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One Night Stand - Curse of Shadowhold is a Pathfinder RPG adventure for 10th level characters. In this adventure the PCs are requested to assist an elven village in breaking an ancient curse that holds sway in the forest surrounding their village. In doing so, the PCs get to uncover an even more sinister secret, that will change the lives of the elves forever. This very neatly presented adventure is set in a generic frontier wilderness, and should be adaptable to any campaign setting.
Frog God Games have long been one of my favourite adventure publishers, and the reasons are quite simple - they present professional products, with excellent attention to detail, and good background stories with solid adventure material. If there's a sidetrek that the PCs can go on, it's mentioned, for example, or if there is a contingency in the adventure that can come about, they provide advice on how to deal with it. Sometimes this comes across as forcing the PCs on a given path, but the illusion of flexibility can be quite powerful for the players.
Curse of the Shadowhold is a good, strong adventure. The players get involved in danger and terror right from the start, and get a good opportunity to explore wondrous locations in the Haunted Forest, even so much as to cross the veils between planes. There is quite a haunting element to the game, and GMs can easily turn this into quite a terrifying affair that's not for the faint hearted; wandering through a haunted forest, fighting shadow creatures from other planes, and being witness to secrets unfolding that are quite terrifying.
The adventure is quite a challenge, both from a combat perspective and a roleplaying one, where NPCs have their own agendas and plans on how to deal with matters. PCs will need to keep their wits about them, as they uncover secrets only to find the unexpected. It's not the most dynamic adventure in the world, with a rather stationary dungeon crawl, but the terror elements can liven that up if PCs don't know what to expect.
Overall, this is as good an adventure as one would expect from Frog God Games. Solid story, elements of terror, good dungeon crawl, strong combat encounters, and realistic NPCs. Throw in a few secrets to uncover, and you have one good night's game play.
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The Clockwork Wonders of Brandlehill is a quaint little adventure for 4th level PCs of the Pathfinder RPG. In this adventure the characters get summoned to a little gnomish town full of clockwork machinations, and get embroidered in an adventure that involves the gnomes and the local tribes of the nearby swamps. The adventure is a humorous affair full of elements of comic fantasy, and is a good little romp with good roleplaying, plenty of combat, and a nice little story.
At first glance, The Clockwork Wonders of Brandlehill is a neatly presented product. The maps are good, the artwork is good and the general appearance of the product is good. Where the product is on the weaker side, is the organisation. There's very little delineation of different elements of the adventure, it's hard to distinguish between read-aloud text and GMs only text, the combat encounters can pass you by entirely as they're not clearly presented and the whole adventure just requires more organisation. A solid organisation goes a long way in making the adventure easier to run and understand, and the masses of fluff text here often hide mechanical details between them that make this adventure hard to digest. Section headings, clear indications of combat and the monsters involved (including stat blocks), an adventure summary and other such smaller touches would go a long way to making this easier for the GM.
That gripe aside, this is quite a fun little adventure. The characters get the opportunity to visit an ingenious gnomish town and explore the nearby swamps while they uncover the mystery of the what plagues the village. I wish the village descriptions had been more vivid, painting a better picture of all the machinations in the village, but one gets a fair overview of the village from the existing text. Roleplaying is rife, and the characters get a chance to engage in some meaningful encounters. The adventure starts off with a bang, which is always a good way to get the PCs dragged into the plot. How they approach the adventure and the diplomacy with the local swamp tribes is up to them, but here I wish the adventure had provided some helpful guides and perhaps some alternatives to existing choices which can be fairly linear. I think the adventures caters for most areas of gameplay, and players of all types will have some good fun. With gnomes and gripply abounding, it's bound to be a fun adventure, and GMs can have a lot of fun with some of the comical elements. Roleplaying gnomes can always be adventurous.
Overall, the adventure side of things is exciting and keeps the pace going, despite a few flaws in adventure linearity and lack of guidance in certain areas. The organisation is not strong, and GMs will have to sift through the fluff and mechanical text to put together a better organised whole and separate the adventure into meaningful sections. The clockwork wonders and new magical items are all quite interesting, though as mentioned, it would've been good to see some ingenuity on the grander scale of the village itself. A good little romp, despite its flaws, and should be fun for players and GMs alike.
