Wrath of the River King is an adventure for 4th edition D&D designed for characters of 4th-6th level written by the talented Wolfgang Baur and published by Open Design. It consists of 28 clearly structured encounters set into a complete adventure framework dealing with the fey.
While I admit that I have not looked at all of the 4th edition adventure available, this strikes me as the single best one I have seen. Wrath of the River King uses the D&D 4th edition rules to their best advantage making sure to make every encounter interesting and challenging.
In total, the Wrath of the River King is 96-pages most of which is adventure. The sponsors of Open Design who supported this project get their own acknowledgment page which is well earned (and, indeed, thank you for your efforts that brought us this adventure). The art is a mixture of color work commissioned for this product and black and white clipart from classic sources. The maps are in full color and very well drawn.
The adventure is a dangerous journey into the realm of the fae and the feywild, drawing upon the European legends of farie. There are several nods to famous stories such as the Green Knight (from the Arthurian legends) and the Goblin Market in the adventure which just makes it more fun to read. Baur uses good mix of combat encounters, especially one on unusual terrain, roleplaying opportunities and skill challenges to provide a variety of scenes which should allow every player character a chance to shine.
New creatures, treasures and excellent use of skill challenges provide a wealth of value to this adventure beyond the adventure itself. Baur occasionally draws back the curtain to discuss why he designed a particular encounter or how it worked out during playtesting, these asides are both enlightening and amusing.
It is an excellent adventure with something for just about everyone. If you play 4e, give this adventure a look.
Review by Sean Holland.
