ASC Review: The Stables of Zothay

The Stables of Zothay (Patrick Dolan, aka OwlbearHugger)

AD&D for PCs of 4th-5th level

Hm...another "heist" scenario. Ostensibly for AD&D, there are indications that the adventure was originally written for a different system, or that it was written by someone who uses a "hodge-podge" version of D&D. Which, of course, annoys me.

For my review criteria, you may check out this post. All reviews will (probably) contain *SPOILERS*; you have been warned! Because these are short (three page) adventures, it is my intention to keep the reviews short.

On the other hand, it may just be that this kind of "adventure" is hard to judge: the players are hired by some faction to murder the local tyrant's prize race horse. Reward varies depending on who's doing the hiring, but I infer that the author is looking at getting 2,500 x.p. apiece to a party of four individuals. Players have a "mission" to accomplish, and then get "rewarded," possibly finding incidental loot along the way (though...well, we'll get to the treasure in a moment).

This is 3rd edition style thinking. Four player parties. Give PCs a mission with a universal reward. Suggested x.p. "bonus" if doing job for a church who doesn't pay hard currency (as the thieves guild might). No: this is not how to play AD&D. 

Players need a certain degree of self-motivation...and the more experience they have (both as players and characters) the MORE motivated they should be. Is it worth risking the wrath of the local sovereign for 10K? "Oh, yeah, you can also steal whatever's not bolted down in the king's castle." Oh, really? Does the sovereign have access to magical support dudes who can track down thieves and intruders? That doesn't sound like a very profitable situation...and players should be able to refuse such offers, not be presented with 'This is the scenario we're playing tonight; deal with it.'

The stables themselves housing the target is a bunch of weirdness. The duke (or whatever he is...no title is given), has a bunch of giant monsters (1d3 9' long boring beetles as a random encounter) wandering the premises. The tyrant keeps a damn styracosaurus (an aggressive, 18' long dinosaur) that gets exercised in the yard, all the while covered by an illusion that it's a fat work horse. Um...18' long? Here's a pic I found on the internet:

How do you get that thing in and out of the stable door? Or past the fences that surround the exercise yard? And doesn't it kind of tear up the yard? How much does the duke feed the thing?  This isn't the only beast the guy is keeping as a pet, by the way: there's a manticore and a gorgon, too! You'd think there's be a bunch of stablehand "statues" scattered around the place.

Then there are the random wanderers. A bulette that has managed to find its way into the dirt 'horse arena' and that the duke (or whatever he is) is feeding it a horse every day (!! Costs !!) in hopes he can add it to his menagerie. Of course, if it can get in, can't it get out...and ravage the city?   

A ghost haunts the stable (who is this? no explanation) and takes the racehorse out for a "ride" every night (again...why?) using a saddle of etherealness which is sometimes solid, sometimes not, and is kept who-knows-where when not in use. It's weird and random and I can only figure it's there to give PCs a big loot reward (valued at 30,000 g.p.) because otherwise it doesn't make sense and is far too powerful an encounter for 4th-5th level characters.

Generally, this is meant to be a heist scenario with a bunch of "gotcha'" encounters. There aren't any real  risk/reward choices for the players except whether or not they want to take this job at all (which they really shouldn't want). "We try to rope the horse." "Uh-oh, it's actually a manticore under an illusion...fight!"  "We try to rope this other horse." "Whoops, that's a gorgon under another illusion." 

"Uh-oh, the ground erupts with a bulette." 

"Uh-oh, a ghost appears and possesses one of your party members; everyone else age 10-40 years."

This adventure needs a lot of work. Two stars (out of five).

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