In late July Wizards of the Coast announced that you could buy Eberron 5E content via the DMs Guild. The response was overwhelmingly positive and creators clamored to get content out as soon as they good. I was happy to hear that Paul Bimler was creating a solo adventure called The Saviour of Sharn.
I read the first few pages of the adventure (the Introduction and What You Will Need sections) and decided I’d play a non-traditional character. He’d be older than most of his level, a 35-year old human. He didn’t serve in The Last War because he was a businessman. His business wasn’t exactly legal but he paid the authorities to leave him alone and he kept the streets of his territory free of violence and other petty crimes. And he never refused a favor for a friend. What he didn’t expect was for one of his top lieutenants to betray him. He didn’t expect his wife would join him. Fueled by a desire to regain his dignity, he passed on operations to a competent successor and took an oath of vengeance against dishonorable organized crime syndicates. There should be honor among thieves.
Pherick Marzell decided he wouldn’t rest until he achieved vindication. Even if it took years!
The Saviour of Sharn
Coincidentally, the adventure opens with you being recruited by Kamiel Makker. Kamiel is a halfling that runs Automaton & Construct Repairs in Upper Dura and his income isn’t exactly “reputable”. He wants you to investigate why someone has bought all warforged body parts from his brother, Taviel, who runs a junkyard. Someone, he suspects, is amassing a warforged army and that army’s intent cannot be good! Kamiel will try to impress upon you the nobility of becoming the “saviour of Sharn” and depending on your character, that may be motivation enough. But Pherick saw this as an opportunity to stop someone’s evil (or evil-er) schemes.
Paul does well to touch on two of the three pillars of adventuring. You will explore twisting tunnels that split and turn unexpectedly. You will also find plenty of traps, puzzles, and monsters. As for social interaction, well this is a solo adventure. It’s not designed for that. You will have some opportunities to roleplay your character’s decisions. Obviously there won’t be completely open-ended scenarios but you at least get to decide whether to turn in a pickpocket or to use her to your advantage.
My Reaction and Rating
As with Citadel of the Raven, The Saviour of Sharn is an engaging solo adventure with a compelling hook and convincing encounters. This adventure is more challenging than his others that I’ve run through. I’d gotten 23 of 26 maximum progress points before I made a bad decision and failed my dexterity save. I plunged headlong into an abyss and died. But each moment of this adventure was fun and intense. I got a lot of enjoyment from the adventure despite losing. It suits my character that he died though. He didn’t have good intelligence or dexterity. He chose poorly and there was a consequence for that decision.
I give The Saviour of Sharn by Paul Bimler 5 stars. If you’re ever in a mood for some solo play and want some good exposure to Eberron, this is a great one to grab!
Thanks, Paul Bimler, for the review copy.
