So where the Hell did the UK6 Devils come from?

 

Bearded Devil from MM2
(image courtesy of Wikipedia)

One of the strongest memories and images I have of this module is that of the almost half-page illustration on page 6 of the bearded devil that is the "mini-boss" antagonist of the western Wind Walker's Passages zone of the second section.

The image to the right is the standard one from the original 1E MM2 creature entry, but the Tim Sell piece in the module has the unnamed devil glaive-less with claws outstretched, left leg partly raised as if attempting "crane style" and seemingly wearing an odd style of fiendish kilt... which apparently is the artist showing the devil transforming from its disguise as a seemingly mundane treasure chest...

It's an evocative piece of artwork for sure.

By hiding within an illusion when encountered, it implies it's heard the characters coming ahead of time, even if this is just a variation of the "monster in a room" default encounter. 

Sneaky. I like it. Although it still ends up being "you open the door and there is a monster in the room", which is fine for a 4AD (4 Against Darkness) dungeon crawl but seems a bit lazy here.

But the more I mull over it, the more it also makes very little sense in terms of the original module, and on review, it's an odd choice in light of more modern design sensibilities. There's the metagame backstory reason for show-casing Fiend Folio (hellcat, mephits, shadow demon) and MM2 monsters (bearded devil, nupperibo) but that doesn't really justify the odd collection either. In any case, it's a spined devil (original 1e MM) that gets summoned in, which somewhat undermines that theory.

It really makes no sense for the devils to be in the Wind Walker Passages in the first place, something Seth Skorkowsky also points out in his You Tube review. 

Does this really matter? 

Well, I think both yes very much, but also in a way no... 

I mean old school dungeons weren't created with the same attention to ecology and reality as later iterations admittedly. Something really bugs me about it though even considering that perspective - it's still quite an odd choice and feels a bit forced. The whole "devil section" I feel is the weakest and a bit of a missed opportunity for tapping into a potential Underdark theme... 

From an "Ecology" perspective, the devils (including the hellcat, mephits, and the "minion" level lemures and nupperibos milling around at the western terminus) don't really have a strong reason to be lairing in this area, even if their presence is explained by the hastily established gate in W23 (The Southern Summoning Room).  

Their overall stated purpose is to guard their shadow demon prisoner in the eastern zone.

However, from my understanding of the way Kahoatep's tunnels are constructed and defended, there's actually no way for the hellcat, mephits, and shadow demon to interact with the bearded devil - it is even commented that the hellcat is beyond the range of its telepathy. I'd note that the presence of the pentagonal wards makes it difficult to explain how the fiends moved in anything other than a westerly direction unless following Tikul's return journey, the incense he used lasted for a while after the fiends first appeared before the easterly winds ceased altogether. In this case, the western group is actually trapped and separated from the others and the prisoner.

PFRPG note: originally (lesser) devils in earlier editions did not have the greater teleport spell-like ability common to PFRPG devils. Neither do 5E lesser devils actually. So their presence in the tunnels is even more difficult to explain using OSRIC or similar rulesets, but as a corollary, the trapping of the shadow demon makes sense as in it's original 1E incarnation it lacks incorporeality and some of the more advanced abilities that would otherwise allow it to escape its devil and mephit captors easily. Even if it just teleported in, the presence of the bearded devil "jailer" needs fleshing out somewhat, like why choose the tunnels for a "prison" other than the odd glass rods? And how do the devils know about the properties of the rods anyway? Still so many questions!

There's really no indication of what might have summoned or sent the bearded devil and its captive here in the first place, and oddly the module specifically states it doesn't ever try and summon another bearded devil if pressed, but flees back to the Lower Planes if reduced to 10hp or less... strange, given the other lesser devils are allowed to use their summon ability without any restriction.

Overall, summoning and controlling devils (and other outsiders) in 1E is really quite difficult as it requires the Unearthed Arcana 4th-level cleric spell (implore) or a 5th-level magic-user spell (beckon) to first summon and then additional spells to potentially bind and control the creature to a task. The bearded devil however appears to be acting of its own accord, or at least in alignment with usual devil motivations and according to the natural rivalry with the chaotic demon.

Oh and the lack of its signature glaive is also completely unexplained - sure I like polearma as much as the next guy , but not to the level of Gygaxian signature obsession LOL. Still it makes little sense to me. 

The whole encounter bugs me and breaks the verisimilitude for me somewhat.

So why exactly is the bearded devil there in the first place?

A Blood War Deserter?

Planescape is probably my favourite campaign setting of all time, although in the end I barely got to play it or use the material. It really delved into an aspect of the game that had been unexplored and made it a potential setting for all character levels.

It also gave us details of the Blood War and the conflict between the assorted devils, daemons, and demons. However, while this explains the enmity, does it give us enough ideas to explain the collection of lower planar creatures in the tunnels?

Sure the bearded devil could be a deserter or mercenary, with a personal vendetta against the shadow demon if not just on a mission for its superiors, but being isolated at the other end of the complex really doesn't suggest it as particularly competent. 

And there's still the question of how the devil knew about the control rods and the location of the tunnels, which seems to be a bit of a stretch without some further backstory. For a revisit, the assumption can be made that the outsiders have been slain and dispersed by the murderhobos, but for a first play through it's going to be hard to get it all to make sense without a lot of work or a swap in replacement. 

A Lamentable Explanation?

