The third part of the Tenets of Bane series, Tyrant of the Forgotten Forge, is a two-hour adventure for level 1-4 characters. Set in an old dwarven mine, the adventure features oppressed kobolds, tyrannical derro, and some traps and puzzles for the party to navigate.

There is a nice mix of challenges in the adventure, with some role-playing opportunities and quite a bit of puzzle-solving. The puzzles were relatively straightforward for my players to solve and have the advantage of allowing trial and error. The final problem is a good test of the characters’ morals, and one of the most effective I’ve seen. It’s also an encounter that provides consequences for whichever choice the characters make, which is something I appreciate.

In the main body of the adventure, there are two combat opportunities, and one further one appears in the bonus objective. However, it’s possible to avoid both of the combats in the main adventure. The ways in which you do so are awesome, but doing so can make the adventure run short. Thankfully, you do have the final combat – against some devotees of Bane who want the Tenet relic – to provide some relief for players who want combat and to bring up the running time.

As with most Tier 1 adventures, combats are unlikely to take much time to resolve, especially if the party are first level.

There’s one encounter (the “positive” resolution to the final puzzle) that doesn’t have advice for scaling for first-level characters, and so might well kill one as a result. Oops! You might need to adjust the damage dealt just a bit, to avoid “We all made the right choice, and so it was a TPK!”

Thematically, the adventure is tied to “tyranny”, the third tenet of Bane. Of the three adventures, I think this one expresses it best, with all the encounters linking back to that theme – and what the characters can do to combat it.

The current version of the adventure has been revised to provide Advancement and Treasure checkpoints (as per the Season 8 rules). It’s very nicely formatted, with good maps and art.

Overall, this is a superior adventure, where the theme meshes well with the challenges to provide an enjoyable experience. Highly recommended!