Deadly Power (1984) is similar to Evil Ruins in that it attempts to use past events—again, the schemes of royalty mixing with the diabolic—to fuel the forward motion of the adventure. This one has a magical mix of leaves that can give the eater the ability of mass charm. Powerful! But there are a bunch of limitations and requirements and eating them wrong is deadly. And the power only last as long as they’re in the eater’s digestive system. Lotta trouble for something so, uh, passing. None of that stops a handful of factions from trying to coax, cajole and murder the players into giving them the leaves.

Plot aside, the series of dungeons is OK. The primary one—a wererat warren, has the most potential but it feels somewhat unrealized here. The secondary locations, particularly the nicely designed mausoleum, feel more thought out and complete, but maybe that’s because they’re relatively brief. The maps are all solid, though.

Cover art is a fairly generic recycled piece by Janny Wurts. Interior illustrations are by Teanna Byerts. They’re pretty good! Missed opportunity for some demon drawings, but I really like the falling dwarf illustration, so I suppose it evens out.