Review of En Route by Atlas Games
Warning: This review contains spoilers. It is not a playtest review.
Overview
En Route is a collection of encounters written by a number of different authors, which take place on surface world journeys. They are designed to provide a break from the usual wandering monsters, and each one describes an interesting situation or scenario that the players can react to in a number of ways. Encounters cover most terrain types. Each of the encounters will be covered separately below, and then an overall assessment made.
Technical Aspects
The book is a 128-page perfect-bound volume. The final two pages are ads for other Penumbra/Atlas Game products. In addition, there is a title page, a table of contents, a one-page introduction, one page with the credits and OGL, a one-page index, and one page that summarizes the encounters by EL and by terrain type. Both the index and encounter summary tables are highly useful and well-organized. The rest of the book (120 pages) is devoted to the book's 21 encounters. As the book costs $20.95, that comes to just under one dollar per encounter
The cover illustration depicts a huge fiery bird flying along carrying a person in its claws; the person clutches an idol, and a woman is holding onto his leg. Surprisingly, this scene is not enacted in any of the encounters within the book. Interior illustrations are good, and always bear on the particular encounter at hand, rather than being "generic art."
The encounters themselves average about six pages each. Supplementary material (new spells, monsters, etc.) are presented in boxed sections in the encounters themselves, rather than at the end of the book, which I liked since it means less page-flipping when running an encounter. If the new monsters, magic items, etc. are used outside the adventure, the helpful index at the end will let you quickly locate these as needed. Within the text itself, certain sections are boxed as well; this seems to contain more rules-oriented, games mechanic type information, but their placement seemed a bit confusing and haphazard to me; I would have preferred that they stuck to using the boxes for the new spells/items/etc., and for any text to read aloud to the players. Each encounter begins with an EL level and a brief summary, which is also helpful. There is a little bit of fictional text here and there, but it is not annoying or intrusive.
The text is well-edited, with only a few typos of the type the spellcheck does not catch. Text is well-written and clear.
Technical Score: 4/5
The Encounters
All That Glitters: The book starts off with what I think is one of its weakest encounters: the party comes across a tree in the forest covered by an illusion of being made of gold and jewels, and while checking it out, a "forest gnome" hiding in its branches uses a magic ring to make them fight each other. I have two problems with this encounter: first, any PC worth his dice will be instantly wary of coming across such an unlikely tree, and steer well clear/disbelieve. Second, it is possible for characters fighting each other to get "lucky" and kill each other (the encounter says that the gnome leaves, taking the effect with him, when the PCs start getting seriously hurt). Finally, this is a "mischievous fairy" type encounter, which is based on humiliating PCs-a type of encounter I generally don't care for. One good thing about this adventure, though: it is only 3 pages long. Rating: 2/5
Burlap Children: A group of beggar children surround a PC and rifle through his pouches, then run off with any loot they can find. The setup is pretty straightforward, but the meat in this encounter lies in how the players react: do they attack children in broad daylight? If they catch one, do they start beating her for information? How do the PCs go about locating them? I give this encounter extra kudos for its brief but evocative descriptions of each of the kids; even if the encounter is not used, the individual children make good "instant NPCs" to drop in elsewhere. Rating: 4/5
Dance the Night Away: Mischievous pixies lure PCs and other critters off the road, charm them, and make them serve as waiters/dancers/entertainers at a fairy party. The situation is complicated when one pixie removes the spell from one character, letting that character decide what to do. The setup for this encounter is pretty heavy-handed, requiring all but the wariest parties to make multiple saving throws. Where it pays off is when the first PC is freed, what he decides to do, and what the consequences of his actions will be. The possible different courses of action (fight, run, play along, try to free buddies) are all covered, giving the DM a good idea how to play the encounter out. Rating 3/5
Dead Drunk: A PC predetermined by the DM is possessed by the spirit of a drunk, inept halfling thief; hijinks ensue among the party, the tavern's patrons, and the possessed character. This encounter works best if a willing PC playing an unlikely character is approached before the session and asked to do this; the system written up (making PCs roll a spot check, then passing out notes to the victim and other PCs, with the other notes containing largely irrelevant information) is much more likely to rouse the players' suspicions. Other than that, though, I enjoyed it. Rating 4/5
The Draftsman's Pen: While the PCs are deep into some quest, in the middle of nowhere, etc., they come across a painting which they are able to enter. Within then encounter the painter, and discover his dark secret (several options are given for what this is, depending on DM preference). The encounter ends with the draftsman drawing up a monster of suitable EL for your party, so the encounter can be used for groups of any level. Despite the unlikelihood of this event in the first place, it looks to be interesting and fun to run. Rating: 4/5.
