Asticlian Gambit

Asticlian Gambit is an adventure published by TSR in 1992 for the Dark Sun campaign using the 2nd edition rules of the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game.

Plot summary
The player characters find themselves caught between Oba of Gulg, the shadow king of Nibernay, and mysterious representatives of the Asticles family of Tyr. What follows is high-stakes political intrigue with a heavy focus on combat. Possible consequences range from making enemies of multiple states to death.

The first part of the adventure starts in the city-state of Tire, where the adventurers are hired to protect a caravan heading for the city-state of Gulg. The caravan's main cargo is a magical necklace, a gift for the witch queen Lalali-Puy. The caravan is ambushed by desert looters.

In the second part, the caravan arrives safely in Gulg, at the edge of the Great Forest. They meet Queen Lalali-Puy, who invites them to stay at the palace. The characters rapidly run afoul of court intrigues, and are thrown into the Queen's dungeons.

In the third part, the characters are condemned to be victims of the Red Moon Hunt, a ritual where they will be hunted down in the Great Forest. If they survive and reach the other side of the Forest, they are captured by agents of the King of Shadow.

In the fourth part, the adventurers must explain to the sorcerer-king of Nibenay why they were in the dungeons of Lalali-Puy. The Shadow King sees this as a good opportunity to harm his rival, Lalali-Puy, and coerces the party to return to Gulg's dungeons in order to destroy the magical necklace. Whether they succeed or not, they will have made an powerful enemy of either Lalali-Puy or the Shadow King.

Contents
Asticlian Gambit was designed by Anthony Pryor, with illustrations by Dee Barnett, Tom Baxa, Steve Beck, Gerald Brom, and Sarah Feggestad. It is the fourth and penultimate adventure in the Dark Sun Quest (DSQ) series. The illustrated module contains narrative fiction, reference material, and some pregenerated characters to help players get started. It is designed for four to six characters from 7th to 10th level, and can be played as a stand-alone adventure, or as the fourth adventure following DS1: Freedom (1991), DSQ1: Road to Urik (1992), and DSQ2: Arcane Shadows (1992). It is followed by the series finale, DSE1: Dragon's Crown.

The game contents include
 * 48- page Player's Book
 * 48-page Dungeon Master's Book
 * "Boneyard Lights", a 16-page piece of fiction
 * pre-generated characters

Reception
In the May/June 1993 edition of White Wolf (Issue #36), Berin Kinsman lamented that Asticlian Gambit did not change course from previous modules to set a lighter tone, and concluded by giving the game an average rating of 3 out of 5.

Reviews

 * The Last Province, Issue #3, p. 10