While reading The Resurrected III: Out of the Vault, I felt an emotion within me that a Pagan book has never sparked in me before. That emotion was anger. It was an anger that seemed very out-of-place, given the high quality of writing that is found in most of this book. And it was an anger that would have driven me to probably swear off Pagan if I had actually paid the $24.95 US cover price, rather than receiving it as a review copy.
The Resurrected III (hereafter abbreviated as TRIII) is a collection of ten Call of Cthulhu scenarios, all of which originally were published in issues of The Unspeakable Oath (hereafter abbreviated as TUO). As most Cthulhu fans know, TUO is a great magazine, with the print runs of each issue being rather small, making them collectors' items among fans. For a time, Pagan had the first four issues of TUO, sans adventures, available for download at their website. When the first two volumes of The Resurrected came out they had the adventures originally published in those first four issues of TUO, making them available to those fans who had missed the original issues or were familiar with the magazine only from the truncated versions on the company's website.
When I first heard about TRIII I assumed Pagan would be reprinting adventures from the later issues of TUO. By chance, before I got my own copy of TRIII, I learned that one of the adventures in it is a scenario that had already been reprinted in The Resurrected II. I was upset by the idea that, rather than including one of the fine adventures that appeared in TUO that has never been reprinted, Pagan had decided to reprint a scenario that they had already reprinted once before. Still, I figured one re-reprinted adventure wasn't too bad.
Then I got TRIII, and the anger filled me.
You see, the first three adventures in TRIII are the EXACT SAME adventures that made up The Resurrected II. "Within You, Without You," "The House on Stratford Lane," and "The Travesty" are all adventures from TUO that were already reprinted in The Resurrected II. If you purchased that 32-page reprint edition, then be ready to rebuy all the information in that volume when you shell out the cash for TRIII. Aside from some minor changes (consisting mostly of new artwork and retouched maps) they're the exact same scenarios as found in The Resurrected II and in the TUO.
I can hear the response on this already: "Ralph, many people don't have access to either the original TUOs these three scenarios originally appeared in, or to copies of The Resurrected II. Would you deny people the chance to play these quality adventures, simply because they weren't playing CoC when these scenarios were first printed or first reprinted?"
Yes, yes I would. And here's why:
Since the initial four issues, TUO has gone on to have many high-quality scenarios within its pages. I would have loved to have seen any of those scenarios reprinted for those who missed their first appearance in TUO, so they could enjoy them as well.
Instead Pagan choose to reprint three scenarios that already received a second moment under the spotlight. While excellent scenarios, I see no good reasons why they were re-reprinted in TRIII, instead of reprinting another TUO adventure for the first time.
Another factor that adds to my anger is that in none of the ad copy that I read for TRIII was it mentioned that portions of this book had been reprinted in The Resurrected II. Where I live any Pagan books I wish to buy have to be special ordered; I don't have the luxury of having the books on store shelves to peruse. If I'd paid cover price for TRIII and then discovered I had purchased a book which reprinted an entire book I'd already paid good money for I'd have been rage-filled. I stopped buying TSR products due to its habit of not marking on the outside of a product or in ad copy that books would have reprint material; I'm sure as Hell not going to stand for companies not noting books have re-reprinted material in them.
Interestingly enough, in TRIII the first page of each scenario has a notation about where it appeared previously. In the case of the three scenarios that were in The Resurrected II it merely lists that they had previously appeared in "Of Keys and Gates," which was the subheading for The Resurrected II, but it's never actually noted that Of Keys and Gates IS The Resurrected II. Also, all three scenarios are listed as having been in a limited release called "Courting Madness," so I guess their appearance in TRIII is a Re-Re-Reprint. My rage grows!
And, of course, there is that segment of Pagan's fans who shelled out big money for The Resurrected II as an out-of-print book, figuring it would be their only chance to get these scenarios outside of the original TUOs they appeared in; CoC fans being notorious for shelling out big bucks for out-of-print books. I bet they're mad now...
Alright, with that out of the way, I can get onto reviewing the actual scenarios found in this book, starting with:
"Within You, Without You," by John Tynes. I've said before on rpg.net that I honestly have no understanding of why John Tynes has the following among gamers that he does. Of all of his work that I have read, I have found only two that I can say were worth my time to read. "Within You, Without You" is one of those two.
Starting off with the long-cliched "An old friend invites you to the remote town he lives in" intro to the adventure, it quickly becomes something rather unique. The investigators become caught up in the plans of an ancient sorcerer who has worked for many, many years to merge with a entity all-too-familiar to those with any knowledge of CoC. His method is certainly one-of-a-kind, if flawed, and leads investigators into some rather unique encounters.
