Production values are about what I'd expect for a free module. There are no illustrations in the eleven-page .pdf and the font appears a little distorted in my reader, but it's easy enough to read and the 3.5-style borders set the pages nicely. A very “functional” monochrome map is available as a separate download.
The story of The Burning Plague starts with the mountain town of Duvik's Pass and its nearby silver mine. Duran provides a five paragraph narrative hook under the misleading title “Duvik's Pass: A History” - what he really deals with is the last three years of the town's existence and especially the events of the last few months. I found this section a bit weak and wished that Duran had just stuck to the point. For example, the second sentence reads, “It has long been a waystop for travelers and adventurers seeking to rest aching limbs and drown painful memories within her gates", but Duran doesn't bother naming any taverns or inns in Duvik's Pass.
That brings us to the Burning Plague itself. Whatever hopes I had of the title villain being particularly exciting or deadly were soon dashed: the Burning Plague is comparable to the 'flu (not one of those killer strains, either), and due to its onset time it's possible that the PCs will complete the adventure before displaying any symptoms. For some reason, Duran designated a few select objects and creatures as contagious. Coming into contact with these gives the PCs a chance of contracting the Burning Plague – but there's apparently no chance of getting the disease in Duvik's Pass, despite all of the infected townsfolk, something I found very strange.
The Burning Plague is not as exciting as its name - or this image.
Despite the issues in the set-up, the module is fairly good. There are eight keyed areas of the adventure proper, so it could be completed in one or two sessions. Each entry has the now-conventional boxed description text and area notes. Due to how tightly he holds the hand of the DM – e.g. “As there is no light source in the tunnel, adventurers without darkvision who wish to proceed must have some source of illumination.” - I'm fairly confident that Duran is writing with a beginner in mind. To be fair, he doesn't just state the obvious. There's a helpful instruction to the DM to use their judgement rather than a dice roll in some situations, a habit that should be encouraged, and notes on potential use of terrain by both the monsters and PCs. The Burning Plague also teaches a new DM to think about which foes can be negotiated with and which can't. In the concluding section of the adventure, further developments that a new DM could use in their campaign are suggested. And as far as the players are concerned, the module rewards thoughtful play and has a nice mix of threats, including some otherwise very dangerous foes who have been weakened by the plague.
Unfortunately, there are a few points that detract from the module. Firstly, one of the suggested motivations for going into the mine – curing the plague - relies on information that the townsfolk and the party don't have. Duran does provide two other reasons for the party to risk their necks (money and finding out what became of the missing miners) and these are perfectly workable. I just worry about potential embarrassment for a new DM who takes the other course! Secondly, a few descriptions are off-key. One of the treasures in The Burning Plague is silver ore, referred to by name and value only – not even the weight of this stuff gets mentioned. Lastly, the aftermath of the adventure again assumes that the townsfolk know the source of the plague and I found it hard to believe that the victors of The Burning Plague would be the town's heroes for life.
If the silver ore in the module is silver-bearing galena like this, it weighs about 4000lbs. (Although less if it's of exceptional purity.) Duran probably intended the treasure to be 40lbs or so of pure silver nuggets.
If Wizards of the Coast hadn't been giving away The Burning Plague, I would also complain about the lack of area maps and the sparse information about the town of Duvik's pass. These omissions separate this module from a classic campaign-starter like The Keep on the Borderlands or The Village of Hommlet - but you get what you pay for, I guess.
My rating is 3/5. I would recommend The Burning Plague to anyone starting their first campaign of 3.5 D&D or the Pathfinder RPG. It could still be useful to a more experienced DM under time pressure.
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