There's actually a reasonably simple explanation for the presence of the bearded devil and its minions if one of the premises is the original expedition by Tikul was within a setting using the Lamentations of the Flame Princess (LotFP) ruleset. 

Although in many ways an interesting option, it's not my default approach, although a LotFP conversion of UK6 has its appeal. In any case, the readily accessible and infamous 1st level "summon" spell (page 134-147, "Grindhouse" Edition), if read from a scroll or cast by Tikul, say in desperation on his return journey before exiting into the Atem guarded bog, could readily be used to summon a bearded devil, hellcat, or similarly powered creature. 

Sure, the exact appearance, etc might not be quite the same but let's pass that over for now for the sake of argument. Given the inherent instability and danger of the spell, potentially leaving behind an intermittently active gate as an unintended consequence of his hastily constructed thaumaturgical circle drawn in blood seems reasonable. Yes, this is all a bit "metagame" but it's an interesting idea to consider compared to the alternatives.

Explaining the gate as a botched magical spell has its appeal, but it still circles back to the issue of who was casting spells in the first place for them to go so horribly wrong?

Conclusion

Look I think overall, the whole "devil situation" in UK6 is problematic and not because of the use of potentially inflammatory terms as the issue isn't going to be solved by renaming them baatezu and tanar'ri, because ultimately they just don't seem to fit and seemed tacked on like showcasing a crossover with another module or product.

Sure it's kind of cool, but it really makes no sense and is at odds with the otherwise carefully thought-out mechanics and history of the passage complex. Almost as if it was an afterthought to populate the otherwise empty halls, or was pressed on the author by management as "product placement" of “kewl monsters”.

So how to address it?

Well... I think taking a step back and putting the module into an Underdark (and accepted Greyhawk) context, I would replace the devils with a different faction entirely and populate the tunnels with more subterranean-themed appropriate monsters and obstacles. Some wandering encounters, particularly of vermin, oozes, and other nuisance creatures such as jermelaine could work well. Although not "monsters" as such, signs of disrepair, seismic or volcanic shift, and variable fungal overgrowth could add to the existing artificial grandeur of the tunnels whle adding an otherworldly alien aspect. 

But in terms of a replacement faction, capable of interacting with the subsequent band of explorers, I think one drawn from or descendants of the subterranean world beneath the mountains and linked to the presumed Suloise culture that commissioned the complex in the first place.

I'm talking about the derro. 

 But that's worth a whole other post in its own right...

In the Wake of the Murderhobos

So on reading through the introductory and history sections of the various "Return to the..." revisits of classic modules, there's the clear issue of how to deal with whether the module has previously been played through by the players and how to deal with such meta-game prior knowledge and potential mechanics and setting changes over the intervening years.

Even if the module is known only by its reputation as a classic, several of the revisit products imply that a similar adventuring party has completed the original module, changing not only the inhabitants / defeating the bosses but also affecting the physical environment for those that follow after. This not only gives a sense of history and nostalgia to the revisit but allows a refresh.

But how to reflect the consequences of a prior playthrough for UK6 I wondered?

The Tag System?

The best system I've seen for dealing with the effects of a previous party in the recent (or distant) past is the "Tag" system used in the LotFP module Thulian Echoes, where the historical group of pre-generated characters is played by the current players and generates changes their actual contemporary play through, with the first group's story physically represented in-game through a journal that acts as the MacGuffin for the latter group. As summarised in this review or this other review, it's in an intriguing nod to the possibility of player meta-game knowledge that in turn generates multiple variations of the base play-through. There's a similar but simpler device used in Monte Cook's excellent Dead Gods Planescape adventure in the "Ruins of Pelion" section (pages 88-100) where the current day characters can become for a time characters in the distant past in order to assist them in the future.

Coincidentally, UK6, while not beginning with a journal as the hook, uses a less detailed map as the trigger for adventure instead. Unfortunately, despite being included as background fiction, the accompanying "Tikul's Saga" detailing the preceding party's journey is not available to the players and is for the DM's eyes only. This seems a bit of a missed opportunity to me as I think a journal would have been a useful narrative device, although snippets of the story of Tikul's party are scattered throughout the descriptive text (the female thief's body, the burial mound containing the party's cleric slain by the skeleton warrior).

I suppose I could rework the base adventure with a similar "Tag" system, but despite its high concept components in some ways, UK6 is actually a quite linear, "railroad" adventure for the most part - this is not necessarily a bad thing, however (particularly when revisiting the areas "already visited" in the module as I'll explain in a later post). Apart from some random encounters in the jungle, the 1st section set in the Indicara leads almost inevitably through a sequence of encounters to the set-piece battle at the shrine with the Atem. The passages themselves have some variation, as does the final temple section, but there's a definite linearity. The potential sandbox section, the Ash Mire with the untrustworthy Hek, is presented as a sequence of events, likely due to space limitations to be fair, but similarly, there are only a handful of likely variations that could be generated, particularly with a "murderhobo" playstyle.

So I've decided to set a default premise to determine the effect of the "prior party" on the parts of the setting detailed in the module that I'll refer to as the "Murderhobo Playthrough", although I think building in some "Tag" options to provide variation may be interesting.