It's hard not to speak of this adventure without giving away its secrets. It's very well-done, and one that I have converted to other game systems on several occasions (and to modern-day CoC campaigns) with little problem. It gives players an opportunity for some unique role-playing, and I've had some great times with players coming up with their own theories as to what is going on in the adventure; there's nothing like having a player become convinced that hitting someone with snowballs causes them to mutate, and then attempting to test that theory on other player characters.
Those familiar with the Phantasm movies may catch on a little bit quicker than other players toward the end of the adventure, and some players may be upset that the author hinges the players and their characters learning of the truth behind the adventure (assuming they survive) on at least one character going indefinetly insane. There was also a fine picture in The Resurrected II of the device used to cause all the chaos that is missing in TRIII reprint, which I thought a shame. All-in-all, though, it's a great adventure!
"The Travesty," by Chris Klepac, involves the investigators being called upon to investigate a haunted inn. The culprit behind the unusual activities is a non-Mythos entity, who is finally breaking free of the wards that bar it from our world. It's up to the investigators to stop this creature, whether through use of ancient ritual or sheer violence.
This is another great adventure! I've yet to have anyone not enjoy this adventure. I should note that, in every time I've run this scenario, no one has ever actually use the ancient ritual method of trapping the monster, succeeding with simple violence every time instead.
I think what really makes this adventure shine is the NPCs the investigators encounter in the inn. All are unique, and it's been my experience that players have the most interesting reactions to them. I've also found it helps to make the town near the inn (not really described in the text) as being full of inbred yokels; it always seems to add to investigator paranoia.
I've only two complaints with this scenario. My first is with the art: in The Resurrected II there was an excellent picture of the monster of the scenario, which really helped players to understand the kind of fiend they're dealing with. In TRIII the only pic of the monster is a partial portion of its face, and it looks more like a zombie than a truly unique creature of horror. Also, the monster has minions, and just as in the previous printings of this scenario no real limits are given on the number of them it can create. It's just too much of a "Ka-Screw-U" for Keepers to use, and let's face it, Cthulhu has enough Ka-Screw-U's as it is. Despite that, this adventure shines.
"The House on Stratford Lane" by John H. Crowe II, is another great adventure easily converted to other time periods or game systems. A young girl has disappeared, and the investigators have become involved in the search for it. In a nice twist, the source of her disappearance is neither supernatural or Mythos-related. However, the evidence that investigators find will lead them to a man who IS involved with the Mythos, busy working on a project that will bring him into contact with an old-school Mythos race.
There are so many things that make this adventure great fun. As I said, the main problem the investigators face is not supernatural, which may take jaded CoC players by surprise. Also, the write-up of the fellow dabbling in the Mythos is written so that the Keeper can decide whether or not he actually makes contact with the Mythos while the adventure is going on, though it depends somewhat on investigator actions as well. This means you can either finish him and his Mythos connections up with this adventure, or you can resolve the main story and leave the fellow and his inhuman friends for future scenarios in your campaign. And there's also the opportunity for the investigators to obtain....I can't spoil it, but suffice it to say it's a staple of Lovecraft fiction, and every time my players have gone through this module they've loved being in possession of it, arguing with it, and trying to find creative uses for it in later adventures.
The art for this adventure is nice, capturing the mood and events in the scenario perfectly.
"The Beast in the Abbey," by Kevin A. Ross, starts off well enough. A unique Mythos entity (whose quite the ass-whupper) has accidentally been unleashed, leaving it free to hunt people in England. While set in the 1920s, the author says it can easily be converted to Gaslight, and in my opinion it could easily be transferred to other parts of the world with little change in the way it is written. There's just one problem with it....
(Spoiler Space)
The Ghost Dog!
You see, this adventure originally appeared in a TUO in which a large portion of the magazine was devoted to information & adventures set in Great Britain. Apparently Mr. Ross felt that he should include a ghost dog, since tales of spectral hounds are common in Europe. While I'm the first to mix Mythos with non-Mythos horrors in my game, I'm afraid the introduction of the ghost dog left me laughing.
