Review - UK2 The Sentinel

Released in 1983, The Sentinel was part one of the two-part 'Adlerweg' series designed for relatively low level characters - part one being for levels 2-5 and part two (The Gauntlet) aimed at levels 3-6.  More about those level suggestions later...

This was the second module to be produced in the UK line of British-made adventures, hence the code UK2, after the highly unusual UK1 - Beyond the Crystal Cave, though this was the first to come solely from the pen of Graeme Morris, who co-authored UK1.  The series would go on to become known for the quirkiness of its products and presentation, along with the authors' insistence on plundering the Fiend Folio and Monster Manual 2 for many of their adversaries.

The adventure begins in the village of Kusnir where there have been disturbing happenings during the night, and the villagers believe they are being targeted by a Skulk - but there is more to it. The creature's behaviour is erratic, sometimes it kills, other times it does not hurt anyone, instead leaving strange messages scrawled in blood.  It's up to the party to hunt this creature down and, more importantly, find out why it is behaving in this manner.  So, already we have a rare creature from the Fiend Folio taking centre stage in a UK module - no surprise there.

Initially the party will almost certainly follow clues regarding bodies of little blue men (Xvarts - Fiend Folio again!) to what turns out to be their former lair, before then heading off to an old Villa on the shore of a lake.  When reading through this initially feels like a bit of an unnecessary diversion, but in play it works fine - and the abandoned lair makes for an interesting little locale, with tight and twisting passages making life awkward for the party - in fact it makes life more than awkward, seemingly simple fights can quickly turn into carnage.  One encounter in particular can be very nasty, depending on how the DM plays it out.

A seemingly innocuous encounter, made all the more difficult by the 
claustrophobic surroundings, and a little bit of trickery.


The are 2 planned encounters while the party is on the road between locations. The first, a meeting with a merchant and his entourage is totally unnecessary, the other is more interesting - a Monk needs the party to recover some books from a Hermitage, with a pair of Gargoyles proving to be a tough obstacle.  Yes, 2 Gargoyles, creatures that require magic weapons to be hit, in a low level module? Surely a single Gargoyle would have been sufficient!

You need magic weapons to hurt these too!


The Lakeside Villa is somewhat more open than the abandoned lair, and the party must battle through this (mostly FF creatures yet again!) to eventually find the lair of a Skulk - and something a whole lot more interesting...

The Sentinel is difficult.  We played it with a party of 8 characters, most of whom were level 3, and they got cut to pieces on several occasions.  If it's not the geography getting in their way, it's the fact that a there are a lot of creatures in the module that require magic (or silver) weapons to hit - so either the party should be very well equipped - or alternatively they should tend towards the upper end of the recommended level range.  There's a lot for a slash-happy party to fight, some tricky encounters that will test their thought processes, and a couple of opportunities for roleplaying - it's quite well balanced in that sense.  It's also very well paced, though the placing of the clues makes it somewhat linear in play.  Being the 1st part in a series, it naturally feels a little incomplete - an encounter is provided on the off chance that the second module is not being used - but I highly recommend this is ignored, and that you play both modules in the series!

Internally the black and white artwork is fine, and the maps are clear and easy to follow.  The standard of writing is very high, boxed descriptions are generally kept short and to the point, creature stats are comprehensive - in addition to the stats in the text there's a complete roster handily reproduced inside the cover, and key points are clearly highlighted, making it a very easy module for the DM to digest and run at the table.  It does suffer from a common problem of the UK series though - the cover art doesn't do it any favours - ultimately a minor gripe.



The UK series seemed to be mostly ignored in AD&D's US homeland which is a real shame.  UK2 also suffered a little as it was very much the lead up to the 2nd module in the series - with that 2nd part being the more memorable of the pair.  However this is a solid adventure module in its own right - it contains some original challenges, some very different adversaries dredged up from the depths of the Fiend Folio, and some interesting adventuring locations.


Presentation: 7/10 – tidy internal workings, but somewhat crudely wrapped
Brawn:  8/10 – plenty of challenge for even a well-equipped party towards the upper end of the recommended level range
Brains:  7/10 - short on puzzles, but the nature of the locations and the monsters' unusual characteristics should provide plenty for the group to think about
Overall: 7/10 - a solid offering from a line of modules that deserved a lot more love

2 comments:

  1. Is this a Caterwaul
    https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FT2gMcT612k/WRtZSCTH-gI/AAAAAAAAAI4/v_8-KqsI_gUrFcSW8yFWJ-_fh9Ws3G-YwCLcB/s1600/Caterwaul.png
    Do any Caterwauls appear in that series?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yes, there's a Caterwaul in UK2. An interesting little encounter!

    ReplyDelete

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