement.
The adventure doesn’t specify what levels it is aimed at; again, a common occurrence in this series. The GM will need to decide this beforehand; some monsters, such as the mites, are not that dangerous, but the mummy is a different matter.
The adventure should be easy to drop into many worlds, as all that’s needed is a sandy desert. It has some of the typical elements of such a location, namely a sphinx, a mummy and an Egyptian feel to it. The city itself is a bit on the small side, but then this is a small adventure. An interesting element is that characters could decide to help the mummy, and options for this are given.
Mini Quest: Curse of the Amber Princess is a decent small adventure and it can be checked out for free by clicking here.
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