The Bloody Sands of Sicaris is a 62 page pdf adventure. Originally written as a standalone home adventure, it was expanded and modified for use with the Living Arcanis campaign. While for home use it's a level 6-8 adventure for four to six characters set in Arcanis: The World of Shattered Empires, it can be used for APL 3-11 when playing in a Living Arcanis campaign. Paradigm Concepts, the publishers of the adventure, have been around for some time, but have only recently entered the pdf scenario and released a number of their products as pdf. As such, this adventure still uses the 3e rules, rather than the revised 3.5e ruleset.
The adventure itself is one of intrigue, politics, mystery and turmoil. Characters are asked to take part in a secret mission by accompanying a Imperial legate to the city of Sicaris in the far away Hinterlands. The aim is to bring back a powerful noble's daughter, and also to get to the bottom of the machinations of Sicaris' Commander Magistrate and avoid a potentially deadly catastrophe or war. Information has leaked from Sicaris that has the Imperial Council in a panic, and they need to establish the validity and nature of the information they have gleamed. This is very much a strong roleplaying adventure, featuring politics and mystery and much more. While there are combat scenarios in the adventure, the majority of the adventure is in dealing with various events happening around them and solving the various mysteries and puzzles while in the employ of a Senator of the Imperial Council.
The adventure is event driven, meaning that as the adventure progresses the characters will be thrust into different events that happen and unfold behind them. While this is a seemingly very linear adventure, there is ample room for the characters to take matters into their own hands, and creative DMs can develop an exciting adventure using the well-crafted, interesting and excellent plot. The plot is detailed, containing a variety of different elements, factions, NPCs and mysteries, making for exciting roleplaying, sinister revelations and generally solid gameplay.
For DMs the pdf provides a solid summary of all the events ('hardpoints') as well as a detailed background that will enable DMs to run this material well. It should be relatively easy to set the adventure in a different campaign setting, although it will probably work best if run in Arcanis. Those unfamiliar with Arcanis are provided with a very useful glossary of terms that explain some important places, cultures and societal aspects of the Arcanis world. To make the most of the city of Sicaris, where the majority of the adventure is hosted, a full and detailed history of the city is provided. Throughout the adventure a number of key locations are also described and expanded upon, and characters can visit these locations between 'events'.
This is an extremely detailed adventure, and for those DMs looking for something meaty to run will find this pdf excellent. Each event is thoroughly detailed with blocked text, background information, and the impact each event has on the those that are to follow. A full map of the city of Sicaris is provided, in black and white. It's not the best quality map around, but it will serve its purpose in this adventure as the PCs make their way through the city and uncover its secrets. Excellent maps are provided for the specific planned combat encounters in the adventure, and these are good and detailed. Complete 3e statistics are provided for each of the various NPCs in Sicaris, including both combat NPCs and roleplaying NPCs. Art throughout the pdf is excellent.
Because this adventure was adapted to be useable in the Living Arcanis campaign, the latter half of the adventure is devoted to adapting it to Living Arcanis (about 26 pages of the 62 pages). Statistics, treasure, and event details are given at different APLs (average party level) - APL 4, 7 and 10. This should make the adventure useful for Living Arcanis in a level range of 3 to 11. The pdf concludes with a number of handouts for players and the OGL which draws from various Arcanis material released by Paradigm Concepts.<br><br>
<b>LIKED</b>: This is a very enjoyable adventure featuring a detailed, excellent and intriguing plot that characters can truly immerse themselves into, and offers opportunity for solid roleplaying, dealing with politics, sinister organisations, bargaining for power and well-crafted, interesting and fun combat encounters. The adventure is detailed enough to cater for most scenarios outside of the event driven structure. This is an adventure that can come to life in splendid detail and make for a memorable game.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: The map of the city of Sicaris is not great, and the adventure can have a very linear feel to it and players may get the impression that events are beyond their ability to control.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>
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