CM3: Sabre River (1984) continues the trend of not really doing Companion stuff — no wars, no politics. It does take place in one of the character’s domains, though — the water of the river suddenly seems cursed and deadly — so it works as a dominion event, the sort of crisis a ruler needs to set straight for the good of his vassals.

On the plus side, Sabre River is a really good adventure, Companion stuff aside. The action is split between two main adventure sites — a not quite extinguished caldera and a ruined summer palace from which the titular river finds its source. Both are unusual environments stocked with a fun assortment of monsters. They include the big red dragon on the cover, one particularly irate beholder (that Steve Bisset illustration is priceless) and the interesting new critter, the sabreclaw. They’re weird blade-handed humanoids that attack in swarms and pool their hit points, which is an unusual feature. So, like, a swarm of 8 sabreclaws would have something like 250 hp and 8 attacks, which feels pretty formidable when stacked with their immunities.

Doug Watson does most of the interiors. I’m unfamiliar with his stuff, but I like it a lot. He gives stuff a unique character. I already mentioned that lovely, annoyed beholder. Keith Parkinson’s dragon is pretty great. I feel like I’ve seen it elsewhere, but that’s OK (it kind of reads like a dry run for the painting that fronts the first issue of Dungeon Magazine, maybe?).