Rrakkma is an adventure for 9^th-level characters that features a band of gith attempting to stop a plot by the mind flayers. The players get to play the gith, and their characters must explore a stronghold on the plane of Pandemonium before entering the Far Realm for the final confrontation. Written by Christopher Lindsay of Wizards of the Coast and released to WPN stores for in-store play (it is also available as a bonus on DnDBeyond.com for those who buy MToF, and it will later appear on the DMs Guild), Rrakkma is a combat-heavy scenario that highlights the new monsters of Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes. It’s also a lot of fun!

The format used for the adventure is new. It uses no boxed text; instead, it uses a format that involves the following headings, subheadings and sidebars:

• Area Information
  • Dimensions & Terrain
  • Lighting (if different to the main area)
  • Traps & Puzzles
  • Other Features
• Creatures/NPCs
  • Objectives/Goals
  • What do they know?
• Treasures & Rewards
• Playing the Pillars (Sidebar)
  • Combat
  • Exploration
  • Social

Major encounters take one or two pages to describe; minor areas typically take half a page.

I was sceptical about the lack of boxed text, but I discovered that play flowed well without it. I believe there are times when you still want to use boxed text; it is very good at alerting the DM and players to important items. However, the lack of boxed text didn’t hurt play in this instance.

The “Playing the Pillars” sidebar does not, as I first assumed, contain tips on adjusting the play to work better for various groups. Instead, it highlights what occurs when the adventurers engage in various actions. If combat starts, the roof starts descending. If the players investigate, they notice something about the statues. Once the spirit is released, it begins to insult the adventurers. I found this sidebar very useful when running the adventure.

I’m very interested in designing based on this template; it requires information that is useful in play and arranges them in a manner that should be easy for a DM to use at the table.

As mentioned, Rrakkma is very combat-heavy. There is a strong second strand of exploration. Most of the play takes place in an old temple with numerous side passages and chambers. It is entirely possible for the adventurers to finish the adventure and bypass several rooms. The room descriptions are simple but evocative. The adventurers can find items of interest and move on. There are a few opportunities for role-playing, but rarely in a manner that affects the adventure.

The monsters are varied, and the combats are interesting and often deadly. The final encounter has an environmental effect that can wreck parties, especially if they roll badly. In my table’s play, the cleric used a 4^th-level slot to bless the entire party and aided them significantly. There’s a strong chance of a TPK in this encounter; one of our six tables suffered that fate!

The map for the temple is simple but lacks a marking for a door in one corridor that would have made things easier to run. Art is used to fill space; it’s drawn from other Wizards publications, and it is of the high quality you expect. It’s deployed well. Six pre-generated characters are provided and must be used in DDAL play; they use the standard D&D character sheets and look awful, with information scattered over the pages depending on where there’s room. The wizard player will need to decide which spells from their spellbook to prepare at the beginning of play; with only the spell names listed; I hope the player knows how to play a wizard!

While Rrakkma is described as a six to eight-hour adventure, the actual length will depend greatly on your playstyle. The six tables that played it at our store took between 3-1/2 hours and 4-1/2 hours to complete it, although I think most avoided one combat encounter.

Overall, Rrakkma is an excellent adventure with many interesting situations for the players to overcome. It provides a great story of the great war between the Gith and the Mind Flayers, and does it with some style. Highly recommended!