Mini Quest: The Curse of Widow’s Cape by David Dudka is a role playing game supplement published by Survive RPG for use with Dungeons & Dragons based systems, although no particular version is specified. This is a short adventure aimed at characters of levels 3-5 that is part of the Mini Quest series.
This is a four page PDF that is available as a Pay What You Want supplement from RPGNow.
The adventure starts with an encounter that has little to do with the rest of the adventure, but serves as an introduction. The characters are on the docks of a port town when an apparently out of control ship crashes into them. Lacedons will disembark, and the characters will need to defeat them.
This battle brings them to the attention of the local authorities, and the party is given a reward and offered an opportunity to make more money. They are asked to travel to a local cursed watchtower and find the source of the curse. The tower became cursed after a pirate captured the local baron’s son who, instead of paying the ransom, offered a bounty to anyone who could kill the pirate. The pirate was killed, but the battle resulted in the tower being cursed.
The rest of the adventure takes place exploring the tower. The part is given a magic item that creates an area of silence, which will stop the curse from affecting them (it’s audible). The tower is now inhabited by undead and deep dwellers.
Mini Quest: The Curse of Widow’s Cape in Review
The PDF lacks bookmarks and, at four pages, does not really need them. The text maintains a two column format and a few minor errors were spotted, primarily the use of “it’s” instead of “its.” There are a variety of custom black and white illustrations, as well as a map of the tower; presentation is very good for a supplement of this size.
This adventure has an interesting concept. In order to ensure that the curse does not affect them, the characters need to use the silence-producing magic item they have been given. This means that no spells with a verbal component can be cast. More than that, it means that the characters cannot actually communicate with each other by talking. So, played properly, players can only say what their characters are doing – they cannot talk to each other. Players can mouth what they are doing, or gesture, but not actually speak, unless they do have a means of communication non-verbally (yes, they could write stuff down, but that won’t be possible in combat). This provides an opportunity for role playing and can easily complicate the mission.
Mini Quest: The Curse of Widow’s Cape is a short adventure with an interesting twist and it can be checked out for free by clicking here.
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