You see the ghost dog (whose been named Padfoot by the locals) is not some ancient local legend which has a semblance of truth to it. No, Padfoot is in fact Smokey the sheepdog, a dog owned by a local farmer who was killed a few days before the investigators arrive on the scene. His murderer was a local policeman, who had decided to use the dog as a scapegoat, blaming the sheepdog for the murders since he could not find the true culprit (IE the monster of the adventure). Shortly afterward the constable met up with the monster and died. Unfortunately the ghost of the dog is unaware of this, and has returned to Earth wishing to avenge himself for his murder. But, since his killer is dead, he has been forced to roam the land looking for his killer, unable to get his vengeance.
Okay, some quick thoughts on this:
1) How many people have died horribly in CoC scenarios, never to walk the earth again in undead form, but Smokey the sheepdog has the will and determination to break through the veil between worlds and hunt down his murderer?
2) Assuming the constable didn't have his soul destroyed by the monster I imagine he's laughing his ass off as he watches Smokey from the afterlife.
3) Do you think that England is plagued by untold ghostly hordes of animals that were slaughtered on farms for food? I can see it now "Call of Cow-thulhu!" Oh, PETA would love this adventure, let me tell you....
I don't know what Kevin Ross was thinking as he wrote this portion of the scenario. He's my all-time favorite CoC game writer, and this is only the second time he's every put out a scenario I didn't enjoy.
"The Lambton Worm," by Steve Hatherly, has behind it an excellent idea for an adventure. A Mythos threat has already been thwarted, and investigators uncover that fact. No major battles, no evil cultists; why, it's almost a vacation as far as CoC adventures go!
Too bad it sucks in practice.
I should note right now this scenario is a re-reprint, as it has been featured in TUO and Pyramid Magazine.
Something called the National Trust is mentioned several times, but at no time is it explained what that is. For some reason I seem to believe the author is a native of the UK, so perhaps in that part of the world the National Trust is something that everyone knows about. Here in the US, though, I had no idea what it was.
Another problem I had concerned the section devoted to three ways investigators could be introduced to the scenario by newspaper clippings. I imagine that when originally published each clipping (done as a player handout) was shown separately, with the corresponding Keeper text right below it. In TRIII the clippings are set off from the Keeper text concerning them, which left me confused for a moment, as the main text suddenly goes into discussion of the clippings without referring the reader to them. It also didn't help that the descriptions of the three clippings run together, adding fuel to my theory they were supposed to be presented with the clippings above them, to keep each section of Keeper text separate.
The scenario also has a very odd would-be investigator. Aware of the Mythos beast the scenario is centered around, he keeps watch on it, to insure it does not awaken.
The problem is, this fellow (who is depicted with ears like Prince Charles) doesn't really seem to be doing anything to protect Earth. Aside from five points of Cthulhu Mythos (presumably gotten from going temporarily mad at some point) he has no knowledge/tomes/spells of the Mythos, and seems to be making no effort to learn more about the Mythos so that he can keep the beast contained. My favorite (note sarcasm there) part is that if he sees investigators going into the monster's lair he refuses to go in after them, instead patiently waiting for them to come out so he can talk with them. Yup, never mind they might be evil cultists going to awaken the monster, he'll just sit on his ass and wait for them to come back. You go, Boyo!
Also amazing is the fact that he watches the monster's lair from his house with a telescope, so that he can see it if it awakens, at which point he can warn people about it. The critter is freakin' Size 801, I think they'll notice it when it gets up to party!
The author's take on the rules seem odd as well. While I can accept his unique use of the Elder Sign, he attributes to the monster a phenomenal regenerative capability, rendering attempts to slay the beast futile. Mind you, at NO point in the history of the Mythos has the beast been listed as having ANY regenerative powers. Given the author's comment later on about how the adventure should make players (not their characters) discomforted and upset by their inability to make a difference, I smell a Keeper/author who favors "Ka-Screw-U" adventures.
Lastly, I'm just sick of every giant creature having living being-like immune systems.
In case you didn't pick up on it, I hated this adventure.
"Blood on the Tracks," is next, by J. Todd Kingrea. To put it politely, I've never been a fan of Mr. Kingrea's contributions to CoC, and this scenario did nothing to change my opinion of the author's works. Spoilers abound as I discuss why this adventure made my soul hurt, so wander off now if such things offend you.
In this adventure player-investigators a train on which a vampire is making meals of its passengers, and it's up to the investigators to stop him. I wish someone had stopped the author from putting this travesty onto paper. I'm not even sure where to begin with my problems with this adventure, so I guess I'll just have to start with the bloodsucking evil of our story.
The vampire, we're told, is insane, but not because he's a walking corpse that feeds on human beings to survive. No, the author informs us that the vampire and his human servant are insane because they're worshipers of Glaaki. I guess Kingrea thinks are just ordinary folks with some odd dietary requirements and fangs.
