MV1. Midnight on Dagger Alley
Author: Merle M. Rasmussen
Illustrator: Jeff Easley
First Published: 1984
ISBN: 0-88038-185-X
Length: 118 sections, plus rules and various tables
Number of Endings: Story ends only by character death
Plot Summary: You travel through the city of Goldstar at night,
having a different adventure depending on which pre-created character you
choose to play as.
My Thoughts: Like the Boot Hill solo
module, I found this adventure highly disappointing. First of all, it must
be played with a pre-created character, which makes the acquisition of
experience and treasure rather less exciting than if an existing character
could be used. While the pre-created characters seem interesting at first,
the general plotlessness of the module prevents the idea from working.
Secondly, playing the adventure involves peering through a piece of red
cellophane at a cumbersome map full of fairly ambiguous symbols. It's hard
to tell exactly what you're allowed to do and where you're allowed to go, and
since the same piece of cellophane is needed to read the entries in the story
booklet (which correspond with certain spots on the map), it's a real pain to
switch from the map to the book; the whole system grows old very quickly. I
have to admit that I only managed to play this for about half an hour before
I couldn't stand it anymore; perhaps I missed something brilliant, but I have
my doubts. This should have been a whole lot better than it is.