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The Magic Balance
by James B. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 03/25/2022 01:26:33

A module for OSRIC, and therefore compatible with the 1st Edition of the world's most famous role-playing game. The adventure has a neat concept - magic has been thrown out of balance, and the players must make things right. There's a fun table of magical malfunctions in the back that supports this. Unfortunately, the module itself doesn't make the most of this premise - instead, we get a line of events and NPCs that carries the players from plot point to plot point with minimal player agency. (It doesn't help that this feels at times like an upgrade of someone's home game, rather than something originally intended for publication.) The general outline is decent, but the execution is disappointing and merely adequate. (Originally posted on Goodreads)



Rating:
[3 of 5 Stars!]
The Magic Balance
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Caeron 3000 The Science Fiction Role-Playing Game
by Stephen Y. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 02/27/2014 11:49:45

This PDF is 171 pages long (167 pages being the actual content).

Artwork: pretty good (all black and white). Caeron 3000 is basically OSR (D&D) space fantasy.

It has the character sheet (2 page), world map & other sheets with a sample scenario at the back.

There are other OSR sci-fi RPGs: Star Without Numbers (£11.99 - Core, or the free edition), Hulks & Horrors (£8.99) for example. I believe Dragonstar would also be among the list as well.

Apart from the 2 reviews here, there are no other reviews of any kind on any other RPG sites. The website (caeron3000.com) is non-existent. Magiqueproductions.com is barely working; only the Home & Contact are working, and have no mention of Caeron 3000. It's as if they've just tucked it under the carpet and forgotten it.

The only colour is the front & back covers.

At £4.50, it doesn't seem too bad (some support from the publisher would be nice).



Rating:
[3 of 5 Stars!]
Caeron 3000 The Science Fiction Role-Playing Game
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Creator Reply:
Thank you for your very honest and forgiving review. It has been a long time since we did anything with the Caeron 3000 brand and it unfortunately was tucked away for a very long time. However, I'm happy to say that we are working on an updated version of the game, which will be released with a full-color hardcover option. The game universe is going to be changing quite a bit, but I believe all for the better. In addition to the updated rulebook, we are also planning to release adventure content. The website will be updated with the new game information and we plan to support the product going forward.
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Dark Raiders of Misty Ridge
by Jim C. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 03/19/2010 01:14:08

As the description suggests, this is an adaptable sort of scenario in which adventurers assist a seaside village against marauding humanoids, with some nicely constructed encounters. I received a copy of this product through the Gamers Helping Haiti bundle.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
Dark Raiders of Misty Ridge
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Caeron 3000 The Science Fiction Role-Playing Game
by Jim C. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 12/01/2009 00:11:38

Not a bad-looking book with good-quality art (also see the addendum which has more dramatic race depictions) and layout. The PDF would be better with bookmarks. Rules and equipment are quite derivative of other products, mainly D&D with some Star Wars elements. The setting is a fairly simplistic science fantasy. Each has some points of interest - particularly some of the races and the skill-based character generation, with careers mostly as a guideline (some mechanical effects persist in the form of starting skills).



Rating:
[3 of 5 Stars!]
Caeron 3000 The Science Fiction Role-Playing Game
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Caeron 3000 The Science Fiction Role-Playing Game
by Timothy S. Date Added: 11/27/2009 22:49:58

Garbage. Poorly disguised D&D rules. Terrible artwork. A game anyone past the age of 12 wouldn't enjoy. This is so disappointing. In a genre full of half-done, poor game systems, this one really takes the cake.



Rating:
[1 of 5 Stars!]
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Advent of Darkness
by Vincent F. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 06/30/2008 19:40:21

The following is a review of the PDF version of Magique Production's OSRIC™ Compatible Module RAM3 "Realms of Arkonus: Advent of Darkness", written by Thomas J. Scott. In the interests of full dislosure the reader of this review should be aware of 2 items. First, I was given an evaluation copy free of charge by Magique Productions. Second, I am one of the contributing editors to the OSRIC project.

