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Title: The Star Cairns (First in the Lost Tombs Series) by Sean K. Reynolds, Tony Szczudlo ISBN: 0786912502 Publisher: Wizards of the Coast Pub. Date: September, 1998 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $11.95

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Average Customer Rating: 4.4

Rating: 5
Summary: D & D as it used to be, Great for novice DM's
Comment: After trying out Sea of Blood as a new DM (played for years as a character) and deeply disliking the way the story went, this is wonderful. It gives the novice DM all the info. necessary to run a dungeon the players like (isn't that what it's all about?) as well as having fun yourself and learning how to be a better DM. Very enjoyable story. Exploring all 5 Cairns was fun.

Rating: 3
Summary: Toadkiller Dawg says: Not bad, but could be better
Comment: The module details four of the five Star Cairns, which is somewhat disappointing since this seemed like a missed opportunity to present the lost fifth Star Cairn. Instead, the four known Star Cairns with their current inhabitants are listed while the fifth is apparently still missing.

While the inhabitants vary widely, the floor plans for the four Cairns are essentially identical and this appears likely to take some of the fun out of exploring a new Cairn, players will already know where the chambers, stairs and halls lead after seeing any one of the Cairns. There are some common magical features and creatures as well, players and DMs alike will probably find themselves saying things like "Hm, the kitchen should be that way and that's where we will find the mephits...", there could have been more variety between the Cairns. This can be a major drawback if you don't run a WoG campaign or wanted to run the Cairns as four separate dungeons, the DM is restricted to a unifying theme and it is all but impossible to pass the Cairns off as unrelated dungeon crawls, something for which they are probably best suited.

Plotting and story lines are quite thin and the Cairns apparently operate wholly independently of one another with only a few general suggestions for the DM in how these NPCs might be incorporated into the campaign as a whole. This again is a missed opportunity since three of the four Cairns have inhabitants that could be developed into major NPCs or centers of power and it seems unlikely that such potentially powerful groups could dwell within a few miles of each other with practically no interaction or interest in the others. The golem Cairn was rather neat, but is probably a one-time dungeon crawl while the necromancer Cairn was fairly unimpressive as it doesn't seem very workable as written. The doppleganger and beholder Cairns were among the best of the lot, but too many details were left unanswered about these creatures and their often far-ranging activities.

Though the Cairns were supposedly built by powerful wizards, the use of permanent magical effects was a bit overdone and there is the definite feeling that a group that explored all four Cairns in succession would rapidly grow bored with the identical layouts and features. While the history of the Star Cairns was rather interesting, the background material is a bit sloppy and some of the information directly conflicts with previously published Greyhawk material, for example an ancient wizard is referred to as serving the Malachite Throne some two centuries before the throne was created and the small-scale map changes the location of some previously established places of renown. I really wanted to like this product, but nagging problems like these were just a little too frequent to recommend the product as anything more than mediocre.

Rating: 4
Summary: Star Cairns: Best AD&D module in a Loooooong time
Comment: The latest from TSR/WOTC is The Star Cairns first in a series of modules designed for TSR's reborn World of Greyhawk called The Lost Tombs Series.

Adventurers are tapped to discover the secret of a newly rediscovered series of crypts. But all is not as it seems.

This module is perfect for beginning DMs as well as grizzled veteran DMs. The beauty lies in the perfect mix of detail and vaguery. The module is detailed enough for new DMs to base a beginning campaign on and broad enough to be woven into an established campaign: the hallmark of GreyHawk itself.

All in all Star Cairns is a quality product and Sean Reynolds is a rising star to be watched.