What do you think?
Rate this book
Advanced Dungeons and Dragons Module #L2
The Assassin's Knot
"If you want someone murdered, go to Garrotten." It is a common saying in Restenford. The small, peaceful town of Garrotten is rumored to be the headquarters of a deadly band of assassins. Perhaps there is nothing to this talk. Perhaps it is true. There has never been any reason to find out. Until now... The Baron of Restenford is dead. The first day following his death, Restenford was a hornet's nest of activity. No one was allowed to enter or leave. The castle itself was sealed to outsiders as soon as the murder was discovered. Wild rumors hinted that the body was left in a condition that made magical restoration impossible. That evening came an urgent summons from the reclusive sorceror, Pelltar, whose council continued late into the night. By midmorning of the next day, you were well on your way to Garrotten. Three slender clues are all that remain - three possible chances to unravel the tangled web of intrigue that doomed the Baron of Restenford. The sun is warm, and the land around you is full of life. By nightfall, you will arrive.
32 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1983
32 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
December 31, 2013
"Assassin is spelled ass ass in," I clearly remember telling my disbelieving best bud Dan in 4th grade. Ass, ass, in…ha! Still cracks me up!
The Assassin's Knot was more than the ordinary Dungeons & Dragons adventure. It was a murder mystery! In this sort of sequel to The Secret of Bone Hill (yes, you better believe more adolescent fun was had over the bone in that title!) the object is to discover who killed the Baron. The killer must be found before he kills again!
Your search leads you to a small village just dripping with assassins. They're all undercover of course, but you can tell who they are. Just look for the sinister fu manchu and shifty eyes. Solving the mystery is not mind-bendingly difficult…well, at least figuring out who didn't do it is fairly easy. This plot wasn't written by Agatha Christie. Though, I should hand it to Lakofka for giving enough detail and suggestions to provide the basis for a fun game experience with unexpected surprises and plenty of player latitude to do just what they pleased, without going overboard and micro-managing each step the players took.
I played this only once when I was about 11 years old and I didn't know what the hell was going on. I followed every deadend lead and went on wild goose chases…literally chasing after an octopus in a lake for no damn good reason. I fiddled around at the inn (gratuitous buxom wench obviously included), futzed about with the town drunkard, and went door to door annoying the town's inhabitants. If memory serves, I ran out of time and never caught the murderer.
If you were a player who loved to roleplay, this was one of the ultimate modules for your style. Unless you forced it, there was very little of the usual hack-n-slash going on here. In fact, there's hardly any monsters, just a whole lot of sly foxes with their cunning traps. In The Assassin's Knot it seems like everyone's in on it, but you!
The Assassin's Knot was more than the ordinary Dungeons & Dragons adventure. It was a murder mystery! In this sort of sequel to The Secret of Bone Hill (yes, you better believe more adolescent fun was had over the bone in that title!) the object is to discover who killed the Baron. The killer must be found before he kills again!
Your search leads you to a small village just dripping with assassins. They're all undercover of course, but you can tell who they are. Just look for the sinister fu manchu and shifty eyes. Solving the mystery is not mind-bendingly difficult…well, at least figuring out who didn't do it is fairly easy. This plot wasn't written by Agatha Christie. Though, I should hand it to Lakofka for giving enough detail and suggestions to provide the basis for a fun game experience with unexpected surprises and plenty of player latitude to do just what they pleased, without going overboard and micro-managing each step the players took.
I played this only once when I was about 11 years old and I didn't know what the hell was going on. I followed every deadend lead and went on wild goose chases…literally chasing after an octopus in a lake for no damn good reason. I fiddled around at the inn (gratuitous buxom wench obviously included), futzed about with the town drunkard, and went door to door annoying the town's inhabitants. If memory serves, I ran out of time and never caught the murderer.
If you were a player who loved to roleplay, this was one of the ultimate modules for your style. Unless you forced it, there was very little of the usual hack-n-slash going on here. In fact, there's hardly any monsters, just a whole lot of sly foxes with their cunning traps. In The Assassin's Knot it seems like everyone's in on it, but you!
