Of Sound Mind
Of Sound Mind is an adventure for beginning (1st- to 3rd-level) characters. The adventure is billed as a "psionic" adventure, as the premise and many important encounters in the adventure utilize the Psionics Handbook. The adventure claims that it can be adapted for higher levels and for use without benefit of the Psionics Handbook.
Of Sound Mind's authoris Kevin Kulp. Kevin is a longtime RPGA DM and is perhaps best known among the online community of ENWorld as "PirateCat." He was involved in the playtesting of the Psionics Handbook, and his entries in the story hour section of ENWorld are among the most popular.
A First Look
Of Sound Mind is a 48-page, staple-bound softcover booklet priced at $10.95 US. In addition to the pages, the module has an insert with full-color cardboard counters. Discounting the counters, this gives the adventure a price-per-page ratio the same as Necromancer Games' Prisoners of the Maze,and slightly worse than Wizards of the Coasts' Lord of the Iron Fortress, both of which also have 48 pages.
The front cover depicts some adventurers in a clash with some skeletal creature, with a dragon and a goblin in the background. The front cover art is decent but not great; it has a sort of sketchy oil painting look. The back cover has a smaller picture by Claudio Pozas that I did find rather interesting and attractive. I am given to wonder why Claudio's picture wasn't used on the front cover.
The interior is black and white (except for the counter sheet). Interior artwork is by Claudio Pozas, Todd Secord, and Tori Brine. Again, Claudio's work seems to be the most attractive to my eye. The interior maps are clear and functional. The color counters are functional and attractive . . . and scary! The dragon counter included looks a little big for 1st-level characters to face.
The interior text is in a relatively compact typeface, and conservative margins and leader spaces are used. Combined with the price per page ratio and the inclusion of a counter sheet, this delivers a fairly good value for your money.
A Deeper Look
(Warning: The following text contains spoilers regarding the premise and encounters in the adventure. Read at your own risk.)
The adventure starts with the "town in trouble" premise that is common in d20 System adventures. The author is subtle about introducing the threats, however, so this may be of a slightly different stripe than many such adventures.
The adventure is written to utilize many aspects of the Psionics Handbook, but provides alternatives in case you are not interested in using psionics. Adaptation notes are given to fit it to your campaign, including notes on scaling the adventure similar to such notes that are often provided in Dungeon adventures.
The party wanders into town and notices a farmer who is having some trouble with his horses. After they assist him in recovering the horses, he can relate a little bit about the situation in the town.
The town is called Bellhold, and one of the main activities of note here is the forging of bells. Some time ago, the town was under the rule of an evil sapphire dragon, which forced the citizens to labor at his behest in a copper mine to expand his hoard.
Recently, there have been some strange occurrences in the area. The whole town has been experiencing headaches and nightmares. Several children have disappeared, and a group of adventurers sent to find them have also disappeared. This all comes to a head when the party gets begins investigating a rather unusual murder - and starts receiving taunting nightmares of their own.
After uncovering some rather unusual murderers (some psionically endowed animals), the party will be led to investigate the old mines. The old mines have some goblin inhabitants, including one psionic goblin that is at the source of the problem. The psionic goblin is attempting to re-awaken an artifact that is a strange legacy of the sapphire dragon who ruled here years ago, and is responsible for experiments that are causing some other local problems as well. The optimal solution would be for the players to destroy the artifact, a task that is daunting to perform but made possible within the scope of the adventure. They must do so, however, while dealing with several mind-controlled citizens of the town they are trying to save!
Conclusion
On a basic level, this is a simple "dungeon crawl to save the town" sort of scenario. Yet it has a layer of complexity that goes beyond more typical examples of this premise. First off, the nightmares and unusual occurrences will add an interesting feel to the campaign. Further, there is an investigative layer to the adventure that will give more puzzle-oriented players a degree of satisfaction. Finally, the nature of the final encounter provides the possibility of a very tense and exciting session.
The adventure is not written in a strictly linear fashion, leaving the PCs to go about their information gathering in town however they desire. There are a few important pieces of information the players will need to uncover in order to have a good chance of succeeding at the adventure, but at least the GM is warned of these points in advance.
Overall, this is a very nice effort. The game rules - including the psionics rules - are deployed very well in this module. As with many Fiery Dragon offerings, there are lots of additional creatures and items as well as nice "extras" to the adventure such as the counters and handouts of the nightmares experienced by the PCs. This should be a nice introductory adventure for a party, especially if you wish to highlight the use of psionics in your game world.
Ratings: Premise: 4 Material: 5 Value: 4
-Alan D. Kohler
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