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Publisher Reply: |
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Peter, Thank you for your review! The reception in terms of subject content has been consistently positive and makes me confident you'll find more to enjoy in our updated version (which is now perilously close to release!), especially in terms of organization, formatting and story structure (which includes details on alternative quest solutions as well). There was no lack of trepidation when we released our first publication but I'm sure that our second time at bat with The Clockwork Wonders of Brandlehill will definitely earn us a few more runs, as it were. Keep any eye out for TCWoB 1.5, and thank you again for your feedback! |
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The Stealer of Children is a Labyrinth Lord adventure for 1st level characters. The product is neatly presented, with good art and maps, and the writing is clear with excellent attention to detail. This adventure takes place in the small town of Leandras Row and its environs, a setting that can easily be placed in any area of a homebrew campaign setting. This is largely a freeform adventure, with characters making their own decisions, so may not be suitable for groups that need a lot of nudging to get them to head in the right direction.
In this adventure the players arrive in Leandras Row, where they are immediately confronted by a challenge that sets the scene for the remainder of the adventure. Something mysterious is afoot in the town, and it's up to the PCs to discover what's afoot. While investigating, they get to engage with numerous well-crafted and interesting NPCs and factions, and that is one of this adventure's strengths. The NPCs are detailed, the town is detailed, and there's lots of opportunity for good and interesting roleplaying. The characters will have to work to solve the mystery. Of course, while investigating matters take a turn for the worse as the Stealer of Children strikes again, and with missing kids on the menu, things start to get serious. The PCs need to delve into an ancient past to discover the truth of matters, and offer some chance of redemption for a family spurned. Then, they'll need to find a solution to finding the Stealer of Children and destroying a creature that mere 1st level mortals should not be able to harm.
I've always enjoyed Small Niche Games' adventures for Labyrinth Lord, and this one is no exception. It's a lovely and detailed freeform adventure, where the characters aren't forced to take certain paths on how to approach the mystery and the adventure. The story is interesting and has a good back-story, and it should be a good romp for the characters in solving it. This is very much a roleplaying heavy adventure - combat encounters are few and far between and even the fixed combat locations/dungeons don't offer much in terms of continuous challenge. LLs might want to use random encounters in the environs to challenge the PCs in this area a little further.
The adventure itself can actually be quite short, and without long combat encounters, the roleplaying can be handled fairly quickly. The PCs need to be proactive, though, otherwise the players might get bored if they're not getting much in the way of information and it can easily feel like you're not getting anywhere. Some encouragement might be needed here and there. I think the final solution to the adventure is quite clever, and I think the players will enjoy it once they've discovered the culprit and managed to find out how to deal with it. If this adventure is treated as a sandbox in some regards, these issues can easily be addressed, and creative LLs will make this and enjoyable adventure.
Overall, I think this is a good adventure. I love the detail behind the NPCs and the town, the premise is interesting, and the freeform nature of the adventure makes for an interesting change of pace from the linear style of many adventures. The combat is a bit lacking in several areas, but that can be addressed while investigating the town environs. Proactive characters will find there's plenty on offer here, and will enjoy piecing together the pieces of the puzzle, while LLs might need to encourage other groups to ask the right questions and investigate the right areas. A good introductory adventure for characters, particularly from a roleplaying point of view.
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Publisher Reply: |
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Thanks for the kind words - as always. Glad you liked it!
Pete Spahn
Small Niche Games |
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The first instalments of the 100% Crunch series for the Pathfinder RPG focused on presenting statistics and combat details based on an individual template. This product, 100% Crunch - Goblins, takes another path, and instead offers statistics focused on a single creature type - goblins. And, I'm very pleased to say that it works very well. This product presents an eclectic and interesting group of goblin creatures, with excellent builds and lots of flavour built into each design through carefully crafted mechanics.
