CM3 Sabre River was published in 1984 as a level 18-22 adventure for the Companion Set rules. Unlike the two previous adventures in the series, Sabre River does not use the dominion rules at all. Instead, it’s an adventure featuring a lot of dungeons. It is also it is a mostly linear, story-based adventure.

The plot the adventure kicks off with a young boy reaching the local lord and revealing that his village is undergoing bad times: failed crops, animals growing savage and feral, monsters attacking, and now villagers dying of unknown causes. Just in case the local lord thinks to send some lesser adventurers, a spectral apparition appears and utters a disturbing prophecy. There’s nothing for it but for the heroes of the realm (the player characters) to visit his village near Sabre River and find out what’s going on.

And from there, it’s on to a plot that is obviously being written with the goal of some high fantasy quest but doesn’t really pull off the landing. The Seer the players meet is the embodiment of a curse on the land, who sends them on a quest that is intended to bring his plan to fruition, but instead gives the characters the tools they need to end the curse. The boy turns out to be actually a magical sword. And, eventually, the boy becomes a sword in truth which the players use to end the curse… for now. Because they have to leave it in an underwater stone, sealing a gateway, and at some point in the future, it’ll be removed and everything will go pear-shaped again.

For the characters, this is moderately railroaded. At least they always have goals. “Get the sword hilt. Return home.” “Take the sword, cleanse the river.”

But along the way, the adventure writers are throwing bigger and bigger monsters at them. And I’m being quite literal here: the adventure is very fond of “gargantuan” creatures. I played this adventure many, many years ago, and almost all I remember are the Gargantuan Gargoyles (HD 32), but there are also Gargantuan Beholders and Gargantuan Fire Elementals (HD 64)!

It is notable that the adventure doesn’t contain a wilderness map. Most of the action takes place in one dungeon environment after another, with the DM needing to fill in any wilderness travel required. The adventure has three major dungeon areas: the Isle of the Seer, the Tower of Terror, and the Heart of the River.

The Seer is guarded by many monsters, some charmed. I wonder if some adventuring parties determined from this that he was actually evil and couldn’t be trusted – which is sort of a problem for the rest of the adventure. Once you’ve reached him, he calls his monsters off and they’ll let you past when you return from his quest.

The major maps are in the new isometric style (as also featured in Dragons of Desolation), and use it to good effect, emphasising the verticality of those areas. The maps don’t have too many areas – isometric maps are very hard to do well in that level of detail. However, given how many monsters are packed in, the players are going to be kept busy.

One of the really weird things about the adventure is how the river and endangered village aren’t important. When I played it, many winters ago, my DM changed the river to the major river of the kingdom, and the people of the capital were affected. It gave the adventure real immediacy, rather than events in a far-off village that no-one has heard of, nor this ancient Sage either.

When I was younger, I always perceived the Basic line of D&D products as more childish. I’m not sure if other players felt that way (good time to comment!) In retrospect, there’s a certain gonzo, over-the-top nature of some Basic D&D adventures, which is at odds with Gygaxian naturalism and the slightly more grounded feel of AD&D adventures (and Keep on the Borderlands). Sabre River certainly hits those over-the-top moments. The revelation that the Seer is actually the manifestation of the curse and that he’s been deceiving the players is right out of an 80s movie.

But I know that, as a teenager, I did enjoy the adventure. I couldn’t remember much except the set-up, the adventure’s conclusion, and the gargantuan gargoyles, but I did have fun. (The Sage is the Bad Guy? Didn’t remember that!)

I suspect that, if you were to rank all the D&D adventures TSR published, Sabre River would be in the bottom half, and probably not that high up. It’s not a great adventure. But there are fun things to be found.