Dark Awakenings: Guardian

[Messageboard Golem]

Dark Awakenings: Guardian is the first of an exciting new range of d20 adventure modules with a bonus CD containing digital content to enhance your roleplaying experience.

What starts as a simple sea voyage to the remote island of Guardian, quickly changes to a terrifying fight for survival as an unseen foe sends its minions against you, in a bid to consume your very souls!

 

[Psion]

Dark Awakenings: Guardian

Role-playing games are a concept that have long since transcended their pen-and-paper beginnings. Long ago, RPGs made the leap to interactive games such as Adventure (an ancestor of Zork) played on mainframes, and expanded to the point where computer RPGs are now played on PCs and game consoles across the world.

Yet to die hard pen-and-paper fans, such games often fail to live up to the title of role-playing game. The technology just wasn't there to replace the imagination of a good GM, and a CRT was a poor replacement for social interaction. I had often wondered if one day it would be possible to take advantage of the features of modern computing technology to enhance the traditional RPG experience.

Sooner or later, someone had to try it. There have been character generators and GM assistants for some time. Yet Auran's Dark Awakenings adventures try to enhance another aspect of the game with the aid of computers.

Dark Awakenings: Guardian is a D20 system fantasy adventure for 4-6 characters of 3rd-4th level.

A First Look

Dark Awakenings: Guardian is packaged as an 84-page, perfect-bound soft cover book with a CD-Rom disk. The CD-Rom contains a PDF document with the entire contents of the adventure book and an application that displays 2D and 3D versions of various scenes from the game. The package is priced at $19.95 US.

The cover of the book has a gray earth-textured background with an image of the ship that the players travel on in the adventure.

The interior is black-and-white. The illustrations are by an artist by the name of Bob Jones. His style is very crisp and detailed. I daresay he is easily one of the most talented artists to provide material for a d20 product, on par with artists such as Wizards' Wayne Reynolds and Raven Mimura or White Wolf's Talon Dunning.

The book includes some slick full-color pages, as well as maps and player handouts.

The text in the interior uses a small typeface, though there are many gaps between paragraphs and sections in the books. For a book of this size alone, $20 would be rather pricey, but the CD-Rom adds some value to the package.

The Adventure
(This section contains spoilers regarding the content of the adventure.)

The Adventure book contains some brief instructions for using the CD-Rom's 3D scenes in the game. Parts of the adventure that provide 3D scenes are labeled with a CD symbol for easy reference. The contents of the disk are discussed in the next section.

The background of the adventure is exhaustively detailed to a fault. In summary, the subject of the adventure is a demonic creature called the Grimorden, who was an implacable foe of elves in days long past. The Grimorden had three mighty magical powers at his command: the power to control minds, the power to call elementals, and the power to raise and control undead.

The Grimorden was imprisoned by the elves, and they held its powers in check by creating a prison to contain it and three gems. Each gem countered one of the Grimorden's powers. The Grimorden almost escaped from its prison once, but the elves were able to stop it and with the help of the dwarves improve upon the power of their containment. This one attempt worried them enough, however, that they moved the prison of the Grimorden to a remote island, an island that would be called the Guardian.

The elves were slain by raiders, leaving the Grimorden's prison behind. Eventually, the island became inhabited by humans, including a sect of monks devoted to a deity of knowledge. They established their own monastery there and started studying the runes that the elves had left behind.

The Grimorden couldn't be held together, however. A greedy worker visiting the island set his sites on the three gems that imprisoned the Grimorden, ignorant to the possible consequences of removing those gems. All it took was the prying free of one gem to set the Grimorden in motion. The first gem pried away was the ruby, which allowed the Grimorden to use its mind domination power; however, it was the animation of the undead that doomed most of the monastery workers.

The players are hired to go to the island. The assumed reason is so that the party wizard can examine some unearthed artifact from the dig on the island. Ye they are dropped off on the island soon after the incident that unleashed the Grimorden's power.

The adventure itself is divided into an event-based section and a site-based section, and running it promises to be a somewhat complex task.

The Grimorden is awakened, but its power is limited. To power its abilities, it must drain the souls of victims, which equates to Constitution drain. Part of the event-based section outlines the activities of the Grimorden as the party explores the island. The night after the PCs arrive, the Grimorden animates the first of its undead minions in a bid to get enough power to get free. Scheduling the Grimorden's activities as it harries the party is the primary function of the event section.

