Murder at the Vulgar Unicorn

Murder at the Vulgar Unicorn

This is a nice change for a Thieves? World module. Twenty years ago there were some tournament style modules like Traitor that came out for Thieves? World that built off the classic box set that was pout out in the early eighties. Those modules were fun, but it can be amazing to see how things have changed in the twenty years in between the old Thieves? World of then and the new Thieves? World of now. Murder at theVulkger Unicorn is the second book for Green Ronin?s Thieves? World line.

Usually I do reviews of the PDFs, but this is really covering both the print and PDF. Robert Schwalb was kind enough to send me a copy of the module to review. I liked it enough to buy a PDF version and another print version. I am a big Thieves? World fan so like to support the line. Hopefully other people will also being doing so.

Murder at the Vulgar Unicorn is a module for the Thieves? World setting by Green Ronin Publishing. The module is written by Owen K. C. Stephens. The module is about eighty pages long with very nice black and white art. It has the nice lay out, art, and cartography that one has grown to expect from Green Ronin. The book marks for the PDF version are nicely done. There are three acts in the adventure with each act having specific scenes. There is also a section of interludes. Each of these is book marked and it might be the best way I have seen to book mark an adventure.

The adventure is very much in line with what I expect out of a Thieves? World adventure. It does not start out good for the players and in fact they can really get themselves dead or in trouble with the wrong people at a few points. The adventure is set in the current time of the novels and not in the old novels. It could be run in that time period but it would take a bit of work for the DM to fit in the right people and realize how the different powers of the city then might be involved or react to the happenings.

The module is a little on the complicated side. There is a lot of things happening and the module does a nice job of addressing it all. The adventure takes place in three acts, with a chapter of interludes in there as well. The interludes are a great addition. They fit well into the module but I found they also make for nice adventure ideas to be used at another time in a Thieves? World Campaign. The module is open so the players can basically go about and do what they want. It is not expected that they will follow a linear predictable path. The players are also not always in control of what is going on. This is very much like the stories in the setting. There are powerful groups and people in the city and the players sometimes will have to deal with that. There is combat and role playing and investigation to be found here. Groups can get to the solution and solve the mystery in a variety of ways.

I do not like giving away the module so there is not going to be any spoilers here. In addition to the module the Vulgar Unicorn is fully described and mapped out. There are also sample patrons and typical people to be used as NPCs. I like the small table that explains why a particular person is a beggar. There are three new creatures written up, a few pages worth of PC handouts, and five sample PCs that I used as NPCs to help flesh out the city some.

Murder at the Vulgar Unicorn is the type of adventure I like for Thieves? World. It gives the players plenty of things to do and it can be dangerous and show the undersides and evils of the city. It is not a one shot or one session adventure and I found it can be lengthened and really turned into a small epic of a story.