Messageboard Golem
First Post
A mystery for 1st-2nd level characters. The Annual Night Market has brought many new faces to Amberdale, along with many suspects. Who is behind the assassination attempts on the people of Amberdale?
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Amberdale 1: Something Askew in Amberdale
- Thread starter Messageboard Golem
- Start date
Simon Collins
Explorer
Beware! This review contains major spoilers.
This is not a playtest review.
Price: $2.95
Page Count: 38
Price per page: About 8 cents per page
Designed for Character Level: 1-2
Format: 1.73 MB .pdf (Adobe Acrobat) file, downloadable from www.pdabblegames.com
Main Artwork: A poor, amateurish comicstrip-style black and white sketch of two NPCs from the module.
Additional Page Use: The first page is the main artwork, the second contains credits and contents. The last two pages are info on the OGC and the OGL.
Other Artwork: The five black and white sketches are poor to average, in the same style as the main artwork (in fact one piece is simply reproduced).
Maps: The maps are very basic, a mixture of pixellated computer-generated room maps, and hand-drawn area map (attractively coloured in). The maps are clear, scaled to 5 feet for the internal maps (a nice change from the usual 10 feet scale of other publishers recently), keyed, and with direction.
Text Density: The text density is fairly good and there is little white space within the text, but there are rather large white margins all the way round each page.
Text Style: The spelling and grammar in this module is appalling. In fact it was so bad at times, it made me want to close the file in frustration. A lot of the errors were stuff that could be missed by a spellchecker, but there were even some that should have been picked up by this basic tool. The style itself was informal to the point of being amateurish. I felt sure by the end that it was the writing style that was the subject of the title, Something Askew In Amberdale. The only positive point I can make is that it was enthusiastic and light-hearted.
The Adventure:
The module begins with some advice for running the adventure, an adventure summary, and a couple of sentences about character hooks. There is also a note to those using the Guilds, which are a feature of the world of Gwent. In Gwent, belonging to certain guilds gives you in-game benefits. More than one guild can be joined and the system is a little like the RPGA guilds for Living Campaigns in theme.
The characters begin with a visit to the Night Market, which has brought many merchants and travellers to Amberdale. The action begins when a group of orcs attempt to smash up the stall of a group of goblin (yes, goblin) merchants. The PCs might catch a glimpse of a red-haired being (a new monster, the Smoldrin, a Fire-type Outsider) who starts a fire in the market, causing some chaos, and steals some of the town's Tower Orbs (a new item giving an area effect of deflecting 5d4 missiles, that are normally used on defensive towers).
The PCs are approached by the head of the Brewmasters Guild to speak to the Lord of Amberdale since in addition to the chaos caused at the Night Market, an attempt was also made on his life by an assassin. The Lord slew the assassin and the body is now in the Lord's house. The PCs are invited to investigate the matter as the Duke is currently visiting Amberdale and the Lord does not wish to alert the Duke to the matter by using the town guards. The PCs visit the Lord in his home, can question him about the attempted assassination and have a chance to meet with his two sons, one of whom (Giliad) is the brains behind the assassination attempt, as he seeks his father's title.
The PCs are asked to guard the Lord overnight, during which another assassination attempt by an orc is made, which manages to kill the Lord's wife. The orc is using, unknowingly, a major artefact, a sword that increases with power as the wielder increases in level. The PCs can gain this artefact if they kill the assassin. The PCs also discover that Giliad has been kidnapped. This is a ploy by the Lord's traitorous son to gain a hefty ransom, as he is in on the arrangement. He has also convinced assassins to disguise themselves as a pair of popular merchants and frame another merchant for the assassination attempt.
The PCs can follow Giliad's tracks to a ravine that is the lair of a group of kobolds and orcs led by the Smoldrin. The PCs must fight their way through the kobolds, avoid a couple of traps and recover the stolen Tower Orbs that have been hidden around the lair. They also witness an illusory cave-in that appears to kill the gagged and bound Giliad.
When the PCs return to Amberdale, the PCs must try to stop the Lord paying the ransom in the hope of Giliad being returned to him. Two assassins disguised as merchants may attempt another assassination of the Lord. The adventure ends with the funeral of the Lord's wife, a summary of the events that may occur throughout the adventure, and a couple of ideas for running future adventures.
The module concludes with four pages of NPC and monster stats, two pages of maps and six pages of player handouts for items found within the adventure, again a little like RPGA Living Campaigns.
The High Points: The module is written with enthusiasm, and a reasonable (though incomplete) understanding of the d20 rules. The maps are clear, and some of the items are interesting. The theme of the adventure is similar to the original D&D back in the days of yore, before AD&D even surfaced.
The Low Points: Apart from the appalling writing style, this adventure was so full of logic holes you could put a handle on it and call it a sieve. The art was poor, the stats were replicated in the text and the appendix, and space was wasted with large margins, large maps and excessive player handouts. The adventure itself, whilst getting off to an interesting start, degrades to battling through a lair of kobolds as the climax. The PCs are railroaded through the action with little advice for dealing with PCs who want to go off the beaten track. I could go on.
Conclusion: Despite some positive points, this has to be the worst adventure I've reviewed on EN World so far. It came over as amateurish and, unlike the free Amberdale 0, did not hold together as a competent and continuous adventure. With some work, it could be made to do so, but the actual adventure itself is unoriginal and railroaded, so it would not be worth your while in my opinion. It's a shame, because there is obviously a lot of enthusiasm and effort in the adventure, but I have to give this an Appalling rating.