Right out of the box "Realms of Arkonus: Advent of Darkness" (AoD) creates a good, solid first impression. The strong title lettering and graphic layout immediately call to mind the spirit of the old school games the OSRIC rules recreate. Cover art is beautiful; a well executed representation of two blue dragons flying in the foreground, a mysterious castle amongst the clouds behind them. We found the overall affect to be pleasing to the eye, with the cover managing to both give a nod to "old school" module design while presenting more forward looking and professional artwork. The teaser beneath the artwork gives an accurate, if somewhat dry, summary of the module and includes the always useful information of number and level of characters for which the adventure is designed. The back cover of the module gives off more of a feeling of excitement, calling to mind a great quest and giving a quick overview of the milieu in which the adventure takes place at the same time. The back cover also notes the module was an official tournament module at Gen Con and Origins, establishing a good pedigree for the material.

The clean, professional layout and excellent artwork continue inside the module. Organization of the material is very intuitive also, with 3 major divisions of the adventure contained within; each with a corresponding appendix complete with player handouts and additional NPC information. Any information intended solely for the GM is clearly marked. The maps are clearly drawn and uncluttered, providing just the right amount of information. There are also handy aids for the overworked GM, such as a table for generating the results of searching non-keyed abandoned buildings in the town of Oszeroc, or, names and personalities of the horses which may be provided to the PCs should they need them. Little touches like this make preparing this module for play a snap. Though AoD is a milieu specific module, the author has done a fine job of including guidelines allowing GMs to adapt the material to their own campaigns, if desired.

The storyline revolves around a long ago conflict between a great evil and the people of Arkonus. At great cost, the evil was driven back and the portal through which it entered the realm was sealed. Now, after a thousand years the evil has returned; a magical gate opening into a realm of Evil has opened in the Realms of Arkonus. The High Mage of the Tower City, a former patron of the adventurers, has summoned their aid once again. The players must reclaim powerful artifacts and reseal the portal. Lest one think the plot sounds too familiar, let us give assurance it is not. As is often the case in a world of magic, not everything is as it seems.

The adventure itself is coherently written and provides a variety of challenges. One aspect of this module we really admired was a concept that ran strong through many of the original RPG campaigns of the 1970s: rushing in to do battle will get a party slaughtered, whereas clever use of PC skills will allow the party to successfully achieve its goal. Lovers of battle need not despair, the party is in for some action no matter how clever they fancy themselves.

Downchecks are minor but we will mention a few areas of concern. There are a few editing issues which come to mind but we will refrain from mentioning them because as this review is being written 2 updates have already been made available to the material. Another problem this reviewer had with the module had to do with format, we would certainly want a hardcopy of the module should we ever decide to run it in our home campaign. Flipping back on forth, on-screen, from the main text to the appendices and maps gets quite tiresome. One last point should be raised, and that is the setting specificity of the module. This is not a problem for many old-school GMs, most of us rewrite commercial products before using them (The Realms of Arkonus Campaign Setting is in the works by Magique, by the way). It may be a problem for fledgling GMs, but what would a young GM be doing with 10th level players in his or her home campaign, anyway?

A common syndrome with tournament based material is known as railroading, defined as a linear plot which PCs must follow from point A to point B to complete. AoD was derived from a tournament module, but we feel author Thomas J. Scott has done a good job of adding material that removes, or at least obscures, the linear nature of the plot and adds good adventure hooks to pull the players from one chapter to the next.

Pros: good presentation of material, good exterior and interior art, entertaining plot.

Cons: setting specific plot (though good advice for adapting it is included), some minor editing issues, some plot railroading issues.

