Eidolon Sky (2019) displays Spire’s unusual approach to adventure modules. Rather than resorting to the traditional sort of set of pre-written events, this book provides what they call an “campaign frame.” In this case, one that should run for six to ten sessions. The idea is that if Spire is a free-form, player led game, the GM needs a looser set of tools to run a game. And that’s what you have here — a number of factions and NPCs that all have some connection to a particular event that is unfolding in the city. Each of these things is presented in detail, but how the players collide with them and how exactly all the interconnections pull together is left to be determined through play. It reminds me quite a bit of the open-ended NPC-crawl of WFRP’s Power Behind the Throne.

There’s quite a bit to untangle here — a new drug hitting the streets, a serial killer is on the loose and some folks have seen demons in the shadows. All these things are connected, of course — it wouldn’t be a good murderous conspiracy otherwise. Each thread — the drugs, the killer and the demons — is laid out in an arc of potential clues. How the players unearth them is really up to them, since they drive the action. A number of complicating NPCs are included as well. The book ends with advice on how to end the story. As you might expect, there is probably going to be lots of blood and death.

Weirdly, though, despite the tangled skein, this one lacks a lot of the complicated morality I generally expect from Spire. It feels a bit more super-heroic (though, like, horror super heroes, I suppose) with a clear villain and a lot of unsympathetic folks to punch along the way. This isn’t a bad thing, really, but it does feel rather different from what I usually expect out of Spire.