Well, maybe they have fangs. Kingrea apparently couldn't make up his mind about what powers and weaknesses the vampire in his story would posses. For example:
-The vampire has some sort of mind control/mesmerism power, which he uses to control his human servant. Using this power the vampire could easily deal with much of the problems he encounters in this adventure (running into a person he was impersonating, easily leading victims off to kill them, convincing people to "forget" things, etc.). Instead the author ignores this power entirely, having apparently forgotten it after using it to explain away the human follower of the vampire.
-According to the vampire's stats, he has both a bite and a punch/claw attack. He does the same damage whether he is punching or clawing, doing "1D4 dm. damage." Someone care to translate that for me?
-Additionally, the vampire uses a straight razor to slice a victim's wrists, attempting to make it look like a suicide. The vampire has no skill in straight razor, and we know how poor starting chances are in CoC with improvised weapons. Despite this fact, the vampire is able to inflict such wounds upon the victim that it looks as though the man slit his own wrists with the razor, rather than being grappled with as the vampire slashed his wrists. He does this so well, in fact, that when examined by a professional doctor the only reason he has suspicion about the wounds is the lack of blood in the area surrounding the corpse and the fact that the wounds are "almost surgical in the precision of their placement." And we know this is a good doctor, because on a train trip where he apparently is without his medical equipment he is able to do detailed examinations of dead bodies, determining exactly which vertebra are snapped in a victim's neck, among other things. He also tells us that the fellow with the slit wrists had slight wounds on his throat, as if he had been held briefly.
Because as we all know, you only have to hold onto someone briefly by the throat to slash their wrists with surgical precision, at which point they will stop struggling entirely and you can let go as you drink the blood first from one of their wrists, then the other.
Someone buy this writer a book on forensics. On second though, no, because that would only encourage him to write again.
-Vampires can apparently eat food, since the vampire has no problem having dinner with the other people on the train.
-It's up to the Keeper if the vampire needs to sleep in a coffin during the day or not. If not, what is the point of having a coffin brought onto the train, other than to scream "Vampire!" to whomever finds it? I can't even go with the idea the vampire's other servants were smuggled onboard in the coffin, but more on them later.
-Sunlight apparently hurts vampires, according to part of this adventure. However, we're told that the train trip began promptly at 2:45 PM, which means during daylight, which means the vampire should have been asleep in his coffin or room. If in his coffin, wouldn't the staff not notice him being around during the daylight portions of the trip? And if he wasn't in his coffin, how the hell would he get on board? He would be sleeping during the day, and I don't think they would let him in before daybreak because he asked them to. Not to mention someone might notice his compartment has been done up so no sunlight can get in.
The author says we should change the vamp to fit our conception of them. So why bother giving him stats at all?
And then there's the Servants of Glaaki, of which the vampire has two at his disposal. So many flaws in the adventure relating to these fellows, starting with:
1. Where the Hell are these freaks hiding?
While the adventure introduces spells to summon and bind the Servants, the train meets neither of the requirements for casting the spell. Therefore, the two Servants must have been onboard the train before the scenario got underway. Given that they look like desiccated human corpses they don't exactly blend in with normal people. If you're using the idea the vampire doesn't use his coffin they could be hiding within it, bu then that brings up how they got to the engine car of the train, which brings us to:
2. Servants of Glaaki, Train Conductors
The purpose of the Glaaki is to kill the train's engineer and keep the train running nonstop as the vampire goes a-feastin' on the traingoers. The first problem is, of course, HOW THE HELL DO THEY GET INTO THE ENGINE CAR!
We could assume they actually break into the engine car before the train began its journey. The problem is that the train trip starts at 2:45 PM, and I'm pretty sure someone at the railroad station would notice two shambling, reeking of decay, rotting zombies trying to sneak aboard an engine car. Even if they did manage to do so and kill the conductor I think two zombie train engineers would draw notice.
So perhaps the Servants snuck on the train and hid themselves, then made their way to the engine car and took it over. The problem with that is apparently the engine car has no easy access point between it and the rest of the train, and the author tells us Dex x3, Climb, and Jump rolls are necessary to go along the top of the train to the engine car while the train is in motion.