Bottom line: an excellent module, polished and professionally presented. Based upon this material, we plan to follow Magique Production's line of OSRIC modules with great interest.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Advent of Darkness
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Dark Raiders of Misty Ridge
by Peter I. [Featured Reviewer] Date Added: 08/10/2007 03:42:39

Realms of Arkonus: Dark Raiders of Misty Ridge is a 18 page OSRIC adventure for 6 characters of levels 4 to 6. The adventure is set in the Realms of Arkonus, but can readily be transported to any other campaign world. This product is designated as MGQ1002 and is the second adventure release from Magique Productions, the other being MGQ1001, The Forgotten Isle. Both adventures are written by Thomas J. Scott. In this adventure the town of Misty Ridge is threatened by raiders and the PCs are sent to uncover the nature of the raiders and solve the riddle of the Dark Raiders.

The product comes as a single pdf file. As with most other products for OSRIC on the market, the presentation and layout of the product should be familiar to most old school gamers. This pdf includes a fantastic front and back cover, and some excellent artwork in the interior. The sketch, by Paul Daly, of the new monster, the Sprat, is particularly good. Complete bookmarks and a table of contents are provided to allow the DM to easily navigate through this pdf. General writing, editing and organisation of the adventure is very good, and maintains the style of old school games where DMs were given as much information as they needed, but were otherwise left to their own devices. Maps are very good as well, and four well-detailed maps are given for all the various locations, wilderness and dungeon, in this adventure. Presentation-wise an excellent product with some stunning artwork.

Dark Raiders of Misty Ridge takes place in the small and quiet village of Misty Ridge. The villages has recently been raided by mysterious creatures, and the PCs are hired to investigate and put an end to this threat of pillage and killing. PCs will get the chance to be involved in some investigative work, and soon uncover the agents of the raids. Over the course of the adventure the PCs will face threats from both creatures and wilderness as they adventure on the misty cliffs that surround the area. All types of characters and classes will have fun playing this adventure, and the various scenarios are both challenging and fun.

For the most part this is a very simple adventure, but it does being simple extremely well. The exposition of the adventure is very good, and there's plenty of opportunity for the PCs to uncover the entire plot and backstory to the adventure. Too many adventures are written today where there's a fantastic backstory that PCs just never get a chance to learn. The nature and simplicity of the plot means that I'd have probably liked to have seen this adventure for lower level characters. When characters reach levels 4 to 6, I'd have expected something a little more meaty, although this would do fine for a little sidetrek. It's not a long adventure, and should be easy to play through in a couple of enjoyable sessions. The product introduces a new race and a new monster, both which will make a useful addition to the monster repertoire.

Dark Raiders of Misty Ridge can best be summarised as 'simplicity at its best'. This takes a straightforward, yet interesting, storyline, and articulately expands on it to make an enjoyable and thorough adventure combining elements of dungeon crawling, wilderness exploration and roleplaying and investigative work. There are no loose ends by the end of this adventure, although there is scope to expand the adventure beyond what is provided here and room for further adventures after the PCs have completed this one. An enjoyable adventure, very well put together, and worth a look at for any OSRIC gamer.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
Dark Raiders of Misty Ridge
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Creator Reply:
This module has now been reduced to Levels 2 -3, which better suits the overall goals of the adventure as it was originally envisioned.
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The Forgotten Isle
by James B. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 08/06/2007 12:57:22

The Forgotten Isle is a 66 page monster concerning exploration of Maladar, a mysterious island shrouded in legend. In many respects, it reminds me of The Isle of Dread, one of my all time favorite modules, and the structure is basically the same. The party finds clues that lead them to the island’s location and the ancient ruins that populate it.

Where Scott departs from that scenario is the amount of time spent gathering clues to the island's whereabouts beforehand. Ample opportunity for great role play here to balance out the exploration of an ancient civilization and what remains. The stuff of D&D, indeed.

