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Rot From Within

Rot From Within D&D Adventure Trilogy Review

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Salutations, nerds! Over the course of the past three weeks my Saturday group and I have had the pleasure of running the Rot From Within trilogy, an adventure trilogy for fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons designed by James Introcaso, Lysa Chen and Cindy Moore.

Part one is called Fester and Burn, part two is Rotting Roots, and part three is Putting the Dead to Rest and all three of these D&D adventures can be found on the DM’s Guild for a paltry $2.99 each (though I believe Fester and Burn is currently marked down to $2.24 if that sweetens the pot for anyone).

So without farther ado, let’s get right down to it, shall we?

The good in Rot From Within

First of all, let me just say, the NPCs in this game shine. Pock-Marked Po is easily one of my favorite NPCs I’ve ever encountered in a module. You meet him right out of the gate and he’s this older guy with a lot of scars and a body completely ruined by sickness. One of his eyes doesn’t work. And he is a complete badass.

You meet him sitting on his dais casually making life or death decisions, and in spite of his brittle appearance, it’s clear he is the one in charge here. He’s calling the shots. It doesn’t even come off like he’s compensating for shattered body, he is just that in control and I adore that.

The module makes great use of aarakocra, too, and the monster selection was spot on for what this was. Additionally, the descriptions are amazing and throw you right into the scene. It pulls no punches when it comes to the reality of the undead. You can almost smell the rot.

They also did an amazing job doling out side-quests for all factions, not just one or two. My players were all either Zhentarim or Emerald Enclave, but I feel as though if I’d had others, they’d have been satisfied with what their factions have asked them to do. All in all it really feels like the PCs choices matter, and I felt like that continued throughout the module.

The modules are supposed to be about 2 hours of play each, so 6 hours total and that is pretty much how long my party took to get through it. Your mileage may vary, but major props to these guys for an accurate estimation of how long these are going to take.

Rot From Within

Promotional art for Tomb of Annihilation illustrates the kinds of dangers in the jungles of Chult. A zombie-spewing zombie T-Rex? Gross. Saddle up that dino and get moving! [Art by Wizards of the Coast]

The bad of Rot From Within

The first module clocks out at 40 pages, but the adventure itself is only 13. There are three pages after, recapping the rewards the PCs can get from the adventure as well as who some of the NPCs are, and then seven pages of stat blocks for the various monsters.

The player hand-outs are functional but they don’t look great. I can respect the extra effort of putting each one on its own page, but it really pads the adventure out and makes it look like you are getting more content than you actually are.

Admittedly, Parts 2 and 3 are a little better about this. They are still 13 pages of adventure, but the modules as a whole are 23 and 22 pages respectively with less rehash of what you can find in the core books, which is a little bit less deceptive.

Mind you, this is just personal opinion, again, your mileage may vary and I will admit I have a bit of a bias as I am personally not a huge fan of small installments and would feel better just buying it all at once. That said, I could see running any part of this trilogy as a standalone adventure and it would feel perfectly at home.

Buy this adventure if you…

  • want really well fleshed out NPCs who are a load of fun to play as, this might be the module for you.
  • are looking for a good rendering of undead with all the nitty gritty grossness that comes with them, this might be the module for you.
  • have a group who are all really into their factions, this might be the module for you.
  • want a good quick 2 hour session you can prepare for quickly and tie up easily at the end, you might want to just buy one part. I would suggest Rotting Roots, I think my players had the most fun with that part.

Overall, though, these games were a good experience. My group had fun and ultimately that is what we’re going for.

[NERDITOR’S NOTE: If you add these D&D adventures to your cart, use Nerdarchy’s exclusive one-time coupon code DTRPG-Nerdarchy for a 10 percent discount on digital orders $10 or more. This code is available at any of the OneBookShelf sites like DM’s Guild and DriveThruRPG. Stay nerdy!]

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Like this?

Did you enjoy this post? Nerdarchy’s awesome volunteer staff of writers and editors do their best to create engaging, useful and fun content to share. If you like what you find here on our site, consider patronizing us in a good way through Patreon.
On top of reaching our goal of paying our writers, pledging gets you exclusive monthly content for your D&D game, opportunities to game with Nerdarchy, access to patron-only channels on our Discord and more.
With your generous support we’ll continue to create quality content between our YouTube channel and blog, invest in equipment to increase recording quality, and eventually create original publications and products to enhance your tabletop role-playing and gaming experience.
Thank you for your consideration and as always, until next time stay nerdy!


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Robin Miller

Speculative fiction writer and part-time Dungeon Master Robin Miller lives in southern Ohio where they keep mostly nocturnal hours and enjoys life’s quiet moments. They have a deep love for occult things, antiques, herbalism, big floppy hats and the wonders of the small world (such as insects and arachnids), and they are happy to be owned by the beloved ghost of a black cat. Their fiction, such as The Chronicles of Drasule and the Nimbus Mysteries, can be found on Amazon.

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