The Cradle of Fire by Paul Ligorski is a role playing game supplement published by Heart of Arcana for use with Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition. 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 13 page Pay What You Want PDF from DriveThruRPG. There are two versions of the PDF, one colour and one greyscale. One page is the front cover, one the front matter and Table of Contents and one the Open Game License. There are also four pngs, all maps of the same location, two labelled for the DM, one in colour, one in greyscale, and two unlabelled for players, again one in colour and one greyscale.
Overview explains that this is an adventure for 4 to 5 characters of 5th to 6th level. The characters will visit an oasis and then a lava cavern to encounter an efreet who is trying to free himself.
Background explains that the holy order of the Roj Oasis worships the giant desert sandworms and maintain nurseries of infant worms. The nurseries have been ransacked recently, the caretakers killed and the infants taken. The sandworms are the source of a drug known as spice. Strong Dune influences felt here.
Adventure Hooks has three different ways the characters could get drawn in.
Sites of the Oasis gives some notable locations – there’s no map, though – a menu for the social hub and a d6 table of rumours.
Prominent NPCs gives details on important NPCs at the oasis.
Sandworm Travel has details on how the adult sandworms can be used to traverse the desert.
Desert Encounters has d6 encounters.
Dungeon Layout is the location inhabited by the efreet.
Adventure Conclusion wraps things up.
Appendix 1: Items has four new magic items.
Appendix 1a: Spells has a new spell.
Appendix 2: Monsters has stats for sandworms in four stages of growth and for the Draconic Aspect of Primordial Fire, which is what the efreet will probably become.
The Cradle of Fire in Review
The colour version of the PDF is bookmarked with major sections linked; the greyscale version is not. The Table of Contents is to a similar level of depth. Navigation is okay. There are some colour stock illustrations. Presentation is okay. Unfortunately, the black & white version still has page backgrounds; the grey background not only makes it slightly harder to read the text, it will still use up a lot of ink to print, rather defeating the object of what is probably intended to be a print-friendly version.
There’s a decent amount of additional content in this supplement, not just the primary adventure location, with the briefly described oasis, that could be mapped and expanded, the details and stats for the sandworms and the new magic items and spells, meaning that this has more use than just as an adventure. The adventure itself is decent enough, though, and given the types of location it should be easy enough to drop into a suitable desert. Although the sandworms stand out a bit, and perhaps should be limited in roaming area, if the adventure is used in another setting. The Cradle of Fire can be downloaded by clicking here.
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