DEATH, TERROR AND MADNESS IN FREEPORT
Spoiler Warning! Could the vast horde of D&D3 players please go read something else. I’m following my usual policy of telling the potential GM buyer exactly what he can expect from this book and reading on will ruin the suspense for players.
INTRODUCTION
This is a composite review of Green Ronins’ Freeport trilogy of adventures. These are D&D3 compatible products set in a ostensibly classic fantasy setting. It begins with Death in Freeport written by Chris Pramas (levels 1-3, 32 pages, £6.00 or $7.99), followed by Terror in Freeport (Robert Toth, levels 2-5, 32 pages, £6.50 or $7.99) and concludes with Madness in Freeport (William Simoni, levels 4-6, 48 pages, £8.00 or $10.95).
I’m writing a composite review, not just because I like to explore different review formats but because these 3 products in themselves are relatively short and they form a coherent campaign when played in succession. Indeed, I believe they could have been squeezed into an old TSR-style 96 page soft cover and sold for £12.99 or $20. Hopefully they will someday, as it costs £20.50 or $27 to collect them all at the moment. I’m guessing that as a smaller and new publisher Green Ronin found it cheaper and safer to publish in instalments
The Freeport series is part of the recent explosion in D&D 3rd Ed. material caused by the Open gaming license. Death in Freeport appeared early on the scene and the innovations and ideas of established author Chris Pramas seems to have attracted a relatively strong fan following. The Freeport city-setting is one of the titular pirate city and general den of scum and villainy that is supposedly generic enough to be fitted into any other campaign setting with ease. (I’ll discuss that claim later on).
Before getting into the specifics of these books, I’d like to digress slightly and ask the reader if the titles ‘Death, Terror and Madness’ remind him of the key features of any other RPG on the market?
No, not Kult.
If we reorder the words into Terror, Madness and Death, the titles describe the average life cycle of a Call of Cthulhu investigator. Not waiting for the d20 adaptation of ‘Call of Cthulhu’ Green Ronin have done something unimagined since 1980 and the first printing of the AD&D ‘Deities and Demigods’ book.
They have introduced explicitly Cthulhu gods, symbols and monsters into a Dungeons and Dragons game! Now for a long time that has been unimaginable by most people. D&D was fantasy, Cthulhu was modern day horror. Rules and statistics were previously completely incompatible. Cthulhu investigators degenerated as they gradually lost sanity, D&D heroes got stronger as they advanced in levels. D&D had gods who you prayed to and got healed, Cthulhu had alien gods who you prayed didn't eat you. D&D had classical monsters who you fought and slayed for fun and profit, Cthulhu had invulnerable monsters that chased and ate you.
But ultimately the sticking point between marrying these two games was their different paradigms of existence. Whatever else you said about D&D, the PC’s were always central, heroic movers and shakers. They affected change, and no quest was too impossible. Cthulhu revolves around the gradual realisation of the impotence and unimportance of the PC’s, that whatever they did, humanity would eventually lose.
So, the way that Green Ronin tries to solve this contradiction will determine if they produce a D&D adventure with Cthulhu themes, or a Cthulhu adventure with some D&D scenery. Or possibly, just possibly they will be able to marry the two games together as one seamless whole. I’ll now continue the review with that issue in mind.
DEATH IN FREEPORT
Death in Freeport introduces the players to the pirate city of Freeport, a wheeling, dealing exciting place to live, visit or die in. Run by the Sea Lord Drac and a Council of Captains all descended from as piratical a bunch of scurvy seadogs as you could ever hope to meet its a port city ruling the ocean waves. To my mind its a bit like a livelier Mos Eisly, or Babylon 5 without the military laws.
Freeport is also building a great big ‘Wonder of the World’ style Lighthouse, dubbed Milton's Folly after the incumbent Sealord Milton Drac who is determined to put Freeport on the map. And this nearly complete behemoth is the first thing the PC’s see as they sail into town. Like all good mysterys, the DM can foreshadow early and often with this sight,
The next thing they see is the seamy side of the Freeport docks as a press gang try to encourage them to return to the sea. A short combat later, and the party are approached by a local monk of the temple of knowledge who wants them to track down another clergy member who has gone AWOL.
