[Review] Stolen Moments

A Stormbringer 4th Edition Scenario written by Nick Hagger (with Mark Morrison & Richard Watts), with art by Gustaf Bjorksten and Kon Heristanidis

It’s been a thousand years since the embattled Bright Empire clashed against the degenerate Dharzi. A millennium that has seen yet more change, conflict and the demise of the Melnibonean people. Today, the human race dominates the Young Kingdoms, feeling safe in their new roles as masters of the land and sea. Yet echoes of ancient times remain, lurking unseen at the edge of the known world, ready to show these upstart ‘rulers’ that the past can never be forgotten…

Stolen Moments is the fourth scenario from the brilliant Perils of the Young Kingdoms supplement released by Chaosium Inc. in 1991 (during the heyday of the 4th edition, and some might say the entire Stormbringer line). Written by Nick Hagger (with additions by Mark Morrison & Richard Watts) and art by Gustaf Bjorksten and Kon Heristanidis, it comes in at a solid 18 pages of action and discovery, which while at times feels slightly too linear, is in other ways an excellent example of what makes the Stormbringer setting so unique.

Please note, as with all such scenario reviews on the Stormbringerrpg.com site, these commentaries are the opinion of their author only, and are rated in three simple categories – Must Run, Should Run, Might Run (see the sidebar below for more information on these ratings).

Scenario Overview

Set in the dynamic and rapidly evolving Old Hrolmar (see Stormbringer’s Guide to Old Hrolmar by Richard Watts for more details), this classic scenario finds the characters assisting the city’s ruler – the charismatic and driven Duke Avan Astran  – on his quest to uncover more of the Young Kingdom’s dark past. Facing off against threats mundane and magical, Stole Moments will see the party encounter the ancient and forgotten mysteries that linger on as part of the Bright Empire’s terrible legacy.

On its surface, Stolen Moments doesn’t look as if it is a particularly special adventure, especially when compared with the other wonderfully odd and diverse scenarios that were published during this period of Stormbringer’s production run. However, this otherwise simplistic exterior hides a fantastic core concept, one ripe for development and expansion. As such, while the plot of the scenario is fairly straight-forward – the characters join the Duke on a short expedition across his Dukedom, only to find themselves drawn into a dark past, where they are forced to revisit the destruction of a long-forgotten Melnibonean settlement – it is the adventure’s structure and approach that makes it stand out. Within, we get a fantastic framework for expanding a simple plot into an epic adventure, a story where the characters discover that not all of Old Hrolmar’s citizens agree with the Duke’s radical changes, learn of the hardships of the Vilmarian peasantry forced to live under the yoke of Law, and how the actions of the careless and degenerate Melniboneans almost brought the Young Kingdoms to the edge of destruction.

Examining Stolen Moments, we can see the scenario can be broken into three distinct ‘sections’, with the first of these starting in Old Hrolmar focused on introducing the characters to the Duke. The second covers an expedition north, departing from the city to the curiously named ‘Doom Point’ – a trip that readily demonstrates that the powers of Law are not always positive –  and which concludes with the discovery of a long lost Melnibonean crypt.

It is the discovery of a ruby in this tomb that triggers the third, and longest, section of the adventure, within which the characters (and the Duke) are drawn into the past, during the time of the great Melnibonean/Dharzi war, a conflict that would cement the start of the Bright Empire’s demise. Here the scenario becomes a bit of a race against time, with the player-characters discovering that they are stuck in a past doomed to repeat its final day over and over again.

Break this phase down further, the characters will learn the ‘memory’ they have been dragged into is a curse placed on a Half-Melnibonean thief known as Dolor, who stole the aforementioned ruby from the Tower of Tormesh (the source of the ruins the party previously discovered) and his mad plan to use the Duke to finally break the free of this curse. As the party attempts to reconcile their situation and rescue the Duke, they will encounter a myriad of strange and exciting challenges – from a girl slave willing to reveal more of Dolor’s doom, attacks by the crazed Dharzi and their vile mutations (a Rhino Gorilla Death Beast or Crocofly, anyone?), and encounters with the uncaring Melnibonean masters of Tormesh who think of nothing more than their own self-indulgence while the world around them descends into a fiery hell.

Of course, our story concludes with one of those tense, and difficult situations we all love in Stormbringer, with the characters trapped atop a tower, stuck between firebreathing dragons on the verge of destroying all, and Duke Avan Astran, fooled by Dolor, about to make the worst mistake of his life!  So, all-in-all just another typical day for most Stormbringer heroes, I suspect!?

However, the purpose and end goal of this attack is never explained (other than it is set up by a faction wanting to see the Duke dead) but rather than this being the trigger for the scenario in which the party hunts down the Duke’s assassins (which in other adventures would be the theme), here this encounter is simply a dynamic piece of world building.

