Zardnaar
Legend
The 5E product release seems to be AFK so I have started to look at other options. One of these options was Quests of Doom made by Necromancer Games/Frog God Games. I usually avoid 3PP stuff but I relented and bought the PDF of this adventure for $20. Frog God Games seems to have a good reputation on the Paizo forums and I have heard a lot of favourable things about them so I took a punt and bought Quests of Doom.
So what is Quests of Doom? It is a 193 page book of 12 adventures so or $20 each adventures is around $1.50 each and averages 16 pages. The book is billed as 5E Rules 1E Style. To me this is code word for black and white art and the presentation rather than an effort to try and replicate 1E itself. The adventures however do seem to echo 1E a lot due to the way they are presented as these are not modern adventure paths but more drop into a game and get 1-3 sessions of gaming out of the.. Some of the adventures also has things in it like fungal infections and rot grubs which have a bit of a 1E vibe where the world was dangerous and gritty. The 1E feel is also helped by some of the contributing authors
Steven Winter
Skip Williams
Ed Greenwood
James M Ward
Ex TSR alumni. As it turns out I have recently bought another book written by James Ward called Of Gods and Monsters for Castles and Crusades. He also wrote the original 1E Deities and Demigods. A quick glance through the book also gave me the impression the adventures were comparable to the old (pre 2000) Dungeon magazine. The adventures are also grouped by a theme. The 12 adventures and theme are.
Bugs & Blobs
Noble Rot by J. Collura
Hidden Oasis by Matt Finch & Bill Webb
Demons & Devils
Ra’s Evil Grin by Casey W. Christofferson & Bill Webb
Sorcerer’s Citadel by Casey W. Christofferson & Bill Webb
Giants & Dragons
The Dead From Above by Michael Curtis
Emeralds of Highfang by Ed Greenwood
Lycanthropes & Elementals
Bad Moon Rising by Steven Winter
Death in Dyrgalas by Skip Williams
Men & Monstrosities
Deep in the Vale by James M. Ward
Irtep’s Dish by Casey W. Christofferson
Vampires & Liches
Pyramid of Amra by Bill Webb & Clark Peterson
Sewers of the Underguild by Bill Webb & Clark Peterson
Three of the adventures have an Egyptian vibe (Hidden Oasis, Ra’s Evil Grin, Pyramid of Amra). So far 3 of them in particular have caught my eye and I have prepped one for my group. Without giving to much away.
Noble Rot.
This adventure is set in a faux French chateau/winery and the treasure is expensive bottles of wine. I plan on using this adventure after Bad Moon Rising as it is for level 5-8 PCs. Has a slime demon in it and the demon cult could easily be converted to Jubilex or Ghaunadaur.
Bad Moon Rising
The town the PCs save has a wolf problem. Without giving to much away you get a discount for paying your taxes in silver. This will be the 1st adventure I run for my group as it is for 5th level PCs. Has the potential for a bit of roleplaying and investigation as well.
Emeralds of Highfang.
A high level adventure the problem being they seemed to forget a level guide along the lines of “this adventure is for PC of level 15+” or whatever. It has an ancient red Dragon in it though and a tactical battle spread over several rooms where she can make full use of her abilities.
The adventures seem to be from level 1 through to level 15 or so with most being in the 5-11 range which is nice as you level up fast in 5E and you may want something to do after Lost Mines of Phandelver. The adventures are generic and easily adaptable although a small amount of work may be required as to why you want to do them as some of the hooks are a little weak. At least it is better than some of the old TSR adventures which had you starting them in front of the dungeon door.
As an example of generic The Lost Oasis takes you to the shadow plane which could easily be the Shadowfell and several Egyptian gods are mentioned by name. You could easily sub in the names of a pantheon of your choice. Several adventures also have new monster in them as well. Thoth is replaceable with any god of magic, Sekhmet could be replaced with Anthraxus, Set, Zehir, Talona, a Yuan Ti deity etc.
So is this worth buying? Overall I am getting a lot of positive feelings about this book and at $20 for the PDF it is a steal. I do not live in America so getting the real book was not much of an option. I will have to play some of these adventures. I think I would happily pay the $40 for the actual book as I want to play multiple adventures form this book and suspect I will eventually end up running most of them over the next year or so. Despite its lower production values in terms of art I already like QoD more than Hoard of the Dragon Queen.Lost Mines of Phandelver is the current reigning best 5E adventure IMHO, QoD may give it a run for its money although to be fair it is twice the price and around 3 times the size of LMoP.
