The posible chase scene is a great idea but you don't need to default it. The set up of humans vs everyone is interesting. The final combat can be dropped if the session goes long.

This is one of the most fun modules to run. Every time I've run it, my players have enjoyed it greatly.

This module is a great way to introduce Hillsfar as it opens with a wonderfully evocative scene which serves to build a moral ambiguity that can well persist late into the module.

Unfortunately, that same ambiguity tends to lead toward dithering on the party of players and an inability to commit to action. When you couple the ambiguity with the "minigame" second encounter, the module becomes just far too big for its build runtime. I've run the module several times and played it at least twice. Not once did it complete in less than twice the target runtime of two hours.

If I ran it again, I'd probably reduce the "minigame" to having every enemy have just one or two "checkboxes" rather than tracking real hit points to try to speed it along (i.e., an enemy goes down when hit by two different attacks).

Great adventure.

As some have already stated, there are lots of different places for the same/simmilar information (stat blocks for the chase). I had a great time running it, but it was confusing at times as the whole encounter is not statted together.

During the chase I gave each of my players one NPC to control, this turned a lot of work for me into more fun for my players.

This is a fantastic adventure. The high adrenaline wagon chase, the multiple options at the beginning of the module, and the conclusion all make it feel very impactful.

Fun with the multiple path options in the beginning. allows for very unique perspectives and varied storylines. Still have reservations for the modules of this season as the APL of the modules seem very low for the encounters listed. If not for a juducious application of "DM descretion", I would have continously had multiple TPKs on my hand.

Fun as a player and a dm. I love this mod. Great opportunities to challenge players and work the pillars a bit. I would reccomend this to anyone!

Great mod! The party had a hard time deciding which side of the first fight they would take--a girlfriend finally told her boyfriend to do the right thing! But make sure you plan for the road fight. I had card stock horses & stage coaches. Characters were jumping horse-to-wagon and wagon-to-wagon--lots of inspiration-worthy exploits. One thing to think about is what happens with Dumb Karl and his gang when the road fight starts. Next time I run it I will say they chase a wagon going a different direction. Oh, and don't forget to give the players the backstory about Hillsfar: Racist, evil and corrupt.

I enjoy the unconventional mini-game / chase in this module. It's a change of pace and it's good to get the players on horses. That's the good part.

The bad part is that every time I have run or played this module it's gone long. Way long. It generally goes four hours and has gone more on some memorable occasions. I find that the mini-game can take a long time and the opening encounter and getting to the mini-game can take a while. The final encounter is generally fairly fast, but also leaves many tables thinking, "Wait, aren't we done? There's more?!" after the finish the chase. The final encounter is often relatively short because the party generally gets to the location in plenty of time to set an ambush / take them by surprise, and surprise is very effective.

I'll note that so far every time I've played or run this module there has been party strife during the initial encounter, with at least one character siding with the Red Plumes while most of the party sides with the others. In one session, it came extremely close to fighting within the party when the one character who sided with the Red Plumes just kept attacking the other side and ignored the protests from the other players and their characters. In another, the odd player out read the way the wind was blowing and mostly sat on his impulses in deference to the group, but it was clear that the player was straining because he felt his character really wouldn't act that way.

One minor note: Even though I prep, I seem to have an easy time overlooking the armor on the horses during the chase because the draft horse stat block (included in the module) doesn't include their barding whereas I am accustomed to NPC / monster stat blocks include items and equipment that are atypical but present in the module.

4/5. Ran at my FLGS. This adventure is fun for everyone, but a few warnings: the chase is fun, but it is VERY easy to get bogged down in precise details. I ran almost all of it theater of the mind and tried to focus on the story over the exact mechanics. It's also quite difficult to motivate players to do anything if they don't already know what's going on in Hillsfar, and my players personally weren't too motivated by "a shipment" that racists were sending. I almost had to call the module there, as they basically were uninterested in following the rebels. Also, this module comfortably runs in about 2.5 hours, not 2.

The setting here is very good as it determines a lot of what's been going on around Hillsfar. Should be played between DDEX03-12 and 14, as this happens in the general area.

Chase mechanics can bog down the tempo of the party a bit, so do play loosely on those. The split path gives players a lot of choice and dimension on this situation, so do play out the implications of this a bit.

Really loved the multiple paths, the distinct characters, and watching players pick a side.

I ended up crafting stagecoaches out of popsicle sticks, and I highly recommend making Action cards for the chase scene.

Super fun!

The adventure is a great concept, with lots of branching options and plenty of interesting plot opportunities. It's a great module to be in, and mostly straightforward to run.

That said, the module is kind of a mess. Inconsistent formatting with regards to when it tells you how to modify encounters makes doing so a bit of a challenge. Finding a particular element can also be difficult. I did a lot of rereading because I was sure I missed something important, only to have to read half the module to find it.

Additionally, there are some very punishing elements to portions of the adventure that can create issues. In the chase, a failed attempt to leap from one vehicle or mount to another effectively removes a character from the encounter as a whole. Fortunately, when I ran it, the chase was brought to a stop only two rounds later, or one player would have missed the whole encounter. Additionally, the important plot device from one of the encounters is very easy to miss, which can end the adventure prematurely if players don't remember where the caravan was headed.

I would run this adventure again--it's a fun one, and helps newer players understand the kinds of ethical choices that roleplaying games can include--but this is a difficult module to run the first time.

I really enjoyed running this adventure. I like how it was set up to account for different options the players could take.

I ran this adventure on about 5 minutes notice (someone else bailed at a local con and we needed a DM), so my view of it might be a bit skewed. That said, we had a great time with it. There's a fantastic chase scene, a couple of fun fights and a plot that can play out multiple ways depending on how the players initially react to what's going on. I liked the way the adventure's "rails" go in multiple directions, and in general we had a fun time.