100% Crunch - Goblins presents nearly 50 goblins in a CR range from 1/4 to 5. The CR range is kept deliberately low, and I have to agree with the notion that CR 10 or higher goblins don't really need to feature in a game with enough higher level challenges. The goblins cover a wonderful range of classes and abilities, both NPC and PC classes, and each one is crafted with good attention to detail. Even when the classes are similar, the choice of weapons, armor or the use of class archetypes personifies each goblin uniquely. On this front, the product has done excellent well.
I think this product has been done splendidly. I've always been a fan of the Pathfinder goblin, and this product stays true to the concept and provides some wonderful combinations. Each goblin creature has its own 'title' from goblin scouts, to goblin shadow sorcerers, to the fearful goblin abomination. I love these little titles, as they're really useful when gaming. Instead of calling each goblin by a number, this nomenclature (if one could call it that) allow one to easily identify the different goblins on the battlefield.
If you're interesting in goblins and are looking for some excellent goblin builds, this product is well worth a look. I truly relished looking through each of the builds, and appreciating the care and attention that had gone into making each one different and true to the goblin concept. A great product, and one I would recommend.
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Publisher Reply: |
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Thank you very much for this review. You absolutely made my night. |
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Monster Focus: Skeletons is a short pdf for the Pathfinder RPG that presents a selection of skeleton-related options for both players and GMs. The product is neatly presented and well-written, and includes feats, spells, new alchemical items, new monster options and templates, and several new magical items. For those interested in expanding their options where the quintessential skeleton is concerned, this product offers a good way of doing that.
Skeletons are an excellent low-level undead creature to throw against your adventuring party. In part, this is because the skeleton template can be applied to just about any creature, so there's a lot of versatility in creating different kinds of skeletons. The human-like skeleton is no longer the only option, as dragon skeletons or bear skeletons, for example, can provide a different twist to the skeleton encounter. There's always been something creepy about skeletons, in particular when you imagine them clawing their way out of the ground to reach their living foes. And those who've watched the film Jason and the Argonauts will fondly remember the skeleton battle on the top of the cliffs.
This product is all about skeleton-related options. It presents options for players in the form of new feats, spells and alchemical items, and for GMs there are some new undead creations to play with. The player options are geared towards increasing damage against skeletons, be it from bypassing their damage reduction, or from spells that are more effective against skeleton-like creatures. New alchemical items are also presented that are very effective against skeletons. Each item is presented with good attention to detail, and solid mechanics.
For the GMs, there's the new skeleton lord template, a stronger skeleton capable of commanding and leading undead creatures. There are also some options to create a different variety of skeleton, including those that can retain some of their abilities from life. Fire breathing dragon skeletons, here we come! I think these GM option allow for a lot of good possibilities, and I particularly liked the plot hooks that were presented for the product as they seamlessly integrate some of the creatures and items presented in this pdf.
While I liked the options presented for GMs, I think the player options, while useful, aren't really that exciting. Designing something specific for a skeleton is fine when it's the only thing that can affect the creature, but there are plenty of other spells, for example, that can be just as effective against them. I've looked at the options for players, and there aren't many 'must have' options there - mostly just those that looks interesting but might not see a lot of game play value.
Overall, I think this is a stimulating product, particularly for GMs, but players in undead centered campaigns may want to peruse this product for some interesting options and items. Good product, with good value, and good variety.
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Ruster's Blood is a 54 page pdf adventure for the Pathfinder RPG suitable for characters of 4th level. The adventure is entirely location-based, meaning it can easily slot into any specific campaign setting. The product is neatly presented and well organised, with some excellent and detailed maps. The product is strangely devoid of any art, and even the cover doesn't feature anything specific. Nevertheless, the overall impression is one of professionalism and dedication to delivering a good product.
In this adventure the characters are approached by a miner who enlists their aid in assisting him rescue his co-workers and recover his mine, after it was attacked by some unknown assailants. The adventure takes place in the mine itself and the region directly surrounding the mind, and will take the characters on a wild ride through the mine and into it's deepest and darkest depths. The characters will face multiple threats once they reach the mine, not only from the those involved in the initial attack, but also from new inhabitants that have since claimed the mine as their own. The characters will need all their wits about them if they're to break into the mine, vanquish the initial foes, and then plumb the depths of the mine to get to the bottom of the who the mysterious attackers are.
