Another old review.

Death in Freeport is an adventure written using the D20 license for Dungeons and Dragons. It is designed for a low level (1 - 3) party of adventurers. I would strongly recommend a 2nd or 3rd level cleric in the party. It is written by Chris Pramas, who has written a number of roleplaying supplements.

As far as the module goes, it has a nice cover featuring either a Zombie or Ghoul (not sure) on a red background. It appears quite menacing, and is one of the reasons I bought the adventure. The book is 8.5x11", with the pages stapled to the cover. The type is very legible. All the opponent stats are on two pages in the back, which can be easily photocopied. A little odd, but I kinda like it. The interior art is all pencil-drawn, and of decent quality. I have seen better in other games, but it's not bad. The maps are ok, nothing special. I did not notice any problems with spelling, which is really nice (thank you, Jennifer Wilkes ).

On to the contents. The inside covers are blank. The first page contains the title and all the various author/editor/etc info. The first half of the d20 license is printed here, as well (the rest is at the end of the book). The next four pages introduce the city of Freeport, an old pirate town turned trade city, which is shifting back to being a pirate town. Freeport can be quite lawless, so it should suit most adventurers. The city is set in a small chain of islands which can be placed in any campaign world (a brief write-up on page 7 says this as well). Pretty good stuff, setting up the background of what will happen in the adventure. Gods are described by their area of interest instead of being named, which makes it easier to insert the requisite world god's name. Page 6 is a map of the city, which is largely unlabelled. The next page and a half give a background and synopsis of the adventure. Apparently a cult that worships a god very much like something in the Cthulhu stories took over the body of a young priest for five years. He has since returned to Freeport, but has gone missing a few days ago.

On page 8, the action starts. The adventure says that PC's should be from out of town, and gives an example how they could have arrived on a merchant ship. On reading the adventure, I think they can start right in the city. It doesn't really affect anything.

Anyway, they start on the docks, where a press gang attempts to capture them. The combat shouldn't be deadly, though no city guards show up if it does. After this, the PC's are approached by a young priest of the God of Knowledge. He offers them a job, hoping they can find Lucius, the missing priest. If the PC's accept, he can lead them to Lucius' residence, where they can find some clues leading to an orc pirate ship which is currently docked in the city harbor.

The PC's can then attempt to meet the orc captain, possibly fighting a bunch of orcs, sneaking onto a pirate ship, or just bumping into him at a bar (if they are smart). This encounter should force the PC's to realize they can't just attack everyone who gets in their way, which I like. PC's can then ask around at the Temple of Knowledge about Lucius, where they can gain more information. This provides a very good opportunity for role-playing, as the characters will need to interact with a number of good NPC's.

After this, they are attacked by mercenaries in the employ of someone upset by the PC's questions. The PC's can capture the leader, who can tell them who hired him. Next, the PC's go to the Temple of an evil cult, where they can face some dangerous magic and a race thought extinct. The temple will be very challenging, and is the main reason I suggest having a 2nd or 3rd level cleric along. There will be a lot of combat here, and if the PC's aren't careful, they can easily be killed. Of course, they find the unconcious body of Lucius the priest here, as well as uncovering clues which can lead to many further adventures.

After this is the 2 pages on creature stats, followed by a write-up on a new monster, the serpent people. The serpent people are pretty interesting, with many being worshipers of the Cthulhu-god. Then come 2 hand-outs, showing clues the players can find at Lucius' home. Next are four pre-made first level characters, intended for use by groups who don't feel like making up their own characters. I personally don't really care about this, but they could make interesting NPC's. Next is the rest of the d20 agreement, followed by a full-page add for the Green Ronin game Ork! (a waste of a page, but not really too annoying).

Adventure seeds for continuing adventures are sprinkled throughout the text. Things like a staff (being held for an evil wizard) which the PC's might obtain could lead to the wizard looking for them and the staff at a later date. The existence of serpent people can also lead to a number of adventures, some of which are suggested. My main gripe with the adventure is that there is entirely too much gold to be found. The characters will walk out of this with a lot of money, unless they don't find anything. I prefer limiting the treasure gained, but some people may like having wealthy PC's.

Overall, the adventure was quite good. The format is a bit worn (rescue someone from an evil cult), but there is a good mix of mystery and combat to offset this. It is supposed to be the first in a series of adventures focused on the city of Freeport, so the city should see some much-needed development in the future. A lot of things in the city will have to be made up on the fly by the DM, but that never bothered me :>. I recommend this adventure, and await the next installment.

I ran the whole Freeport Trilogy, using 3e, and it was the first time I had run D&D since I had turned my back on B/X at the age of 17.

We loved it, it was a cracking Trilogy and we had a blast and left the city burning.

So it's so lovely and sweet to see this early review from your archive!

Yeah, it's kind of fun to read again now that I have so many Freeport books (and played through a few of them, this one included).

I'm interested I'm doing a "3.0 with fresh eyes" game and DiF struck me as a good adventure to use.

Do you know what changed between the 3.0 and later "revised" to 3.5 versions?

Should I track down originals or is back converting feasible?

I'm not sure what would have changed, though I suspect it wasn't much.

Quote from: Piestrio;545721Do you know what changed between the 3.0 and later "revised" to 3.5 versions?

The layout is significantly improved. All of the conversion work, AFAICT, is limited to the stat blocks (which are all located in an appendix at the back). The changes are extremely minor (an extra hit point here, a 3.5 skill name instead of a 3.0 skill name there).

None of the NPCs are members of the classes or monsters that received major changes. In short, I wouldn't even bother trying to "back convert".

Quote from: Justin Alexander;546740The layout is significantly improved. All of the conversion work, AFAICT, is limited to the stat blocks (which are all located in an appendix at the back). The changes are extremely minor (an extra hit point here, a 3.5 skill name instead of a 3.0 skill name there).

None of the NPCs are members of the classes or monsters that received major changes. In short, I wouldn't even bother trying to "back convert".

Awesome!

So I should just be able to use 3.0 monsters where available and not worry about in they're not?