The Dragonmages Retreat by Graham Bottley is a role playing game supplement published by Arion Games for use with Advanced Fighting Fantasy 2nd Edition.
The supplement is available as a 10-page PDF from DriveThruRPG for $4 but was got at a reduced price thanks to a special offer.
The opening fluff explains that the characters’ town is under threat from a large dragon and the only hope seems to be the subterranean lair of an Archmage called The Dragonlord who owned a Staff of Dragon Control. The adventure itself starts with the characters at the top of a short staircase leading into the lair and the door slams shut after they have entered. The adventure is intended for Heroes with 2-300 XP and can take place almost anywhere on Titan when the Heroes are travelling, though as written not so much in midwinter. Though not mentioned, the adventure could easily be dropped into other settings as well.
The dungeon itself has three levels. It is a fairly standard collection of tricks, traps, monsters and puzzles, though one thing that isn’t standard is that the adventure is played in real time. For example, the first level of the dungeon will collapse after 40 minutes of real time, and this clock starts when entering and doesn’t stop for anything, even out of game activities. It ends with the final dangerous confrontation to try and get the staff.
The Dragonmages Retreat in Review
The PDF lacks bookmarks and is short enough that they aren’t needed though they would have been appreciated. The text maintains a two-column format and some minor errors were noticed. As well as the custom maps, there are a number of pieces of black and white stock art. Presentation is decent.
Whether or not the Director wants to actually run the time clock as intended, with no breaks for anything, will be up to them; there may be situations where they have no option but to stop the game for some reason, and the timer should probably be paused then. The staff that the characters can get may be a little on the powerful side, so the Director should also check that. The Dragonmages Retreat is a short, fairly easy to slot in, adventure and it can be found by clicking here.
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