The Murderhobo Playthrough Premise (aka "the MHPP")

"So, What exactly is a murder hobo? The label comes from the fact that player characters are homeless & nameless strangers that travel from town to town, living out of their backpacks. And their default solution to any problem that they may encounter is to kill everything and collect the treasure. They just kill everything!" - Michael Long (Tribality, May 2017) 

I'm going to work from the default that the original party behaved like classic murderhobos throughout the original adventure as published and detail the consequences that follow on from that. 

In addition, I'm going to make the following specific mechanics assumptions:

• The pre-rolled 1E characters from page 32 were used for this "first playthrough"
• The party was predominantly neutral in alignment, with *no* evil characters
• Their background is non-Suloise, but any other Greyhawk ethnicity is fine except Olman
• The party have ventured into the Indicara region from Sasserine (or Cauldron)
• Six characters made up the party, each level 6 or 4/4 (if multi-classed)
• Sir Palimor the paladin was not in the original party (see below for rationale)
• Delana Redblade, the single-classed thief was not in the original party 
• There are only 2 clerics in the original party; the human cleric Cascus worships Fharlanghn 
• At least two of the characters died during the westward journey
• The adventure occurred before the events of The Shackled City Adventure Path 

There are a couple of flavour reasons for these assumptions, but the justification for the main premise is to simplify things so that for each relevant decision node or encounter I can ask "What would a murderhobo do?" and adjust the section accordingly to reflect the mayhem...

Note: it's clear from the outset that an OSR-style paladin just won't work for this style of a playthrough, which let's be honest really doesn't fit with the non-kit/variant traditional LG outlook. Technically in RAW, a paladin can't "associate with any character of non-Good alignment". Plus a warhorse makes very little sense in the jungle and even less in the Ash Mire. So no paladin. Fair?

Murderhobo Flowchart

The diagram to the left is a comical (but probably accurate) depiction of default murderhobo responses to basic challenges likely encountered in a standard module so if I need to I may refer to this from time to time if unsure of how to make a call. 

Honestly, it's likely to be pretty straightforward.

They explore, they kill, and they loot. 

Anything stronger than them they run away from if possible. Add on some aggressive "colonial" attitudes towards the native races where necessary eg. attacking the Atem shrine, robbing the Hek even if they don't try and kidnap or press-gang the clerics, murdering Kegen's mutant family, and the playthrough pretty much writes itself.

Note: although the "original party" is assumed to have behaved like murderhobos, I'm aiming to design a more nuanced adventure with some modern design sensibilities, yet an OSR feel to encourage a more "enlightened" playthrough. Of course, people will play however they want.

But Maybe a Journal or perhaps Time Travel?

So I really like these concepts from Thulian Echoes and Dead Gods, but maybe even without the "Tag" system, I'll try and work in some playthrough of past events that have effects on the present-day party of adventurers. Some way of indicating the narrative of the original murderhobo exploration and Tikul's expedition to the contemporary adventurers through a journal may be an option as a hook or as a resource. Perhaps it's the journal itself that triggers the past sequences?

Tikul's Ghost - the Missing Saga Narrator?

 

Tikul's Lost Spirit in Panther form?

In an earlier post, I speculated about Tikul's fate and the final location of his skeleton less than a day's journey from Kett's Rapids - a site readily discoverable by a subsequent party if they have knowledge of his ill-fated expedition and consider discussing his passage with the Mallata villagers.

However the characters have no way initially of knowing to search the local area for his remains - the whole backstory, in fact, remains secret, known only to the DM, unfortunately...

This seems like a major missed opportunity.

But I've had an idea of how to address that issue.

Tikul's... Ghost?

Rather than a "standard" ghost, at least in OSRIC/1E terms, Tikul's "ghost" may be best represented by a haunt, a creature originally introduced in A2 Secret of the Slaver's Stockade, and then formally introduced in 1984's 1E Monster Manual II, pages 74-75:

"A haunt is the restless spirit of a person who died leaving a vital task unfinished. A haunt inhabits an area within 6" of the site where it died. The haunt's sole purpose is to possess a living body and use it to complete the task, thus gaining a final release."

So I think this has potential to offset the "hidden backstory".

Tikul's vital task - the issue keeping his spirit from resting - is to complete his original vow "to visit the land of the Kepta and see for himself its wonders". These wonders (in the form of treasure) he believes are kept within Kegen's stronghold that was denied to him at the rout of the Hek'Ilj by the skeleton warrior. Therefore to accomplish his task, his haunt will first attack (using its Dexterity-draining touch) and then ultimately possess a character, speaking with the voice of its victim to pass on the tale of his adventure and entice others to help in his quest... in essence relating with uncertain reliability the events of "Tikul's Saga".

Ever charismatic, even in death, Tikul's haunt, speaking through the possessed victim, will then try and convince them to accompany him to the Temple of Aumata-Perion to finish the looting of the temple of its marvelous "wealth", even using the possessed character as a living hostage. This by itself doesn't solve the problem of the players finding the site of Tikul's skeleton initially, this being a key issue not dealt with in the module as written.

Note: as no player likes to lose control of their character to the DM, this creates a potential conflict. One option is to use Tikul's spirit as a more latent entity, only rising to the surface of the possessed character's consciousness when specifically addressed or activated by specific locations or events - a DM may consider this a test of Will, similar to that for an intelligent magic item. This turns the situation into one with a limited, more portioned-out, information distribution strategy that better maintains player agency. The haunt is not only linked to the original expedition but can also act as a recurring character and driver of the narrative.

