A module for Expert level Dungeons and Dragons, it is, like many in the X module series a wilderness adventure at heart, that being part of the Expert expansion philosophy, while Basic was more Dungeon based. However, there is plenty here that is original and worth looking at.

Merle Rasmussen is best known for his creation of the Top Secret game, another TSR tabletop RPG with a spy thriller present day setting, but this contribution to D&D is definitely an interesting one. The Quagmire of the title is one of three whelk shell-shaped cities, these giant spires jutting out of the landscape… or the bottom of the ocean in one case. The players find a message in a bottle asking for aid for the city of Quagmire which is under siege and running low on food.

This travel to help Quagmire involves a trip of around a month south from the starting point on the north of the map, depending on the number of sidequests and so forth the characters get involved in. There’s plenty of this with the map hexes being connected to a number of possible events described in the module. After saving the people of the spiral-shaped Quagmire the characters will have to relocate them in another spiral city which is not only most of the way back to the starting point but also infested by monsters… oh well. With a lot of fun ideas for wilderness encounters and fascinating city architecture there’s plenty of goodies here for DMs, even those not planning on running the modules as is.