A review copy of “The Fires of Rephilon” was provided by the publisher. Find more DMs Guild Reviews on my website and YouTube channel.
Support my work by using my affiliate links and pledging via Patreon.
Designed by: Liam Pádraig Ó Cuilleanáin
Dragons have become so ironically rare in Dungeons & Dragons fifth edition that it’s refreshing to see one at the center of a new adventure. Don’t expect a typical dragon-slaying quest in The Fires of Rephilon, however. This disguised dragon likes to manipulate an entire cult to create her hoard.
The Fires of Rephilon is a short adventure designed for 6th level. It’s set on a small island a few hundred miles off the Sword Coast, named Rephilon.
The party is hired by a noble family from Waterdeep to find and retrieve their daughter, Linea. Linea was training to be a cleric at the Tymora temple when she fell in with a new Tymora sect that makes its home on the island.
Unbeknownst to everyone, this new cult is led by a disguised young red dragon. It feels a bit out of place that a red dragon would be manipulative and scheming rather than domineering and violent, but I’m happy to see the rarely used dragon-in-disguise as a surprise villain.
The party arrives in Rephilon and learns about the cult, Fortune’s Favored. The dragon (disguised as an elven woman) convinces her followers that true acolytes of the goddess of luck must seek out dangerous activities and let their good luck prevail. Finally, a cult for adrenaline junkies and thrill seekers!
I wish the designer played a bit more into Fortune’s Favored, with a few more creepy or weird scenes (one early scene of a cultist falling from a cliff feels ripped out of Midsommar). We’re mostly left with a single optional scene involving a thrill-seeking halfling and some giant boars.
After meeting with the cult and the “prophet,” the party learns about a “Great Wager,” where all 300 followers will attempt to cross the tar pits in the middle of the island. Real mass suicide vibes here.
Linea is here, and she’s already starting to doubt this whole group. But she’s fallen in love with another acolyte, Sorel, and won’t leave without him.
Sorel was sent with a group of acolytes to some ruins in the south, to retrieve a Tymoran artifact at the request of the Prophet.
It’s time for a dungeon crawl!
The temple ruins of The Domus Fortuna is an excellently-designed dungeon. Combining a rescue mission with a dungeon crawl is often a recipe for success, providing investigation, role-playing, and environmental storytelling. Finding bodies, survivors, tracks, barricades, etc makes a dungeon feel more alive and reactive, as when some of the bodies are being gruesomely eaten by minotaurs!
The 19-room dungeon is filled with lots of smart design choices and cool moments. An important locked door features two copies of the same key in two different areas, all but ensuring the players stumble on one of them. A new monster called a tar kraken resides in a large, ominous pool of tar in the bottom of the ruins, which can definitely (and dangerously) catch on fire. And the party can engage in some paranormal poker with a group of ghosts.
Rescuing Sorel and returning to the cult triggers a satisfying social challenge, as the party gets a chance to convince the dragon’s followers to abandon the cause before they’re killed.
Either way, the dragon reveals her true form and attacks, along with an optional sill challenge should the party (and any surviving cultists) attempt to flee.
Despite the sub-20 page count, the adventure doesn’t feel short. There are just enough social scenes with the cult, and the dungeon crawl is satisfyingly meaty. The product is professionally laid out and organized almost entirely through bullet points, making it super easy to quickly parse all the information the DM needs.
The only real bummer — the maps. The two levels of the temple dungeon weirdly use entirely different art styles, and neither has color or detail. Had the maps been better, this could easily be one of my favorite short adventures I’ve reviewed. As it stands, it’s still a fantastic product, and an incredibly impressive first-time release from a new creator.
Pros:
- The Domus Fortuna is an excellent dungeon crawl, with a balanced mix of role-playing, traps, combat, investigation, and exploration.
- Epic finale with a surprise dragon transformation and possible mass sacrifice.
- Well-edited and cleanly organized.
Cons:
- Dungeon maps use clashing styles, and lack color and detail.
The Verdict: A suspicious cult, a rescue mission, a meaty dungeon crawl, and a surprise boss fight, The Fires of Rephilon has everything I love in a straightforward, well-designed adventure.
A review copy of “The Fires of Rephilon” was provided by the publisher. Find more DMs Guild Reviews on my website and YouTube channel.
Support my work by using my affiliate links and pledging via Patreon.
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