And this is where the Cthulhu references start to become thick and fast. Because Lucius the missing priest disappeared off a few years ago when ‘an extraplanar entity displaced his mind and used his body to travel the world and compile mysterious research’. Then Lucius woke up about a year ago in the middle of nowhere with no memory of the past few years of ‘missing time’. In short (though not spelled out as such) he was possessed by a member of the time-travelling Great Race of Yith.
So Lucius returns to Freeport with a whole lot of mysterious manuscripts he cant remember writing, some vague memories of a strange primordial time and a lot of questions. And then, having confided in the wrong priest, he gets himself kidnapped by the central villains of the series- the Cult of the Yellow Sign, worshippers of the Unspeakable One (Hastur for CoC Keepers).
But the PC’s have to discover all this information, so in typical investigator style, they go to his house and search it for clues, read his diaries and retrace his last steps (including going down the docks to talk to the very edgy crew of a pirate ship who have their own unrelated secret to hide. Its a plot hook that could turn into the penultimate scene (the fight at the ship) of the ‘Usual Suspects’ film)
And somewhere along the way, they talk to his friends and the seemingly respectable No.2 cleric of the Temple of Knowledge who in reality is a vile shape changed Serpent Man and cultist in disguise. No. 2, or Milos as he's called follows the usual Cthulhu conventions of hiring minions to harass and attack the investigators/PC’s before leading them to the underground cult temple of the Unspeakable One.
Nightmarish battles against alien races, despicable rites, ungawdly mind bending symbols and surprise revelations about the race of their archenemy carry all the hallmarks of a Cthulhu game. Indeed by the end of it, I was surprised the author Chris Pramas wasn't demanding Will saves versus developing Ophiophobia (fear of snakes)! Not to worry, I think I’ll add that in when I run the game with my victims... er ....players.
The final battle scene and rescue of Lucius is nicely done, and the clues the PC’s discover reveal that this nest of vipers was but part of a larger whole. Apparently, aeons ago, the great serpent man empire/civilisation called Vallosia was destroyed by the Cult when they summoned the Unspeakable One to earth. Their great continent sank beneath the waves and the small island chain upon which Freeport was built is all that remains. Now most of the degenerate and civilised serpentmen are descendents of the vile Cultists. Their work here is yet to be done. Disappointingly the resolution of Lucius missing time is skipped over and may only be referred to in the upcoming ‘Secrets of Freeport’ sourcebook. The primary enemy is established as the Cult of the Yellow Sign, an international organisation with many other members still abroad in Freeport.
Considered individually this is a fine adventure. It starts off as a simple missing persons investigation and ends up with a nightmarish trek underground, fighting degenerate serpent man cultists in the dark. There are enough Cthulhu elements to avoid the Robert E. Howard comparisons to Conan or Thulsa Doom which is a trap it could easily have fallen into. Above all it retains the typical intelligence and investigative focus that is emblematic of Cthulhu adventures, yet is written with enough detail, verve and activity to keep the game constantly moving. Every lead and clue can spiral off into an involved red herring sub-plot or the mystery itself. I will say however that some of these red herrings or future plot hooks are only discussed in the 2 other books, so may appear less if you only have ‘Death in Freeport’
Death also contains the history and map of Freeport and details on Serpent Men. Combined with the page of Open gaming license and some pregenerated characters, this leaves only about 18 pages of an adventure that if played relatively straightforwardly would last 4-8 hours.
As such it only just reaches my threshold of acceptable gaming value per pound (or dollar), but the Freeport atmosphere, concepts and background would raise my rating to a 4 out of 5.
TERROR IN FREEPORT
Terror in Freeport continues the breakneck pace of the unfolding conspiracy in Freeport. Summoned once again by Brother Egil (who hired them last time to find Lucius), the PC’s learn that he suspects that serpent men have been breaking into the archives of the Temple of Knowledge, but that he has found out where Milos had a second hide-away. Following a new line of clues, the PC’s can discover that Milos the deceased serpent man bunked in a certain inn where he had some unusual notes on the great Lighthouse project. Furthermore he was an assistant architect on Milton's Folly (the Lighthouse nearing construction) under Councilman Verlaine.
