This review has been sponsored by the publisher, and the designer is a Patreon subscriber. Find more DMs Guild Reviews on my website and YouTube channel.

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Designed by: Tal Aviezer

An ominous ship lies derelict in the Darklake. The crew has been slaughtered, and it’s up to the party to investigate.

The Last Voyage of the Cold Comfort is a short but serious horror-themed adventure set in the Underdark, designed for 3rd level. The story is delightfully dark, but the extreme brevity left me wanting much more.

The adventure features several adventure hooks, though a mysteriously empty ship floating on the Darklake pretty much sells itself as a worthy adventure site!

The best hook is being hired by the nearby trading outpost of Mantol Derith to investigate a ship in distress, and escorted by a surly gnome ship captain.

The longship is described as a “drifting hulk,” but consists of only four areas.

The main deck is strewn with bodies of dead duergar, including a rope dragging a corpse in the water, which has attracted a hungry plesiosaurus. I wish there were a few more dangerous scavengers around.

The ship has only two survivors, though one of them is the twist-killer.

The captain has locked himself in his room in terror after a monster killed everyone else. He’s delirious, unhelpful, and most likely hostile to the party (especially when they realize the ship was transporting captured slaves from the surface).

Below deck they find more bodies, including dead, shackled prisoners, and the other survivor hiding in the cargo hold, Cara.

Turns out Cara was recently infected with lycanthropy. After her capture, she transformed into a wereboar and slaughtered everyone on board, including her fellow prisoners.

It’s a grim, serious revelation. The designer leaves it up to the DM on how to approach Cara: a violent killer? An unwitting victim? A sinister opportunist?

I appreciate having options, but I wish there was a lot more scripted content to flush out the adventure.

An optional final act surprise has Zhentarim showing up to claim the ship’s loot, which would be a perfect time for Cara to hulk-out and become a danger to everyone. This much-needed climax shouldn’t be optional!

The plaint-text formatting isn’t much to look at, nor is the complete lack of art (plenty of royalty-free resources out there on the DMs Guild!). But the adventure does include full color maps of the ship, and two wonderful, lengthy journal entries as player handouts.

In fact, I wish these handouts were broken up and scattered into multiple pieces, and the entire ship expanded with several more rooms of creeping dread, secret rooms, and nasty monsters.

What if one of the duergar was a cultist with his own agenda? Could be a red herring killer and an initial suspect. Perhaps there was a prisoner uprising that had to be put down. Or some hungry carrion-eaters climbed aboard the ship to enjoy a tasty meal before the party’s arrival.

I love the concept of a dead ship with a victim-turned-killer, but the adventure is so short it plays more like a detailed encounter than a full story.

Pros:

  • Excellent, horror-themed concept.
  • Full color maps, and immersive player handouts.
  • Encounter level scaling from 1st to 4th level.

Cons:

  • Extremely short length is more encounter than adventure.

The Verdict: The Last Voyage of the Cold Comfort is a classic horror tale in a memorable location, but it’s over almost as soon as it begins.

A review copy of “The Last Voyage of the Cold Comfort” 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.