I found this to be a fun adventure, with plenty of opportunity for tactics, strategy and roleplaying. This isn't an adventure for the faint-hearted, as the combat encounters can be quite tough and often deadly. In a way that's one of my few complaints against this product - due to the difficulty of some of the foes, the party will experience a case of fighting one battle, retreating for the day, and then repeating the same thing the next day. I would've preferred to see a more dynamic approach, particularly on the deeper foes of the mine. I think the initial breaking into the mine should be a fun challenge, although I would imagine that some parties would find it frustrating. The adventure itself could've done better to cater for different eventualities, again more specifically with reference to the final foes of the adventure. Here it could've explored peaceful solutions, or alternative offerings as a way of concluding the adventure.
I thoroughly enjoyed the creatures and characters of this adventure, and I think they make an interesting and eclectic challenge. I would've liked to see more motivations and personality here and there, but by and large there's a lot to go on. This adventure has a lot of potential, and creative DMs can develop it further or expand the adventure with tie-ins to future adventures. The location of the mine is well detailed and interesting, and is realistically presented with some good attention to detail of mining terrain, activity and difficulties.
Overall, I think this is a strong adventure. Characters will have some fun, particularly if the DM can develop the action a little more dynamically than the adventure currently explores. It would've been nice to see more attention to roleplaying as a solution to certain scenarios, and perhaps negotiation as a means of solving problems. Still, it's a well presented product with good attention to detail, strong writing, challenging encounters and lots of interesting new creatures and magic. Good adventure.
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Publisher Reply: |
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Thank you for reviewing my product! It is much appreciated. |
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A3 Champion's Rest is the third adventure in the A-series of adventures from Adventureaweek.com. This adventure follows on from A1 Crypt of the Sun Lord and A2 Devil of Dark Wood, although it can easily be played as a standalone adventure. The adventure forms part of Adventureaweek.com's campaign setting, but again the locations are easily transferable to other settings. Champion's Rest is a Pathfinder RPG adventure for characters of levels 2 to 3.
Champion's Rest takes place on the Rybalkan Peninsula, an outcropping of land in the vast Serpent Lake. In the adventure, Crypt of the Sun Lord, the adventurers are sent towards the frontier peninsula, an area once occupied by the barbarian hordes of the Vikmordere. On arrival they become entangled in the affairs of several goblins occupying a nearby crypt. In Devil of the Dark Wood, the adventurers finally reach the village of Rybalka, a frontier village, only to find that there is talk of beasts in the air. The characters must uncover the mystery that stalks the village, and so destroy an evil that has been plaguing the dark wood and surroundings.
In this adventure, more trouble is afoot in the village of Rybalka, as the Vikmordere have been spotted in the area near an ancient burial ground, and the soldiers sent to confront them have disappeared. The adventure takes place en-route towards and in the ancient Vikmordere burial ground where the soldiers were last headed. The characters are hired to find out what happened to the missing soldiers, but more is afoot than meets the eye. The characters investigate the ancient burial chambers in an effort to solve the mystery, but of course the Vikmordere quickly get involved and tensions escalate. All in all this makes for an enjoyable adventure.
The adventure has a good mix of tension, combat and mystery, although contrary to the adventure blurb which mentions engaging with the Vikmordere in some form of alliance, there's not a lot of opportunity for roleplaying with the Vikmordere in this adventure. I found that a little disappointing, as I was expecting the adventure to cater for this, but sadly it didn't. Nevertheless. the burial ground as a location-based scenario is fairy good, with traps, challenges and mysteries to be solved. The characters will be tested to their limits in some of the combat encounters, and at least the journey to the burial ground through the dangerous Dark Wood allows for some good roleplaying opportunity.
