Coin's End, written by Andy Miller, is the fourth in Kenzer and Company's line of d20 modules. Serving as the sequel for The Root of All Evil and Forging Darkness, it is written for a group of four to six fifth level characters. It is set in the Reanaaria Bay area of Tellene, in the Kingdoms of Kalamar setting. It is an event-based module with an even mix between combat, negotiation, and role-playing.
The Book
Coin's End, a standard laminated, stapled, booklet, is forty-eight pages long. The inside covers have maps on them. The margins are partially white and partially marbled and are an inch wide. The interior covers are covered with maps of the outside of Castle Triumph and the Land of Skarrna.
The cover illustration, by Hung Vinh Mac, is a quality piece depicting a battle between a group of adventurers and gnolls next to a large wall. The interior art, by Tommy Castillo, is comprised of miniaturized versions of the ImageQuest (tm) illustrations provided at the back of the book.
The maps are flavorful and interesting, providing Kenzer's typical high quality of informativeness and usefulness.
The Meat
Coin's End picks up where Forging Darkness left off, with the PCs preparing to travel north for the final confrontation with Daresh. If the PCs have not completed the previous module than five hooks are provided to introduce them to the module. Regardless of whether they have completed the previous module or been introduced to the adventure through one of the presented the campaign hook the PCs are presented with the Coin of Power that they need to confront Daresh and instructions to visit the village of Haanex and speak to the wizard Veoden.
The module assumes that the PCs start in the city of Zoa and provides two alternatives to approaching Haanex: by ocean or by land. By ocean is the easiest, and is less eventful than by travelling by foot. Random and not-so random encounters are provided regardless of which route the PCs choose.
Assuming that the PCs decide to follow through with their instructions to visit Veoden, they are granted a vision of Daresh's castle and a cryptic warning that "evil cannot stand evil's touch." He also recommends that they should stay hidden in their journey to their north.
With that, the module breaks off into detailing the History of the Land of Skarrna, its capital and its politics. More information is provided in this module than the Kingdoms of Kalamar setting, including a listing of all of the Skryvalkkers of Skarrna and a map of Skarrna showing rough boundaries between each of the Skryvalkker's domains.
After this section the remaining material is a series of detailed encounters mixed between quasi-random encounters that can be placed in a wide general area to ones that can be placed with a little more difficulty. Some flexibility is allowed in the potential of where the PCs can go. Opportunities also exist to add both hostile and friendly NPCs to the group's roster before its final confrontation with their ultimate target: Daresh.
Daresh waits in the castle of the former ruler of Natfal, a domain of Skarrna. Renamed Castle Triumph, it is currently manned and surrounded by a large portion of Daresh's gnoll forces. Several ways are provided for the PCs to sneak into the castle, both obvious and a bit more secret. The castle itself is filled with a mix of gnolls, werebeasts, and gargoyles in addition to Daresh herself. After Daresh's death, the PCs now must escape from the castle. The module assumes that Daresh dies spectacularly, blowing up the top of the castle, and presents the PCs with the challenge of escaping the castle with the gnolls encamped it all riled up and a gnoll adept and a pack of gnoll and ghoul followers chasing as they flee.
The module wraps up with a description of the aftermath of the module and hints at potential future adventures....
The Good
Coin's End provides a suitably epic conclusion to Kenzer and Company's first trilogy. Its strengths are very similar to that of its two predecessors. It is jam packed with material that makes the game run easier. Handouts, good maps, and the twenty-seven perforated ImageQuest (tm) pictures all make this adventure especially useful. It follows the trend of previous modules in further fleshing out areas of the setting that are pertinent to the adventure, providing most of the setting information need to run the module. The numerous encounters, quite a few of which have nothing to do with the actual quest, add to the flavor of the world and provide a level of detail that cannot be gained from regular random encounters. For those who prefer random encounters, four pages of tables for the region in and around Skarrna are provided in the back end of the book.
The Bad
Coin's End's main faults lie with the assumptions it makes. At several points in the adventure it assumes that the PCs follow a particular course of action and for most of the remainder of the module the flavor text and the action is based around that. The most glaring of these assumptions are its assumptions that a group of non-evil bandits join the group at one point and that the module ends with the destruction of the two Coins of Power and their subsequent large explosion. The entire end to the module assumes that this happens, and the aftermath section fails to consider the potential of one or both of the Coins still existing.