January 24, 2014
This module has two ingredients that I absolutely love in an adventure: getting the players to solve a mystery, and having the players plan a raid on a fortified position. Never having run it or played in it, I can't tell how hard it is to solve the mystery, but once the raid is on and the invisible zombies start showing up, I think this will be a lot of fun. However, I only gave the module 3 stars because it just wasn't as fun to read. In order to provide the DM with information to handle a deep investigation, there are so many details provided which just don't matter. It's hard to read this module and not start to skim everything. Also, the DM had better have his assassination rules down well, because once the party is marked for death, they'll be coming out of the woodwork to take our heroes out! One knock against the mystery is I find the multiple-personality priest a silly and unnecessary plot twist, and I also find the conclusion that the mayor of one city will be able to grab power in another equally hard to swallow, so the DM will need to work the assassination motivations more deeply into his campaign than what is presented here. Going after the Baron's captive djinni may make more sense, for instance.
September 7, 2025
L2 The Assassins Knot was an atypical offering for 1983, albeit in the years of 82 and 83 where more story based modules were arriving (Pharaoh, Ravenloft, Crystal Cave). Building on the sandbox L1, which to me felt rather aimless and lacked direction, we have a murder mystery plot that occurs in Resenford (the town in Secret of Bone Hill). In an era of dungeons and wilderness treasure acquisition it was a bold move forward: so does it work?
Certainly the granularity evident in L1 is here also- Lakofka is precise in his detail and in his excellent NPC design. He outlines the murder and possible further assassinations; gives a timeline; details locations in great detail; notes who knows what and whom, again in detail. There's some sensible fudges (plenty of alignment masking) and use of psionics (which must be utterly rare in AD&D modules). Finally, he throws in suggested complications and 'roadblocks' for the characters as they investigate.
Unfortunately the lay out doesn't easily lend itself to following the intricacies of the red herrings, the contacts, and the various assassins. Lakofka may have been more advised to create a flow chart or summary diagram of NPC links, a list of clues, or at least vague direction of which revelations or confessions lead to other locations. That's not hand-holding, but as written it would take a skilled DM to get the best out of this module.
It's suggested for levels 2-5 and 6-10 PCs of that level range. I'd say it would work best, as mystery and heist adventures do, for lower number better level. The lethality of some traps and NPCs make me inclined to suggest 6 of level 4 would be optimal unless the party splits into smaller groups.
The maps are great, although the orientation can be confusing with north sometimes being at at a weird angle. The art is variable inside and the cover pretty poor compared to many of that era (I like both the classic late 70s of Otus, Willingham, Dee and the mid-late 80s of Elmore, Parkinson, and Easley).
A great read that made me think more of the UK series (U1-3 and UK1-4) than more traditional US modules.
Certainly the granularity evident in L1 is here also- Lakofka is precise in his detail and in his excellent NPC design. He outlines the murder and possible further assassinations; gives a timeline; details locations in great detail; notes who knows what and whom, again in detail. There's some sensible fudges (plenty of alignment masking) and use of psionics (which must be utterly rare in AD&D modules). Finally, he throws in suggested complications and 'roadblocks' for the characters as they investigate.
Unfortunately the lay out doesn't easily lend itself to following the intricacies of the red herrings, the contacts, and the various assassins. Lakofka may have been more advised to create a flow chart or summary diagram of NPC links, a list of clues, or at least vague direction of which revelations or confessions lead to other locations. That's not hand-holding, but as written it would take a skilled DM to get the best out of this module.
It's suggested for levels 2-5 and 6-10 PCs of that level range. I'd say it would work best, as mystery and heist adventures do, for lower number better level. The lethality of some traps and NPCs make me inclined to suggest 6 of level 4 would be optimal unless the party splits into smaller groups.
The maps are great, although the orientation can be confusing with north sometimes being at at a weird angle. The art is variable inside and the cover pretty poor compared to many of that era (I like both the classic late 70s of Otus, Willingham, Dee and the mid-late 80s of Elmore, Parkinson, and Easley).
A great read that made me think more of the UK series (U1-3 and UK1-4) than more traditional US modules.
September 5, 2021
This adventure is an unusual mix of a "murder mystery" and town investigation coupled with a possible raid on a fortified castle. I rate it highly for originality (especially at the time) but there are a few negatives. Many parties won't figure out the assassins' identities or their plot and "losing" is a very real possibility. Even if they do figure it out, the castle and the enemies appear to be very strong relative to the characters' suggested level so this will be a challenge. Finally, compared to modern D&D supplements, the characters are not well-fleshed out due to the limitations of the 32-page format, so the DM will need to prepare for the roleplaying in advance or it might fall flat. Still, with sufficient preparation this module could be fun (assuming the right group of players) and it is different from the standard "dungeon crawl" or "kill the evil monster" quest.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews