Simon Collins
Explorer
Beware! This review contains spoilers.
This is not a playtest review.
The Invulnerable King is an adventure for the Slaine RPG and is suitable for 1st-2nd level characters. It is the first of a quadrology of adventures known as the Horned Lord and Moon Sow campaign.
The Invulnerable King is a 96-page softcover product, whose decorative borders and inside covers are colour but is otherwise mono. There is little wasted space, though margins seem a little large and sub-headings use a fairly large font. The front cover features a musclebound Slaine leaping out of the page, sword and axe at the ready. The internal art is a mixture of art from the comics and original art of average to good quality. The maps are illustrated conceptual pieces rather than utilitarian maps with scale and compass direction, making them pleasant to behold but not very indicative when it comes to combat. The writing style is very good, atmospheric and evocative. Editing seems pretty good, with a few minor errors.
The adventure begins with some background to the four-part campaign, of which The Invulnerable King is the first part. The aim of the campaign is to bring together the scattered huge stones that once made up a magical stone circle. The stones were once the best bards in Tir Nan Og, turned into stones by the goddess Ceridwen. The circle they formed had the power to amplify dreams and bring them to life, but it was scattered in fear by an ancient race called the Avanc. The PCs are sent across Tir Nan Og to retrieve the stones for their king, Osdann. The Invulnerable King concentrates on the finding of a magical harp that gives visions of the location of each stone and retrieval of the first three of the ten stones. PCs will visit Midgard and the Titan lands, and face a number of challenging combats, fascinating roleplaying opportunities, and tests of their skills and tactics. During their quest the PCs are constantly harried by other powers searching for the stones.
The weakest point of the adventure is the plot hook and adventure background for The Invulnerable King. The adventure has all the PCs as members of the Fir Domain tribe, subjects of a despotic king named Osdann. Osdann has the magical power of invulnerability and has used his power cruelly to cow his subjects and the surrounding lands. The downside of this interesting situation is that it is the only plot hook given and that Osdann is such a reprehensible character that their quest on his behalf stretches disbelief to its limits. It is likely that PCs will rebel against his injustice, requiring a re-think of the plot hook at the very least. Some guidelines are given for this circumstance and there are some very interesting intrigue possibilities thrown in, but the GM will still have to reconsider the motivations of the PCs to continue the quest and come up with a new and pressing reason for the PCs to retrieve the stones.
With some modifications, most notably the magic used by magic-using NPCs, this adventure could be used in other fantasy settings and there are plenty of new monsters, magical items, and adventure concepts that could be borrowed for use in your campaign, whether Slaine or not.
Conclusion:
Definitely in the top five adventures so far released under the d20 banner, The Invulnerable King is full of Celtic atmosphere, original ideas, and epic flavour. Its only weakness lies in its use of a despicable NPC as the plot hook for the PCs' quest and limiting the plot hooks to a single one. Otherwise, there is little to fault and a lot to admire. I look forward to the second adventure in the series.
This is not a playtest review.
The Invulnerable King is an adventure for the Slaine RPG and is suitable for 1st-2nd level characters. It is the first of a quadrology of adventures known as the Horned Lord and Moon Sow campaign.
The Invulnerable King is a 96-page softcover product, whose decorative borders and inside covers are colour but is otherwise mono. There is little wasted space, though margins seem a little large and sub-headings use a fairly large font. The front cover features a musclebound Slaine leaping out of the page, sword and axe at the ready. The internal art is a mixture of art from the comics and original art of average to good quality. The maps are illustrated conceptual pieces rather than utilitarian maps with scale and compass direction, making them pleasant to behold but not very indicative when it comes to combat. The writing style is very good, atmospheric and evocative. Editing seems pretty good, with a few minor errors.
The adventure begins with some background to the four-part campaign, of which The Invulnerable King is the first part. The aim of the campaign is to bring together the scattered huge stones that once made up a magical stone circle. The stones were once the best bards in Tir Nan Og, turned into stones by the goddess Ceridwen. The circle they formed had the power to amplify dreams and bring them to life, but it was scattered in fear by an ancient race called the Avanc. The PCs are sent across Tir Nan Og to retrieve the stones for their king, Osdann. The Invulnerable King concentrates on the finding of a magical harp that gives visions of the location of each stone and retrieval of the first three of the ten stones. PCs will visit Midgard and the Titan lands, and face a number of challenging combats, fascinating roleplaying opportunities, and tests of their skills and tactics. During their quest the PCs are constantly harried by other powers searching for the stones.
The weakest point of the adventure is the plot hook and adventure background for The Invulnerable King. The adventure has all the PCs as members of the Fir Domain tribe, subjects of a despotic king named Osdann. Osdann has the magical power of invulnerability and has used his power cruelly to cow his subjects and the surrounding lands. The downside of this interesting situation is that it is the only plot hook given and that Osdann is such a reprehensible character that their quest on his behalf stretches disbelief to its limits. It is likely that PCs will rebel against his injustice, requiring a re-think of the plot hook at the very least. Some guidelines are given for this circumstance and there are some very interesting intrigue possibilities thrown in, but the GM will still have to reconsider the motivations of the PCs to continue the quest and come up with a new and pressing reason for the PCs to retrieve the stones.
With some modifications, most notably the magic used by magic-using NPCs, this adventure could be used in other fantasy settings and there are plenty of new monsters, magical items, and adventure concepts that could be borrowed for use in your campaign, whether Slaine or not.
Conclusion:
Definitely in the top five adventures so far released under the d20 banner, The Invulnerable King is full of Celtic atmosphere, original ideas, and epic flavour. Its only weakness lies in its use of a despicable NPC as the plot hook for the PCs' quest and limiting the plot hooks to a single one. Otherwise, there is little to fault and a lot to admire. I look forward to the second adventure in the series.
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