Some of other events are location triggered and might have better been included in the site. Three of these location-triggered events allow the party to receive assistance from a new type of creature (a shapeshifter called a selchie) and two ghosts. The second ghost, of the ancient elven fortification, will spell out the depth of the PCs' problems.

The site-based part of the adventure allows the party to explore and discover what happened on the island. The party can eventually stumble on the Grimorden's prison, which is the most exotic locale in the adventure.

Overall, the adventure seems like it would be a lot of fun. It has a lot of investigation type aspects, and seems as if it would have a suspenseful horror type atmosphere. The details are lavish to say the least. They even throw in a possibility that allows one of the PCs to be on the take to get one of the gems, but hopefully he fesses up once he realizes the gravity of the situation.

The one thing that bothered me the most about the adventure itself is that it is not truly complete. Once the PCs figure out what is going on, they have to replace the three gems to secure the Grimorden in its prison. The catch is that the third gem was transported to the shadowlands, the Grimorden's ancient home. You get to recover that gem in the second adventure.

The CD-Rom

The CD-Rom that comes with the adventure contains an Adobe Acrobat file version of the printed adventure. It also has an application that can display 3D renditions of scenes from the adventure.

In the 3D application, there is a control panel that you can use to alter what is to be shown in the 3D scenes. For example, you can choose to hide the location of monk bodies, show a secret door, or even show the broken prison of the Grimorden if the party is that unfortunate. There is even a 3D scene of the ship, with day and night settings, and with a setting to turn on the rain or a thunderous storm. The 3D scenes come complete with background sound effects and a mute button.

To hide the details of what is going on from any players who might be viewing the screen, there is an option to change the label for the settings to a set of numbered options, concealing the exact details from the players. The appropriate section of the book has the details on what options to choose.

Each 3D scene allows you to pan or zoom the camera; some scenes have multiple cameras. Overall, the scenes are nicely done, but they are all background. There are no people or creatures in the scenes.

The specs on the back of the product specify that you must have a PC with an NVidia TNT or equivalent card. I ran under the assumption that the ATI rage card in my laptop was "equivalent"; however, I was unable to get it to work on my laptop*. This is unfortunate, because if I was going to run this adventure, that is how I would do it. I was able to get it to run on my desktop computer (with a GeForce II MX card), and it looks very nice.

* - An Auran representative did suggest I try updating my drivers, but I haven't tried this yet.

Conclusion

As stated, I think the adventure is a little pricey if you count the book alone. Yet it you have the set-up and the mind to try a computerized adventure, I think the $20 asking price is fairly reasonable.

The adventure itself is one of the more imaginative and well written d20 System adventures I have had the pleasure to own in some time. There are entirely too many site-based bash-em-ups for d20, and it was nice to see a suspenseful, investigative, event-driven adventure. My only concerns are that the background material was a bit exhaustive for the purposes of most GMs who run their own worlds, and that you have to get the second adventure in this series to truly finish the adventure.

-Alan D. Kohler

 

[Simon Collins]

Beware! This review contains major spoilers.
This is not a playtest review.

Price: $19.95
Page Count: 84 + CD ROM
Price per page: About 24 cents per page + CD ROM
Designed for Character Level: 3-4

Format: Softcover + CD ROM

External Artwork: Shows an image from the 3D rendition on the CD ROM of the boat The Gray Gull held in the orb that is the centre of the story.

Additional Page Use: The back page gives a brief introduction and overview of the contents of the module and the CD ROM. The inside covers are blank though the CD ROM is held in a plastic pocket on the back inside cover. The first two pages hold content, credits and OGC info. The next four pages discuss the use of the contents of the CD ROM. The last three pages hold the OGL and an ad.

Internal Artwork: The monotone internal art is good to excellent, with most of it superb. It is representative of the text and the depictions of NPCs are particularly good, if a bit jowly.

Maps: The maps are of very good quality, though the indoor maps would have benefited from a 5ft-per-square grid rather than a scale. There are some drawn maps that are particularly good.

Page Layout: Margins are small, text density is good and there is little in the way of white space. Different types of information are clearly differentiated.

Writing Style: The style is educated and clear, occasionally a little dry. There are a few editing errors but nothing that interferes with reading or usage. Generally good.

