Crothian
First Post
The Hamlet of Thumble is an adventure for first to second level characters that are either good or evil. Do not allow that description to fool you, as this is much more then one’s average module. The book is seventy pages in length. The layout is solid and it is easy to read. The black and white art is good if a little sparse. The price of $14.99 is good for what is offered on the pages.
The adventure is designed so that the party is either the protectors or attacks of a small halfling village. One could also run it with two parties, one attacking and one defending. All these options are very well spelled out for the Dungeon Master. The adventure is more site based allowing the Player Characters to determine some of what happens. There are a few specific encounters spelled out in the book, but they can happen as needed. Getting to the village is easy enough. The book includes a good map and some random encounter tables. It also has some weather tables and some simple rules for different kinds of weather.
The village is fully detailed and easy to use. As a full village it would also be easy to remove the village from the adventure. The NPCs are very detailed and come alive with a ripe descriptions and stat blocks. The village for me was the highlight of the book as I really enjoy things that can be used over and over and easily grow within my own campaign. The building blocks are all there in this village and it can easily see use long after the adventure runs its course.
The book offers some new rules in it as well. It begins with some new base classes: The Cavalier, The Shaman, and The Witch. While none of the classes are bad in any way, I feel that they might have been better served as prestige classes. They make find base classes, but I prefer to keep base classes at a minimum. There are also some new spells, feat, magical items, and creatures in the book. All seem well done and nicely balanced.
It’s the other rules that really impressed me though. There is a weapons table for mundane items like a kitchen knife, frying pan, shears, and broomstick. It is a simple thing to do but it really is an area that I had not seen covered. There is also some simple morale checks based on a fear saving throw. There is a new option for spell casters, a new type of ranged attack. Basically it is a way to make the caster a little more useful in ranged combat without also relying on the crossbow. There are also rules for dreams in the book. These include a new skill that helps one recall dreams more accurately as well as lucid dreaming. There are some well done reputation rules that work really well and add a nice addition to the game. It can serve as an alternate way to reward characters.
There are some simple rules special abilities and weaknesses for characters. They are small bonuses that add a little to characters and help personalize them. It does make a character a little more powerful, but at low levels that can be a really good thing. Some are a little on the powerful side and may cause imbalances between characters though. So, a DM is warned to use them with care.
Lastly, it has some great tips. As with all tips the more experienced the DM the more of these one will know of, but no DM is perfect and everyone has room for improvement. The tips can just as easily help out the best of DMs get even better and to help conceal a weakness or two.
Overall I find this a very good product. It has a non typical adventure and a good set of additional rules that are easy to use. Even after the adventure has been used the town and many of the rules can be used well into a long campaign.
The adventure is designed so that the party is either the protectors or attacks of a small halfling village. One could also run it with two parties, one attacking and one defending. All these options are very well spelled out for the Dungeon Master. The adventure is more site based allowing the Player Characters to determine some of what happens. There are a few specific encounters spelled out in the book, but they can happen as needed. Getting to the village is easy enough. The book includes a good map and some random encounter tables. It also has some weather tables and some simple rules for different kinds of weather.
The village is fully detailed and easy to use. As a full village it would also be easy to remove the village from the adventure. The NPCs are very detailed and come alive with a ripe descriptions and stat blocks. The village for me was the highlight of the book as I really enjoy things that can be used over and over and easily grow within my own campaign. The building blocks are all there in this village and it can easily see use long after the adventure runs its course.
The book offers some new rules in it as well. It begins with some new base classes: The Cavalier, The Shaman, and The Witch. While none of the classes are bad in any way, I feel that they might have been better served as prestige classes. They make find base classes, but I prefer to keep base classes at a minimum. There are also some new spells, feat, magical items, and creatures in the book. All seem well done and nicely balanced.
It’s the other rules that really impressed me though. There is a weapons table for mundane items like a kitchen knife, frying pan, shears, and broomstick. It is a simple thing to do but it really is an area that I had not seen covered. There is also some simple morale checks based on a fear saving throw. There is a new option for spell casters, a new type of ranged attack. Basically it is a way to make the caster a little more useful in ranged combat without also relying on the crossbow. There are also rules for dreams in the book. These include a new skill that helps one recall dreams more accurately as well as lucid dreaming. There are some well done reputation rules that work really well and add a nice addition to the game. It can serve as an alternate way to reward characters.
There are some simple rules special abilities and weaknesses for characters. They are small bonuses that add a little to characters and help personalize them. It does make a character a little more powerful, but at low levels that can be a really good thing. Some are a little on the powerful side and may cause imbalances between characters though. So, a DM is warned to use them with care.
Lastly, it has some great tips. As with all tips the more experienced the DM the more of these one will know of, but no DM is perfect and everyone has room for improvement. The tips can just as easily help out the best of DMs get even better and to help conceal a weakness or two.
Overall I find this a very good product. It has a non typical adventure and a good set of additional rules that are easy to use. Even after the adventure has been used the town and many of the rules can be used well into a long campaign.