But given it's been a year and a half since the original expedition, maybe Tikul's haunt has already possessed a victim or two *before* the adventurers arrive...

Former Victims of Tikul's Haunt

Through journeying in the bodies of previous victims that have stumbled across his skeleton Tikul has learned a lot about the current state of the Indicara and may act as a self-serving guide. Over the past year and a half he has possessed the following four creatures:

1. The friend of the Mallata villager that discovered Tikul's corpse shortly after his death - attacked by the haunt, the villager escaped with the map fragments, leaving his companion to his fate. Ever impatient, Tikul's spirit forces the possessed first villager back into the village only to be slain by the suspicious inhabitants, fearing him as a jungle demon.
2. A giant rhinoceros beetle wandered into the clearing with the skeleton. In this host, Tikul managed to reach the Atem Barrier Shrine, but was unable to proceed further and was killed by Vanck's giant cousins trying to travel around the northern route around Mt Gegesti. 
3. A lame piebald black leopard briefly possessed by Tikul's spirit slinked past the Atem village and made it all the way to the giant Vanck's lair but was unable to get past his pets.
4. An exiled Atem tribesman captured by his former colleagues at the orders of the witch-doctor Abu, when he returned to the village clearly possessed and acting out of character.

Tikul as Possessed Atem Skull?

Note: given the suggestion of the Atem as collectors of skulls, one option is to have the witch-doctor use a ritual to bind Tikul's spirit to the exiled Atem's skull as a trophy, similar to a mimir or unique necromantic familiar? 

This then allows Tikul to be used as a character and (unreliable) guide through the adventure without the party needing to find his lost skeleton. Normally a haunt is bound to the site of their death but perhaps the Atem witch doctor can shift and control this connection through their magic and use the decapitated skulls of opponents to bind spirits in a variant "speak with the dead" style ritual. 

Tikul's skeleton lies more than a day's journey beyond Atem territory near the village, but this is potentially within the range of an Atem head-hunting warband.

The Unreliable Narrator

Note: in many ways, I think the "intermittent" possession of a character by Tikul's haunt could act similar to a mimir from the Planescape setting - a sometimes useful source of information and variant of the information dump not only linked to the original expedition but also as a recurring character and driver of the narrative if needed.

Where in the Oerth is UK6 All that Glitters...?

 OK so UK6 has been retconned into Greyhawk (2000), but where exactly on Oerth does the module fit?

It's commonly accepted that the Indicara correlates with the Amedio Jungle south of the Holds of the Sea Princes and the Ash Mire is a section of the fabled Sea of Dust, with the Hadarna Mountains and Mount Gegesti being considered a specific section of the greater Hellfurnaces range.

The Northern Amedio Jungle Region (excerpt from The Savage Tide web supplement DUNGEON #141)

So looking at the handy map from the DUNGEON #141 web supplement for The Savage Tide Adventure Path, there's a potential section extending northwest from the source of the Bodal River, a few days journey south of the Cauldron-Sasserine region. The Utdoo River then correlates with an upper tributary of the Bodal and Kett's Rapids a relatively isolated trading outpost. The eastern volcano just to the south represents Mt Gegesti, while the western one remains unnamed.

The scale presents a small issue however. 

As written in the module, the passage is ~100 miles long from Terabar in the east to Windgate in the west, yet at this point the Hellfurnaces appears to be about 2-3 times that width, calling for some inflation. As the subterranean passages are affected by a powerful distance distortion effect from the huge earth elementals bound by the greater circles in any case, I don't think this represents a major issue. 

It may, in fact, make an interesting feature of this section as the effect of the insane earth elemental may be warping not only the subterranean area, but also the overlying mountain areas...

So the below insert highlighted in orange is the relevant area in the northwest of the Amedio:

UK6 on Oerth Location (DUNGEON #141 web supplement excerpt)

This location allows me to draw on additional elements from the pre-Pathfinder RPG Shackled City and Savage Tide Adventure Paths (for character backgrounds and NPCs), as well as introduce additional concepts from the Olman culture and explain the presence of the minions of the Scarlet Brotherhood as potential antagonists...

Resources

• Canonfire! "Greyhawk Module Locations"
• The Scarlet Brotherhood, Sean K Reynolds
• The Savage Tide Adventure Path, various authors (DRAGON magazine)
• The Olman Invasion of the Suloise Imperium (article by wolfsire)
• The Green Nightmare: the Amedio Jungle, Roger E Moore (OJ #4)

Tikul's Expedition - Fated to Fail?

UK6 opens with a short piece of fiction, "Tikul's Saga", detailing roughly the progress of a previous unsuccessful expedition through the Wind Walker's Passages led by a spellcaster named Tikul responsible for the dagger originally left at area I2 that triggers the magic mouth with the clue inscribed on the tree at area I3. Although the players of the original playthrough likely never discover the full narrative, the story acts as a backdrop to the module for the DM and links to the map that acts as the MacGuffin for their own expedition set about a year and a half later...

