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A Darkness Gathering is a module, a very thin one. The main villains are the mind flayers, or Illithids, highly reminiscent of Cthulhu -- tentacle-headed beasts who eat brains and skulk in the dark. Oh Lovecraft, if your estate only had capable lawyers who actually cared...

But I digress. At $10.00, it seems TSR/WOTC is attempting to return to their gaming roots of small, stand-alone modules which don't burn a hole in your pocket. Did I say stand-alone? Oops. It's part of a three part series, but it can, theoretically, stand alone.

The first problem with the book is the artwork. I know all about artist deadlines, miscommunication, and the need to deceive players into thinking the villain on the cover isn't actually in the book, but it seems like the artist tried to draw an abominable snowman-type creature, and it ain't in the module. There IS a monster that has a cold attack, but it does not have a frost breath weapon, it has a "supernatural aura of cold." Sadly, the artwork's actually good, so perhaps I shouldn't be so picky in the art department.

Every few pages in the module have a stylized picture of a mind flayer's head as a watermark, which is a nifty idea -- until you try to read the black text on the dark gray watermark. This is very irritating. Only slightly more frustrating is the artwork, which is beautifully rendered and (*GASP!*) actually refers to events that happen IN the module! The frustrating part is that they are out of order, with pictures having nothing to do with the events at hand, placed in the most inappropriate of places.

As for the module itself, it's a tidy little tale of suspense and horror as the PCs attempt to unearth the nefarious plot of the mind flayers. The larger plot apparently has to do with blotting out the sun, but the module revolves around Shuluth, the main villain, and his brain retrieval scams. Of course, just about every scenario ends in combat, so while the module makes some feigned attempts at peaceful role-playing (watch Talien calm down the angry warrior who is about to beat the fanatic in the corner to a pulp!), it's fairly linear and fairly obvious. The module does shine in one regard: the main hook is a woman weeping for her lost brother. When we finally do find him, there's a delicious piece of prose as he turns and slurs out, "eeehlllp mmmheee!" in "The Fly" like fashion!

Since I don't have the Illithiad, the way mind flayers were cast surprised me. Forget mind flayers skulking in the dark, delving into ancient secrets Man Was Not Meant To Know (tm) or wallowing in disgusting slime pits. THESE mind flayers don't shy away from the sun, they wear Glaregoggles, they don't dry out in the heat, they wear Dampsuits! Heck, they're not even wimpy mages, these mind flayers are organized into dangerously effective strike teams. Who needs frightening journies into the Id when they have psionic circuitry?

There's a lot of science fiction in this module, which is an alternative substitute for the unknown and the unknowable. Mind flayers have technology, and that makes them scary and dangerous. Since this intrigued me enough to want to buy the Illithiad, the ploy worked -- players will be surprised by the highly aggressive and organized tactics of monsters traditionally known for being loners and gurgling out threats while DMs will enjoy the new toys the mind flayers have to play with. It's enough to make you wonder what else mind flayers might have up their sleeves.

Equally if not more deadly is a raid on a thief guild. This section of the module displays Campbell's tactics at its best, proving again that those who skulk about in the dark are frighteningly effective when organized into groups. The module is a challenge for 9th level players and I wouldn't recommend anyone lower than that. While I'm thinking of it, what the heck happened to putting the level range and number of players on the front of modules?

One final note: The much touted "flow chart" system shows up again as maps that are meant to represent conceptual terrain rather than real terrain -- since sewers are twisty, the map represents potential paths of action instead of an actual map with dimensions. So? This is neither a new idea nor a particularly good one (on MUDs, we call this a random monster generator). However, this is the second time I've seen it mentioned, the other time being the Dungeon Builder's Guidebook, and it's really turning out to be underwhelming.

If you have the Illithiad, you like mind flayers, and your players like strategic battles and less role-playing, A Darkness Gathering will not disappoint. If you've got two out of three, it may still be worth it. But if you have more thoughtful players, abhor the idea of mind flayers wearing goggles, or your group is not particularly good at strategy and tactics...everyone will likely end up dead -- from boredom, violence or both.

