SilverfireSage
Explorer
Having recently picked up the Princes game from my FLGS, but not having time to play it yet, I thought I would start an open thread for people to post their impressions about it before they truly review it and post in the correct spot on the boards.
Ill start off by saying that I've never been one to run premise adventures. Even when I was a kid DMing for the first time, I would rather come up with my own things, mainly due to a desire to stretch my imagination, but also because I simply lacked the money. I've played premise adventures, including quite a bit of Rise of the Runelords, Castle Ravenloft, Hoard of the Dragon queen and some others, but I haven't run one for very long. Having read the first impressions on Princes, I decided to pick it up and see if I wanted to run it.
So far I have been thoroughly impressed. The writing is exceptional, with a greatly detailed main base and several hubs coming off it for players to return to, as well as a sense of escalation throughout the entire campaign that seems truly game and world changing. My favorite premade I've ever played was Castle Ravenloft, but this one seems to stack up well against it in terms of player freedom, intrigue, exploration and combat. Running through some of the scenarios in my mind has given me a clear idea of the direction I can take all of the plot points, and there seems little in the way of tinkering that would need to be done. Another excellent surprise is how self contained it is. Like Ravenloft, it would take very little to transplant it into my own campaign world, as the whole area it takes place in is its own entity.
The dungeons are well designed, with logical structures and many secrets for the players to explore. The villains are well defined, but secretive enough to not be obvious. In fact, one of the things I like about the story the most is that it's difficult for the players to know right away who the enemy is, but the progression makes it more and more obvious over time. As far as I can tell there are no plot holes, and the level progression is natural. In a more subjective note, the art is truly fantastic, and the most important and fantastic structures and areas get gorgeous illustrations.
As you can probably tell by now, this book has made me very excited. I can't wait to try it out and play it, and while I assign it a 5/5 conditionally, I doubt the rating will change much as I start playing.
Ill start off by saying that I've never been one to run premise adventures. Even when I was a kid DMing for the first time, I would rather come up with my own things, mainly due to a desire to stretch my imagination, but also because I simply lacked the money. I've played premise adventures, including quite a bit of Rise of the Runelords, Castle Ravenloft, Hoard of the Dragon queen and some others, but I haven't run one for very long. Having read the first impressions on Princes, I decided to pick it up and see if I wanted to run it.
So far I have been thoroughly impressed. The writing is exceptional, with a greatly detailed main base and several hubs coming off it for players to return to, as well as a sense of escalation throughout the entire campaign that seems truly game and world changing. My favorite premade I've ever played was Castle Ravenloft, but this one seems to stack up well against it in terms of player freedom, intrigue, exploration and combat. Running through some of the scenarios in my mind has given me a clear idea of the direction I can take all of the plot points, and there seems little in the way of tinkering that would need to be done. Another excellent surprise is how self contained it is. Like Ravenloft, it would take very little to transplant it into my own campaign world, as the whole area it takes place in is its own entity.
The dungeons are well designed, with logical structures and many secrets for the players to explore. The villains are well defined, but secretive enough to not be obvious. In fact, one of the things I like about the story the most is that it's difficult for the players to know right away who the enemy is, but the progression makes it more and more obvious over time. As far as I can tell there are no plot holes, and the level progression is natural. In a more subjective note, the art is truly fantastic, and the most important and fantastic structures and areas get gorgeous illustrations.
As you can probably tell by now, this book has made me very excited. I can't wait to try it out and play it, and while I assign it a 5/5 conditionally, I doubt the rating will change much as I start playing.