Tikul's Saga, Part 1 (excerpt from UK6)

From the Saga and notes scattered throughout the module, in 1E / BX terms the expedition consisted of:

• Tikul, a magic-user/mage of at least 3rd level (perishes upriver of Kett's Rapids)
• A female human thief (body at area W6 in the Wind Walker's Passages)
• A cleric (buried in a grave at area T4 of the village)
• A longsword-wielding human fighter 
• A longsword-wielding elf (or half-elf if OSRIC) fighter-based multi-classed character (possessions stored with the human fighter's at area I6 The Barrier Shrine)

Tikul's faithless apprentice is mentioned as "long since fled with his master's wealth and spellbooks" and did not accompany the expedition - perhaps this apprentice becomes an important NPC for the current day or was even one of the later "murderhobo" party members such as the pre-generated mage character Illic the Grey. It's unclear whether there were any hirelings, pack animals, or a native Mellata guide from the details given (perhaps one of the sword carriers was a jungle ranger instead?), but if there were part of the group they seem to have perished without leaving a trace.

Regardless of the details, only Tikul makes the return journey eastwards after the ill-fated attack on the Temple by the Hek'Ilj. His sole surviving companion from the westwards journey, the cleric, is slain by the skeleton warrior and he flees, only to die of thirst less than one day's journey from civilization clutching his map in his hand - presumably, this is the small outpost of Kett's Falls...

Not exactly a successful expedition.

And this is despite the lack of opponents, suggesting perhaps the expedition was poorly suited and underpowered to attempt such a journey, either due to Tikul's hubris, or lack of wisdom, or both.

Tikul's Saga, Part 2 (excerpt from UK6)

Let's have a look through the clues scattered throughout:

1. The main fight in the Indicara is with the Atem at their shrine
• The two "longsword-carrier" party members lost in the battle 
2. The expedition desperately flees through the bog - there is no mention of the hydra so presumably, it moves in after the expedition passes through?
3. They peacefully bypass Vanck, the delusional fire giant without any issue
4. There is *no* mention of any devils in the passages at this time, so the bearded devil must arrive somehow later if Tikul didn't summon it - an interesting possibility...
5. The greedy thief separates from Tikul and the cleric, dying at the hands of the invisible stalker as she tries to dig silver out of the lesser circle with her dagger.
6. He leads a disastrous attack on the temple and its skeleton warrior with the Hek'Ilj and during this battle, his remaining companion, the cleric, is killed and he flees
7. Tikul returns eastwards uneventfully, avoiding the Atem only to perish from the water but there is no mention of Vanck or how he avoids the Atem Shrine area
• It's unclear whether he casts the magic mouth only on his return eastwards

This isn't very encouraging.

One wonders if he indeed had a *low* Wisdom score based on the implied choices!

Running off in search of fabled treasure isn't actually that uncharacteristic of adventurers to be fair, but let's have a look at three main decision points where Tikul seems to have failed to pass the simple test of prudence and elected to "live to fight another day":

Firstly, despite losing almost half of his entire party (and from their equipment, likely the only 2 dedicated warriors) to Abu and the tribe of Atem at their village shrine, Tikul nevertheless presses on into the tunnels after fleeing through an unexplored bog in a box canyon with no other obvious exit.

Secondly, during the passage westward, he loses his third party member, the greedy thief, when she activates the guardian invisible stalker by trying to dig up the silver from the summoning circle. Now at less than half strength, he stubbornly continues on and enters the bizarre and deathly Ash Mire accompanied only by his sole remaining companion, a plate mail clad cleric.

Finally, out of sheer avarice for the presumed Kepta treasure or arrogance about his magical skills, he convinces the tribe of 1 HD Hek through persuasion alone (perhaps he had high Charisma and Wisdom was his dump stat instead?) to attack the fortified temple without any intelligence on what threats it contains, encountering Kegen's trump card, the 9 HD skeleton warrior (OSRIC, page 297). The Hek are slain or scattered from its fear effect, the cleric is slain mistakenly attempting to turn the unturnable creature, and Tikul's spells can't penetrate its MR 90% defense, forcing him to flee back into the Ash Mire...

Seemingly bypassing Vanck on his flight home (no mention of how is given), his only luck seems to be avoiding the Atem on the way back (perhaps using an invisibility or (Leomund's) tiny hut spell) and any random encounters in the Indicara. 

He then leaves his dagger at area I2 inexplicably and ultimately dies from drinking contaminated water...

So I'm thinking this was never meant to be a success - maybe from a meta-game perspective as decided by the author for sure, as having elements of a prior expedition certainly adds more to the module, but also just from the fact that it's actually quite a dangerous journey and difficult to prepare for. 

There's been a fair bit of material published or put forth on the Amedio but only a few successful expeditions (Rhialle's 4 ventures and the famous Matreyus expedition).

So it's not unexpected.

Tikul's expedition was fated to fail.

Optional: Conversion Notes 

I'd intentionally originally decided to go with a "mechanics-lite" OSR style approach for the UK6 revisit project, but every now and again there are some thematic elements from other modern rulesets that are worth commenting on or considering...

In PFRPG, Tikul probably would have been better as an Archaeologist archetype bard, although the rogue skills and talents instead of bardic performance certainly didn't help him survive! Elements from the Pathfinder Society Field Agent prestige class may well be applicable - although technically the wrong setting, a Greyhawk correlate of the society is feasible. If switching settings entirely even a Faerunian version such as the Harpers might work, but Tikul seems a lot more self-interested than most. Interestingly magic mouth is a 1st level bard spell (as opposed to 2nd level sorcerer/wizard spell) so it's possible in Pathfinder terms that both he and the unfortunate remaining party members could have been even lower level.

