Maybe doing Role Aids was a mistake. This is Shipwrecker (1983), a module with a great name and a pretty evocative cover painting by Teanna Byerts. The name refers to a local deity, Shipwrecker, that personifies the violence of the sea and the macguffin for the adventure is a treasure stolen by pirates called the Chalice of Storms. This is a recipe for some seaside excellence, maybe with a Scarecrow of Romney Marsh angle. There is potential here, is what I am saying. And it is all squandered.
The primary dungeon location is a multi-level goblin cave. The goblins used to live in the valley, but then humans came along, tried to commit genocide and set up a logging business. The seaside town is the import/export hub for the region. So, like, explicit colonizers doing typical colonization. It gets worse! The pirates, obviously, have the chalice, but they lay real low because they recently got their asses kicked (by the goblins, who they live directly next to) and their town burned down. Subsequent attempts to locate the pirates have failed. But the goblins? They’re still a pain in the ass, so the guard captain sends the players against the goblins in hope the players will finish them off, EVEN THOUGH THEY DON’T HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH THE THEFT. There isn’t a hint of nuance here, the adventure is just about killing everything and taking the treasure. A couple of spots mention the possibility of parlay, but the writer seems to have no idea how to account for how that might work, so they just…stop mentioning it.
I do like that the pirate chief is an illusionist. I hate that his name is Dred, though.
