(WARNING:THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS)
"Operation: Crouching Dragon" was one of two 'folio' adventures (The other was "Castle by the Sea", by Nick Atlas, see my review.) issued for the second edition of "Twilight 2000", before GDW shut down in 1996.
The scenario was written for the "Merc 2000", background, in which the war which dominates the "Twilight 2000" never occurs, instead there are a series of smaller wars as governments and corporations struggle for influence and resources.
"OPERATION: CROUCHING DRAGON", THE PLOT.
The adventure, set in the South China Sea, is designed as an introductory scenario, the PC's are mercenaries hired by an unspecified petrochemical company to escort a 'freelance'(NPC) geologist to one of the Spratly Islands, site of a Vietnamese oil surveying installation.
Once there the PC's and the NPC geologist will find that the garrison is 'asleep' after a beer bash, later, between a half to two hours later depending on the players actions, a message will be found in the island's communication shack, a message warning the garrison that 'terrorists' are about to attack the island and that a platoon of Marines is being sent as reinforcements...
It should not take the players long to realise that their employer has betrayed them and that they only have five real options, the first involves imprisoning the island garrison and attempting to ambush the Marines. The second and third both involve assaulting barges established by the Vietnamese government to protect potential oil drilling sites, one has a helicopter based on it, the other is a base for patrol boats. The fourth requires the players to travel to another island and seize a Vietnamese survey vessel operating near the island. The final option is for the PC's to surrender to the island garrison or the Marines and hope that the Vietnamese government will be merciful...
"OPERATION: CROUCHING DRAGON", THE COMPONENTS.
he game components, consist of a 32 page booklet, which contains the plot background information. Statistics for all the NPC's and additional background on the NPC Geologist, player information sheets, maps of the region, island and barges featured in the scenario and stats for a local fishing boat, assault boat and patrol boay.
Also contained in the booklet is information on the D20 system that made up "Twilight 2000 V2.2", which made its appearance in this adventure.
The booklet is enclosed in a GM Screen style folder which has an addtional map of the Vietnamese barge and two colour maps showing the area in which the adventure takes place.
"OPERATION: CROUCHING DRAGON", THE VERDICT.
"Operation: Crouching Dragon" is an adventure that can be divided into two sections, the first is the essentially linear beginning which gets the players to the island until they discover the warning message, the only effect the players can have on the sequence on events is on how soon after their arrival that discovery occurs. The second section is somewhat more flexible and offers the possibility of the players escaping without having to fight anyone.
While I do like the adventure there are some problems, two may be regarded as matters of taste, but the others are real problems.
The first problem is that no information is given on how to convert the adventure to the "Twilight 2000" campaign setting, however this is not a critical failure and the adventure works quite well without it.
More serious is the second problem, in the table of contents it states that player information on the Spratly Islands can be found on pages 19 & 20, however all the information is only found on page 20, the only thing that can be found on page 19 is a list of computer menu options, this constitutes wasted space that could have been used for additional plot information or GM advice.
The third problem is that no arrival time is given for the arrival of the PC's on the island, the GM is told that the arrival cooincides with 'moonset', but not what the time is. This causes problems since the GM is told that the island garrison will wake up at sunrise (0600 hrs) and that the Marine platoon will arrive at (0800 hrs), but has no way of determining how much time the PC's have from arrival before either of these events occur.
The final problem is perhaps the most serious, in the GM information it is emphasised that the region is incredibly unstable and that the slightest spark could cause a major war. But in the 'after the adventure' section the only thing covered is the possibility that the players former employer might try to eliminate them. No mention is made of the possibility of the players starting a war as a result of their actions especially if they do manage to take out the Marine platoon.
That said the adventure would make an excellent start point for a longer campaign, with three obvious coming to mind, one, get revenge on the former employer. Two if they do start a war in the Spratley's joining up with one side or the other in the ensuing conflict. The third follow on possibility is suggested by the NPC geologist, an enigmatic woman familiar with geology, firearms and High Altitude, Low Opening parachute drops...
I'll give this adventure a 4 for presenation and a 3 for the adventure itself.
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