I13: Adventure Pack I (1987) is part of a larger trend for TSR in the late ’80s, moving from the module format to a perfect bound book. Most collected older material, but this is one of a handful (Castle Greyhawk, Tales of the Outer Planes, Mists of Krynn, etc) that presented an anthology of new material. True to the RPG Curse, though, there never emerged an Adventure Pack II.
The most interesting facet of this book is how the scenarios are grouped, which is by theme: Deceiving Appearances, Intrigue, Mystery, Good Guys & Bad Guys and Competition. Right off the bat, you can get a sense of what you’re getting yourself into. Bizarrely, though they are grouped thematically in the table of contents, they are not sequenced that way in the book — the last scenario in the TOC is the first to appear in the book? That is the weirdest choice.
Anyway. The mix is a little odd. Ray Winninger’s scenario is basically the D&D Olympics. Warren Spector contributes an investigation into a mysterious circus that employs the old “magically remove the players’ powers” gag that everyone always loves. Players can cross paths with a druid who has a Poison Ivy/Black Orchid complex. Steve Perrin’s entry pits players against an assassin’s guild comprised of former adventurers like themselves (I like this one). There’s some bandits to kill, a pair of quarrelsome sisters to help, a scavenger hunt to…hunt? There’s one with a zoo and more clowns. There are so many clowns in this book!
The two best are by Allen Varney and Jennell Jaquays. The former delivers a gross-out shorty centering on keeping a chef supplied with the very special steaks his clientèle is clamoring for (there are options, including unicorns and gold dragons, but the real choice is purple worms, ugh!). Jaquays takes to the skies, which I am not a huge fan of, but delivers a fun jam with a floating castle and some perytons. There is a pretty big gap in quality between these two and the others, but honestly, everything in the book is serviceable enough with a little elbow grease on the DM’s part.
Cover by Easley, whose horses here are strangely hypnotic, like a Muybridge reel. Jeff Butler and Valerie Valusek keep things nicely grounded inside.
