Simon Collins
Explorer
Beware! This review contains major spoilers.
Race for Retribution Part 1 is comprised of three downloadable .pdf files - an adventure for 1st level characters (1.87 MB), background to the two towns at the base of the adventure (4.04 MB), and Tile Sheets for the adventure map (266 KB). The files are free to download from www.bardsproductions.com
Presentation: Of the three Adobe Acrobat files, the adventure is 18 pages, the town information 23 pages, and the tile sheets 2 pages. The first page of the adventure features some poor black and white artwork that looks a bit squashed on the page. The rest of the three files contain only two other pieces of black and white art, both relevant to the text, and both oddly interesting. In contrast to this, there are lots of maps - partly because there are several maps, and partly because the maps are repeated - in black and white (for cheap printing) and in the tile sheets (which are to scale for minatures, and can be printed out and stuck to cardboard for semi-permanent dungeon tiles; also, they are broken up into sections so they can be used outside of their initial purpose). The maps themselves are fairly grainy and scream pixels at you - utility wins out over presentation, and 90 degree angles take precedence over fluidity. Text density is good, but there is a heck of a lot of white space here, in addition to a runic border at top and bottom of each page. The last two pages of both the adventure and the town information cover Open Gaming Content and the OGL. The second page of each has contents and credits, whilst the first page of the Town Information is just the title over a sort of watermark version of one of the town maps. What this actually leaves you with is 10 pages of adventure and about the same for the town information, also discluding maps. There are a number of spelling errors in the module revealing that the text was spell-checked but not edited very well (e.g. manor instead of manner), and the writing style is a bit clunky at times.
The Adventure: Bards Productions' website announces that A Race For Retribution Part I "is the standard kick down the door and kill everything". They state that this has deliberately been done and is in contrast to the focus of the remaining parts of the adventure (2, 3 and 4). However, the Adventure Background (which is really an introduction to all four adventures) begins with the intriguing story of an orc-hating hero being given land to develop a settlement close to a nearby town after defeating three local orc tribes. One of the first settlers is a half-orc cleric, Degarn, who worships the god of just retribution. Set up by the god of destruction and quickly accused by the racist hero and the other racist settlers, the half-orc escapes the wrongful justice and turns to the god of destruction to aid him in paying the settlers back. Years later, the now-powerful Degarn returns and whips up the aid of the remnant orc tribes. Degarn has instructed one of his cleric underlings to begin caravan raids along the local trade routes to weaken the settlement before his planned destruction of it. The Adventure Summary section is actually a summary of all four adventures (the adventures are designed to be a linked plot with the opportunity to play your own adventures in between). Advice on running the adventures follows, including an introduction to the interesting idea of linked rumour tables, such that PCs in Part 1 can learn rumours regarding future parts of the adventure, dependent on how long (in game time) it will be before the GM intends to run that part. There follow sections on using the adventure standalone, scaling the adventure, and six options for adventure hooks. The next section, DM Notes, gives suggestions on dealing with the moral issues raised by the adventures. The adventure itself begins with an overview of the base of the underling cleric, Cabraah, a difficult-to-find cave. The PCs find goblins and hobgoblins within in addition to Cabraah, who may summon a fiendish wolf. Each set of combatants is given some tactical options to make it more challenging for PCs and each area has a detailed treasure list. Tactics for reducing the challenge of the encounters is given if the PCs are losing badly and a round-by-round rundown of Cabraah's actions is detailed. There is a player handout of a letter that may give a clue to lead to the next part of the adventure (for which the module gives a crafty tip for making look more authentic). A wandering monsters section for the local area around the town or the wilderness areas include goblins, hobgoblins, orcs, a merchant with his wagon, an ogre, and a dire bat. There is then a section on concluding the adventure. Lastly, there is a set of linked rumour tables with instructions for use, including side effects to gathering information such as receiving death threats from cleerics of destruction when they get too close to the truth behind the imminent attack.
The Town Information: The Town Information begins with a very detailed breakdown of the different classes (and their levels) that live in the town of Stahl. A small paragrpah on the attitude of the town is followed by stats, possessions and personality for 17 of the most important citizens. Laendersburg, the small settlement nearby, gets the same treatment for 7 of its main citizens, including the racist hero and founder of the settlement, Laender. The Personality sections also include some information which could be developed as sub-plots if required.
The Good: This is probably one of the most detailed modules I've come across. As you can see from the information on their website, Bards Productions have been carefully researching what consumers are looking for, and have done their best to try and meet this need. They have certainly provided an adventure that would be very useful for a first-time GM, with plenty of advice on how to run the set of four adventures. It is also flexible enough for the GM who is looking for an adventure to easily slot into his own campaign world, and can be modified using scaling and tactics to suit PCs of different levels. The addition of the tile sheets idea, the linked rumour tables, and the excellent information for roleplaying various NPCs from the town of Stahl, and the settlement of Laender give great value-added bonuses. It also introduces a mature theme in terms of dealing with racism, and a grey area as to who is the real baddy, Degarn or Laender. Its free too, although really part of a larger adventure.
The Bad: The presentation is amateurish throughout, in terms of artwork, maps, and writing style. The adventure is bland and uninteresting in and of itself. There is far too much white space despite the good text density.
Conclusion: Full of creativity and well thought-out advice and value-added extras for the GM but severely lacking in style. If they can hold onto the good and improve the bad, they could be someone to look out for. Despite some Good stuff, and occasional Superb ideas, the presentation claws this back down to Average.