The Adventure:

The adventure begins with 8 pages of background story. As concisely as possible, a powerful demon has been imprisoned in a magical orb on an island by elves who have now left. Some priests who have relatively recently come to the island discover the hidden room where the orb lies and the demon influences some of the islands' inhabitants to begin to destroy the magical prison (they pull out some gems that comprise part of the prison). Attempting to influence the priests further, the demon's mind is repulsed by the destruction of a magical amulet and it sinks into unconsciousness. Meanwhile, the church that the priests belong to, attempts to buy the services of a mage PC to identify some elven artifacts that the priests have previously found on the island. The PCs arrive on the island to find the demon has destroyed most of the priests to fuel its magical powers, and it will soon regain consciousness and attempt the final destruction of its aeons-old prison. There's a lot more to it than that, but thats the essential information required to begin the adventure.

The module then takes an event-based focus, covering the voyage from the mainland to the island, an encounter with a Selchie (a woman who can change into a seal using a magical sealskin), the awakening of the demon, a visitation from the spirit of a priestess who was killed in an attack of passion several years ago and seeks to help the PCs against the demon, and an attempt to retrieve part of the magical prison (an emerald cast into the sea by a priest under the demon's influence). Finally, the PCs may be contacted by the spirit of one of the elves who designed the prison, who advises the PCs to enter a portal to another dimension to regain the last part of the prison to reseal the demon within the orb and stop it fully escaping.

In the centre of the book are a series of well-presented handouts, some in colour, which include maps of the adventure locations and a game that the sailors on the Gray Gull play, which can be recreated for play within the adventure itself. The next section describes the various locations on the island, allowing the GM to deal with the characters wherever they wish to go on the island, and tying their movements in with the events.

The Appendices detail the cast of NPCs and creatures, new magical items, the gods and their domains that influence the adventure (including more detailed information on the religion the priests of the island follow), and some new spells.

The CD ROM contains the .pdf version of the adventure, a plain text version of the adventure, a trailer, still computer graphic scenes from the adventure, as well as the highlight - 3D scenes from the adventure with sound effects. One can also change the time of day, the weather, and remove or add certain objects from the view. In addition, one can view the scene from different perspectives.

The High Points: This is a well-written adventure, with a focus on investigation, though there are opportunities for combat, roleplaying, puzzle-solving and skill use. The mystery is complex without being obscure. The presentation is superb, and the use of the CD ROM images is original and helpful (though see below). The way the plot is presented allows the players and the GM plenty of flexibility in playing the adventure out, a very good example of an event-based adventure.

The Low Points: The background was very lengthy and much of it seems to be foreshadowing the sequel to this adventure. Though well-written, it reduces its ability to be used in other campaign settings, despite its claim to be generic. Like Alan Kohler, I was unable to run the CD ROM 3D images on my laptop, but also faced problems on my PC. The book states an NVidia TNT Graphics Card or equivalent is required. I've got a fairly punchy 3D graphics card in my PC but I found the images froze on me after about a minute or so, such that I had to shut the whole PC down.

Conclusion: A good mystery adventure with a fascinating setting, well-depicted NPCs and a strong plotline. There are some minor editing errors, its complex background makes it difficult to transfer to another campaign setting and the requirement for graphics cards seems to be a bit exclusive. However, in and of itself, a fascinating adventure and still not too much more expensive compared to adventures of similar size in terms of price per page (though $20 does seem a lot for an adventure if you can't use the best bit of the CD ROM).

 

[Messageboard Golem]

Simon,
Thankyou for your review and we have taken on board a number of your comments for our product development meetings.

With regards to the use of 5x5 gridded maps we have responded to similar comments and posted free downloads of the DA:G maps at our website rendered in a 1":5' scale for use with miniatures.

These are available at:

http://www.auran.com/d20/downloads.htm

Warm Regards,

Keith Done

 

[Oberton]

I just wanted to comment on the idea of linking adventure modules together. I like the idea and it is one of my main reasons for purchasing the series ( At Auran's site you can buy the entire set of modules for one price). Alan your review was fair and honest and was one of the main reasons I purchased their products. If you are a DM reading this review and you are not sure if you want to spend the money on the product, then try out their free module "SHADES OF GRAY". It is top notch and I hope to post a review of it here soon...


Game-ON

 

[JoeGKushner]

Dark Awakenings Part I
Guardian
Game Product Design by Keith Done
Published by Auran
84 pages, full color maps, CD-ROM
$19.95

If you need a module for 4-6 characters at 3rd-4th level, you could do much worse than Guardian. This perfect bound 84-page book takes place on the island of Gurdian. Those who’ve read some of my previous reviews know that I love island settings because they’re much easier to place into your own campaign.