Rating: 4/5
Coin's End is a worthwhile purchase if you wish to gain more information on the Lands of Skarrna, if you ran the first two modules in this series, or if you want to plunder this module for individual encounters or ideas that are easily useable with most any other setting or campaign
The Book
Coin's End, a standard laminated, stapled, booklet, is forty-eight pages long. The inside covers have maps on them. The margins are partially white and partially marbled and are an inch wide. The interior covers are covered with maps of the outside of Castle Triumph and the Land of Skarrna.
The cover illustration, by Hung Vinh Mac, is a quality piece depicting a battle between a group of adventurers and gnolls next to a large wall. The interior art, by Tommy Castillo, is comprised of miniaturized versions of the ImageQuest (tm) illustrations provided at the back of the book.
The maps are flavorful and interesting, providing Kenzer's typical high quality of informativeness and usefulness.
The Meat
Coin's End picks up where Forging Darkness left off, with the PCs preparing to travel north for the final confrontation with Daresh. If the PCs have not completed the previous module than five hooks are provided to introduce them to the module. Regardless of whether they have completed the previous module or been introduced to the adventure through one of the presented the campaign hook the PCs are presented with the Coin of Power that they need to confront Daresh and instructions to visit the village of Haanex and speak to the wizard Veoden.
The module assumes that the PCs start in the city of Zoa and provides two alternatives to approaching Haanex: by ocean or by land. By ocean is the easiest, and is less eventful than by travelling by foot. Random and not-so random encounters are provided regardless of which route the PCs choose.
Assuming that the PCs decide to follow through with their instructions to visit Veoden, they are granted a vision of Daresh's castle and a cryptic warning that "evil cannot stand evil's touch." He also recommends that they should stay hidden in their journey to their north.
With that, the module breaks off into detailing the History of the Land of Skarrna, its capital and its politics. More information is provided in this module than the Kingdoms of Kalamar setting, including a listing of all of the Skryvalkkers of Skarrna and a map of Skarrna showing rough boundaries between each of the Skryvalkker's domains.
After this section the remaining material is a series of detailed encounters mixed between quasi-random encounters that can be placed in a wide general area to ones that can be placed with a little more difficulty. Some flexibility is allowed in the potential of where the PCs can go. Opportunities also exist to add both hostile and friendly NPCs to the group's roster before its final confrontation with their ultimate target: Daresh.
Daresh waits in the castle of the former ruler of Natfal, a domain of Skarrna. Renamed Castle Triumph, it is currently manned and surrounded by a large portion of Daresh's gnoll forces. Several ways are provided for the PCs to sneak into the castle, both obvious and a bit more secret. The castle itself is filled with a mix of gnolls, werebeasts, and gargoyles in addition to Daresh herself. After Daresh's death, the PCs now must escape from the castle. The module assumes that Daresh dies spectacularly, blowing up the top of the castle, and presents the PCs with the challenge of escaping the castle with the gnolls encamped it all riled up and a gnoll adept and a pack of gnoll and ghoul followers chasing as they flee.
The module wraps up with a description of the aftermath of the module and hints at potential future adventures....
The Good
Coin's End provides a suitably epic conclusion to Kenzer and Company's first trilogy. Its strengths are very similar to that of its two predecessors. It is jam packed with material that makes the game run easier. Handouts, good maps, and the twenty-seven perforated ImageQuest (tm) pictures all make this adventure especially useful. It follows the trend of previous modules in further fleshing out areas of the setting that are pertinent to the adventure, providing most of the setting information need to run the module. The numerous encounters, quite a few of which have nothing to do with the actual quest, add to the flavor of the world and provide a level of detail that cannot be gained from regular random encounters. For those who prefer random encounters, four pages of tables for the region in and around Skarrna are provided in the back end of the book.
The Bad
Coin's End's main faults lie with the assumptions it makes. At several points in the adventure it assumes that the PCs follow a particular course of action and for most of the remainder of the module the flavor text and the action is based around that. The most glaring of these assumptions are its assumptions that a group of non-evil bandits join the group at one point and that the module ends with the destruction of the two Coins of Power and their subsequent large explosion. The entire end to the module assumes that this happens, and the aftermath section fails to consider the potential of one or both of the Coins still existing.
Rating: 4/5
Coin's End is a worthwhile purchase if you wish to gain more information on the Lands of Skarrna, if you ran the first two modules in this series, or if you want to plunder this module for individual encounters or ideas that are easily useable with most any other setting or campaign
