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ShortQuests -- individual adventure modules! An all-new collection of digest-sized D&D adventures designed to plug in to your game.

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="drnuncheon" data-source="post: 2008747" data-attributes="member: 96">Ignore the stars.  Read the review, because while this is overall a good product, it's not for everyone.Summary: Don't buy it just for the rules. Definitely buy it if you're interested in the ideas.This is a non-playtest review of a product provided for free (along with Wonders Out Of Time) by the publisher, Eden Studios, in exchange for posting a review on ENWorld.  There was no pressure to write a good review. Those familiar with my other reviews can breathe a sigh of relief as this one is a bit shorter - but hopefully just as useful. Comments are always appreciated.Akrasia: Thief of Time is not for everyone. It is a "vignette sourcebook", which basically means that it is not an adventure that you can plop down in front of your players and have them go through it, and then forget about it afterwards.  Akrasia is more akin to books like Green Ronin's Arcana: Societies of Magic or Atlas' Touched by the Gods, and it is in that sense (not as an adventure) that I will be reviewing it.You can probably pick the book up in your Friendly Local Gaming Store to get a good idea of the physical aspects of it, so I'll be brief on them. It's 32 pages (with the OGL on the inside of the cover instead of taking up one of those pages - bravo!) with a color cover and black & white interior. My wife, on seeing the cover, was happy that it portrayed a sensibly dressed woman - she's still rather annoyed at certain other covers in the industry.  The text is easy to read, and the maps inside are clear and concise.So what's inside?  Well, as I said, this book has more in common with other "organization books" than it does with adventures, but it has the advantage of not needing to share space with other organizations - so you get a 32 page look at the cult of Akrasia, with plenty of NPCs (16 with stats, and 2 more with stats for multiple levels), spells (7 and a new clerical domain), creatures (5), magic items (4, and an artifact), and a prestige class - all centered around the Akrasians.  Plus details of a temple, legends of the cult, and possible encounters.  This makes them much more strongly fleshed out than most other groups presented in d20 material.  Speaking of d20 material, the entire book is Open Game Content - another nice touch.The book begins with a discussion of the goddess and her religion, and the effects that a group of Akrasians might have on the communities that they have contact with.  Akrasia is essentially the goddess of "wasting time" and failed ambition, and the author does a good job of presenting the paradox of a group of people dedicated do a goddess who wants to see people fail - if they're too successful they're working against their goddess.  While this could easily fall into Stooge-like silliness, the author does a good job of keeping it on the side of subtle, dry dark humor. For example, the book later mentions a cleric who started no projects, but merely worked on ones begun before his time: "In late life, he came to realize that no part of the temple had escaped his influence, and that he had, in fact, achieved something great. Stricken with remorse, he hanged himself."  This section also presents an artifact (the leaking hourglass), some Akrasian legends that do an excellent job of illuminating the cult and the kinds of activities they engage in.  There is also an NPC - Littora, a halfling rogue, cleric of Akrasia, and member of the new Distractor prestige class.  She is presented at two levels (9 and 14) to be easier to customize for your game.  All in all, this section presents a very solid look at the goddess and her followers. The one aspect I would have liked to see more detail on was a discussion of why various people would choose to serve Akrasia - what do they get out of it? It seems her followers are just as bad off as everyone around them.Next come the actual vignettes.  Starting off, we have a one-page description of an Akrasian shrine on a rarely-used road (unfinished, naturally) inhabited by one of the new monsters, a gloomholt.  There's a couple of hooks to get PCs inside where they can encounter the thing.  This vignette also has a minor tie-in with Wonders Out of Time, as the shrine was built by the civilization described therein.Next is a very detailed 2-page description of Yaraemon, a bardic servant of the goddess, with background, roleplaying notes, and stats for 3 levels (5, 8, and 11).The Way Choice Inn takes up the next 4 pages. It's run by a worshiper of Akrasia, and there's suggestions for a scenario based on the effect it's having on his village.  The inn is fully mapped, and the author includes such useful information as break DCs, lockpicking DCs, and the like - information that is far too often left out, leaving the DM to search for the information in the PHB.Next, a 3 page vignette describing a very character-based situation in a small town.  Four Akrasians are secretly preventing the building of embankments along the river, each in their own way.  This would be an excellent scenario for parties that enjoy a lot of roleplaying and character interaction, but would obviously require plenty of work from the DM to run.Finally, the last vignette is 6 pages detailing a Temple of Akrasia and its inhabitants, from the clerics to the lay worshipers and the mercenaries hired to guard it. Like the Inn, the temple and the personalities inside are very detailed, making it more of a setting than an adventure.After the vignettes is a sort of appendix with the new rules-oriented things.  The "About the Author" section reveals that this is the author's first d20 product, and I think that it shows in some areas, particularly the balance of certain spells. Indolence is a fine idea, requiring a Will save to act decisively, but when it lasts for 5 minutes per level and is a first level spell, it is definitely too powerful.  Steal time is almost certainly too powerful, even for a 9th level spell, and its wording is unclear to boot. Akrasia's blessing affects a community with lassitude, but it does not have any game-mechanical effects.The five new creatures are all fairly interesting, ranging from an incorporeal spider that crawls into your head and makes you afraid to leave to a strange starfish-like outsider that fires hallucinogenic darts and then uses decoys to distract its victims until the drugs take effect.  Unfortunately, there are deviations from the d20 rules in all of the creatures - incorrect hit dice for monster type, miscalculated saves, etc. This sort of thing doesn't bother me, but I know there are many people who are far more concerned with it than I am.  The only thing that truly bothered me was the fact that the special abilities of the creatures weren't separated out and clearly defined.  How often can the phanera create its decoy? What is the save DC for the gloomholt's suggestion power?  Given the amount of material in the book, these are comparatively minor flaws.Last are four new magic items - sort of.  One, the morningstar of delay, is described as if it were a weapon quality instead. Again, a minor problem that doesn't really detract from its usefulness.  Also present are the harp of distraction, night candles, and perhaps the least subtle bit of humor in the book: red tape, which uses a suggestion effect to make oyu read and carefully fill out the forms it is wrapped around.I think the strength - and the weakness - of this product is obvious.  It is a very detailed, very complete sourcebook for introducing the cult of Akrasia into your game.  It's not plug-and-play adventure, which I think many people come to it expecting - it's more of a sourcebook.  Unfortunately, it's focus is also its weakness.  If you don't like one of the societies in Touched by the Gods, there are a dozen others.  If you don't care for the Akrasians, or if you just want an adventure, then there's no reason to purchase the book.Similarly, I can't recommend that you buy the book for the new rules contained therein - there are just too many mechanical problems.  If you're buying it for the details of the cult, you'll find it easy enough to work around them - if they were the reason for your purchase, you'll feel understandably disappointed.I hope this review has been helpful. Comments are always welcome, here or on the messageboards.</blockquote>

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