ASC Review: Sanctuary Of The Black Buddha

The Sanctuary of the Black Buddha (Seb Howell)

AD&D adventure seven to nine PCs of levels 5th-7th

I am reviewing these in the order they were submitted. For my review criteria, please check out this post. All reviews will (probably) contain *SPOILERS*; you have been warned! Because these are short (two page) adventures, it is my intention to keep the reviews brief.

The TL;DR: an ambitious adventure site that’s a bit of a mess.

The first submission by a new author (i.e. one who didn’t participate in last year’s ASC), Seb creates a bona fide adventure site in the form of a Buddhist temple in abox canyon currently housing a group of bandits.

Written for AD&D (with a definite Oriental Adventures feel) the thing, for me, falls apart due to the scope it sets for itself: Seb creates an entire setting-derived situation concerning a rogue Imperial general-turned-bandit who provides an objective of either justice or straightforward robbing of his hoard.

Likewise, the temple itself is good (i.e well-imagined and well-themed by the author) as is the treasure hoard: appropriate both for the site of the theme, and for the expected level range.

But the adventure lacks challenge. There are only a handful of the bandits on hand (plus a chained-up hill giant) and the remaining 150 bandits and leaders of the bandit camp (including the aforementioned General and his magic-using henchmen) are left un-detailed “due to space considerations.” Despite the fact they are key to the order of battle presented in the write-up.

Sorry..this one is lacking and needs a LOT of work to make it playable. Telling the DM to just “use page 66 of the Monster Manual to generate” the appropriate opponents is NOT acceptable for a module.

Two stars (**). However, you get a “+” for having a decent concept and good amount of treasure.