Right off the bat, I love the name of Evil Ruins (1983). It doesn’t get more generic than that, and generic is sort of the Role Aids aim, right? Second, the Boris Vallejo cover painting is a favorite. To my knowledge, it was originally used on the Science Fiction Book Club edition of Roger Zelazny’s Nine Princes in Amber (1979) and it is just as preposterous there as it is here.

The adventure itself is pretty good. The ruins (modeled after the real-world Castle Tintagel for no particular reason) have a rich history of tragedy and betrayal. Unraveling that history is the only way to entirely deal with the pair of evils currently inhabiting the dungeons. The story isn’t super surprising (resentment and murder among the royal residents several generations ago lead to the establishment of a temple of evil in the depths, as well as the haunting by a tormented spirit) but it works as a good puzzle to drive exploration and keep players thinking. I like this one a lot.

Solid interior art by Hannah Shapero. The altar of Arawn is particularly nice.