The Dream-Temple of Darkest Varath: PCs set up camp in the wrong place, on the site of what was once long ago the temple to an evil deity/demon/etc. who influenced its followers in their dreams. Though nearly powerless now, the demon is able to infiltrate the PCs' sleep, giving them a nightmarish choice of accepting its aid or dying. Accepting its aid, of course, has long-term consequences, which is a good hook for future adventures. An excellent encounter. Rating 5/5.
Duel: PCs encounter a knife duel in the middle of the night in an unfamiliar city. Unknown to them at first, the daggers are intelligent, have control of their wielders, and are the ones with the bitter rivalry. This encounter involves a fair amount of interesting roleplaying and decision making, in what to do with the possessed cutlery. The daggers themselves are an interesting magic item, and once the PCs figure out what they are and can do, they may want to try getting one made for themselves, which would be an excellent setup for further adventuring. Rating 5/5.
Faith of Stone Apes: The characters come upon an ancient but well-tended shrine or rest area deep in the jungle. The carvings therein give religious revelations that (according to the adventure) can shake the characters' faith in their deities. While I thought the area was well described, I had a hard time believing that a character's faith in his or her deity (particularly for clerics/paladins) would be so easily influenced by anything they read on a shrine wall, no matter how ancient (old does not necessarily mean true). But if you take out the shaken faith stuff, it still makes a nice, well-detailed resting area for jungle adventures. Rating: 3/5
The Fox's Fraud: The PCs are ambushed by bandits, who use a ruse to take them on even though the bandits are few in number. This encounter involves a lot of logistics on the fly for the DM to handle, and I question some of the way it is set up (with post-mounted crossbows, etc.). This encounter is actually the closest to the standard "wandering monster" encounter in this book. Rating: 3/5
The Glass House: A wizard performing experiments in an inn (because she doesn't want to damage her tower in case things go wrong) has things go wrong, and the entire inn and its contents turn permanently invisible. The PCs come upon the inn just after this happens, and has to deal with frightened invisible commoners, and figure out what happened. Though a pretty unlikely event, this encounter does have interesting long-term possibilities (tracking down the mage, buying/selling invisible items, figuring out how to help the invisible people, etc.). Rating: 4/5
Goblin Trippin': The party comes across an encampment of goblins (or any other "civilized" creatures the DM desires) who are suffering from extreme hallucinations. Other than a description of the poison (ergot, a real-world plant disease that LSD can be derived from), that is pretty much it for the encounter.
Rating: 2/5.
The Hellcow: My favorite encounter in the entire book! The players discover an old man abusing his cow, but of course, not all is as it seems. The cow is actually possessed by a malicious outsider that can jump to a new animal when its host is killed. This encounter is packed with entertainment value, plus (unlike most of the fairy-type encounters in the book) it does not involve forcing PCs into any course of action.
Rating: 5/5.