I think this adventure is strong in its challenges and in getting the characters to be creative in facing threats and solving puzzles, but perhaps a bit lacking in roleplaying, where I though the characters would get an opportunity to engage first-hand with the Vikmordere and get to know this people a little bit more. Still, one should find this enjoyable, with some detailed locations and good encounter design and presentation. The adventure was surprisingly low on the treasure front, particularly in the reward areas for completing the adventure. My hope, though, is that once one learns more about the Vikmordere people this adventure can be modified to be a bit more engaging on that front. Good adventure.
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Toys for the Sandbox 58 - The Mouth of Moonshield Canyon is a well-presented pdf providing adventure ideas and descriptions for the canyon and its environs. I've long wanted to review one of Occult Moon's Toys for the Sandbox products, and I'm kind of disappointed that I didn't sooner because, judging by this product, I've been missing out. The Mouth of Moonshield Canyon is ripe with ideas for the picking, very well delivered with exactly the right amount of detail, and good at inspiring the imagination. An all-round fabulous product.
The Mouth of Moonshield Canyon is an unique location - living stones formed from residual magic guard the canyon entrance as part of their holy ground, while being watchful over barbarian threats and intruders from nearby locations. The product provides a gripping background, history and description to the location (including an illustrative map), numerous NPC personalities that one may encounter in the area, and excellent adventure ideas and possibilities for short or long excursions to the location. I thoroughly enjoyed reading each part of this pdf, as it really inspired one to adventure! The diversity of adventure ideas tied to one location is impressive, and it would easily suit most adventure character levels and party types. The product does a wonderful job of catering towards a wide variety of different stories and adventures that can be had.
What I really liked about the product is that all the numerous adventure ideas can be played separately, but as they're all tied to one location, can easily be combined into a larger whole. This means that you can make the adventure as complicated or as simple as you like, depending on how much time you have in your session. All you need to do is throw together the mechanics and various encounter details, as location descriptions, NPC personalities and motivations, and numerous plots and subplots (and variations of these!) have been provided.
If the rest of the Toys for the Sandbox series is as good as this, then they're all well worth the look. This is a great product that inspires the imagination, and its utility can vary depending on the GM's needs. Great writing, presentation, format, and wonderfully rich and creative. Excellent product.
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Dragon-Dogs is a 24 page pdf product that presents 9 new breeds of dragon-dog - rare and valuable creatures formed from the union between dragons and different kinds of dog-like animals. The product is neatly presented with adequate artwork and flavourful descriptions of the various dragon-dogs. This product is suitable for the Pathfinder RPG.
Dragon-Dogs presents a good variety of different dragon-dogs, from the elven dragon-dogs bred from fairy dragons, to the necrotic dragon-dog, a sinister breed conjured by the mind of undead sorcerers, and the dragolf, a massive dragon-dog bred by giants from dragons and dire wolves. I enjoyed reading the descriptions of the origins of these various breeds, and some of the background history. There is some good material here, giving some useful flavour to each of the nine breeds presented. The product even includes some additional details on dragon-dog eggs and their resale value.
I couldn't help but feel,though, that there was something missing from this product. While the descriptions mention that these creatures are bred from dragons, they don't have very dragon-like characteristics other than in appearance (some have wings, for example, but can't use them). In other words, they take on more of the characteristics of the other base creature as opposed to that of a dragon. The terran dragon-dog has tremorsense, for example, while dragerine (dire wolverine) have a greater rage ability. Maybe I was expecting something a little more dragon-like, but then one would've thought that the half-dragon template would be more than sufficient for that. One has to assume that the aim was to not give them dragon-like characteristics (i.e. half-dragon) but rather just make bigger dogs with characteristics of other animal/creature breed. Still, I'm wondering whether a template wouldn't have been a better idea here, as most of these creatures do seem to be based on other creatures combined into a canine form.
I think this is a decent product, but the mechanical implementation left something to be desired, and the concept is perhaps not strongly supported in mechanics through the flavour text. There seems to be little connection between the two. I think these are useful creatures, but I'm not sure I would call them dragon-dogs, as opposed to larger dogs more akin to magical beasts. These creature are good alternatives to some standard creatures, and I can certainly see these used in campaigns as animal companions or other allies in adventures. Decent product.