Likewise, during the party’s travels north (to the remains of the long-lost Melnibonean ruins of Doom Point, or what was Tormesh), the party will be drawn into an impromptu town debate on the benefits and impacts of the worship of Law, the result of which may well become the trigger for further revolution against the Church. I mean in what other fantasy world would such as discussion even be brought up?

I believe I’ve said this before, but this – and plenty of other Stormbringer scenarios written by these and other authors – were well ahead of their time in the early 90s, bringing a maturity (and equally ‘a wildness’) to the roleplaying landscape that we are only really seeing repeated now, some 30-plus years later, in games like Mork Bork or Shadow of The Demon Lord. And if that doesn’t make this a MUST Run scenario, then I don’t know what does…

Issues or Constraints

While I have a love of this scenario, it doesn’t mean it is not without its faults, and as always it is worth highlighting these to any potential Game Masters looking to run Stolen Moments:

• The Editing – Oddly, the editing on this scenario is a little rougher than others released by Chaosium, even adventures found elsewhere in the Perils of the Young Kingdoms collection. My suggestion is that Game Masters have a good read through of the adventure in their preparation and ensure that they are comfortable with the timeline and structure of the scenes before they start play.
• Railroaded Elements – Many of the scenes core to the adventure’s plot, especially once the characters are trapped back in Dolor’s memory, are very railroaded, with not much scope for exploring the wider world outside of those few encounters detailed in the text. I know this would have been the result of a word count limit placed on the author (I mean, this is part of a supplement that would have been limited to the standard 128-odd page length), but I’d recommend that a Game Master is ready to adapt these events and look to expand the few locations beyond just those noted if only to better bring what should be the scenario’s big twist into focus.
• Maps (or a lack of them) – I don’t usually make too much comment on a scenario’s art or maps, but it seems as if a few important ones are missing from Stolen Moments. I mean, we don’t get a map of the party’s travel north (from Old Hrolmar to Doom Point), nor do we get one detailing the Melnibonean tower the group must climb to initiate the story’s climax, both of which are pretty important in my opinion. Additionally, the map that is provided for Doom Point/Tormesh is next to useless and adds nothing to the adventure, being too abstract for a Game Master to easily use, and revealing too much to become a Player Handout.

Suggestions in Play

It’s been a long time since I ran Stolen Moments, but as I refamiliarised myself with the plot and background I could not help but think about what I might add to the story if I was to get it to the table again.

• Extend the beginning – Exploring Old Hrolmar is fun (especially now you have a whole supplement dedicated to the city) and I think there is so much more that could be done here before the party moves north and onto the rest of the scenario. I mean, just who is attempting to assassinate the Duke and could the characters get involved? Also, is it even safe or wise for the Duke to depart the city while these factions rebel so openly against him? These threads just beg for more detail and could even lead to further adventures for the player-characters.
• Expand the Dharzi aspects – As written the Dharzi are really just little more than funny-looking, faceless enemies for the player-characters to fight. Sure there are some scary mutant hybrids to deal with, and their almost-human masters aren’t always mindless killers (well, most of the time), but I think it would be really interesting to expand on this faction further and discover why the Dharzi are so hellbent on destroying the village of Tormesh. Perhaps there should be a way to allow the characters to manipulate the situation – i.e. have the two factions fight, but allow the party to rescue the innocent civilians? Or maybe the party can not gain access to the tower – from which the climax will occur –  unless they use the Dharzi as a distraction? The options here are limitless and really deserve exploration.
• Doomed to Repetition – As written all the events of this scenario are meant to be encountered in a single ‘day’ within Dolor’s curse. I think it would be great if – like the movie Groundhog Day – the characters fail in their first attempt(s) to stop Duke Avan Astran from accepting Dolor’s doom, and instead get to repeat their rescue attempts a few times. Not only would this add to the excitement of the story, but would allow more of this ancient location to be explored.

As I reread what I’ve just written above, I realise that I’m advocating the addition of quite a bit of material to Stolen Moments, and all this would likely expand the scenario into something of a mini-campaign. However, as I sit here and think about it again, I really do believe that this would be worth the effort (er… maybe it’s a topic for an article/scenario here on Stormbringerrpg.com?).

Final Notes

What to say in summary? Well, here we have another great Stormbringer adventure worth its weight in gold, and one, with a little bit of work, could be a gem of a mini-campaign that your players would talk about for years to come. But what do you think of Stolen Moments – is it a shiny ruby gem of an adventure waiting for a bit of spit and polish or is it nothing more than an old lump of fossilised dino doo-doo that should be consigned to the dark depths of Arioch’s void?

In either case, and as always, I’m keen to hear your thoughts below in the comments.