by Troy Gardner

Created on: June 28, 2009

Thunderspire Labyrinth is the second in a series of written modules for the popular game Dungeons and Dragons. It is designed to take players characters from level 4 to level 6. It works best for between 4-6 players. The adventure contains two booklets, a fold-out map and a folder to hold them in. The adventure is written by Richard Baker and Mike Mearls. It is $17 on Amazon with a suggested retail price of $25.

The actual materials are better then the last adventure, Keep on the Shadowfell. Where as we had issues with ink smears in the last adventure weren't present with this one. Again the adventure comes in two booklets which aren't the highest quality, however, they aren't the lowest quality either. With some care, these adventures could last for quite a few years, but they will not last forever. Eventually you will need to replace them.

The actual adventure is similar to the last one. Thunderspire Labyrinth is a series of underground mazes that contain creatures, traps and treasure. Using either the provided hooks, or making up their own, the GM lures his adventuring party into the Labyrinth and lets them loose. While this adventure follows the pattern in being mostly a straight forward dungeon crawl, it also offers more opportunity for deeper role playing.

As a player, the challenges presented have been interesting and varied. One complaint I have with the entire edition is the working of traps in combat. This is a minor complaint and has nothing to do with the adventure. The adventure has interesting traps. The encounters flow well and do not force the party into taking extended rests very often.

On the role playing side, rather then only having the main story to advance, the authors presented an entire town under the mountain, full of fleshed out personalities and mini story hooks that the GM could easily hang his own story on. In addition, the story is open ended in the labyrinth. The adventure covers four places in the maze, but specifies that the maze extends onward far beyond the little bit offered. This offers up an entire world in which to play.

I feel that this adventure is pretty well done. It easily succeeds in its goals of presenting an adventure that is fun and takes characters to level 6 well prepared to explore the world beyond that. For role players, there is a depth that was previously lacking. For hack and slashers, there is plenty to hack and more to slash. All in all, an enjoyable adventure. A bit over priced for one person to pay, but if a group of five pitches in five bucks each, it is easily worth the price of admission.

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