Sorrow’s Ruin is a Forgotten Realms adventure for first-level characters by Blaise Wrigglesworth. The adventurers must save a prophet of Ilmater from agents of Loviatar, the Goddess of Pain and Suffering. It offers a combination of wilderness and dungeon-delving, and it has some role-playing opportunities as well.

The adventure begins with the kidnapping of Brother Dendar, a priest of Ilmater. The adventurers follow him to a stockade controlled by the Loviatar forces. Once rescued, Brother Dendar sends the adventurers to look for Sorrow, the prophet, who is in great danger from the cultists. The adventurers need to find Sorrow and rescue a magical gem from a dungeon to end the adventure.

The adventure lacks a synopsis, making it difficult to determine the sequence of events. The text could do with fewer instances of “fairly”, “will” or over-lengthy constructions. “There is no treasure to be had from this encounter with the wolves” could be rendered as “The wolves have no treasure”. I’m particularly fond of “The Scared Ruin”, which I expect should be “The Scarred Ruin”.

Despite those issues, Sorrow’s Ruin is a coherent adventure, even if you occasionally must work for it. The shrines in the dungeon section, which encourage the adventurers to discuss elements of Ilmater’s faith, are an excellent idea. It’s quite clear that the designer wishes to encourage role-playing, something I applaud. It uses the conflict between the faiths of Loviatar and Ilmater very well to drive the plot.

There’s one element that concerns me: This is the first part of the “Chronicles of Sorrow” adventure series. So, is this series about the player characters or the NPC? I prefer for the players to be at the heart of the narrative; it’s their story, not that of the NPCs. One only has to look at the Avatar trilogy from the early days of the Forgotten Realms to see the problems with the NPCs driving the plot while the PCs just being along for the ride. The text describes Sorrow in terms that make her seem very important – and a little over-the-top: “Standing before you is the ruin’s guardian, Sorrow. This heartbreakingly beautiful tiefling is a paradox; her exquisite features are equal parts fierceness and grace.” At least in this adventure, the PCs are the heroes.

The maps are computer-generated and look fine, though a lack of contrast makes it difficult to determine gridlines. Some maps of “Valewatch Keep” may refer to “Valeguard Spire”.

Overall, Sorrow’s Ruin has some nice ideas and encounters, but the product could do with better presentation and editing.