Remember I called the Servants "shambling" earlier? They have low Dexterity scores as a race, and the two in this adventure have scores of 5 and 3, respectively, translating into a 15% and 9% chance on those Dex x3 rolls. That's not too good, especially considering that if you fail those rolls you must make a Luck roll, the failure of which results in you falling off the roof of the train to the ground speeding by below. With the Luck roll you catch yourself, and must make a Climb roll to get back on the roof. Since the Servants have no Climb or Jump scores listed, I presume they have only base stats, giving them less chance than a snowball in Hell of actually making it to the engine car.
3. You No Need Edjumaction to Run Train, Me no So!
Finally, we get to the matter of actually controlling the train. The Servants have absolutely no skill in running the train, according to their stats. I guess that's okay, since from what I gather from reading this adventure the author seems to think the engineer of a train has only to keep shoveling coal into its furnace to keep it going. I'll let somebody else rant about that simplistic notion of controlling a train, as this adventure has taken too much out of me already.
Oh, I almost forgot about the illustration of the vamp, his human slave, and one of the Servants. It looks like it came from a Feng Shui book.
I hate this adventure. Hate it bad. Maybe Pagan Resurrected this one, but all that came back was the awfulist vileness.
Luckily, "Dark Havest," by Kevin A. Ross, is next. This is one my two all-time favorite adventures published in TUO, and I'm glad to see it brought back for new fans. Set in the 1920s, the strange death of a farmer causes investigators to become involved in the activities of a cult operating in the farm country of Iowa. This cult is fair-sized, and has members whose powers extend both into the mundane and supernatural worlds. The investigators become involved just as the group is working out a detail with a similar group based in the UK, who worship the same dark entity as the Americans.
I can't properly express how much I love this scenario. It's an adventure that, if the Keeper runs the NPCs with the intelligence they deserve, can be one of the most perplexing and dangerous cases investigators may ever run across. The horror factor of the adventure is magnified by the fact that it is set in rural farmland, where investigators can never be sure who is okay to trust and who might be one of them. No player I've run through this scenario has ever been disappointed with it. I've had the issue of TUO that this first appeared in since it was first published, and I've read through it so much that the pages have literally fallen out of the book; given how anal I am in taking care of my books it's quite a feat to have me read it so often that I wear the binding out.
My only complaint is that the beautiful Blair Reynolds art that was in the original TUO printing of this story is not present in this version.
Following this is "What Goes Around, Comes Around," by Chris Klepac, which is my other all-time favorite TUO scenario. The draw for this adventure is the bizarre death of an old woman, which leads them to the small town of Charing Cross, where the mysteries of the past need to be unraveled.
This adventure is great for a number of reasons. First, it has vast opportunities for role-playing, to the point that you might almost forget that dice are even used in CoC. Second, it's one of those few adventures that admits to the fact that there are people who fight the Mythos other than the PCs. Indeed, a good portion of the adventure is devoted to unearthing the facts behind a group of cultists that another band of brave souls took down. Third, it's actually written so there need be no confrontation with a Mythos entity. While the Mythos figures prominently into the adventure, the murders are not related to a Mythos entity nor to a cultist's activities. It's a very unique ending, one I enjoyed greatly. And for those who prefer the tried-and-true approach, stats are given if you want a strange creature from Beyond to be responsible for what is going on.
And, again, I was sad to see that Blair Reynolds art from the original version did not make it into this reprint.
"All Good Children," by Chris Klepac is next. I have to admit to being amazingly biased toward this scenario, as it was the star of this adventure that cemented my CoC gaming group. The scenario involves a Lesser Outer God who is bound to Earth and seeking to break free, but that's not important. For this adventure introduced the world to Tee Tok, the Happy Star. I don't know what it is about Tee Tok, but not only did two hours of our playing of this adventure revolving around Tee Tok humor, but for years afterward during our CoC games people would draw their own interpretations of Tee Tok, and we collected all sorts of Tee Tok-looking items and hung them on the wall of our gaming room, no doubt disturbing the owner of the game store we played at. All I can say is that everyone should play this adventure, and perhaps they too will create their own follow-up adventure, which we entitled "Tee Tok the Flying Pimp."
Maybe you had to be there.
Finally, "In Media Res," by John Tynes, rounds out the book. It is the sort of work that gave Tynes the Mark of Shame in my eyes. I'm happy to say that I've yet to encounter anyone who likes this adventure, which gives me a bit more faith in my fellow man.
Spoilers abound here, but I'm doing you a favor. I read this adventure so you wouldn't have to, and that's a sacrifice just as great as any CoC investigator has performed to protect the world against the Mythos.