For LotFP, I'd perhaps see Tikul more as a scroll or wand using specialist using the Arcana Skill for Specialists variant rule (substituting for Architecture) proposed by James Young. The magic mouth spell then becomes a scroll the explorer kept for marking important landmarks. The "thief" then becomes a more traditional "burglar" style Specialist and the other 3 party members are likely a Cleric, a Fighter, and perhaps an OD&D-style warrior-mage Elf. 

If converted to a LotFP adventure, UK6 would be particularly lethal given some of its encounters' relative power level, but potentially lethal encounters and avoidance of combat are well placed in that game system. Perhaps the bearded devil or shadow demon encountered by the later murderhobo party is the result of Tikul's desperate attempt to use the infamous LotFP summon spell to enlist aid on his return through the Wind Walker's passages?

Addit Sept 2020: I'm more familiar with 5E now, and I'd still envision Tikul as some sort of "archaeologist-mage" or variant bard as per the Pathfinder note above. I think the Archaeologist character background from Tomb of Annihilation, page 192, or detailed here would fit well, combined with the College of Eloquence UA (Unearthed Arcana) playtest variant subclass to explain his remarkable persuasive abilities. 

Alternatively, Tikul could be a UA sidekick class Expert with the Ritual Caster feat (Bard or Wizard, Intelligence spellcasting ability) gained from being a variant human or instead of the 4th level ASI - this feat and his spellbook would allow him to cover off on most of the spells used in the original module.

UK6 All that Glitters... a Tenfootpole-style Review?

UK6 All that Glitters...

I greatly enjoy Endzeitgeist's reviews, but find the review philosophy from tenfootpole.org (Bryce Lynch) gels with me, so this review will be based more on the latter with a nod of appreciation to both luminaries... 

This 1E module, now available in PDF is 38 pages: 1 page card front cover, 4 colour pages of maps on card, 1 page contents, 2 pages intro with fiction, 1 page pre-generated characters, 1 page of paper maps, 1 page card back cover, leaving us with 27 pages of of module text.

(Addit 2022, there is now a 5E conversion by the team at "Classic Modules Today" and another one with excellent battle maps at DM's Guild))

Originally setting-agnostic, this 1984 module by TSR UK staffer Jim Bambra is now generally agreed upon to be set in Greyhawk in an area of the Hellfurnaces between the Amedio Jungle and the Sea of Dust as adopted by the Living Greyhawk team years ago circa 2000. This puts it to the south of the Hold of the Sea Princes and Jeklea Bay, just to the south of the Cauldron-Sasserine region used for the pre-PFRPG 3.5E Adventure Paths The Shackled City and The Savage Tide featured in the then softcover print run of DUNGEON magazine.

As if this wasn't potential enough, it begins, like many an adventure with a torn treasure map!

Note this is an adventure review and as such, it contains SPOILERS. Potential players should jump to the conclusion.

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But... it's actually for Level 5-7 characters!

Unfortunately, it also begins with a glaring error as although the front cover says "Levels 3-5", the contents page states "5-7", as does the back cover spiel, and these are the indicated levels of the pre-generated characters on page 34. For a number of reasons (see below), a party with the lower range of levels would stand little chance against some of the encounters. This would be a pity if you bought it thinking it was for lower levels like the "Level 3-5" pitched Alderweg series (UK2 & UK3), or the excellent UK4 When A Star Falls and intending to follow on with the same characters. 

I think this is worth pointing out in this review, as it's not mentioned in the older 2003 RPG.net review. It's of particular relevance if you're using the LotFP (Lamentations of the Flame Princess) ruleset or a similar "retro-clone" system where combat is generally more lethal - most people suggest increasing characters by at least one level and/or having a higher proportion of fighters or equivalent.

Note: this could put it neatly as a side-trek between the 3rd and 4th installments (DUNGEON #98 and #102 respectively) of the Shackled City 3E Adventure Path set on Oerth with a few modifications, although exactly why the party would divert their attention on a long overland journey in search of fabled treasure needs to be determined. Again, murderhobos are like that right?

Now on to the structured review...

Review per Bryce Lynch's Philosophy of a "Good Adventure"

I find myself agreeing with a lot of Bryce's philosophy and prefer a narrative review rather than a numeric grading and section-by-section reveal of the plot and secrets, so I'll structure this review accordingly, but I've decided to group the principles into sections and present them as questions where YES is the positive answer: General, Maps and Graphics, Creatures, and Objects. I've also added an "Artwork?" paragraph based on a criterion of his sometime offsider, "the Pretty Girl".

General

Evocative atmosphere? YES. It's why I like this adventure so much - the core concept of the Passages is unique and the unexpected shifting from the jungle to the subterranean to the desert is unexpected yet seems to make sense within the story as a whole. Although the jungle section is a sometime typical colonialist "Green Hell" filled with primitive savage tropes, the Ash Mire inhabitants are highly distinctive and the Temple degenerates creepily memorable. I think the maps, particularly the style of the trifold overland maps, contributes greatly for me to the appeal.

Terse writing style? NO. Maybe it's the age of the product reflecting the style of the times but compared to more modern OSR standards. The "Tikul's Saga" fiction is an example of a backstory that while not overly long, remains mostly hidden from the players without a real way of piecing it together unless you're the DM. I think the backstory adds to the impact of this module, but really wish it was more manifest, otherwise it's just word count wasted.

