The third volume of R&D Adventures Adventure Shorts provides five encounters that can be used in an ongoing campaign; they’re a bit too short to use as the basis of an entire session, and just running the five “shorts” one after another is likely to provide a very disjointed game, but they work well as side-treks to drop into or between adventures.

They’re well-written and designed, and each has scaling notes to allow use by a group of levels 2, 4 or 6.

The encounters are as follows:

Arcane Pillar: The characters come across a foliage-covered pillar covered with arcane runes with magical effects. It’s a nice idea, and there’s a good variation in effects to keep the players entertained.

Carpath Brothers: A mausoleum of two evil knights holds uncovered secrets. This adventure is weird, and I don’t quite understand the motivations behind it. A secret treasure cache constructed by the knights knowing they were to be executed? Seems odd. The treasure has some interesting features about it, however.

The Fog: A mysterious fog brings the characters to a temple with a valuable statue. Something of a nothing encounter; good for punishing greediness but little more. It would be a lot more effective if the temple were more interesting.

The Scribe: The players come to the aid of a scribe being attacked by monsters too late, but he has some treasure hidden in his cottage, if the players are clever enough to figure it out. There’s a nice little riddle here, which should prove distracting.

Young Beggar: A young boy needs aid in an orc attack, but may not be what he seems. The rewards of the encounter may be a bit rich for your campaign, but it’s a nice idea.

Overall, there are more hits than misses here. The product is nicely laid out and with good art, and although I spotted a couple of editing errors, they don’t detract from the product. You’re likely to find one of two ideas here that you can use in your game.