JoeGKushner
Adventurer
Aberrations is a 64 page black and white adventure for 4-6 characters of 6th to 8th level. The interesting thing here, is that that is G8, while their other recent release was G7 and was meant for a slightly lower party level. A clever GM can put these two modules back to back for a near campaign.
Aberrations is broken up into five chapters. Like many Necromancer products, it's set in the wilderness by a small village in need of help. Here, the Moon Fog Hills are under siege by strange creatures and its up to the party to discover what's causing these issues. The first part is a listing of the events and encounters that can happen in the wilderness, the second part, the area just outside the mines. Ah yes I can hear you say, mines. Many a good module like the Idylls of the Rat King by Goodman Games involve mines.
Part of the module's strength is that it doesn't rely strictly on dungeon crawling to succeed. Well, at least not complete underground crawling. A while ago, Black Library put out a collection in graphic novel format called Inquisitor Ascendant where in the Warhammer 40K universe, a planet finds that those who are supposed to protect it, an ancient bloodline, well respected, are actually minions of chaos. Let's say that this module shares many of those same traits as the players discover that there are things going on at the Mathen Estate that would make even a strong man shudder. As if it wasn't bad enough that the players will have to work not only through the Mathen mansion, but also the horrors at the stables, they'll discover that the Mathen's are not a stationary foe and are fully capable of flight, causing the players to seek them in the Mathen's own underground dungeon.
The encounters are a little difficult and a party that doesn't have good teamwork and is incapable of getting along with one another, will probably get trounced. For example, Fluoplith, a mind flayer that the party can encounter early in the module, this encounter can prove deadly as the mind flayer is a master of hit and run tactics. The rewards are great though and the party will have the opportunity to find a weapon of great utility against these monsters.
The material is drawn from a wide variety of sources, making sure that it is not stale. Carrion Moths, Scarecrows and Slime Crawlers are all updated from the Tome of Horrors while other creatures come from the Creature Collection and some, like the Aberrant Giant and the Dimensional Slug, are brand new to this volume.
Editing is fairly good except for one monster on page 6 where it's range increments are listed twice. Layout is standard two column and is well done except one line on page ten that starts with a comma. Borders are the same gray skulls that we've seen for quite a while now. Perhaps a new border is needed? A pillar of skulls or something? Internal art is all handled by Brian LeBlanc, a long time Necromancer Games specialist and maps are done by Ed Bourelle of SkeletonKey Games fame. Brian's art is solid for most of the product and because he's the only artists, the material has a common feel. As always, Ed's maps are great, easy to read and practical to use.
Outside the module's purpose, there were some meta-gaming issues. Because it involves the use of so many outside books in terms of spells and monsters, some GMs might not get the 100% utility from the book right away. This is not something that happens with every encounter or stat block so the impact is minimized. Another thing that I'm sure I can't be the only person wondering, is where is Bard's Gate. This is the Atlantis of the Necromancer Game line in that it's referenced in several products but isn't on the shelves anywhere. When Bard's Gate does come out, I'm expecting a beefy hardcover that blows Freeport and Bluffside away.
Those minor issues aside, Aberrations provides the GM the chance to utilize some of the stranger creatures in the MM and pit the party against evil that may have a supernatural point of origin, but develops quite nicely in the human heart.
Aberrations is broken up into five chapters. Like many Necromancer products, it's set in the wilderness by a small village in need of help. Here, the Moon Fog Hills are under siege by strange creatures and its up to the party to discover what's causing these issues. The first part is a listing of the events and encounters that can happen in the wilderness, the second part, the area just outside the mines. Ah yes I can hear you say, mines. Many a good module like the Idylls of the Rat King by Goodman Games involve mines.
Part of the module's strength is that it doesn't rely strictly on dungeon crawling to succeed. Well, at least not complete underground crawling. A while ago, Black Library put out a collection in graphic novel format called Inquisitor Ascendant where in the Warhammer 40K universe, a planet finds that those who are supposed to protect it, an ancient bloodline, well respected, are actually minions of chaos. Let's say that this module shares many of those same traits as the players discover that there are things going on at the Mathen Estate that would make even a strong man shudder. As if it wasn't bad enough that the players will have to work not only through the Mathen mansion, but also the horrors at the stables, they'll discover that the Mathen's are not a stationary foe and are fully capable of flight, causing the players to seek them in the Mathen's own underground dungeon.
The encounters are a little difficult and a party that doesn't have good teamwork and is incapable of getting along with one another, will probably get trounced. For example, Fluoplith, a mind flayer that the party can encounter early in the module, this encounter can prove deadly as the mind flayer is a master of hit and run tactics. The rewards are great though and the party will have the opportunity to find a weapon of great utility against these monsters.
The material is drawn from a wide variety of sources, making sure that it is not stale. Carrion Moths, Scarecrows and Slime Crawlers are all updated from the Tome of Horrors while other creatures come from the Creature Collection and some, like the Aberrant Giant and the Dimensional Slug, are brand new to this volume.
Editing is fairly good except for one monster on page 6 where it's range increments are listed twice. Layout is standard two column and is well done except one line on page ten that starts with a comma. Borders are the same gray skulls that we've seen for quite a while now. Perhaps a new border is needed? A pillar of skulls or something? Internal art is all handled by Brian LeBlanc, a long time Necromancer Games specialist and maps are done by Ed Bourelle of SkeletonKey Games fame. Brian's art is solid for most of the product and because he's the only artists, the material has a common feel. As always, Ed's maps are great, easy to read and practical to use.
Outside the module's purpose, there were some meta-gaming issues. Because it involves the use of so many outside books in terms of spells and monsters, some GMs might not get the 100% utility from the book right away. This is not something that happens with every encounter or stat block so the impact is minimized. Another thing that I'm sure I can't be the only person wondering, is where is Bard's Gate. This is the Atlantis of the Necromancer Game line in that it's referenced in several products but isn't on the shelves anywhere. When Bard's Gate does come out, I'm expecting a beefy hardcover that blows Freeport and Bluffside away.
Those minor issues aside, Aberrations provides the GM the chance to utilize some of the stranger creatures in the MM and pit the party against evil that may have a supernatural point of origin, but develops quite nicely in the human heart.