Race for Retribution Part 1 is comprised of three downloadable .pdf files - an adventure for 1st level characters (1.87 MB), background to the two towns at the base of the adventure (4.04 MB), and Tile Sheets for the adventure map (266 KB). The files are free to download from www.bardsproductions.com
Presentation: Of the three Adobe Acrobat files, the adventure is 18 pages, the town information 23 pages, and the tile sheets 2 pages. The first page of the adventure features some poor black and white artwork that looks a bit squashed on the page. The rest of the three files contain only two other pieces of black and white art, both relevant to the text, and both oddly interesting. In contrast to this, there are lots of maps - partly because there are several maps, and partly because the maps are repeated - in black and white (for cheap printing) and in the tile sheets (which are to scale for minatures, and can be printed out and stuck to cardboard for semi-permanent dungeon tiles; also, they are broken up into sections so they can be used outside of their initial purpose). The maps themselves are fairly grainy and scream pixels at you - utility wins out over presentation, and 90 degree angles take precedence over fluidity. Text density is good, but there is a heck of a lot of white space here, in addition to a runic border at top and bottom of each page. The last two pages of both the adventure and the town information cover Open Gaming Content and the OGL. The second page of each has contents and credits, whilst the first page of the Town Information is just the title over a sort of watermark version of one of the town maps. What this actually leaves you with is 10 pages of adventure and about the same for the town information, also discluding maps. There are a number of spelling errors in the module revealing that the text was spell-checked but not edited very well (e.g. manor instead of manner), and the writing style is a bit clunky at times.
The Adventure: Bards Productions' website announces that A Race For Retribution Part I "is the standard kick down the door and kill everything". They state that this has deliberately been done and is in contrast to the focus of the remaining parts of the adventure (2, 3 and 4). However, the Adventure Background (which is really an introduction to all four adventures) begins with the intriguing story of an orc-hating hero being given land to develop a settlement close to a nearby town after defeating three local orc tribes. One of the first settlers is a half-orc cleric, Degarn, who worships the god of just retribution. Set up by the god of destruction and quickly accused by the racist hero and the other racist settlers, the half-orc escapes the wrongful justice and turns to the god of destruction to aid him in paying the settlers back. Years later, the now-powerful Degarn returns and whips up the aid of the remnant orc tribes. Degarn has instructed one of his cleric underlings to begin caravan raids along the local trade routes to weaken the settlement before his planned destruction of it. The Adventure Summary section is actually a summary of all four adventures (the adventures are designed to be a linked plot with the opportunity to play your own adventures in between). Advice on running the adventures follows, including an introduction to the interesting idea of linked rumour tables, such that PCs in Part 1 can learn rumours regarding future parts of the adventure, dependent on how long (in game time) it will be before the GM intends to run that part. There follow sections on using the adventure standalone, scaling the adventure, and six options for adventure hooks. The next section, DM Notes, gives suggestions on dealing with the moral issues raised by the adventures. The adventure itself begins with an overview of the base of the underling cleric, Cabraah, a difficult-to-find cave. The PCs find goblins and hobgoblins within in addition to Cabraah, who may summon a fiendish wolf. Each set of combatants is given some tactical options to make it more challenging for PCs and each area has a detailed treasure list. Tactics for reducing the challenge of the encounters is given if the PCs are losing badly and a round-by-round rundown of Cabraah's actions is detailed. There is a player handout of a letter that may give a clue to lead to the next part of the adventure (for which the module gives a crafty tip for making look more authentic). A wandering monsters section for the local area around the town or the wilderness areas include goblins, hobgoblins, orcs, a merchant with his wagon, an ogre, and a dire bat. There is then a section on concluding the adventure. Lastly, there is a set of linked rumour tables with instructions for use, including side effects to gathering information such as receiving death threats from cleerics of destruction when they get too close to the truth behind the imminent attack.
The Town Information: The Town Information begins with a very detailed breakdown of the different classes (and their levels) that live in the town of Stahl. A small paragrpah on the attitude of the town is followed by stats, possessions and personality for 17 of the most important citizens. Laendersburg, the small settlement nearby, gets the same treatment for 7 of its main citizens, including the racist hero and founder of the settlement, Laender. The Personality sections also include some information which could be developed as sub-plots if required.
The Good: This is probably one of the most detailed modules I've come across. As you can see from the information on their website, Bards Productions have been carefully researching what consumers are looking for, and have done their best to try and meet this need. They have certainly provided an adventure that would be very useful for a first-time GM, with plenty of advice on how to run the set of four adventures. It is also flexible enough for the GM who is looking for an adventure to easily slot into his own campaign world, and can be modified using scaling and tactics to suit PCs of different levels. The addition of the tile sheets idea, the linked rumour tables, and the excellent information for roleplaying various NPCs from the town of Stahl, and the settlement of Laender give great value-added bonuses. It also introduces a mature theme in terms of dealing with racism, and a grey area as to who is the real baddy, Degarn or Laender. Its free too, although really part of a larger adventure.
The Bad: The presentation is amateurish throughout, in terms of artwork, maps, and writing style. The adventure is bland and uninteresting in and of itself. There is far too much white space despite the good text density.
Conclusion: Full of creativity and well thought-out advice and value-added extras for the GM but severely lacking in style. If they can hold onto the good and improve the bad, they could be someone to look out for. Despite some Good stuff, and occasional Superb ideas, the presentation claws this back down to Average.