Heroes' Feast: The group opens a door while they are just about anywhere, and enter a hall filled with a feast. Apart from allowing PCs to recover as if they had a good night's rest, the magical repast also provides magical benefits to those who partake of it. Unfortunately, each bonus also has a corresponding penalty, which I think far outweighs the bonus itself in most cases, especially since the DM is supposed to spring this on the characters when they are on an important quest. For example, one effect raises Int, Wis, and Cha scores by 3…but Str, Dex, and Con are all penalized by 6! This is enough to seriously hamper any fighter type in the group, and while spellcasters may receive some benefit to their spells, their usually lower physical scores mean the penalty will make them extremely weak. Another example: a person can get the benefit of a shocking grasp every other round, but his hands become slippery, and he has to make a Reflex save every round that he tries to use them for anything (including using spell components or swinging one's weapon). This encounter is only really usable if the penalties are toned down or removed, and the benefits possibly toned down as well. Rating: 2/5
The Idol: While the characters are traveling on board a ship, an magic jungle idol stowed in the hold awakens, and starts summoning animal servants to "encourage" the crew to take it back to land. Can be played for combat or (if the PCs have animal-speaking skills) negotiation. A good sea frolic. Rating: 4/5
Just a Bit of Fun: This adventure combines the most annoying features of "Dance the Night Away" and "Burlap Children". While traveling through the woods, a pixie steals a small but valuable item from one character, and leads them on a chase through the forest. As the pixie wants to see them sweat and suffer, she never gets too far ahead. If the characters are good sports, she will even give them a small reward. Guaranteed to annoy players. Rating: 1/5
A River Runs Through It: Another adventure designed to annoy and humiliate players, and not coincidentally including more pixies. Some religious fanatics block a bridge over a river, and will not let anyone cross unless they "convert", which basically involves putting the characters and possibly players through whatever humiliating ritual the DM wants (a number of suggestions are provided, including: shaving off all hair, throwing footwear in the river, pantomiming the actions of an animal, with the player acting it out and the other players critiquing him). Unless your group is filled with people who enjoy this sort of thing, it is just asking for trouble. Rating: 2/5
Sideshow of Doom: A sideshow is in town (the smaller the community, the better), involving three freaks and the showman. After the show, a person is found dead at the huckster's feet, and another person goes missing. The PCs can then try to solve the mystery. It is actually not much of a "whodunit," as there is only one suspect, but more of a "howdunit," and determining what the showman's secret is. It is still a good diversion. Warning: the DM will need good roleplaying/acting skills to pull off the showman well, if he wants to make the most of this encounter. Rating: 3/5
Spirit Mine: While traveling in the field, the PCs stumble across a magical porthole in the ground, with a person on the other side, banging their fist frantically on the window. Great setup! The rest of the encounter involves the characters experimenting with the device, possibly freeing the guy, freeing an angry creature (one is provided, but the DM can easily substitute anything else), or possibly freeing an inadvertently trapped comrade. The device is also movable, and could be of strategic use to the characters. An excellent adventure sure to pique the players' interest. Rating: 5/5
Toll Bridge: Another bridge-over-the-river encounter, this time at the edge of a village, where the far side is occupied by a group of peaceable lizard men who just moved in and started (illegally) charging travelers using the bridge. This encounter could involve combat or negotiation, depending on the PCs' inclinations. Decent encounter, but nothing too remarkable. The setting could always feature in future adventures, however. Rating: 3/5
The Trembling Hill: After seeing a column of smoke, the PCs come upon a strange, vibrating hill with a cave in it. It is, in fact, a crashed alien ship, filled with Grays. Unlike the classic ship in Barrier Peaks, this one is more organic, with extensive use of dimensional folding. A good exploration encounter/mini-dungeon crawl, with a difficult monster to fight if PCs get too cocky. Decent adventure if you dare to introduce this whimsical encounter into your campaign. Rating: 4/5
Wayfarer's Rest: The PCs take lodging in a remote but friendly inn, only to find that it is run by a family of psychos. Classic horror fare, though very likely lethal if the players are not on their toes. Captured characters can be made to fight in a pit, taken out to "the barn", become the game in a manhunt, or simply be tortured. There are many possible directons for this adventure to take, and good plot hooks for future encounters. Rating: 5/5
Assessment
Overall I would say that the majority of encounters range from good to excellent, with a handful (about 4, or 1/5 of the total) being ones that I would not use. However, even those encounters often have interesting magic items or other new stuff that can be used elsewhere in one's campaign, and some of them are not too difficult to fix. I would give this about a 4.25 overall, but I'm going to give it an extra 0.5 just from the sheer originality of many of the encounters, the fact that I have yet to see anything similar on the market, and the fact that all of them are easily adaptable to almost any campaign. I would only counsel people against buying this if you have a group that never travels overland (e.g., teleports everywhere or is involved in a perpetual dungeon crawl), or if they are running a low-magic campaign.
