Legendary Games’ ENnie Award nominated game, Legendary Beginnings: A Feast of Flavor by Rachel Ventura, is an all-ages tabletop RPG adventure waiting to be played at the kids’ gaming table. How does this 72-page, all-ages adventure – available for either 5e or Pathfinder – measure up at the adult’s table? This review examines the 5e version of the game, however, it is also available for Pathfinder 1e as well.
The adventure hook is a plumber scenario, your party unblocks a passage that is causing the village to back up.
It’s a simple, easy-to-grasp pitch that works for all-ages. To augment the adventure and enhance the tabletop experience for an age group that in unlikely to take notes, there are decks of cards available that allow the GM to deal out pertinent Quest Cards, Social Battle cards, Pursuit cards, Matching Game cards, and Handout cards including Zekerian Amulet, Toadstool Vest, and Willow Switch cards.
While this is an adventure for the Dungeons & Dragons (or Pathfinder) ruleset, the adventure makes an effort to bypass the murder hobo-ness of those systems to “emphasizes Charisma (Persuasion) and roleplaying over straight combat” with an adventure full of “puzzles, and riddles that require social and thinking skills.”
Unlike many all-ages adventures, Rachel Ventura’s setup for this one is detailed and not dumbed down. There’s politics and kingdoms and faerie lands and revenge, all covered with a veneer of candy to make this a mentally engaging candyland. The PCs are tasked with uncovering what is troubling the settlement of Bakewell Tart. There is a trek to the colony that takes a number of scenes to work through but during the course, the characters will get a hint of the troubles that await them in Bakewell Tart. Along the way, hopefully, they will encounter onions, garlic, leeks, and the matching game.
To give an idea of the age range for this adventure, the fifth scene involves the PCs competing in a picture matching game. Using either cards, the print-and-cut pages in the back, or dice, the players participate in a game to defeat a dire gopher. This encounter can be handled with something other than combat. Upon reaching Bakewell Tart, the characters are tasked with a variety of mini-quests that, along with meeting the town’s inhabitants, help shape the mystery of why the town is no longer prosperous and how to resolve that issue. The rest of the book is appendixes with flavored magic items, all-ages appropriate creatures to encounter, spells, handouts, maps, and more.
Does A Feast of Flavor win the kids’ table? Yes. It’s set up to be engaging for young players eager to test out a fun version of D&D or Pathfinder.
Does A Feast of Flavor work at the adults’ table? If the table is open to the light-hearted silliness of the world, yes. This is an excellent opportunity to try a game that uses the world’s most popular roleplaying system yet includes everyone at the table. There are options to stretch the player’s use of skills over encounters while building up roleplaying skills. In short, A Feast of Flavor is a feast for all.
This article was contributed by Egg Embry as part of EN World's Columnist (ENWC) program. Please note that Egg is a participant in the OneBookShelf Affiliate Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to DriveThruRPG. We are always on the lookout for freelance columnists! If you have a pitch, please contact us!
The adventure hook is a plumber scenario, your party unblocks a passage that is causing the village to back up.
“[A] vital pass through the mountains has been closed by forces unknown. The citizens of Bakewell Tart are frightened and angry, unable to trade their marvelous goods with the fanciful fey beyond and now, with all manner of mischief running lose in and around the town as supplies run low and neighbor turns against neighbor. And now rumors come that a sinister servant of the fallen witch queen may be behind it all, having broken free from her immortal prison and ready to seek her revenge! This is a job for heroes with the strength, wit, and heart to try almost anything to bring peace and prosperity back to the frontier.”
It’s a simple, easy-to-grasp pitch that works for all-ages. To augment the adventure and enhance the tabletop experience for an age group that in unlikely to take notes, there are decks of cards available that allow the GM to deal out pertinent Quest Cards, Social Battle cards, Pursuit cards, Matching Game cards, and Handout cards including Zekerian Amulet, Toadstool Vest, and Willow Switch cards.
While this is an adventure for the Dungeons & Dragons (or Pathfinder) ruleset, the adventure makes an effort to bypass the murder hobo-ness of those systems to “emphasizes Charisma (Persuasion) and roleplaying over straight combat” with an adventure full of “puzzles, and riddles that require social and thinking skills.”
Unlike many all-ages adventures, Rachel Ventura’s setup for this one is detailed and not dumbed down. There’s politics and kingdoms and faerie lands and revenge, all covered with a veneer of candy to make this a mentally engaging candyland. The PCs are tasked with uncovering what is troubling the settlement of Bakewell Tart. There is a trek to the colony that takes a number of scenes to work through but during the course, the characters will get a hint of the troubles that await them in Bakewell Tart. Along the way, hopefully, they will encounter onions, garlic, leeks, and the matching game.
To give an idea of the age range for this adventure, the fifth scene involves the PCs competing in a picture matching game. Using either cards, the print-and-cut pages in the back, or dice, the players participate in a game to defeat a dire gopher. This encounter can be handled with something other than combat. Upon reaching Bakewell Tart, the characters are tasked with a variety of mini-quests that, along with meeting the town’s inhabitants, help shape the mystery of why the town is no longer prosperous and how to resolve that issue. The rest of the book is appendixes with flavored magic items, all-ages appropriate creatures to encounter, spells, handouts, maps, and more.
Does A Feast of Flavor win the kids’ table? Yes. It’s set up to be engaging for young players eager to test out a fun version of D&D or Pathfinder.
Does A Feast of Flavor work at the adults’ table? If the table is open to the light-hearted silliness of the world, yes. This is an excellent opportunity to try a game that uses the world’s most popular roleplaying system yet includes everyone at the table. There are options to stretch the player’s use of skills over encounters while building up roleplaying skills. In short, A Feast of Flavor is a feast for all.
This article was contributed by Egg Embry as part of EN World's Columnist (ENWC) program. Please note that Egg is a participant in the OneBookShelf Affiliate Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to DriveThruRPG. We are always on the lookout for freelance columnists! If you have a pitch, please contact us!
