Mini-Dungeon: Peril at the Lamiak’s Bridge

This pdf clocks in at 2 pages and is a mini-dungeon. This means we get 2 pages content, including a solid map and all item/monster-stats hyperlinked and thus, absent from the pdf, with only deviations from the statblocks being noted for the GM. This one does not come with a .tif extra map, just fyi.

Since this product line’s goal is providing short diversions, side-quest dungeons etc., I will not expect mind-shattering revelations, massive plots or particularly smart or detailed depictions, instead tackling the line for what it is. Got that? Great!

This being an adventure-review, the following contains SPOILERS. Potential players may wish to jump to the conclusion.

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Still here?

All right!

Lamiak (singular lamia – somewhat unfortunately named, considering we already have lamia in PFRPG) would be nymphs with the webbed feet of a duck, while mairuak would be friendly giants – both btw. taken from Basque mythology, so the name-convention conflict gets a pass.

Anyway, this is basically a nice and interesting, pretty fairy-tale like encounter: You see, the lamia have built a bridge cross a stream, with the map depicting the vicinity. The stone the bridge was taken from, however, is uncommon and was stolen from a mairu (aptly named Peril), who jealously guard this type of stone. He and his brothers Wrath and Sorrow are about to demolish the bridge, while the two lamiaks are about to unleash their fey tricks. It’ll take some negotiation by the PCs to defuse the situation sans it coming to a violent resolution… That being said, the encounter can be resolved by adept PCs pretty smoothly, which may render this encounter a rather brief affair.

Conclusion:

Editing and formatting are very good, I noticed no significant glitches on a formal side. Layout adheres to a beautiful 2-column full-color standard and the pdf comes sans bookmarks, but needs none at this length. Cartography is full color and surprisingly good for such an inexpensive pdf. The pdf does sport one nice piece of original full-color art – kudos!

Justin Andrew Mason’s encounter here is fun; the tapping into a none-too-often employed mythology is appreciated and a GM that can capitalize on the wonder and fairy-tale-ish nature of this set-up can certainly make this work as a fine and memorable roadside encounter. At the same time, the encounter doesn’t have that much meat on its bones. RAW, a single check can resolve it, which feels somewhat anticlimactic. This *is* good and, in the right hands, can shine…but similarly, it can fizzle pretty badly. A more complex negotiation situation would have helped making this more captivating.

Hence, my final verdict will clock in at 3.5 stars, rounded up, but only barely due to in dubio pro reo.

You can get this pdf here on OBS!

Endzeitgeist out.

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