The quests also successfully tug at the emotional heart strings and the attachment I have to TSR era D&D much like Castles and Crusades does as well. The authors, presentation and the adventures themselves evoke the old Dungeon Magazine at least to me. If you are after some generic plug and play adventures for 5E buy this book especially if you are starving for 5E gaming material and have exhausted or did not like HotDQ/RoT.
So what is Quests of Doom? It is a 193 page book of 12 adventures so or $20 each adventures is around $1.50 each and averages 16 pages. The book is billed as 5E Rules 1E Style. To me this is code word for black and white art and the presentation rather than an effort to try and replicate 1E itself. The adventures however do seem to echo 1E a lot due to the way they are presented as these are not modern adventure paths but more drop into a game and get 1-3 sessions of gaming out of the.. Some of the adventures also has things in it like fungal infections and rot grubs which have a bit of a 1E vibe where the world was dangerous and gritty. The 1E feel is also helped by some of the contributing authors
Steven Winter
Skip Williams
Ed Greenwood
James M Ward
Ex TSR alumni. As it turns out I have recently bought another book written by James Ward called Of Gods and Monsters for Castles and Crusades. He also wrote the original 1E Deities and Demigods. A quick glance through the book also gave me the impression the adventures were comparable to the old (pre 2000) Dungeon magazine. The adventures are also grouped by a theme. The 12 adventures and theme are.
Bugs & Blobs
Noble Rot by J. Collura
Hidden Oasis by Matt Finch & Bill Webb
Demons & Devils
Ra’s Evil Grin by Casey W. Christofferson & Bill Webb
Sorcerer’s Citadel by Casey W. Christofferson & Bill Webb
Giants & Dragons
The Dead From Above by Michael Curtis
Emeralds of Highfang by Ed Greenwood
Lycanthropes & Elementals
Bad Moon Rising by Steven Winter
Death in Dyrgalas by Skip Williams
Men & Monstrosities
Deep in the Vale by James M. Ward
Irtep’s Dish by Casey W. Christofferson
Vampires & Liches
Pyramid of Amra by Bill Webb & Clark Peterson
Sewers of the Underguild by Bill Webb & Clark Peterson
Three of the adventures have an Egyptian vibe (Hidden Oasis, Ra’s Evil Grin, Pyramid of Amra). So far 3 of them in particular have caught my eye and I have prepped one for my group. Without giving to much away.
Noble Rot.
This adventure is set in a faux French chateau/winery and the treasure is expensive bottles of wine. I plan on using this adventure after Bad Moon Rising as it is for level 5-8 PCs. Has a slime demon in it and the demon cult could easily be converted to Jubilex or Ghaunadaur.
Bad Moon Rising
The town the PCs save has a wolf problem. Without giving to much away you get a discount for paying your taxes in silver. This will be the 1st adventure I run for my group as it is for 5th level PCs. Has the potential for a bit of roleplaying and investigation as well.
Emeralds of Highfang.
A high level adventure the problem being they seemed to forget a level guide along the lines of “this adventure is for PC of level 15+” or whatever. It has an ancient red Dragon in it though and a tactical battle spread over several rooms where she can make full use of her abilities.
The adventures seem to be from level 1 through to level 15 or so with most being in the 5-11 range which is nice as you level up fast in 5E and you may want something to do after Lost Mines of Phandelver. The adventures are generic and easily adaptable although a small amount of work may be required as to why you want to do them as some of the hooks are a little weak. At least it is better than some of the old TSR adventures which had you starting them in front of the dungeon door.
As an example of generic The Lost Oasis takes you to the shadow plane which could easily be the Shadowfell and several Egyptian gods are mentioned by name. You could easily sub in the names of a pantheon of your choice. Several adventures also have new monster in them as well. Thoth is replaceable with any god of magic, Sekhmet could be replaced with Anthraxus, Set, Zehir, Talona, a Yuan Ti deity etc.
So is this worth buying? Overall I am getting a lot of positive feelings about this book and at $20 for the PDF it is a steal. I do not live in America so getting the real book was not much of an option. I will have to play some of these adventures. I think I would happily pay the $40 for the actual book as I want to play multiple adventures form this book and suspect I will eventually end up running most of them over the next year or so. Despite its lower production values in terms of art I already like QoD more than Hoard of the Dragon Queen.Lost Mines of Phandelver is the current reigning best 5E adventure IMHO, QoD may give it a run for its money although to be fair it is twice the price and around 3 times the size of LMoP.
The quests also successfully tug at the emotional heart strings and the attachment I have to TSR era D&D much like Castles and Crusades does as well. The authors, presentation and the adventures themselves evoke the old Dungeon Magazine at least to me. If you are after some generic plug and play adventures for 5E buy this book especially if you are starving for 5E gaming material and have exhausted or did not like HotDQ/RoT.
