ASC Review: Temple of Bast

Temple of Bast (Joe Nash)

A BECMI/RC adventure for PCs of 3rd level

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.

Yet another repeat contestant. Nash gave us last year’s Sausages of the Devil Swine which I deemed good, but lacking functionality (it was, however, right at the top of my two-star rankings). Not that this kept him from being included in the winner’s bracket by the other judges (*sigh*). This year, however, he hits a solid line drive…using the BECMI/RC version of Basic D&D no less.

While no specific size of party is noted, the number of encounters along with the amount of treasure and the suggested level (3rd) suggests an average party size of 5 (4-6 in other words)…perfectly acceptable for an average group session.

With 24 keyed areas, Temple of Bast is definitely at the “high" end of qualification (personally, I think 9 to 14 be more appropriate , but it ain't my contest) and yet it still feels small and tight. The adventure is well-themed and has plenty going on without baking in any kind of story or plot. Yes, there is a situation. No, there is no particular way the party needs to interact with the situation. The temple itself is delightful, and perfectly reasonable for a BECMI party of 3rd level. Given that the adventuring party will probably have access to a sleep spell (to deal with the squads of gnoll brigands), only the mountain lion pack seems particularly rough (wandering into a den of FOUR is likely to take down at least two or three 3rd level characters; thieves and magic-users being particularly vulnerable to their multiple 3+ HD attacks). However, I do NOT fault the inclusion of a mummy as it is both thematically appropriate and completely avoidable by the party.

This is solid D&D, and while I give it a slight (-) downgrade for not being more specific with the expected party number and the killer lions, this is easily worth **** for BECMI/RC play. Well done!