Guardian housed elves in the past but currently houses humans. A priestly order with a love of knowledge. Well, you know how humans are. They see something shinny and pretty and have to play with it. What happens in this case however is that the elven ruins that are uncovered lead to some unpleasant side effects as the elves were holding a powerful creature known as the Grimorden. With the humans playing around and some of them even stealing, this powerful demon, while not quite able to burst forth from its prison, is able to influence the land about with its powers. These powers include animating the dead, summoning elementals, and even some minor mind control. You know, minor stuff.

Well, how do the players get involved? Seems that the priesthood realizes that some of the goods they’ve found need a special touch and request the players aid in deciphering some of the old elf artifacts and goodies that they’ve found. A short sea voyage, and what sea voyage is complete without some complications, and they’re on the way to Guardian.

Now the book is actually broken up into different sections. It starts off with Acts, which are event driven encounters, that take place at certain times. See, the Grimorden, just because it’s wiped out most of the monks and other life on the island, isn’t done. It needs more souls to fully break free and guess who’s got souls? If you said the player’s, your right on the money. So this creature summons undead, elementals, and if the players dawdled about enough, can even attack them in person.

Of course, the players have lots of areas to explore as well and will have opportunities to help survivors and battle the undead that have been summoned. They’ve get the chance to immerse themselves into the adventure through lore and history as the party is given numerous opportunities to learn about the island, it’s old elven inhabitants, the priesthood that’s since taken up residence here, and the failures of the priesthood to prevent this terror from occurring in the first place. Remember, no good deed goes unpunished!

Normally, a group this level wouldn’t have a chance against this monster. The key then, is to find its weakness, which is done through investigation and role-playing. Turns out the party needs three gems that have been removed from the Grimorden’s prison to keep it in check. One of the first encounters, before the party even leaves for Guardian, can help them find one of the three gems they need. My only complaint here, and it’s partial solved by a bonus download, is that the third gem is in the Shadowland and requires the GM to purchase another module. As mentioned though, that’s now optional as an alternative ending can provide the GM with a solid ending without buying another module.

In addition to the adventure, there are numerous new crunchy bits. This includes new monsters like the Grimorden, and the shape changing Selchie, elven artifacts from a bygone time, and new spells. Other bits include background information on the gods of the setting, as well as perhaps too much background on the island Guardian and the history of the Grimorden and its numerous past conquests.

The CD comes with all sorts of goodies itself. First off, it has a director’s cut of the module that’s 98 pages long. Problem is that it’s not real clear on what’s bonus material. For example, it’s 14 pages longer than the printed book. If there was a quick introduction that said, “Pages X,Y, Z are all new information that may be printed for ease of use,” I’d be happy, but as the module is fairly complete in and of itself, I’m not printing out over 90 pages to get an index and appendix with useful terms and definitions. Of course, you can print out single pages like the full color maps.

In addition to the expanded story, there’s a 3D interface. See the ship on the cover? That’s an example of the animation within the disk. There are seven images with numerous options. You can change the camera angel, time of scene, and hide/show different options depending on when the characters arrive at the scene. Night, Day, Rain, and other options help make this a very useful tool if used. It doesn’t allow movement forward or back, though; it’s as if you were standing there, and could turn in any direction and even look up or down, but no movement.

I’m running a HP 2 G, 512 Ram, 80 G Hard Drive and had no problems with installation or running the adventure. Those interesting in seeing what some of the scenes look like should head on over to the Auran website which has several goodies for anxious readers.

The module itself is tightly packed with text with very little wide space and very small margins. It’s almost too difficult to read! Rare do you hear me complain about something of that nature. The art is top notch and ranks up there with Privateer Press and their impressive art. The full color maps are a nice touch and add a lot to the worth of the module.

The biggest problem I had isn’t the price. Full color, perfect bound, CD with lots of bonus stuff for $20? No problem there. Is it the story? Nope. Despite the extensive amount of background information, most of it is adaptable to any campaign. My problem is the presentation. A book that relies heavily on events and site based encounters needs to have a few things. First up, a timeline, by itself, listing all events with a reference to the text for details. Second up, a flow-chart of events. Those two things would push this close to a 5. The third thing is the order of goods. Why are all the maps and handouts in the middle of the book? They’re not precut or anything so you can’t just yank them out.

If those three issues were handled, I’d grade this a solid 5. Without flow-charts, timelines, and what I consider poor organization, it’s a solid 4.