Illustrations and cartography are again dominated by Santiago Iborra. While the cover illustration doesn’t grab me the same way the cover for Dark Raiders did (too many pastels for my taste) it does bring to mind that freaky ghost ship in Poe’s Narrative of A. Gordon Pym. Still, it’s better than a lot of mainline stuff from WOTC and associated publishers.

There’s not much more of the module’s material I can tell you without spoiling the surprise. Scott’s prose reads much better in this previous module than it did in Dark Raiders. He uses boxed text in this one as well and again pulls it off nicely without slowing down the game.

Scott has thrown in two new magic items that are of some interest and can be handily used in any game: the Orb of Geruvoj and a Cloak of Desire… both well thought out items. Lastly, he’s returned to the old practice of including pre-generated PCs for that player caught without his character sheet. It’s a practice I think I’ll also re-introduce in my future works.

Ultimately, I like this module better than Dark Raiders because it provides more useful material. Dark Raiders of Misty Ridge is good for a one shot evening adventure; The Forgotten Isle can easily become an involved scenario for your players that will span several evenings. I think I’ll work this one in with my next group of up-and-comers.

The Forgotten Isle is priced at $7.99, and for its size that’s a good price for this PDF.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
The Forgotten Isle
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Dark Raiders of Misty Ridge
by James B. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 08/03/2007 14:48:08

Dark Raiders of Misty Ridge by Thomas J. Scott is a module tailored for 1st edition games… you know the one… but designated as an OSRIC product. Set for 6 PCs of levels 4-6, it’s really suitable as a one-shot adventure for throw away characters, or for inserting on that gaming evening with the DM is caught with his pants down for something to do. Dark Raiders is more than capable of filling any gap by giving the players a fun evening.

Without spoiling the plot: the basic idea is a village in trouble from mysterious raiders who appear in the mist. The village elders send out a plea for help; the PCs answer the call. Pretty basic idea… easy to handle.

Dark Raiders has 15 pages of pertinent information (with the obligatory license tacked on the end) and four pages of maps. The entire product has a very professional look to it that rivals anything produced by TSR in the first half of the 1980s.

The module itself introduces one monster… the sprat (a magical hybrid of rat and spider), and one new race…the Skeeth (a rather nasty sharklike humanoid), and the Half-Skeeth… but stipulates that the Half-Skeeth is strictly NPC.

The first thing that captures the eye is the killer artwork on the cover. Paul Daly’s rendition of the module’s bad buy looks equally good in its original black and white form on the inside cover (the outside version was colorized by Santiago Iborra… the guy responsible for some first rate map-work in this product). The outside cover for Dark Raiders is visually appealing and brings to mind TSR products circa 1984-85 or so for their B/X modules and their second generation PC record sheets. Not my favorite era, but memory provoking nonetheless and scored serious marks with me in the quality department.

Iborra’s maps are a pleasure to behold… crisp, clean, and no mistakes that I could find. The trained eye can tell that he used some great software called AutoRealm for at least the village map. I’m assuming Iborra also did the interior illustrations, which are sharp, detailed, and non-obtrusive, yet lend to illustrating the module details well.

Scott’s manuscript is easy to read and extremely detailed (see below). He uses a DM device that I have mixed feelings about… “read boxes.” Each encounter has a text to be read to the players. I’ve seen this done well, and I’ve seen it done in horrible fashion. Gary Gygax used it tastefully in Lost Temple of Tharizdun; there are other examples in which it greatly slowed down gameplay. Fortunately, Scott’s read boxes are brief and meaningfully descriptive… he tells the players what their PCs see and that’s all. Good enough for me.

One technical detail about Scott’s prose is his habit of using short sentences to convey information; he should consider using a few more compound sentences to link pertinent info together in one sentence. As it is, his prose comes off slightly choppy and doesn’t flow well. This is just a minor detail that I’m sure he’ll work out in future releases.

Overall…

PRO: excellent artwork, mapwork, and module design. Simple concept, easily plugged into any campaign (though it’s set for Scott’s Arkonus world). Good for a short evening’s play or to introduce new players to the game with pre-generated PCs… or perhaps as a prelude to a bigger scenario.

