Warning : May contain spoilers

Along with the spectacular SoTDL rulebook and sourcebooks, Schwalb Entertainment released a ton of short adventures to support the game, their level of quality varying wildly from good to truly embarrassing. The Slavers' Lash is... not one of the good ones.

Have the PCs start the campaign in chains is a respected trope of fantasy gaming, because it works : it puts the PCs in a situation where they face hardship together and have to work together to escape. It's the perefect setup to build a team.

In The Slavers' Lash, the PCs start in chains as part of a slave caravan and have to escape and... that's it. The generic plot you already started to build in your mind from reading the previous sentence is the exact plot of this adventure. There is nothing specific about it, no twist, no memorable NPCs, no flavour whatsoever, no suprise. It's basically the default adventure that came with the frame.

So, re-read that premise, spend two minutes thinking about and write down what came to mind. You just saved yourself two bucks.

While this is quite a good adventure, be warned that it is very brutal and very, very dark. My players did not respond too positively to it, as they felt it was too depressing. With a bit more on my part, I could have made it a bit more fun, but I ran it as written. Definitely a solid 4 star product, but recommend a bit of GM polish, and also not recommended for every group.

This is a short opening adventure that packs a lot of punch and Chris Pramas shows his dark fantasy chops. The PCs are enslaved by orcs and spend their time between surviving, escaping, and learning about each other's backgrounds.