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100% Crunch is a series of products designed to provide GMs with ready made stat-blocks and creatures for ease of use during a Pathfinder RPG game. This installment focuses on the skeletal champion template, a more intelligent undead skeleton that is capable of holding class levels. The product is neatly presented and is available with both screen- and print-friendly versions.
The standard skeleton is one of the quintessential undead creatures in any fantasy RPG. In the Pathfinder RPG the skeleton is taken one step further by creating a more powerful template-based creature, the skeletal champion. This more intelligent undead creature is stronger, smarter and deadlier, but more importantly, more versatile as it can hold class levels. In this way it covers quite a prolific area for undead critters - mage skeletons, warrior skeletons and powerful cleric skeletons - all staples of everyday fantasy.
This product presents dozens of ready-made skeletal champions in a range of challenge ratings, from CR 2 to CR 11. The variety of creatures is good, including most of the generic humanoid creatures such as dwarves, humans and kobolds, but also some more diverse creatures such as hags and dragons. I think the product is more heavily focused on humanoids, though, which is perhaps a slight weakness. Class types are well represented as well, although it might have been worth including different base creatures as opposed to yet another orc barbarian of higher level.
The product includes a useful variety of alternative skeletal champions, such as acid skeletons or exploding skeletons, and I particularly liked the kobold exploding skeletal champion as a concept. The author has clearly put thought into every combination. Because the product also includes all the base rules for creating skeletal champions, it turns the product into a one-stop location for all your skeletal champion needs. The ready-made stat-blocks can easily be expanded to include more levels, different class levels to more basic creatures, and so on. I am happy with the potential for variety included in this product - it's not only something that can be used as is, but also as a sandbox for further development of interesting creature combinations.
I'd say this product is a good hit. Good variety, good combinations, good potential, and good attention to getting stat-blocks as accurate as possible. If you're interested in a variety of challenging and different skeleton-like creatures, this is worth a look. Good product.
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Publisher Reply: |
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Thanks for your review, Peter. I much appreciate it and I'm glad you enjoyed 100% Crunch Skeletal Champions. Out of interest, what would make this a five-star product (I'd like to make subsequent offerings better!) |
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Dungeon Dressing - Double Doors is a Pathfinder RPG supplement that provides the GM with numerous flavoursome descriptive details of a quintessential dungeon feature - the double door. The product is the 12th product in Raging Swan Press' Dungeon Dressing line of products, and comes as a neatly presented print and screen pdf product.
Dungeon Dressing - Double Doors is the kind of product I like, and the reason is quite simple - one person's imagination is quite different from another's. See, I could come up with a bucket-load of features and descriptions for double doors, but I bet there are a larger number in this product that I wouldn't have thought of. And that makes this fun to read and fun to use - things that you wouldn't necessarily have thought of are now available for easy reference in a bunch of tables in this product. Nifty, one could say!
With that in mind I really enjoyed reading these descriptions with relish. Not all of them would blow your mind, but by extension they can't - they needs to cover the basics as well as the unusual. There's a good mix of both types here - particularly if you include the single door features that have also been reprinted in this product. It's a really thorough product with attention to detail, describing physical characteristics of doors, but also some of the necessary game statistics one would need. And, as an added bonus, the product includes an useful number of new traps that one can use in conjunction with your doors.
This product is one for both the GM who quickly needs to describe something, and the GM who likes to meticulously plan each dungeon/castle feature. There's a lot of flavour in all of the descriptions, and I'm sure this is a product one can get good mileage out of. It covers door features, appearance, materials, etc. and in good detail on all fronts. Maybe it would've been worth focusing a little more on some other sensory details such as smell, lighting, sounds, etc. although many of these are covered in individual double door descriptions. Overall, an imaginative product worth looking at.
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Publisher Reply: |
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Thanks very much for the review and the suggestions, Peter. I much appreciate both. |
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I haven’t reviewed one of Arion Games’ products for quite some time (well, any product, really, for that matter), but I was quite surprised to see that their product code was already standing at ARG151 – more than 150 products! Arion games have been busy! And I’m pleased to say that the quality and to a certain extent more importantly, their diversity has not diminished. This set, Swamp Dwellers Set, is testament to the diversity and talent of the Arion Games team, and is another good quality offering from a top notch miniatures publisher.