CON: attention to detail can get repetitive and boring at times. In line with old-school philosophy, Scott should consider letting the DM handle some of the detail in future works.

WOULD I BUY THIS PRODUCT: Yes. The PDF is marked at $3, which is extremely reasonable and worth what you’re getting.

Read this review and others like it at the blog dedicated to "old-school" products: http://greatfane.blogspot.com/



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Dark Raiders of Misty Ridge
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The Forgotten Isle
by Andrew B. [Featured Reviewer] Date Added: 03/31/2007 00:00:00

For those who don't know, OSRIC is an open-content version of the First Edition Advance Dungeons & Dragons rules. Its an effort to give publishers the ability to produce new products for the old game system, and one that has found a small but enthusiastic place in the modern gaming community.

The Forgotten Island is a module originally written in 1991 and ran at a convention called U-Con. This is an updated and revised version. The adventure spans some seventy pages and is divided into three parts. The art is pretty good throughout. There are a number of handouts and visual aids. Some of the art is really good. The illustration on page 44 of part three is a particularly cool piece of black and white art. The layout, on the other hand, is a bit amateurish. It looks a lot like something created in the pre-desktop publishing era of the 1970s. While this is consistent with the first edition products that inspired it, the module's presentation could have used some freshening up.

The adventure is, by default, set in Magique Productions' house setting: the Realms of Arkonus Fantasy Campaign Setting. Its not tied too tightly to the setting, however, and should be usable in just about any typical fantasy setting.

Part one details a small port city and gives the PCs an enemy in a group of rowdy pirates. There are a number of things to see and do in town, and I could see a party spending a lot of time wandering around there. I think one of the strengths of first edition shines through here. With the rules-light nature of OSRIC, more focus can be placed on the kind of details that aren't governed by rules. PCs sneaking around the warehouse, for example, might run afoul of one of the tough dockworkers. The rules-light nature of the system means that only about two lines of text are need for the dockworkers' stats, leaving the rest for description of the area.

Part two covers a journey on the high seas in search of a mysterious island. There are a series of planned events here that play out something like a timeline. The GM will have to be careful here to control the pacing of this section, lest it play out like one long section of flavor text. After their journey, should they survive the dangers, the player characters reach the island and the next phase of the adventure begins. There is a vast ruined city here, filled with a wide variety of monsters, tricks, and traps. There is plenty to explore and a number of dangers to face. In the end, the players must make a decision that could have world-wide effects.<br><br><b>LIKED</b>: I like old-school adventures, and the Forgotten Isle certainly falls into that category. The wide variety of locations, from a city to an ocean to an undead-filled ruin keeps the adventure feeling fresh throughout. There are lots of handouts to help the GM run things smoothly. When the PCs find an important map, for example, the GM can simply hand the players the map handout. These sorts of things aren't necessary, but they're very welcome.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Backstory is important in an adventure, to be sure, but I think that the Forgotten Isle suffers from having a little too much epic background. The Isle itself isn't that hard to insert into a generic fantasy world, but the backstory might be another matter. I think that the designers would have been better off leaving a little more to the GM to flesh out. The end result feels a little clunky to me. Some parts are given too much detail, while others are kind of hand-waved away. The Forgotten Isle really relies on having a good GM to make sure things run smoothly and work for the players.

I also had a bit of trouble finding things from time to time. The organization of the product, while not bad, could use a little attention. I also found the conclusion lacking. If the PCs make the wrong decision, it could have apocolyptic consequences. Unfortunately, the book glosses over the details and gives a few sentences to the effect of bad things happen and the world ends. I exaggerate, but not much. <br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br><BR>[THIS REVIEW WAS EDITED]<BR>



Rating:
[3 of 5 Stars!]
The Forgotten Isle
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