I started with Gargoyle this week to illustrate the state of Greyhawk in 1989: for the most part, a punchline. But in 1990, things were changing. City of Greyhawk came out the previous year and, while I don’t love that box, it served as a good foundation for Carl Sargent to build a Greyhawk revival on. The next step was the trilogy of Falcon scenarios, all three of which were penned by Richard and Anne Brown. This is the first of them, Falcon’s Revenge (1990).
Now, I had this and its direct sequel as a kid and I selected them from the Waldenbooks shelves specifically because the included cardboard building projects within called to me. I made a total mess of them, but nevertheless adore their memory. I’d probably pop these replacement sheets out and build them again if my more prudent collecting angel on my shoulder wasn’t tsk-tsking the idea. Lotta personal nostalgia attached to these, is what I am saying.
That said, I think these modules hold up. This one is pretty solid for the ’90s-era TSR event-crawl fair. It even has some dungeons to crawl towards the end (though, holy wow, there is a note that the sewer portion draws from maps in the City of Greyhawk box and if the DM doesn’t have that, well, they better map up some sewers and the tone of it really took me aback and…not entirely in a bad way). The thing here is that the story is pretty solid and constantly refers the action back to the strongly defined cityscape it is set in (contrast with Ravenloft modules, whose stories feel like Dark Shadows b-plots that usually travelogue through several locations, diminishing the sense of place). I am generally not a fan of these style adventures and, I think testament to the quality here, I was genuinely surprised when I revisited these to find that they are that very thing I usually do not enjoy.
That plot centers on the cult of Iuz and its rivalry with St. Cuthbert, which is somewhat central to Greyhawk lore. This chapter is nothing earth-shattering; it mainly sees the players trying but failing to stop the return of the cult’s disgraced former leader, the titular Falcon. However, I must stress, they can succeed and blow up the whole plot (something the ongoing series of interconnected Ravenloft adventures would never tolerate).
Ken Frank on the cover and inside. Love this era of Greyhawk mostly for Frank’s efforts. Pretty much all the city atmosphere is down to him.
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