Further investigations into the now defiled temple of the Yellow Sign (which the PC’s raided last adventure) seem to indicate its being cleared out and taken to Verlaines estate! Suspecting political conspiracy, the PC’s eventually wind up suspecting Verlaine is a cultist, but when they are led to act, they realise that both they and Verlaine are being set-up for a fall. Along the way they have their rooms rifled (classic CoC cultist tactic), led into ambushes (another classic), implicated in Verlaines murder (pure Cthulhu) and tricked into entering a horrific crushing machine death-trap. (yet again- Cthuluish).
The scenario concludes as the PC’s investigate the sewers and discover yet more serpent man tunnels and temples, which lead them to thwart a Cultist offensive on the Temple of Knowledge. The final battle is a great one of misdirection and paranoia as the PC’s are confronted with multiple groups of clerics all accusing each other of being cultists. (and the PC’s may suspect pretty much everyone, up to and including Brother Egil who originally hired them of being serpent men).
Admittedly I’m skipping over large tracts of detailed plot here, but the long and short of it is that the PC’s discover that the cultist corruption extends as far as Sealord Drac himself, and that Milton's Folly may bring doom upon the city!
Its also in this book that one slightly ridiculous fact hit me which I call “The Curse of the Temple of Knowledge”. At the conclusion of Terror, the PC’s discover that the High Priest of the Temple of Knowledge died months ago and he was replaced by a Serpent Man priest of Yig. (not the Unspeakable One. Yig worship was predominate in the ancient Serpentman Empire before the cult destroyed it- he acts as an ally to the PC’s and tells them some more about Hastur and the cult). So, taking ‘Death in Freeport’ into consideration, we have one cleric possessed by a Yithian for several years, and both the High priest and his deputy replaced by Serpentmen! And the temple was targeted for destruction by the Cult of the Yellow Sign who can exactly imitate many minor priests of the temple!
What is happening here? Its never especially clear why the cult is targeting the Temple in specific. No mention is made of the Temple possessing anything the cultists wanted apart from possibly the brain damaged Father Lucius! It struck me as a bit odd really that so many different alien races would pick on these poor monks. Especially as they seem to lack any political or magical importance.
Another problem is that at one point the PC’s are tricked into entering a large steam crushing machine. (sort of like that car crusher in Superman 2 or 3). Except that I wondered at that high a level of technological progress in a supposedly generic fantasy setting. While suitable for the slightly steampunk campaign world of Privateer Press’ Iron Kingdoms I couldn't imagine such machinery in the Forgotten Realms or Scarred Lands. (though combined with the prevalence of gunpowder muskets and cannons in the Iron Kingdoms, Freeport pirates would be a good fit!)
A few other oddities are also explained away by plot hooks. Brother Egil for example tells the PC’s that the Temple clerics have a vow of poverty, promptly before paying them a small fortune in gold to investigate! (Turns out Egil borrowed his gold from a loan shark who beats him up in later encounters to get it back. If the PC’s like him by then, they can intervene).
So what can we say about this adventure? While it retains many of the conventions of a Cthulhu investigation, it branches into political conspiracy and identity muddling than the norm. This gives it a flavour more akin to Oliver Stones ‘JFK’ film than either Dungeons and Dragon or Call of Cthulhu. I’m satisfied that the ending and final revelations will be apocalyptic and jaw dropping enough to grab the players, but wonder about the complexity of it all. I suspect that some of the dumber or more fireball-happy groups will miss most of it and end up stitched up and on the run from the law as all their allies are murdered. More subtle and intelligent groups will love this though.
I have to give this a 3 out of 5 because of the danger of the complexity of the excellent plot. Some groups may really have a blast with it, while others flounder.
MADNESS IN FREEPORT
The final and exciting conclusion to this epic trilogy is the longest both in pages (48) and material covered.
If the PC’s were able to thwart the Cults plans to destroy the Temple of Knowledge and frame Verlaine and themselves as evil cultists, they will be disconcerted to receive an invitation from Sealord Drac to be honoured for their actions. They will be disconcerted precisely because they should suspect by now that Drac is a follower of the Unspeakable God and his Lighthouse is an evil cult plot.
In this they are entirely correct, but they lack evidence, so its suggested they test the water by going to the award ceremony. Surrounded by the crème of Freeport society they are given a shiny medal and allowed to politic with the remaining members of the Captains Council, some of them Drac supporters and others forming a quiet opposition. A Drac loyalist incites them to prepare to murder Drac in a quiet room, which is an obvious trap they should hopefully avoid.
All in all though this political scheming whilst interesting for some players who enjoy such socialising, can become a bit tiring for the DM who must play so many NPC’s at once. Fortunately a plot device walks through the door at the end of the scene and gives the party a cryptic prophecy to find a ‘Jade Serpent in the temple of Yig’ that will defeat to Yellow Sign. (and by now the players should realise that the Cult of the Yellow Sign have Freeport sewn up). One quick consultation with their friendly High Priest of Yig serpent man later, they discover that the only person who knew the whereabouts the ancient temple of Yig was a legendary pirate who buried his treasure there.
And this takes us back to the pirate theme that was briefly explored in ‘Death in Freeport’. For most of ‘Madness’ the PC’s could have forgotten that Freeport was a pirate city as that adventure could have been set anywhere. Now the PC’s have to track down the last surviving member of the pirate captain ‘Black Dog’ s crew, get a treasure map with an X upon it, charter a boat and go find the Temple of Yig, all before the imminent ceremonial ‘Lighting of the Lighthouse’ does something unspecified but horrible to the citizens of Freeport!
Of course getting the map is the easiest part of the procedure. The PC’s get to the treasure cave and find Captain Blackdog wont let his treasure go even if he's in a grave. (Given he's a spectre I had horrible flashbacks to the Monkey Island computer game and the Ghost pirate LeChuck! but throwing in puns here may damage the excitement and credibility of the tale))
Having found the Lost temple of Yig the Snake God, the PCs enter a dungeon like environment where they must defeat multiple undead serpent men priests and snakes before assembling the pieces to acquire the McGuffin er, Jade Serpent artifact. In true Indiana Jones style, the ancient temple, treasure house of serpent-man civilisation lore which has lasted for 10,000 years collapses as soon as the PC’s are done. This is the most AD&D/Tomb Raiderish part of the series and is slightly disappointing that it wasn't played up as being more horrific. Two factors count against it here- the fear of the unknown is dispelled as a handy NPC tells them what to do to get the McGuffin and the set-up to the temple is too staged. The McGuffin is barely described and no sense of wonder or alien power is really attributable to it. Much more could have been done with the concept of the PC’s carrying the last relic of a forgotten snake god from a now extinct civilisation as they try to prevent the same fate befalling Freeport! It should be the centre-point of the entire campaign, not a throwaway item. (plus I still cant get Monkey island out of my head)
By the time the PC’s return to Freeport, they find the Lighthouse is about to be lit. Forced to avoid pirate cutters and without time to seek political or diplomatic solutions, the PC’s are finally allowed to sneak into Milton's Folly and try to stop Milton Drac and the priests of the Unspeakable One from projecting the horrific mindbending Yellow Sign into the skies above Freeport. The idea is that this giant ‘Bat-sign’ will infect the minds of those who view it (including the many ships from other ports and nations) which will spread the worship of the Unspeakable One across the world and hasten the end times. As for Freeport, the extended exposure to the Sign will drive the citizens mad and destroy the town, giving vengeance to Drac who had an unhappy childhood and didn't like Freeport, even though he's been its leader for the last decade!
To be honest, this was a slightly desperate ending. Despite allowing the PC’s to fight their way through a variety of Cthulhu monsters (including the shoggoth like Gibbering Mouther) and then either duelling Drac to the death, or replacing the Yellow Sign crystal with the Jade Serpent (which acts like an Ark of the Covenant does to Nazis), the big finale is something of an anticlimax.