Lack of Boxed text? NO, there's rather a lot actually. Particularly if you include the "Tikul's Saga" fiction that oddly occupies the top half of pages 2-3 instead of a single page to itself because of the artwork. This is specifically called out in a "Boxed Sections" paragraph, itself in a boxed textbox. I suspect this is a product of the times however given that it's the trade format of the whole UK series. 

Element of surprise? YES. There's the ultimate treasure twist that fulfils the title quote, the Passages themselves, the Ash Mire and some other minor elements. Sure it's not as extreme as Expedition to the Barrier Peaks, but it contains more surprises than most standard modules. 

Player ability/options preserved? YES. The adventure *is* a railroad, particularly the final encounter with the allied Hek tribes, but apart from presenting the Passages as the only way out of the Ash Mire, there is no DM's fiat preventing the use of any specific player's core ability and within the limitations of the 1E ruleset. Some more development would increase player options admittedly.

So 3 YES, 2 NOs. Likely a reflection of the sensibilities of the time.

Maps and Graphics

Overland portion? YES. The first jungle section and third desert section of the module are wilderness areas, complete with hex map. Unfortunately the first section is very much a sequential physical railroad along the obvious river route without incentive to explore the deeper jungle, and the latter section is similarly linear in story although more "event driven" in a way.

Dungeons with Loops? NO, not really. Sadly, there's at most 2 alternate paths for the dungeon sections of the Passages, but the central Temple section (T6-T16) does contain some looping before reverting to a very linear progression. Given this zone contains the skeleton warrior, the main antagonist Kegen, some ghouls, and the degenerate members of Kegen's family this could have been the setting for potentially quite the chaotic running encounter, but no guidance is given and the lack of random encounter tables makes even this zone overly static as written unfortunately.

Multiple levels? NO. Sure there's a bit of an underpass to the Passages but it hardly counts.

Empty rooms? YES, some. Speaking only of the two "dungeon" sections, there's several unoccupied rooms that can be part of moving encounters and give a sense of exploration.

Artwork? YES, plenty and it's varied. I don't find the cover art of what I presume is the shadow demon that great but there's about half a dozen almost half-page pieces of black & white by Tim Sell and a few smaller pictures of the Atem, Hek and one of the Hek leaders holding the decanter. The maps by Paul Ruiz (Geoff Wingate, who also did the maps for the Blood Sword books and later Dragon Warriors supplements) cover the inside covers and an extra "gatefold" 3rd page and are highly distinctive, definitely a highlight.

Again 3 YES, 2 NOs. Mainly reflects the linear structure.

Creatures

Wandering monsters? YES and NO. There are tables only for the overland sections noted above. Apart from the Atem band in the jungle section these are all just local animals unfortunately, without any action or further description. The lack of wandering monsters, not even vermin, in the Passages or Kegen's family going about their daily duties in the Temple, makes little sense and is a major missed opportunity.

Theme appropriate creatures? YES, except for the devils in the Passages section which seem a bit arbitrary although unified in theme. The Indicara, Ash Mire and Temple inhabitants are all consistent but the devils and hellcat don't really make sense to me. Likewise the shadow demon. There's no real explanation of how they arrived and it's implied they only arrived recently, *after* Tikul's expedition less than two years before. As commented in Shannon Applecline's DriveThru RPG Product History, apart from the basic animals and undead, most of the creatures are seemingly deliberately drawn from TSR UK's Fiend Folio almost as a fledgling attempt at a cross-promotion. This makes it more difficult to run with a basic game setup or OSR approach unfortunately. But I do think the Hek on giant striders are cool.

Monsters doing something? NO, not really. If it ends up coming through the gate the spined devil is herding lemures I suppose if I'm being generous, but otherwise there's no sense of action, timetable or dynamic to the "dungeon" sections.

Light on the humanoids? YES. The Atem and Hek could easily have been jungle orcs or desert goblins but the author choosing to make them variant humans fits well and avoids the "kill the orc, steal it's loot" cycle. Aratek Fezatl could have just been another forgettable humanoid chieftan, but making him and his tribe human creates more moral tension and opportunity I think.

Order of battle for humanoids? NO. Apart from the simple "extra opponents arrive per round" of the Barrier Shrine battle and the Hek kidnap attempt which don't really count, there's not really any guidance for how the various creatures react to encountering the party unfortunately.

Factions? NO. Unless you count the Hek vs Kegen's family conflict. The options are presented as black or white with the default option presented as clearly preferred. There's no inter-Hek tribe rivalry to play up on and the Atem are presented as a united tribe without further depth.

Foreshadowing of the main villain? NO. This is due in part to the surprise element maybe, but there's no indication of the conflict with Kegen until he's encountered in his home. 

2 YES, 4 NOs, and one "YES and NO", which should probably be a NO as the lack of wandering monsters accounts for half of the sections, and the dungeon ones at that! There's a lot of room for improvement here, even accounting for the module's age. Harsh? Maybe.

Objects

Weird and unique items? NO. Maybe it's just a sign of the times given this was published back in 1984, but apart from Tikul's dagger being noted as being jewelled (and worth 400gp, why the hell does he leave it behind as a clue?) and the Hek's water bottles being beautifully crafted out of (presumably giant strider?) bone and hide there's nothing distinctive mentioned. The only potential candidate, the somewhat convenient "longsword +1, +4 vs devils" isn't given any character, a name or any history. It's briefly hinted it was the possession of one of Tikul's party - maybe a ranger, but who knows? I'm in the camp of more interesting treasure so this is a bit disappointing.