Swamp Dwellers Set contains 14 paper miniature figures straight from the deep reaches of the swamps. The product comes as both pdf and PowerPoint (*.ppt) files, the latter allowing for customization of the set of miniatures you want to print. There are some familiar creatures in this set such as the catoblepas (incorrectly named a bugbear in one of the figures), but also some new creatures such as the series of swamp hoppers and the turtlemen. The latter, I unfortunately have to say, are my least favourite of the set, but their bloated quality is made up for by the great swamp thing. The quality and level of detail of the set is high, and the printed product looks refined and realistic. You can’t go wrong as well with both A-frame and triangular figures.
This set is overall good. If you’re looking for something unique in the swamps or just some old favourites like the giant toad, then this set is good value. The swamp hoppers and the crocodilians will make nice additions to any swamp, though personally I would give the turtlemen a miss. There’s something about them that just doesn’t scream ‘dangerous swamp dweller’, but rather ‘odd-looking critter’. Still, the mix and diversity of favourites with a dash of new make this a rewarding product to take a look at. After some many product, Arion Games keep going strong! Good product.
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Into the FarDeep is the third adventure is the Gate series of adventures from Knightvision games. This is a Labyrinth Lord compatible adventure for 1st or 2nd level characters, and sees the culmination of the party's search for a famous explorer now presumed lost deep within the bowels of a dwarven mine. This adventure is best played as part of the trilogy (along with Path of the Delver and Come Hell or High Water), although with a little modification can be used as a stand-alone adventure due to the sandbox nature of parts of this adventure.
Presentation is neatly done, with good editing and writing, and overall the product has a very old school feel and look to it, which is appropriate. Maps are decent, though not spectacular, and a larger map of the FarDeep would've been nicer than the small one provided. Artwork is good, with several fitting images complementing the written text. Organisation of the adventure is good, with no strict path to follow, leaving the adventure journey as much up to the players and the LL. The product includes several new monsters and treasures, all which fit the theme of the adventure neatly. A good presentation overall in the style of old school gaming.
The adventure sees the party delve deeper into the abandoned dwarven mine to a strange world called the FarDeep. Here they will encounters wonders never seen before and face dangers untold. The adventure pits the characters against the last remnants of a cult, the power of an ancient comet fallen within the FarDeep, native tribes around the region and scores of pirates that patrol the inner sea of the FarDeep. In encountering all these sinister and friendly elements, the party will need all their skills to navigate the challenges facing them, including the harsh terrain. There is a good mix of combat and roleplaying, plenty of mystery and puzzles, and a lot going on. On top of that, the LL can have a field day sculpting the surrounding area of the FarDeep as much as they like, to create even more wonder or conflict. Here and there a few more background details wouldn't go amiss, particularly relating to the denizens of the FarDeep and how they got there, but for the most part background is more than enough.
The adventure has a little bit of everything in it, and certainly no two scenarios or encounters are anywhere near alike. The largely non-linear nature of the adventure means characters have the freedom to tackle problems and issues in their own way, though with the limited resources of lower level parties. Having said that, the dangerous terrain and encounter area are often more the domain of higher level parties, so in that sense it can really stretch a lower level party to be creative and innovative. I enjoyed this adventure quite a bit - it's mysterious, has a good balance, and is fun and interesting, but at the same time lacks a little background information and detail to make it truly magical. A solid adventure from Knightvision Games.
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The Forlorn Temple of Umbras is the first adventure in the Warlords of Lungusia series. This adventure is suitable for Pathfinder RPG characters of levels 2 to 4, and is a site based adventure crawl that takes place in a mysterious and remote temple to a long forgotten deity. The characters spend their time delving through the dark chambers of the temple, uncovering foul evil and hidden dangers, both living and dead, and indeed the manifestation of something far more sinister and evil. The Forgotten Temple of Umbras is a short adventure that should take no more than a couple of sessions to play.
