The first edition Lankhmar adventure modules are a bit of a strange case. They walk a narrow tightrope between feeling like an old school D&D module and also feeling like a Fritz Leiber short story. In this case, that may or may not be thanks to the presence of a number of minor characters from said stories playing a major role.

CA1: Swords of the Undercity is divided into three parts. The first concerns an expedition to the Sunken Lands to recover a lost (and, unknown to them, cursed) treasure. The second involves getting drunk (and drugged) and losing said treasure. The final installment reveals a new threat from the sewers come to reclaim the treasure.

The notion of a fantastic treasure not being worth all the hassle is a theme well suited for a game based on Leiber’s stories and the creatures at the root of the problem – corrupted humans slowly devolving into fish – is delightfully Lovecraftian. If there is any problem with the module at all, it’s that it doesn’t embrace its comedy enough. Comedy in RPGs is pretty hard, though, so I’ll give it a pass.