Eberron: Whispers of the Vampire's Blade (Paperback)

It's intended for a party of four 4th level characters, who'll initially be hired to detain an unlikely thief and return some stolen property. Obviously I'm not going to say too much about the plot here, but it works for me. This is a fast paced, event driven road trip, more chase than investigation - oh, and don't expect a dungeon crawl!

It's also a showcase for the Eberron setting, throwing the characters into distinctive environments and situations that just wouldn't occur in any of the other D&D worlds. Basically, it's got a touch of that 'Indiana Jones' feel to it, which is one of the things I really like about Eberron.

Having said all of that, it's not perfect. Firstly, it's billed as a "stand-alone" adventure on the back cover, which isn't entirely true - it's the second adventure in a series, designed to follow on from 'Shadows of the Last War'. While it works well on its own, with a definite start and finish, there are elements that might make a little more sense if the players have already completed that first adventure - some parts of the background are clarified for the GM but never really revealed/explained to our heroes, which might be a little confusing or frustrating (I don't know if the other two adventures in the series plug these holes, but it'd be nice to think so).

Secondly, it's a poor choice of title. Dramatic, yes, but the moment the players hear it they're going to start wondering about stocking up on garlic and wooden stakes, aren't they?

Lastly, the ending is a little abrupt - there's a suitably dramatic showdown, but only a very brief GM section describing the possible complications and consequences. To be fair, it's got to end somewhere, there are some good (if single-sentence) ideas in that section, and many GMs will be happy to generate their own or to simply end the adventure on the spot and assume it all works out ok - but given that the GM guidance for the rest of the adventure is extensive, well-written and consistently useful, I'd hoped for a little more.

That, though, brings us back to a very positive point - the information given to the GM. Each of the key encounters is extensively detailed, with GM text detailing exactly what's happening, some likely responses to the characters actions and guidance for what to do when the plot stalls or our heroes make an entirely wrong move. Recurring NPCs also get their own profiles, detailing motivations and strategies as well as stats. And as ever, the inside cover presents detailed maps of all the important locations.

Finally, it's well illustrated and laid out in a clear manner. Subheadings in bold text clearly highlight creatures, traps and possible developments - and you even get (3.5) Core Book page references for checking important rules and creatures for each encounter.

All in all, it's easy to run and looks like it'll be very enjoyable to play. If the players stick to the plot, there's probably about four sessions of adventure here - plus a few more if they insist on getting sidetracked!