Review: Candlekeep Mysteries - The Scrivener's Tale (5e)
This adventure written by Brandes Stoddard (with additional development by Chris Perkins) is part of the anthology Candlekeep Mysteries, a collection of adventures based on a magical library. We used this adventure as a story element in an ongoing campaign in Midgard. A magical curse forces the characters to engage in an ancient conflict. The starting premise is great, and the escalating curse is both scary and mechanically interesting. How dangerous this curse becomes is entirely dependent on how you run the game: how much time does the party need to reach your key city to find the next clue? If you run this as a sidequest that is managed while engaging in other tasks this could turn dangerous quickly! Great! If your players go for the solution immediately and have means to travel magically, this curse might lose its teeth. The mysterious dream that occurs early and the whole three crown storyline is a bit pointless. Even if you use the Forgotten Realms the story feels like an afterthought that is barely carried forward towards the end of the adventure. The tragedy of Rillyn House on the other hand is great, and Yvandre Rillyn was particularly memorable. The Haven of the Red Quill was also a neat little dungeon, with some great features (the imprisoned dragon) and some nice features (the mummies) and some stale features (key wardens). The final fight was fun, especially in its use of the environment. Still it was no challenge to my level 12 group, which only showed up with three players for the final battle... At level 12 they were already two levels below the recommended level indication. However, this adventure does not aim to solve the issues with high level 5e, but it makes a nice contribution towards the limited pool of adventures that are available at higher level. It took us four 2h sessions to finish this adventure. The curse itself and its associated mechanics might be the most worthwhile thing to steal from this adventure, I would recommend to do so and to fit it into your own storyline. 5/10