DG2: The Lost Tome is the second adventure by Dan Hass compatible with D&D 5E. Designed for a party of 1-6 characters of levels 1-2, it is available both separately and as part of a low-level campaign pack.

What you get is a short, 18-page adventure. The layout, art and maps are not particularly good, but the adventure is not without merit.

In summary, Sir Stigle of Stiglehold is attempting to gain possession of a ceremony tome that will allow him to break the drought on his lands. Unfortunately, the delegation he sent to acquire the tome has vanished, along with the tome itself. So, who will he send to find the tome and his agents? Enter the player characters.

Unlike most adventures, the first encounter is not directly related to the adventure. Instead it is used to build some of the character of the world, in the form of the Cheynan raiders, and to allow the PCs to draw the attention of the knight. It’s not a particularly complex encounter, but I like the technique.

The remainder of the adventure is mostly linear: the PCs learn about their mission and get given a tracking dog who will lead them to its conclusion. Various monsters, tricks and traps lie in the way, until eventually the tome is reached and recovered. There are nice touches to the encounters, and I’m particularly interested by how the adventure makes use of the forced march rules, although I’m terribly afraid that some characters might die of exhaustion!

There are oddities in the application of the rules. For instance, a Wisdom (Insight) check is used to find a trap; this should be Wisdom (Perception) as Insight is used to determine the reactions of people and creatures. There are also quite a few grammatical mistakes.

It’s also hard to underestimate how basic the maps are. The entire product feels amateurish; production values are not its strong suit.

Despite all the problems, The Lost Tome does have a few good ideas. The adventure is short and would likely take only one session to play (a maximum of 11 encounters). There are glimpses of world-building, and the basic situation is solid. I’ve read worse adventures.