Tricks and traps? YES, maybe. If you count the clue from the magic mouth tree to the Barrier Shrine and Kegen's antics with the voice throwing "Room of Command". Everything else is just secret doors and they're only in the Temple section. Sure, the actual wind walking hoops are cool with all the clues to work out how to activate them, but they're hardly a trap as such.

Pools/statues/etc that do strange things? YES, the steel hoops, coloured incense triggers and the Passages themselves are an excellent complex example of this. The lengthy section on explaining the workings of the system may not appeal to some, but to me it shows planning and forethought. There's a few other ones like the statue containing the decanter of endless water and Kegen's voice throwing peephole but not otherwise to the extent that I think Bryce is referring to.

Unguarded treasure? YES. There's a couple of areas in the Passages and the Temple that make sense within the sections context in terms of why they are unattended. Nothing excessive though.

3 YES, 1 NO. Main issue is the lack of memorable items. More traps perhaps?

Overall Comments

From the editorial side, apart from the cover's recommended character level mistake, there's no significant editing issues and the 3 column text layout is easy to read, with the 4 section structure and alternating wilderness / dungeon pattern making sense. The maps are great, with the inset style really binding everything together, although I'm unclear why the Indicara maps use blue rather than green or the default orange of the mountain sections as their primary colour.

From a usability perspective it's a Greyhawk module, and one set in the distant reaches of the Flanaess at that so not easily "dropped in" to an existing campaign unless set in a jungle frontier area. Maztica or less likely Chult in the Realms may work as an alternative. Sure, it was technically setting agnostic originally, but the combination of biomes likely makes it a bit tricky to place for most without invoking a long sea voyage or upriver trip so it's not likely to be part of a core campaign arc for most. For me this decreases it's usability, although adapting jungle to forest may increase it's flexibility perhaps at the lost of some of its atmosphere.

The pre-generated characters are useful enough, although presumably designed to be bland intentionally to fit with the generic style of the UK series. The absence of NPCs with personality for use as hirelings or any detail of the insignificant settlement of Kett's Rapids makes it difficult to set the locale it in context and adds to the prep work unfortunately.

Given the challenging environments there's a welcome addition of some basic survival rules for both the jungle and the desert sections. These are simple enough to not bog down play yet add some non-creature related sense of danger and non-combat pressure to the adventure.

There's two inevitable outcome encounters that force the railroad and cannot be overcome: the fight at the Atem Barrier Shrine cannot be won readily by the recommended level party (although can be potentially avoided) and the final encounter with the massed Hek tribes essentially forces to either give up the main "treasure" or their cleric without offering any other options.  The latter options strikes me as somewhat harsh as the required command word is only really obtainable via a non-obvious secret door without any clues to it's existence being foreshadowed.

Although easily hand-waved, the return journey back through the Ash Mire, the Passages and the Indicara (with potentially angry Atem seeking revenge) isn't covered at all - given there's really only one route to civilisation this seems an oversight. Again this may just be a reflection of the maturity of design at the time but the possibility of an Atem ambush at the Terabar terminus or in the bog leading to the maintenance access could have been explicit or at least implied.

Conclusion

I admit like this module for a lot of nostalgic reasons (or I wouldn't be working on a "Return to..." version of it frankly), and overall I think it's a good module, but not a *great* module. On the one hand it's evocative with great maps, surprise and high concept, but it's also an underdeveloped railroad without moral depth and suffers from showing its age in terms of lack of modern design concepts and some notably archaic features (the "boxed text", the lack of active creatures, no factions). Yet still there's something about it that draws me to praise it.

As I find it hard to judge it fairly in the context of more modern offerings I'm not going to give this a clear rating, but while not a classic or a "Top 10" it's overall, I believe it's worth a look as long as you take into account the limitations of the very specific peripheral setting, caveats about the age-related design issues and the suggestions noted above.

Looking over my comments, I've given it 11 YES and 10 NO responses, which sounds... somewhat average if it was a balanced numeric scale. Accounting for the older writing style (terse text, boxed text), most of the NO responses except for the two map layout questions are readily fixed with some additional light prep work (add wandering monsters in the two "dungeons", detail default monster actions and response to the party, flesh out potential factions, make some of the items more memorable).  So I'm standing by my impression of "good". 

2022 Update Note

I think this review holds up over time and have left in the link to DriveThruRPG and/or will update the link from the product page there back to this site when possible. Since looking back through the internet, I've stumbled across a couple of other reviews as listed here:

Other Reviews

• RPGNet Review (2003)
• ENWorld forum thread (2005)
• Dragonsfoot forum review (2005)
• Dragonsfoot forum thread on how to run UK6 (2009)
• Dragonsfoot forum playthrough (2015) *Spoilers*
• Dragonsfoot forum Module-a-Week-Club (Dec 2021)
• Swords & Stitchery review (2017)
• Seth Skorkowsky's video review (2017)
• Amazon.com review (2019)
• Goodreads reviews (2022)

Below is a scan of the very short original Imagine #27 review by Chris Hunter (1984), which interestingly also had a review of the original 1E Twilight: 2000 boxed set...