Style: 3 (Average)
Substance: 3 (Average)

A Darkness Gathering
Author: Bruce R. Cordell Category: game Company/Publisher: TSR Cost: $9.95 Page count: 32 ISBN: 0-7869-1208-1 Capsule Review by Michael Tresca on 07/30/98. Genre tags: none	A Darkness Gathering is a module, a very thin one. The main villains are the mind flayers, or Illithids, highly reminiscent of Cthulhu -- tentacle-headed beasts who eat brains and skulk in the dark. Oh Lovecraft, if your estate only had capable lawyers who actually cared... But I digress. At $10.00, it seems TSR/WOTC is attempting to return to their gaming roots of small, stand-alone modules which don't burn a hole in your pocket. Did I say stand-alone? Oops. It's part of a three part series, but it can, theoretically, stand alone. The first problem with the book is the artwork. I know all about artist deadlines, miscommunication, and the need to deceive players into thinking the villain on the cover isn't actually in the book, but it seems like the artist tried to draw an abominable snowman-type creature, and it ain't in the module. There IS a monster that has a cold attack, but it does not have a frost breath weapon, it has a "supernatural aura of cold." Sadly, the artwork's actually good, so perhaps I shouldn't be so picky in the art department. Every few pages in the module have a stylized picture of a mind flayer's head as a watermark, which is a nifty idea -- until you try to read the black text on the dark gray watermark. This is very irritating. Only slightly more frustrating is the artwork, which is beautifully rendered and (GASP!) actually refers to events that happen IN the module! The frustrating part is that they are out of order, with pictures having nothing to do with the events at hand, placed in the most inappropriate of places. As for the module itself, it's a tidy little tale of suspense and horror as the PCs attempt to unearth the nefarious plot of the mind flayers. The larger plot apparently has to do with blotting out the sun, but the module revolves around Shuluth, the main villain, and his brain retrieval scams. Of course, just about every scenario ends in combat, so while the module makes some feigned attempts at peaceful role-playing (watch Talien calm down the angry warrior who is about to beat the fanatic in the corner to a pulp!), it's fairly linear and fairly obvious. The module does shine in one regard: the main hook is a woman weeping for her lost brother. When we finally do find him, there's a delicious piece of prose as he turns and slurs out, "eeehlllp mmmheee!" in "The Fly" like fashion! Since I don't have the Illithiad, the way mind flayers were cast surprised me. Forget mind flayers skulking in the dark, delving into ancient secrets Man Was Not Meant To Know (tm) or wallowing in disgusting slime pits. THESE mind flayers don't shy away from the sun, they wear Glaregoggles, they don't dry out in the heat, they wear Dampsuits! Heck, they're not even wimpy mages, these mind flayers are organized into dangerously effective strike teams. Who needs frightening journies into the Id when they have psionic circuitry? There's a lot of science fiction in this module, which is an alternative substitute for the unknown and the unknowable. Mind flayers have technology, and that makes them scary and dangerous. Since this intrigued me enough to want to buy the Illithiad, the ploy worked -- players will be surprised by the highly aggressive and organized tactics of monsters traditionally known for being loners and gurgling out threats while DMs will enjoy the new toys the mind flayers have to play with. It's enough to make you wonder what else mind flayers might have up their sleeves. Equally if not more deadly is a raid on a thief guild. This section of the module displays Campbell's tactics at its best, proving again that those who skulk about in the dark are frighteningly effective when organized into groups. The module is a challenge for 9th level players and I wouldn't recommend anyone lower than that. While I'm thinking of it, what the heck happened to putting the level range and number of players on the front of modules? One final note: The much touted "flow chart" system shows up again as maps that are meant to represent conceptual terrain rather than real terrain -- since sewers are twisty, the map represents potential paths of action instead of an actual map with dimensions. So? This is neither a new idea nor a particularly good one (on MUDs, we call this a random monster generator). However, this is the second time I've seen it mentioned, the other time being the Dungeon Builder's Guidebook, and it's really turning out to be underwhelming. If you have the Illithiad, you like mind flayers, and your players like strategic battles and less role-playing, A Darkness Gathering will not disappoint. If you've got two out of three, it may still be worth it. But if you have more thoughtful players, abhor the idea of mind flayers wearing goggles, or your group is not particularly good at strategy and tactics...everyone will likely end up dead -- from boredom, violence or both. Style: 3 (Average) Substance: 3 (Average)