Review: “Sheep's Clothing” by Robert Wiese

I was very pleased to see Robert Wiese's name on this module. Reviewing his Wreck Ashore was a pleasure. This time out, Wiese aims to challenge a party of four 11th-level characters but he includes scaling notes for higher- and lower-level adventurers. Sheep's Clothing is intended for D&D 3.5, which means that it's compatible with Pathfinder. No more than the core rules (PHB, DMG, & MM, or, CR & Bestiary) are required.  It's no longer possible to get this module for free, but there is a $0.99 re-release of Sheep's Clothing.

By the standards of the Original Adventures series, this is a fairly long adventure. It's 19 pages and I suspect that it would take at least two sessions just to play through what's there, plus the scenario could easily be extended or run simultaneously with other adventures. Sheep's Clothing showcases a map from the wizards.com "Map-A-Week" feature and makes excellent use of the material. As boxed text is the flavour of the week and I praised Wiese's use of it in Wreck Ashore, I should note that the boxes in this module are pretty good, but one or two of them run a bit long. However, when there are long boxes, it's the tone rather than the specific content that's important.

The adventure picks up in a courtly setting. Wiese keeps the details of most personages very short in order to permit the module to be used wherever is convenient to the DM. His design only assumes that the PCs have come to sufficient prominence to be noticed by the court – fair enough at 11th level – and provides four hooks, two for parties that are established minor courtiers and two for parties outside the court. Surprisingly, these hooks are all quite good, although one of them could also be described as evil. And it's evil that is afoot in the court of King Ceral (or whoever you replace him with), with the PCs in the role of “disposable investigators”.

Spoilers: The villain of Sheep's Clothing is not a Wool Golem.

Sheep's Clothing is not a cakewalk. The villain of the piece is not prepared to concede the initiative, so there is a relatively short window of opportunity in which the party can gain useful information, or harmful misinformation, before their mark starts taking steps to neutralize them. The DM is given four example scenes that the party can come across in the course of their investigation (and encouraged to develop more), plus a sequence of escalation events that lead towards a showdown at the villain's lair.  For what it's worth, I don't see this as railroading. The party is free to endure the villain's plots while they muddle about, or even to flee the area if things get too hot. (Although running away would have severe consequences for their reputation!) In terms of mechanics, the encounters here are somewhat dangerous but the party should be facing them in a reasonably fresh state, provided that they haven't sunk all of the magic into divination.

Once the party gets to the lair, the module pulls out all the stops (short of jamming the EL through the roof) to show the players that they're dealing with a cunning alpha predator. While the villain of Sheep's Clothing is not beyond the party's capabilities in a straight fight – in fact, in a head-on clash they wouldn't have much trouble – Wiese has provided a definite plan to harry, wear down, and kill the party. With the travel magic available to adventurers of the appropriate level, it's unlikely that they would be wiped out, but it would take a clever group to achieve a total victory at the lair. The most likely outcome to my eyes is a stalemate or limited victory for the PCs, and the brief concluding notes take much the same position. It would be very easy to continue the scenario from Sheep's Clothing for several more sessions, and even if the party returns in triumph complications are bound to ensue.

My rating is 5/5. This is a very good adventure and well worth your time. Due to the similar suggested level and format, a comparison with Bad Moon Waning is inevitable, and I would have to say that Stan!'s work is superior when it comes to story. Sheep's Clothing is a much tougher test of play skill, something that's all too rare in 3.5 or Pathfinder adventures.