CON5

Seven Silver Spheres

Seven Silver Spheres is a short, 4 page (A4) point-crawl adventure written for the Cairn RPG. Writing and cartography are by Martin Orchard, the art is well selected from the public domain.

The Brass Tacks: This is fun, free and seems that it would be straightforward to run. No complaints here. Martin knocked it out of the park. Go ahead and download it, print it, and keep it in your bag just in case you have to run an emergency game. It has much more of a focus on narrative than combat or exploration but I think that fits with the game system.

You’ll love this if: You love giving your players weird and interesting places to discover.

You’ll hate this if: You love combat, mapping, or violence. This is almost all about weirdness and discovery, that may not be your style.

Synopsis: An old man named Marcos who was connected to each and every player in a meaningful way has finally found the long abandoned Temple of St Rylan and believes it holds the fabled Seven Silver Spheres. He has left a map, with some useful hints on it to the players so that they may find the temple. Eventually the players will likely find the temple and the treasure therein. There are hazards along the way, physical and emotional, and neat things for observant or creative players to latch onto.

What I like:

  1. Brevity. This is short but doesn’t feel incomplete or lacking in any one area.
  2. The loot, rumor, and encounters tables are all on theme and add to the adventure.
  3. Custom spells and magic items! In an adventure this short, powerful but also whimsical relics can be found. This is something normally not included in a work so short.
  4. A good balance of given information and vague references. Some details are omitted and this makes it easier to add into an ongoing campaign.
  5. Excellent use of public domain art. Furthermore, as far as I can tell, all the tools used to create this are free. This adventure shows what you can do with creativity and elbow grease.

What I don’t:

  1. Little direction for how to place the treasures. Treasure tables are great, but the location keying doesn’t say what’s where. Not a big deal.
  2. A little too much backstory. In this 4 page adventure, the author includes a bit of backstory on the empire the adventure takes place in. While it is well written and interesting, something more pertinent to the adventure could take its place.

Final thoughts: I was pleasantly surprised to see this recommended when searching for “free Cairn adventures”. I was even more pleasantly surprised to realize I briefly met the author (he’s a cool dude). I struggle to have negatives about this adventure. It’s short? It’s a little vague? It’s not as deadly as I’d like? That’s my grognardy b/x preference speaking. This is an awesome adventure. Maybe the future will hold a revamp or expansion.

Thanks Martin for writing cool stuff and for doing it for free. I am grateful for community members like you.

Rating: 9/10

Link: https://pointlessmonument.itch.io/seven-silver-spheres