Precious Cargo is a four-hour adventure set in the Moonshae Isles for characters level 1 to 4. It is a DDAL-legal adventure produced by Baldman Games.

In the adventure, the characters are asked to help deal with fey bandits active on the High King’s Road. After repulsing the initial attack, the characters travel into the nearby forest, where they must face the hag responsible for the attacks.

It’s a delightful adventure, which does an excellent job of foreshadowing events and giving the players information they’ll use later. As the characters receive their mission briefing, they see thugs watching them, but the thugs leave without causing trouble. However, once the characters get ready to depart on their mission the next day, the thugs reappear and then do cause trouble.

Also, it handles the different factions active in the Moonshaes well. The fey are supported by the forces of Amn, who want to destabilise the High King’s rule. This information is laid out clearly for the DM and should also become known to the players during play. I love it when this happens: too often the players never learn the context of the adventures they play!

The adventure isn’t very long, although it is combat-heavy. There are opportunities for roleplaying and exploration, especially in the final section where the players reach Granny’s Tower. There are several guards in and around the tower, but this doesn’t play linearly. The players can launch surprise attacks or bypass guards, who may then react by reinforcing later groups. The DM has a lot of latitude in adjusting the reactions of the monsters to the actions of the players, and it’s not overcomplicated, so the DM can understand what’s going on.

Due to the number of foes around the tower, the players will need to play intelligently, especially if the party isn’t balanced (in which case the DM should make additional adjustments to the encounter make-up).

I appreciate the numerous well-drawn maps depicting the combat locations and the existence of boxed text. The adventure is laid out very clearly and was a delight to run. Although it’s part one of the MOON4 series, it is a stand-alone adventure.

Overall, this is one of the superior DDAL-legal adventures. Highly recommended!