The implications of their actions are not fully covered. Hopefully the PC’s will have gathered enough political allies to convince the world that the leader of Freeport was the terrible villain who wanted to destroy his own city instead if the PC’s as the culprits. What effect that has on the populace of Freeport and its relations vis a vis the rest of the world is also left to the DM.
A few nasty follow ons are examined though- such as the rest of the Yellow Sign cult hunting the PC’s down, the friendly serpent man priest of Yig reclaiming the sacred Jade Servant and trying to rebirth the Serpent man civilisation. (which may or may not have treated humanity as snacks).
All in all, this adventure instalment covered the most genres (politicking, pirate treasure, dungeon crawling and finally cult bashing/God thwarting) which has the benefit of variety but the drawback of inconsistent atmospheres.
The defeat and process of defeating Drac is far too railroaded and staged and I would have preferred the author suggest a few more options. (Politically manoeuvring Drac out of power, blowing up the Lighthouse with gunpowder mid-construction, leading a revolution etc. ) But the adventure automatically says the PC’s don't have time to explore these options and must instead follow the plot devices and NPC’s to get the McGuffin which will save the day.
In itself I’m somewhat disappointed, so while competent, and possessing many fine qualities of pacing, exotic locations, climactic escapes etc, fails in terms of pure linearity and uninteresting details. It gets a 2.
CONCLUSION
So, there we have it, the great Freeport trilogy. There are some good ideas and high points in this series, particularly in 'Death in Freeport' with its incredible similarity to a standard Call of Cthulhu investigation, and 'Terror', which has some of those same conventions but also a paranoiac streak a mile wide as the PC’s begin to doubt who they can trust.
Only 'Madness' really breaks this theme as it veers first from Vampire-like socialising power politics (both the PC’s and Drac hate each other, but must be cordial for despite knowing that they both know the other party wants them dead) to extended dungeon crawls. But the ultimate sin is the slightly pants conclusion to the Cults plot. Whilst Chris Pramas has said that the cult isn't stereotypical enough to just want to use the Lighthouse to summon Hastur to the world once more, I think there is a great deal to be said for thwarting the summoning of a Great Old One.
For a start its a lot more dramatic, has more immediate consequences for failure and imperils the PC’s more personally. One reason I guess they didn't want to do so is that the last time someone provided D&D stats for the Unspeakable One, Chaosium got to sue their pants off. (Fortunately I have a 1st Printing of the original Deities and Demigods and will email or post his 3rd Ed converted stats to anyone who requests. Or they could wait for d20 Cthulhu).
But, specific adventure details aside, this series does a good job of uniting the polar opposites of the D&D and Cthulhu paradigms. The PC’s are empowered throughout, but also realise that however many cultists they take out, still more wait in the shadows beyond. The non-appearance of Hastur, whilst dramatically disappointing, postpones the inevitable realisation of impotence for the heroes. Whilst that's something of a cop-out, it does allow the possibility of future campaign play along the paradigmal axis preferred by the DM.
The other key feature that sets this series apart is the setting of Freeport itself. The pirate ships and ork captains and press gangs in ‘Death in Freeport’, and then the political interests, factions and machinations of the Captains Council in ‘Madness’ both bring this city to vibrant life. Its the sort of place where adventure does wait on every street and opportunity abounds. I think with the details promised in the upcoming Freeport sourcebook and the material on the Green Ronin website combined with its generic nature, this will be a favourite place to adventure.
Style- the Freeport series has excellent maps and reasonable artwork. Unfortunately neither a consistently Cthulhuish or buccaneering atmosphere was sustained across all 3 books. Therefore it gets a style rating of 4.
Substance- The combined adventures form a campaign of some intelligence and length, and whilst the climax may be poorly handled, enough red herrings, optional encounters and exciting action and mystery remain to produce an engrossing product. However this product is inordinately expensive for its page count and so I must reduce its rating from a 4 if it were a single 96 page book to a 3 for the more expensive instalments.
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