UK7: Dark Clouds Gather (1985) is the last of the series and, the final product designed by TSR UK (or close to it). It is firmly in the genre of D&D modules that I enjoy reading and would never in a million years decide to run. It’s an in-the-air adventure, which initially might seem unusual, but in execution shares many of the same problems that, for me, make underwater scenarios a pain in the ass.

Still, it’s a fun read. The aarakocra (who have a pretty dope temple) are in conflict with the ba’atun, also known as snow demons, but, come on, look at the cover art: that’s a flying monkey. They’re pretty cool antagonists that use ice-based attacks and swarm tactics to be a pretty effective problem for the players. Kind of surprising that this is maybe the only time they have appeared in an official publication? They kind of remind me a bit of the flying sabreclaws from CM3: Sabre River.

The problem is actually an evil sorceress flying monkey who leads them and who is able to possess other creatures — in this case, a cloud giant. The stakes are epically high (oof, sorry for that pun) and require the retrieval of the sky fish, a magical flying machine shaped like a manta ray which seems like a clear precursor to Spelljammer designs. The bits in the air seem tedious to run, but the stuff with ground in it is pretty good — I like the initial episode in which a local zealot is plucking an imprisoned aarakocra to get it to confess to being a demon, at which point he’ll burn it to death. The intent is for the players to intervene, which man, I hope your players do because that shit is effed.

Brian Williams art throughout. I love his color covers but the interiors seem a bit rushed here. In all, the look of this module lacks a bit of the pizazz I expect from a UK production.