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Dungeon Crawl Classics #1: Idylls of the Rat King
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<blockquote data-quote="JoeGKushner" data-source="post: 2010111" data-attributes="member: 1129"><p>Idylls of the Rat King is trying to do what others before it have; capture the good old glory of the dungeon crawl. Necromancer Games and Kenzer and Co. both know that there is nothing wrong with the Dungeon Crawl and that it is a perfectly viable form of entertainment. If you don’t believe that, there’s no need to read any further because that’s what Idylls of the Rat King strives for, not only in terms of what it presents, but how it presents it.</p><p></p><p>Remember those old blue gridline maps? Check. Remember the interior artwork? Very similar here. How about the dynamic covers with the text all about it? Check. Bad news is that Goodman’s not the first to do this. As noted, Necromancer and Kenzer, as well as a few others, have all already jumped not only on this bandwagon, but on a similiar format and style to 1st edition modules. Means that it doesn’t stand out too much in a crowd.</p><p></p><p>What about the dungeon though? It’s easy enough to get the party introduced. There are a few different methods of bringing the players into the dungeon, some background notes on how the curse came to the town and four different levels of mines for the players to explore. It’s got a lot going on.</p><p></p><p>Now for the dreaded spoiler alert:</p><p></p><p>Seems that in Silverton, a silver mining town, the people did one of the old owners bad back in the day, killed him and cursed his family to wererats. Now the grandson is back to claim his vengeance. Only thing is though, the mines that his grandfather owned aren’t exactly empty and have a gnome necromancer and his undead minions already working the pipes.</p><p></p><p>This gives Lawrence, the wererat leader, an ally and helps set the tone of the module for you see, Lawrence was ambushed by hobgoblins on his way to the mines and turned them into his minions. This allows the GM to bust out the standard low level creatures, goblinoids, dire rats, and of course, wererats. Use is made of the wererat template on a few beings and some of the more challenging encounters are with goblins with class levels like Hogah the wizard. Surprisingly, the book goes real old school with a challenge that a party of this level might not be able to take. See the real ancient terror that caused all the problems in the first place was never destroyed, just banished and she’s still around for the players to find.</p><p></p><p>In addition to numerous encounters and different goals for the players, the module offers some advice for GMs, which is refreshing. For example, what happens if a player is knocked out? He’s thrown into a prison cell and his items taken. If he dies? He gets reanimated and his goods taken.</p><p></p><p>Outside of the module, the Silverton area is covered briefly in appendix 1. This thorp is small, but has all the standards that a normal adventuring party needs to get healed and get provisions to continue their delves deeper into the mines.</p><p></p><p>In terms of thinking outside of the adventure, it didn’t do much for me. Goodman Games recently came out with a Complete Guide to Wererats and that material isn’t in use here from the background to the abilities. Some non-gaming issues also arise. For example, the gnome necromancer is animating zombies and controlling them mentally all over the silver mine. In game mechanics, he doesn’t have the ability to do so. Not a terrible thing for the adventure but terrible in the design. Proclaim the place an unholy site or something that allows the ability for a necromancer to animate the dead; don’t simply allow him to do it at will.</p><p></p><p>The book uses the interior covers for the four levels of maps. One page is used for the table of contents with the credits. Another page for the OGL and Open Content. This leaves a lot of interior material as pure adventure. Bad news? Dungeon, in full color, is probably still a better buy. More bad news? At 32 pages, it’s a dying breed and is $1 more than average prices. Good news? Margins are good, text spacing is good, editing is good and layout is good. Price wise it may be a little higher but there’s no fluff here.</p><p></p><p>If you’re looking to start off a new campaign and do it in the old fashion style with a good old dungeon crawl, than Idylls of the Rat King is for you.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="JoeGKushner, post: 2010111, member: 1129"] Idylls of the Rat King is trying to do what others before it have; capture the good old glory of the dungeon crawl. Necromancer Games and Kenzer and Co. both know that there is nothing wrong with the Dungeon Crawl and that it is a perfectly viable form of entertainment. If you don’t believe that, there’s no need to read any further because that’s what Idylls of the Rat King strives for, not only in terms of what it presents, but how it presents it. Remember those old blue gridline maps? Check. Remember the interior artwork? Very similar here. How about the dynamic covers with the text all about it? Check. Bad news is that Goodman’s not the first to do this. As noted, Necromancer and Kenzer, as well as a few others, have all already jumped not only on this bandwagon, but on a similiar format and style to 1st edition modules. Means that it doesn’t stand out too much in a crowd. What about the dungeon though? It’s easy enough to get the party introduced. There are a few different methods of bringing the players into the dungeon, some background notes on how the curse came to the town and four different levels of mines for the players to explore. It’s got a lot going on. Now for the dreaded spoiler alert: Seems that in Silverton, a silver mining town, the people did one of the old owners bad back in the day, killed him and cursed his family to wererats. Now the grandson is back to claim his vengeance. Only thing is though, the mines that his grandfather owned aren’t exactly empty and have a gnome necromancer and his undead minions already working the pipes. This gives Lawrence, the wererat leader, an ally and helps set the tone of the module for you see, Lawrence was ambushed by hobgoblins on his way to the mines and turned them into his minions. This allows the GM to bust out the standard low level creatures, goblinoids, dire rats, and of course, wererats. Use is made of the wererat template on a few beings and some of the more challenging encounters are with goblins with class levels like Hogah the wizard. Surprisingly, the book goes real old school with a challenge that a party of this level might not be able to take. See the real ancient terror that caused all the problems in the first place was never destroyed, just banished and she’s still around for the players to find. In addition to numerous encounters and different goals for the players, the module offers some advice for GMs, which is refreshing. For example, what happens if a player is knocked out? He’s thrown into a prison cell and his items taken. If he dies? He gets reanimated and his goods taken. Outside of the module, the Silverton area is covered briefly in appendix 1. This thorp is small, but has all the standards that a normal adventuring party needs to get healed and get provisions to continue their delves deeper into the mines. In terms of thinking outside of the adventure, it didn’t do much for me. Goodman Games recently came out with a Complete Guide to Wererats and that material isn’t in use here from the background to the abilities. Some non-gaming issues also arise. For example, the gnome necromancer is animating zombies and controlling them mentally all over the silver mine. In game mechanics, he doesn’t have the ability to do so. Not a terrible thing for the adventure but terrible in the design. Proclaim the place an unholy site or something that allows the ability for a necromancer to animate the dead; don’t simply allow him to do it at will. The book uses the interior covers for the four levels of maps. One page is used for the table of contents with the credits. Another page for the OGL and Open Content. This leaves a lot of interior material as pure adventure. Bad news? Dungeon, in full color, is probably still a better buy. More bad news? At 32 pages, it’s a dying breed and is $1 more than average prices. Good news? Margins are good, text spacing is good, editing is good and layout is good. Price wise it may be a little higher but there’s no fluff here. If you’re looking to start off a new campaign and do it in the old fashion style with a good old dungeon crawl, than Idylls of the Rat King is for you. [/QUOTE]
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