The 1980s 1
Miami 6
Beginning the Adventure 8
Shakedown 9
El Circulo Revealed 14
Colombian Connection 18
Happenings at Home 21
Going After Caruso 23
Colombian Return 29
Concluding the Adventure 30
Appendix I 31
Appendix II 43

The Upside:

Miami Under Fire is the second Quick Play Adventure from Small Niche Games. The adventure is set in 1980s Miami, specifically the glamorized 1980s of television which is perfect for gaming.

Before the adventure even starts we are provided with a good, if brief, overview of the 1980s. We have a list of movies (Buckaroo Bonzai is notably missing from the list), TV Shows (split be Crime Related and Other), Music getting radio play (though a lot of the music listed is from the 1970s it did get excessive play in the 80s), fashion, cars, technology and the cost of living (with a short price guide out of a Sear Catalogue from 1985). The last bit for that extra realism in your games is a list of slang used heavily in the decade. Totally helpful.

Next is a set up for Miami for the adventure itself. Focusing on the police force, gangs and drug lords and a What The Police Know section for the initial set up and introduction. The premise of the adventure is a series of murders of drug lords has taken place. The PCs play a Vice Squad who are part of a larger investigation into who is behind the murders and why.

I'm going to only skim the layout of the adventure so I don't give it away - it is a police investigation that involves some mystery after all.

Part 1 - Shakedown. The opening part of the adventure is six short encounters. Starting with a routine drug bust, starting the PCs out at the bottom of the drug lord food chain. This section should have the PCs meet a politician, make some contacts, get further up the drug food chain, and take some drugs and dealers off the streets.

It's a good intro start, especially if you're treating the adventure like a 1980s Cop Show. The characters immediately get into the thick of things, have some classic police tropes (interviews, saving innocents, and shoot outs).

Part 2 - El Circulo Revealed. As the PCs investigate it's only natural they encounter one of the last Drug Lords in the string of murders who isn't dead yet, they're all connected of course. Not to mention the press, get some more contacts on other police working the case and get further up the drug food chain (hopefully at least).

Moving along we have the inevitable complication (the press) and continued advancement on their case. If played right this should be building tension as the group gets deeper into the thick of things.

Part 3 - Columbian Connection. The Drug Lord from the previous scenario hopefully survived, if not this section takes a bit of wrangling to get into (but the adventure is written well enough that the wrangling merely frustrates PCs - not stop the adventure). The PCs group splits at this point, which is not very common in pre-written adventures, but works well here. Group one goes to Columbia to meet the supplier behind the Drug Lords being murdered.

Part 4 - Happenings At Home. This section is really the companion to Part 3, as this is for the part of the group that didn't go to Columbia. First some more dealings with the press, how they handle themselves could make life easier or harder down the line. Then a meeting with another major player in the drug kingdom.

Part 5 - Going After Caruso. Caruso is the politician from Part 1, this is the plot twist. It involves his step-son and wife. And of course the PCs are framed for something and Internal Affairs gets involved (yanking the PCs badges!). This is the part of the cop show where the tough, now rogue, PCs fly in the face of the system they're part of to Get The Job Done Right. And what plot twist doesn't involve an ambush! One of those is here too as the characters finally get into whose really behind everything. The section ends with a car chase (classic!) and leaves the ending open for either capture or escape of the main bad guy.

This is where the show ends really. The main plot opened up at the beginning to resolved and everyone gets reinstated (hopefully) as their badges are returned. But not all the loose ends are tied up.

Part 6 Columbian Return. If there were end credits, this is the scene that would play out during them. The PCs return to Columbia to take out the supplier, making sure no one fills the vacancy left by the murdered drug lords. A good solid conclusion that can be skipped if you run out of time (in the case of convention play where that might come into play), or don't feel like tying that particular end up if you're running an ongoing campaign and need a long term enemy. But resolving this section gives complete closure for the PCs group on the events in the adventure.

Appendix 1. This is the character sheets, in short form, of all the major NPCs. Police, criminals, and others. Full information on the gangs involves is provided as well.  All the pertinent NPC info is right here in one place for east reference.

Appendix 2. D20 Modern stats for all the weapons and vehicles the PCs are likely to encounter in the adventure. As well as maps for each of the encounter areas, each on their own page for easy printing. The maps do not have grids of any kind, meaning it's easy to use them for other adventures, in any system. finding clear overlay sheets of grid maps is easy these days, so I consider a gridless set of maps a bonus. The best map is the set of streets for the car chase, a long stretch of street is useful in many modern games and this comes with four sections, one of which is a bridge over water. Making multiple copies of each section can give some variety to a nice long stretch of road.

The last bit is a GM NPC section, a quick overview of all the NPCs and what group they belong to. A Player handout, with the important information from the beginning of the adventure. Ten PC character sheets are provided, a good mix three regular officers and seven detectives means you can mix things up a bit, or accommodate a large group of people. The PCs themselves are well done and involve a good mix of personalities.

One very nice touch is at the beginning of each section there is a "If All Goes Well" box that outlines the accomplishments the PCs should be trying for, and if all does in fact go well, should get. What happens if things go wrong is taken on a case by case basis and accounted for so that's good too.

The Downside:

Not much of one really. It's a solid adventure. I would say something about a tendency to railroad, but honestly it is intended to be picked up and played without much setup, and is ideal for a convention setting. So I really don't consider that a downside.

The only remark I have is this is obviously a good companion adventure for the Vice Squad Miami Nights setting book from the same company for the GenreDiverioni system. Why is wasn't written first for that system I don't know, but it should have been.

The Otherside:

Pretty easily adaptable to any system, most of the D20 Modern mechanics are left out of the adventure text (though many times major characters are included in the text, but easily ignored if you're not running D20 Modern).

I'd say this is a good solid Modern adventure set in the 1980s, and worth a run through if you like the Cop Genre, Modern Genre or just want to wear pastels in character. Like the first Quick Play Adventure this comes with a Printer Friendly copy of the file that removes the pictures so you aren't using all your ink up.

Thanks a lot for the review!  You pretty much touched on everything without giving anything away.  I'm glad you liked it.  

We have a genreDiversion i version of this adventure for Vice Squad: Miami Nights and we wanted to release them together, but we've had a rash of things that have its release.  I hope to have it available soon.

For those who are interested, the d20 Modern version is available here:

http://www.pigames.net/store/product_info.php?cPath=43&products_id=289

http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=29481&it=1

Thanks again!

Pete

EDIT:  Forgot to add that at RPGNow Miami Under Fire is also now part of a joint bundle with RPGObjects's Modern System: Police Procedural, so if you want rules for how real cops solve crimes (as opposed to 80s cops), pick up the two products together at a discount.