Although there is no artwork illustrating the adventures provided here, the production quality is impeccable, with a very legible layout and high quality maps. There isn’t much more to be said about that aspect of things except that Malcontent Games mentioned there was a cover in the works, to be made available for free on their website.

Now for the contents. What you get is three adventures essentially unconnected except that they happen in geographical proximity. There is, however, no need to play them in any specific order or even to play all three. Also included is a five page description of the city of Gothga and the stats and description of a new creature.

The first adventure, “Navigator”, is a short affair with a relatively classic fantasy hook (a variation on “help the maiden in distress”), but a rather unconventional twist towards the end. It integrates a number of very specific Rêve themes and offers the possibility of great danger for unlikely rewards for those players who wouldn’t have grasped the potential deadliness of the game yet. Rêve is not D&D, a point aptly illustrated here. “Navigator” works well as an intro scenario even for players and GMs unfamiliar with the game and it’s nice to see it included as such in this module. Even though the three ‘beginning’ scenarios from the original rulebook are available for free on Malcontent Games’ website, you can never have too many ‘easy’ adventures to start with.

The second adventure, “The Dressmaker of Gothga” is a lot less habitual and certainly my favourite from the set. It is one of those loose affairs that players and GMs used to railroading will hate but offer great role-playing possibilities. Essentially, the players are accidentally involved in a political machination which indirectly puts them in contact with a very sinister character who may or may not succeed in manipulating them to his own ends. There is no pre-defined ending although a number of possibilities are described in the module. The finale is likely to be run in the middle of a high society party, and promises a lot of fun and stressful interactions.

The third adventure, “The Dark of the Well” is basically a dungeon exploration with a heavy twist. A fresh water well vital to a run-down district of Gothga has run dry. The characters are hired to find out the reason why and fix it if they can. It has the appeal of combat and traps for those who like that, although I found it a little too much for my own taste (but then I can’t even read a classic dungeon like D&D’s ‘Sunless Citadel’ without dozing off). There’s a nice oneiric twist at the end that’s very specific to the Rêve cosmology, but the solution to the problem is one that I couldn’t see myself confronting my players with. I can’t say much more without spilling the beans. This one is probably the least favourite of the three for me, although it might be a nice transition for players coming from more heroic systems or settings.

On the whole, I find this collection worthwhile especially considering the low price. The scenarios are varied in style, well written, the stats and maps are impeccable, the layout is clear and makes the reading easy.

There is one thing that annoyed me slightly, and that is the excessive (in my opinion) presence of Thanatos magic. For those not yet familiar with the game, Thanatos is the dark magic, and not only is it shunned but the game system itself discourages its pursuit. It’s potentially a great plot element, but there are many more, and such a collection could have developed more varied specific aspects of the Rêve universe. Thanatos is heavily featured in two out of the three scenarios, which may give new GMs and players a sense that it’s more important in the game than it really is.

I also had a couple of minor nitpicks, like the fact the first module gives out way too much money and a powerful magic item fairly easily. But that may be due more to my own GMing style than to the default Rêve approach.

In conclusion, "Three from Gothga" is a good addition to your Rêve collection if you’re running the English edition, and a good entry point if you’re just getting started on the game. What more can one ask for less than five bucks ?