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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="Simon Collins" data-source="post: 2008127" data-attributes="member: 9860">Beware! This review contains major spoilers.The Crucible of Freya is a challenging introductory adventure for four to six characters of 1st or 2nd level. It costs $7.99.Production & Presentation: This is a 48-page module. The front cover has a good quality piece of colour artwork, which stylistically reminds me of some Manga animation. The back cover contains an introduction and overview of the adventure. The first page contains credits, the last two pages OGL bumf and advertising. The text is clear, black on white background. The several pieces of internal black & white artwork definitely reminded me of 1st Edition – poor, in my opinion. The maps in the centre of the module - of the ruined keep, the village of Fairhill, and the surrounding wilderness area - are basic but sufficient. The text takes up about nine-tenths of each page in a familiar two-column layout – the edge of each page is bordered by a strip of grinning skulls.The Story: The Introduction (2 pages) gives an adventure overview, an adventure background, some information on how to use and modify the module, including how to incorporate it with their free adventure The Wizards Amulet, downloadable from www.necromancergames.com. In essence, a magical item has been stolen by a group of orcs from the temple of love and fertility of Fairhill village. The orcs are in turn working for an evil priest of the demon-lord Orcus. There is a side story regarding a wizard who has sold his soul into undeath to Orcus, who resides beneath the same tower where the priest and his orc minions lair. The next section, Areas Of Adventure (25 pages), details the wilderness area surrounding Fairhill (a map can be downloaded from the website) – this includes ideas for wandering monsters and a number of monster lairs. It then proceeds to describe the village of Fairhill, including rumours, NPCs, and boxed text on Freya, the goddess of love and fertility. The Ruined Keep, which has become the centre of the evil which has come to Fairhill, is then described. The description includes NPC and monster descriptions and statistics, as well as boxed text on Orcus, Demon-Lord of the Undead, and a magical evil candle. The next section, The Crucible of Freya (11 pages), details the adventure itself. This begins with an attack by three orcs, after which the PCs travel on to Fairhill. The Crucible, a magical item used for enhancing harvests, is then stolen from the Temple of Freya by orcs, only days before the harvest ritual. The PCs follow the orcs and may catch the raiding party on the road, recovering the crucible. The PCs are encouraged to assault the ruined keep one way or another. Various advice is given to the DM to handle different contingencies dependent on players’ actions. The final short sections (4 pages) contain seeds for running consequent adventures and an NPC statistics list.The High Points: Each of the NPCs is given some background information to aid in roleplaying. The NPC Eralion the Shadow-Mage is one of the few somewhat original creatures in the module. The section on the assault on the keep gives the DM information on a number of options that may be taken by the PCs, and the defensive actions that may be taken by the priest and his minions. In fact, the information given on tactics is the strongest point of the module. Some of the optional story ideas at the end provide better ideas on how to run the module than the guidelines of the module itself.The Low Points: I found this adventure to be bland and uninspiring, the NPCs stereotyped. The PCs are often railroaded into actions (the boxed text to be read to the players was appalling at times in this regard). I found the layout of the sections to be unhelpful, as I kept having to refer back and forward between relevant information held in different sections. The ELs of the main villains, and even some of the minions, are downright deadly for 1st and 2nd Level PCs – if you want to avoid a killing spree on your players’ PCs, run this for 3rd level characters - at the least six 2nd-level PCs. If you’re a PC-killer DM - run it as is, and enjoy.Conclusion: The solid but unimaginative plot may be fine for first-time players, and the stereotyped NPCs easy to run and relate to, allowing the group to appreciate future adventures that are written with more flare. Despite the useful tactical information, I can’t give this module more than a Poor rating due to its unhelpful organisation/layout, railroading and lack of creativity. In addition, it is far too challenging for inexperienced players running 1st-level PCs – according to the module, this may be by design, but that doesn’t make it OK in my opinion.</blockquote>

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