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Here. They're releasing KOTS and the Quick Start Rules and calling it a "test drive". Nifty.
No big poster map, of course, but I peeked inside and the first and final encounters are in. Looks like it's complete.
Ninja edit: I can't believe I'm not scooped. Or am I?
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Here. They're releasing KOTS and the Quick Start Rules and calling it a "test drive". Nifty.
No big poster map, of course, but I peeked inside and the first and final encounters are in. Looks like it's complete.
Ninja edit: I can't believe I'm not scooped. Or am I?
Cool move! I've got a player DMing for the first time running the Orc delve... it looks like that'll bring 2 new players in addition to a new DM to the game if it goes well.
Though I was just about to put my copy of KotS on ebay
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What is also interesting is that it has been updated! Anyone running the game needs to get this (a little annoying for those who purchased it in paper-form).
So far, I have noticed (SPOILERS!):
A4 (Burial site) - baddies have been reworked (Halfling skinger replaced with "Kalarel’s Spectral Apparition").
Area 8 (Sir Keegan's Tomb) - Keegan's stats have been reworked, and a proper skill challenge has been added.
Area 16 (Chamber of Statues) - Traps have been reworked, and confusion with the water-statue-walls trap has been clarified.
Area 19 (The Shadow Rift) - skeletons have been replaced with minions, skill challenge added, "The Thing in the Portal" has become a proper trap / hazard, instead of a creature (as well as its zone now marked on map)
There might be more, this is what I found in my brief skim through.
There has also been minor editing done elsewhere, specifically with the colours of "read aloud" text; a few DCs have been dropped (The Water Cave perception DC20 => DC10 to notice water movement); and a few descriptive text blocks have been reworded (eg area 18: cathedral of shadow)
Shame there's no bookmarks, but I can fix that shortly!
Well I don't (personally) find KotS to be an exceptionally great adventure, I think it's a great move to make it available.
Plus, the "put everything for quick start in one index page" is a great idea for new players to get hooked in easily (little barrier to entry in navigating around to find quick start rules and such).
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It will have campaign logs and random thoughts...
On The Road - I think the kobolds' positions have been reworked.
A1 - Kobolds' positions reworked
A2 - Kobold skirmisher became Kobold slink
A3 - Dragonshields became Denwardens, Irontooth's Dual Axe must be against separate targets.
A4 - Motivations reworked, Halfling Slinger became Kalarel's Apparition
Area 8 - new stats for Sir Keegan, Skill Challenge reworked
Area 16 - Traps reworked
Area 19 - Deathlock Wight replaced with Shallowgrave Wight. Lots of skeleton minions. Skill Challenge added. Thing In The Portal is now a hazard. Two magic items added to Kalarel and the Wight.
I think this is a really, really cool move.
The funny thing is, even though I never run published adventures, and had no real desire to pick up a copy of this before now, I think this may actually make me want to.
I think it's likely a combination of seeing what the poster maps actually look like and mean in terms of setting opportunities, noticing the DMG-style advice sections I didn't know existed in the product, and just seeing how the adventure layout looks as a whole. I'm pretty impressed, and I didn't think I would be.
See, none of the sample encounter excerpts from their published adventures that have been posted on the site have really excited me, but seeing the sections that lay out multiple story hooks, or rumor tables, or NPC writeups... seeing that the adventure has some actual density in terms of RP-centric material, and something to offer beyond the adventure itself (advice sections, for instance), that does get me excited as a consumer.
I think this is really really great, and a really smart thing for Wizards to do.
Now a group can sit down and play through an entire adventure, about 24 hours worth of gaming content, for free. They get PCs, they get a stripped down set of rules. They get an excellent adventure. I think this is the new Redbox as far as I'm concerned. I like this a lot better than the basic set (though it does come with minis and dice and all of that).
I think they'd be smart to build KOTS into the new redbox, redoing the starter set around it.
Others have criticized it but my group and I absolutely loved playing through KOTS. I played through it both as a player and ran it as a DM so I've gone through it twice. I think, though its a dungeon crawler (this is Dungeons and Dragons, mind you), it has plenty of roleplaying opportunity with a lot of NPCs. I think it is the great cornerstone of a campaign and I plan to use the general plot hook of this throughout my current campaign.
On The Road - I think the kobolds' positions have been reworked.
A1 - Kobolds' positions reworked
A2 - Kobold skirmisher became Kobold slink
A3 - Dragonshields became Denwardens, Irontooth's Dual Axe must be against separate targets.
A4 - Motivations reworked, Halfling Slinger became Kalarel's Apparition
Area 8 - new stats for Sir Keegan, Skill Challenge reworked
Area 16 - Traps reworked
Area 19 - Deathlock Wight replaced with Shallowgrave Wight. Lots of skeleton minions. Skill Challenge added. Thing In The Portal is now a hazard. Two magic items added to Kalarel and the Wight.
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