This is not a playtest review.
Price: $2.95
Page Count: 38
Price per page: About 8 cents per page
Designed for Character Level: 1-2
Format: 1.73 MB .pdf (Adobe Acrobat) file, downloadable from www.pdabblegames.com
Main Artwork: A poor, amateurish comicstrip-style black and white sketch of two NPCs from the module.
Additional Page Use: The first page is the main artwork, the second contains credits and contents. The last two pages are info on the OGC and the OGL.
Other Artwork: The five black and white sketches are poor to average, in the same style as the main artwork (in fact one piece is simply reproduced).
Maps: The maps are very basic, a mixture of pixellated computer-generated room maps, and hand-drawn area map (attractively coloured in). The maps are clear, scaled to 5 feet for the internal maps (a nice change from the usual 10 feet scale of other publishers recently), keyed, and with direction.
Text Density: The text density is fairly good and there is little white space within the text, but there are rather large white margins all the way round each page.
Text Style: The spelling and grammar in this module is appalling. In fact it was so bad at times, it made me want to close the file in frustration. A lot of the errors were stuff that could be missed by a spellchecker, but there were even some that should have been picked up by this basic tool. The style itself was informal to the point of being amateurish. I felt sure by the end that it was the writing style that was the subject of the title, Something Askew In Amberdale. The only positive point I can make is that it was enthusiastic and light-hearted.
The Adventure:
The module begins with some advice for running the adventure, an adventure summary, and a couple of sentences about character hooks. There is also a note to those using the Guilds, which are a feature of the world of Gwent. In Gwent, belonging to certain guilds gives you in-game benefits. More than one guild can be joined and the system is a little like the RPGA guilds for Living Campaigns in theme.
The characters begin with a visit to the Night Market, which has brought many merchants and travellers to Amberdale. The action begins when a group of orcs attempt to smash up the stall of a group of goblin (yes, goblin) merchants. The PCs might catch a glimpse of a red-haired being (a new monster, the Smoldrin, a Fire-type Outsider) who starts a fire in the market, causing some chaos, and steals some of the town's Tower Orbs (a new item giving an area effect of deflecting 5d4 missiles, that are normally used on defensive towers).
The PCs are approached by the head of the Brewmasters Guild to speak to the Lord of Amberdale since in addition to the chaos caused at the Night Market, an attempt was also made on his life by an assassin. The Lord slew the assassin and the body is now in the Lord's house. The PCs are invited to investigate the matter as the Duke is currently visiting Amberdale and the Lord does not wish to alert the Duke to the matter by using the town guards. The PCs visit the Lord in his home, can question him about the attempted assassination and have a chance to meet with his two sons, one of whom (Giliad) is the brains behind the assassination attempt, as he seeks his father's title.
The PCs are asked to guard the Lord overnight, during which another assassination attempt by an orc is made, which manages to kill the Lord's wife. The orc is using, unknowingly, a major artefact, a sword that increases with power as the wielder increases in level. The PCs can gain this artefact if they kill the assassin. The PCs also discover that Giliad has been kidnapped. This is a ploy by the Lord's traitorous son to gain a hefty ransom, as he is in on the arrangement. He has also convinced assassins to disguise themselves as a pair of popular merchants and frame another merchant for the assassination attempt.
The PCs can follow Giliad's tracks to a ravine that is the lair of a group of kobolds and orcs led by the Smoldrin. The PCs must fight their way through the kobolds, avoid a couple of traps and recover the stolen Tower Orbs that have been hidden around the lair. They also witness an illusory cave-in that appears to kill the gagged and bound Giliad.
When the PCs return to Amberdale, the PCs must try to stop the Lord paying the ransom in the hope of Giliad being returned to him. Two assassins disguised as merchants may attempt another assassination of the Lord. The adventure ends with the funeral of the Lord's wife, a summary of the events that may occur throughout the adventure, and a couple of ideas for running future adventures.
The module concludes with four pages of NPC and monster stats, two pages of maps and six pages of player handouts for items found within the adventure, again a little like RPGA Living Campaigns.
The High Points: The module is written with enthusiasm, and a reasonable (though incomplete) understanding of the d20 rules. The maps are clear, and some of the items are interesting. The theme of the adventure is similar to the original D&D back in the days of yore, before AD&D even surfaced.
The Low Points: Apart from the appalling writing style, this adventure was so full of logic holes you could put a handle on it and call it a sieve. The art was poor, the stats were replicated in the text and the appendix, and space was wasted with large margins, large maps and excessive player handouts. The adventure itself, whilst getting off to an interesting start, degrades to battling through a lair of kobolds as the climax. The PCs are railroaded through the action with little advice for dealing with PCs who want to go off the beaten track. I could go on.
Conclusion: Despite some positive points, this has to be the worst adventure I've reviewed on EN World so far. It came over as amateurish and, unlike the free Amberdale 0, did not hold together as a competent and continuous adventure. With some work, it could be made to do so, but the actual adventure itself is unoriginal and railroaded, so it would not be worth your while in my opinion. It's a shame, because there is obviously a lot of enthusiasm and effort in the adventure, but I have to give this an Appalling rating.
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