The finale of the Olma trilogy, What Lies Beneath Ylraphon is a Tier 1 adventure by Lysa Chen, which sees the characters defending the settlement of Ylraphon from an attack by a horde of undead.
The adventure has a brilliant structure, where the players can choose which threats to deal with before fighting the Big Bad at the end, with the choice of threats (and the success of dealing with them) altering events in the final battle. There’s a strong feeling of horror and dread throughout, with the encounters bringing forward what a dire situation the city is in, but the ability of the characters to be heroes is never in doubt; I appreciate that.
The horror is leavened with several humorous pop culture references (I noted ones that I think draw from Doctor Who, Pirates of the Caribbean and the Village People – I’m certain I missed others); certain groups may want to omit or modify them. A ritual to summon a saviour that involves doing the YMCA dance is glorious with the right players; not so with others.
The adventure strongly features role-playing and combat as you attempt to save the citizens. One of the challenges features a logic puzzle, where the characters have the opportunity to role-play as ghosts. I found this difficult to set-up properly; I think it would work better if you just say the ghosts possess the characters rather than give the players a chance to choose. If only one player is possessed by a ghost, it’s not as compelling. On the other hand, you may be better as a DM than me at roleplaying multiple arguing ghosts!
Fans of “cute” (which are a fair proportion of the players I play with) will love the Story Award – a miniature two-headed dragon!
The quality and range of invention shines through here.
As with most Tier 1 adventures, the DM will have to keep an eye on the balancing of combats, especially with weaker parties. The final boss is definitely challenging and likely to be too much for a party of level 1 characters, so adjust accordingly – especially its damage.
Overall, it’s a memorable end to the trilogy. Recommended!