N1 in the time of 5E - Against the Cult of the Reptile God Review

Terror by night! The village of Orlane Is dying. Once a small and thriving community. Orlane has become a maze of locked doors and frightened faces. Strangers are shunned, trade has withered. Rumors flourish, growing wilder with each retelling. Terrified peasants flee their homes, abandoning their farms with no explanation. Others simply disappear...
No one seems to know the cause of the decay—why are there no clues? Who skulks through the twisted shadows of the night? Who or what Is behind the doom that has overtaken the village? It will take a brave and skillful band of adventurers to solve the dark riddle of Orlane!

One of my favorite modules and definitely my favorite of the 1st/2nd edition AD&D modules I’ve gotten to run/play, Against The Cult of the Reptile God is a fantastic low level module that you can easily translate to any fantasy RPG. I’ve now gotten to play it once, run it full through twice and I’ve broken it apart and used various pieces of it to set up the campaign and adventure locations in the Antagonist Relations Podcast Actual Play Beyond the Wall game.

What makes Against the Cult of the Reptile God great to run? (Spoilers follow)

Adaptability

Though set in Greyhawk, the locations easily fit into other settings without much fiddling. With the generic fantasy feel of the village, it’s easy to rename any named locations and NPCs to fit as needed.

A Mini-Sandbox

Orlane provides a mini-sandbox for the players to explore without feeling like it overwhelms them with too many options. There are many threads for PCs to pick up and explore in the village that can lead them to uncover the mystery.

A Good Introduction to the Three Pillars (and Dungeons!)

The module could be a little light on Exploration, with the journey from Orlane to the Naga’s dungeon serving , but Social Interaction and Combat are well represented with plenty of opportunity for players to speak to the various NPCs of Orlane as they attempt to unravel the mystery and plenty of chances to seek out or stumble into combat. The module also has a nice array of dungeons of different sizes, from the mini-dungeons of the Golden Grain Inn or the cellar of the ruined Foaming Mug Inn, to the small dungeon of the Temple, with its opportunity for stealth and infiltration on the upper two levels to the fairly expansive swamp dungeon.

Perplexing, in a good way.

As I’ve written before, I think that the mystery that the cult poses, as well as the competing inns of the Slumbering Serpent and Golden Grain, provide a perplexing situation for players, drawing them further into the plot of the game by letting them easily discover that not all is as it seems but requiring them to do a bit of leg work before they can determine exactly what is behind the perplexity.

Well Contained

The module is self-contained, with a good beginning, middle (clearing the village of the cult) and end (defeating the naga in the dungeon) that feels very satisfying. It’s a great mini-campaign, providing 4 to 6 four hour sessions. The last time I ran it for 5th edition d&d we completed the module in 6 four hour sessions, with one session devoted mostly to travel in the swamp with improvised encounters and with the PCs taking the quick way through the dungeon and skipping about half of the second level of the dungeon.

Cult Activity as Time Passes

Another great thing about the module is that it offers events for the DM to utilize to make the village feel like a living place, with cult members and troglodytes attempting to kidnap NPCs and even the PCs if they choose poorly in their lodgings. This keeps the module from feeling rote and static.

Tips for Adapting to 5e D&D

PC Level

I started PCs at 2nd level, but it would be easy for a DM to start PCs at 1st level, let them encounter goblins in the Dim Forest on the way to Orlane and then have them hit level 2 when they arrive. I would recommend letting the PCs hit 3rd level before they leave Orlane to delve into the swamp in search of the Naga’s dungeon.

Stats

There is a DM’s guild product that provides converted stats, Classic Modules Today: N1 Against the Cult of the Reptile God (5e), but honestly I had no trouble just using stats from the Monster Manual as they seemed appropriate. The only monster I had to find homebrew stats for was the Coffer Corpse, and I used the stats here--which worked really well, as the party I ran for was thoroughly creeped out when the coffer corpse continued to rise up from the dead.

Hooks

There are lots of hooks in Orlane if you give it a little thought. PCs can be asked by patrons to locate missing villagers, like the missing proprietors of the Foaming Mug Inn or any of the prisoners in the dungeon (the carpenter’s children, the merchant or really any NPC you want to stash here). I’ve also found it works well to change the Temple of Merikka to a deity that is worshipped by a cleric or paladin in your party.

Ramne / Magic Treasure / The Naga

Discussing these all at once because I find how you handle one becomes intertwined with the others when you run the module.

Having the old wizard accompany the party to the dungeon has always seemed a little much to me and I have more fun playing him up as a senile old coot who has very little control of his faculties, which makes it easier to explain how the cult established itself while he was in town. He can be an excellent source of minor magic items for the PCs though, and could have a scroll or two or a potion to provide. The module calls out that Ramne should cast Globe of Invulnerability for the party when they confront the Naga, but I’ve found that having him provide a Potion of Invulnerability for each PC works just as well.

Much of the other magical treasure I gave out as written, if the PCs discovered it. The only item that doesn’t translate well is the Horn of Bubbles, but I think you could either leave it out or swap in a common item or two from Xanathar’s Guide to Everything, and also, as part of the Naga’s treasure, the PCs probably won’t find it until they have almost completed the adventure.

Don’t forget that if the PCs gain the trust of the Mayor or the farmer/ranger, those two NPCs, as former adventurers could provide magic weapons/armor to the PCs to assist them, especially if they know the PCs have made the village safe by dealing with the cult there and are heading out into the swamp to find the dungeon.

For the Naga, to keep it from being too overpowering, I just used the stats for a Bone Naga that was a Spirit Naga in life, while continuing to use the description of Explictica Defilus from the book, which dropped the creature from a completely deadly CR 8 to a tough CR 4. Even at only CR 4 it should remain a challenge, especially if you make sure the Reptile God uses charm person, sleep, hold person and lightning bolt wisely in combat.