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GURPS Dungeon Fantasy Adventure 2: Tomb of the Dragon King, Matt Riggsby 09 December 2018

This second Dungeon Fantasy Adventure book deals with an expedition to the long-abandoned (yeah, right) ruins of a draconic monarch's palace.

Things start on the edge of civilisation, with the party given a basic briefing and an artefact to look for, but quickly move through a short wilderness trip into the ruined palace itself. There are maps, but they are not entirely consistent with the text descriptions (the entrance staircase leads "down to the entrance for the southern end of the vestibule", but the staircase isn't shown on the map of the vestibule – only some double doors). A gate is described as having identical stats to another; "However, it is not so damaged that it can't be opened". But, er, neither is that other gate.

Much of the place is inhabited, largely by static enemies who wait until their spaces are invaded before doing anything, but there are also wandering patrols which will show up at random (more probably when there's noise, or if the party leave enemies alive to escape). The enemies aren't set up to expect an attack, so there's no plan for a concerted defence. A side area allows for challenges from non-sapient monsters and general decay, and a possible complicating factor in the main adventure.

Having every location mapped with hex-grid precision so that one can have fights on it may well be useful to people who play with miniatures, but it bulks out the book and means more paging through it; I'd have been tempted to make the maps a separate PDF file.

Stats cover everything that hasn't been in previous books, ranging up to enemies that should be able to deal with a party if the PCs are stupid enough to attack head-on.

This isn't a dungeon designed for going in frontally and killing everything; it will reward at least a bit of subtlety, working out what's going on and where to exert force for maximum effect. But it is still a dungeon to be bashed, not a village or a functioning stronghold. GURPS Dungeon Fantasy Adventure 2: Tomb of the Dragon King is available from Warehouse 23.

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