Presentation-wise the product is good, with some decent writing, editing and layout and a useful map. The stock art is very well chosen and some of the depictions are quite vivid and enhance the atmosphere of the temple and its environs. It would've been useful if the map had a proper legend, and also if some more background details had been included in the product. As is, the adventure summary is fairly vague with no repercussions or lasting consequences - it would've been good to have more details on the Shadow Pantheon, the lizardfolk and their involvement, and something more concrete that would tie this adventure to a larger whole, and make the adventure actually matter and have consequences.
The adventure takes places entirely within the remote temple to a long lost god. A couple of useful plot hooks are provided to get the characters engaged, but with not much effort put into making the adventure of consequence, it effectively becomes a one-off dungeon crawl. The encounters themselves are fairly challenging, though nothing outrageous, and are lacking a certain dynamism and use of terrain to make them more exciting. That cannot be said for the final encounters which are both challenging and entertaining and bound to engage players. Some opportunity for roleplaying is available but not much, and certainly not enough to have an effect on the outcome of the adventure or affect future adventures.
Overall, this is a fairly standard dungeon crawl, with a decent location and interesting background. I believe that more could've been done to flesh out parts of the background, and make the location, its current inhabitants and ancient inhabitants more relevant and put them on firmer footing. Good encounters and a little opportunity for roleplaying. A decent ending to the adventure that should give characters a run for their money. The Forlorn Temple of Umbras has good potential, but would likely need work to reach it from what's written. Still, overall, a decent romp and dungeon crawl with something for everyone.
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Old School Fantasy #8 - Light and Dark is a 60 page pdf adventure for the Fantasy Craft RPG system. This is the eight instalment in Reality Blurs' line of old school fantasy adventures, and sees the heroes battle against the horrors of a deadly plague and deep-seated corruption and power in the walled city of Hopewell. While this product has some ties with Old School Fantasy #7, it can be played as a stand-alone product should the GM choose to do so. The product has a Menace of III (Challenging) to IV (Dangerous) using sliding DCs to adjust encounters to fit the GM's party and adjust the Threat level.
Layout and design of the product are fairly simple, but the product makes up for it with some excellent organisation and encounter layout. Each encounter and scenario are clearly deconstructed to make running easier, and adventure summaries are well-written to give a clear and concise overview of the adventure right from the start. Large parts of the adventure are deconstructed to give an overview of important persons, locations, and each of the key scenarios of the adventure. Writing and editing are good, and overall the product had a very good presentation level. The product could've done with some maps to round out the presentation, as there are none, but the generic nature and structure of the adventure mean that this isn't an inhibition.
Light and Dark takes place almost entirely within the city of Hopewell, barring some initial encounters that should entice the characters to travel to the city. While not much in the way of maps or information is given on the city itself, the general encounter layout and background information gives you enough to go on to construct a city of the brink of destruction, plagued by a nasty disease that's threatening to wipe out the entire city. The plague is not the only threat that the characters will have to deal with, as there are deeper evils in the city, and few allies to help them as they try and save a city in desperate need. The adventure is divided into nine individual scenes, each that progress the adventure to its next stage, ultimately driving towards the culmination of the action and the discovery of the larger threat to the city. This format means that the timing of each scene can be customised, allowing creative GMs to use the chaos of the city to create further atmosphere or further larger campaign goals or plots.
I was quite pleased with this adventure. While the concept of a plague ridden city isn't new, the adventure provides exciting action within this framework so that the characters are never far from the action, and there are plenty of things to keep them busy. The chaos of the city and the nature of the adventure provide plenty of opportunity for roleplaying, although with the sketchy details on the city, this could be challenging if the PCs venture off the beaten track. Encounters are well-scoped and challenging, and will provide enough drama and conflict to make them exciting not only for the combat value but also their location within a plague-filled city of innocents. Light and Dark is a thoroughly enjoyable adventure, well worth looking at and with plenty of scope for expanding and incorporating other ideas. The city of Hopewell could easily be used as a sandbox-type city, and the adventure is fairly easy to customise if needed. Grand adventure, lots of action, good roleplaying, but missing some maps and a few details here and there. Good product and recommended.
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