Desert Angel Fiasco: A One-Shot Adventure I'd Run Again Tomorrow

Desert Angel Fiasco. I love this adventure. I’ve run it, I’ve had a blast, and it’s designed brilliantly for a one-shot.

It comes in 5e and OSR versions - practically identical except monster stat blocks are smaller in the OSR version. I’m covering the OSR one.

The Setup

Some say the world is dying. Others say the desert is growing. Either way, merchants and traders have always found new ways to cross the great sand sea. Today, someone found a way to fly over it.

The Desert Angel. An airship. First voyage. Usually takes three weeks by caravan. This ship promises three days - and it’s going straight across the middle, through areas no one’s ever crossed.

That’s it. That’s your hook. Who wouldn’t want to be on that maiden voyage?

Linear But Not A Railroad

This is linear. The ship follows a route. But linear doesn’t mean railroad.

A railroad is when you know what’s going to happen regardless of player choices. This isn’t that. Depending on what the players do at each stop, depending on who they interact with and how - everything changes. Their actions impact what happens later. It’s definitely not a railroad.

The Heavy Lifting Is Done

When you buy a module, you want it to pay you back in saved time. This absolutely does.

The layout is perfect. Text to read to players is always short. Then description. Then bold underlined elements that get broken down below. You know exactly what to read, what to describe, what to expand on.

Prep work is minimal. Read it once to enjoy it. Highlight on the second read. Go.

The characters are real. Captain Avaar: short white hair, dark brown skin, patch over left eye, expensive silks, golden head scarf. Expert sailor, protective of ship, tells bizarre sailing stories. You know exactly how to play them.

And the Quarter Master? Secretly planning to kill the captain. Every NPC has their own plans that play out whether players interfere or not.

Sailing Checks Control Everything

As you travel, sailing checks determine what happens. Roll a d6 - 1-3 is fail, 4-6 is pass. Modifiers based on whether the ship’s been damaged, whether key crew are alive.

If they pass: The captain spots giant sand fleas about to leap on the ship and deftly avoids them.

If they fail: Dozens of giant sand fleas leap aboard. Six land on the deck. Combat.

I let the players roll these checks. They know they’re having an impact. The results aren’t my fault either way - it’s their roll.

Player Choices Create Consequences

The Rock Spire. There are lights up there. If players investigate, they find thieves planning to raid the ship. Stop them now, problem solved. Ignore it? The thieves raid the ship later.

The rewards for investigating are incredible. A wearable collapsible hand glider. Carries one person, must launch from 60 feet, can travel 50 miles. Player can’t use hands for anything else while flying.

That’s a magic item. That’s the kind of creativity this module hands out for players who engage with it.

Days And Nights

The three-day trip is split into days and nights. Each section tells you:

• Where everyone is
• What events can happen
• What people are planning

The midnight raid only happens if players didn’t deal with those thieves earlier. The mutiny has multiple outcomes depending on whether you catch the poisoner beforehand, during the act, or not at all.

It’s not story you’re following. It’s situations that play out based on what players do.

The Magic Items

A tiny gold figurine called Hager’s Cat. Once per day, place it beside an object and the cat shoves the object one foot forward - no matter how large, heavy, or immovable.

The uses are almost unlimited. It can only be used once a day so it won’t break your game. But giving players tools that require creativity? That always brings out the best.

A Phoenix Crashes Into The Ship

Early afternoon, peak heat. Dark shape in the sky tumbles wildly, plummeting toward the ship. Before you can react, a flaming black bird crashes into the main sail and hangs there.

If the players are lucky, this Phoenix might imprint on one of them.

Just awesome.

Bottom Line

I would 100% run this again. The pacing works for one session, or stretch it to two if your players are inquisitive. There’s enough content to fill either.

Dungeon Age Adventures as a whole are fantastic. Joseph Robert Lewis knows how to write modules that do the heavy lifting. I’ll be covering more of his stuff.

Get it. Desert Angel Fiasco