IMR is designed for four players, with each taking on a pregenerated character. Now, to start the adventure, each player is given a character sheet, which consists of Attribute scores and a one-paragraph description of the character. By this point I'm confused as to why the players get the one-paragraph description of their character, since according to the text of the adventure the only thing the PCs know about themselves as the scenario starts is their name, and that only because it's on the clothing they wear--the rest of their memory is a blank. My confusion wasn't helped when the Keeper text informs us that one of the characters is "particularly resistant to accusations of any sort." Why wasn't this information in the character's description if it's such an integral part of the character. For that matter, what does it matter, since the character (and all the others) have no memory about themselves, or anything else for that matter?
The four PCs are standing around a table with a slaughtered fellow lying on a table before them. One of the PCs (who normally has no tongue) has the dead guy's tongue in his mouth and is either wearing or holding before his face (the text contradicts itself on that bit) the skinned face of the man on the table, and is intoning a cryptic phrase. He falls silent, the tongue stops working, and the adventure begins.
Incidentally, I learned from this adventure that putting one's fingers on the side of your face and stretching the skin is the secret sign among gamers that your character is wearing someone's skinned face.
Anyway, the PCs stand admist the carnage in an amnesiatic state, with a giant Rorschach blot drawn in blood on the wall near them. A search reveals the PCs are in a small home, with two bodies outside it that evidence indicates they may have killed.
So, at some point, the PCs may decide to flee the area. This is a big No-No in Tynes' opinion, and has several options for Keepers to stop fleeing characters. These diversions range from inducing paranoia in players, distracting PCs, or bumping up the time the gun-toting friends and relatives of those the PC murdered arrive and have a violent gun battle with the PCs. Yup, Tynes feels it's better to blow away the PCs rather than them escaping the uber-cool (note sarcasm there) ending he has planned for the adventure. If the PCs do manage to escape the house and foes, the Keeper is instructed to use the police to force the PCs to stay in the house, where the uber-cool (sarcasm again) fate Tynes has planned for them awaits.
By the way, when the aforementioned gun-toting opponents of the PCs come into play the Keeper text notes "The [opponents] are almost as good at killing as the [PCs] are." It'd be nice to know how that translates into game stats, since as I said earlier the PCs have no skill scores listed for them.
At any rate, at some point each PC will have a traumatic flashback (with one confusing me as to what Tynes considers sane behavior), after which the PC regains most of his memory (perhaps now was the time the players should have been given the one-paragraph description of his character?), but he recalls nothing of the supernatural events that come before.
After the flashback PCs are now able to go through the Gate, which is what the giant Rorschach really is, though they have no knowledge of either of those facts. To entice PCs through the Gate each character now hears voices and sounds related to their respective traumatic flashbacks; this is supposed to get them to go through the gate.
I'd like a show of hands of everyone reading this who, having no knowledge of who or what created it, would go anywhere near a giant Rorschach blob pained in blood from which reminders of perhaps the most horrible moment of your life are coming from.
Hmm...Okay, I want all of you to send me all of your money, then go tie a rock to yourself and jump in a river. You're too stupid to live.
Characters with this kind of stupidity should only be found in comedy movies, children's cartoons, or as red-shirted security guards on Star Trek. And yet such non-conductive to self-preservation behavior is the only way to reach the end of the scenario that Tynes has planned, namely going through the gate.
And what happens when PCs go through the gate? We don't know. Once the last PC goes through the gate the Keeper is instructed to "just say ‘the adventure is over' and begin packing up your stuff." It goes on to say that players deserve to know what is going on, and you should inform them of the backstory to this adventure. As to what happens once the PCs go through the gate---we're never told, and we're told not to even speculate with the players as to what happened, leaving it up to their imaginations.
So players are supposed to play a one-shot adventure where they don't know who they are, what is going on, and are prevented from taking the logical course of action, so that they can do something amazingly stupid to get to the planned end of the adventure, whereupon nothing happens?
In other words, I've wasted a few hours of my life on a story I didn't comprehend, and wasn't supposed to comprehend, when I could have been playing my regular character or a scenario that had a beginning, middle, and end I could have enjoyed?
I weep for those who enjoy this adventure.
So, do I recommend TRIII? If you can get over Pagan's re-reprinting practices, and have never purchased any TUOs, I certainly recommend you pick it up, despite the crappy scenarios mixed into this collection. However, if you already have several TUOs containing these adventures it might be a better use of your money to track down the TUOs you don't have already and leave this collection on the shelf.
Go to forum!
(Due to spamming, old forum discussions are no linked.)