Fantastic Locations: opinions?

[Klaus]

So, what are your opinions/experiences with the Fantastic Locations line?

 

[MerricB]

Pretty good. I've run Fane of the Drow as an actual adventure, which is ok, if lacklustre.

However, the FL products really shine at presenting detailed - and complicated - battlemaps for play. Drawing complicated maps takes time, but for certain encounters, you really want terrain to play a part in the battle. This happens with the FL maps.

Not all of them are generic enough, I feel - rivers of lava don't really come up that much in my experience - but there are some which I can use again and again. The King's Road (in Fields of Ruin) has been used extensively for road ambushes in my campaign (along with a similar road in RHoD), for example.

Cheers!

 

[NiTessine]

The maps are pretty, and very useful if one happens to play DDM. The adventures themselves are about as deep and engrossing as you can imagine when the content is 16 pages of text and four battlemaps, but they're good fun if one is into the tactical combat aspect of the game.

I'm not too sure about Frostfell Rift, though... I haven't read the module as I'm still waiting for word on whether it'll be adapted for Living Greyhawk, but from what I understand, the encounter levels range over some ten levels, which sounds a tad strange. Also, the copy I originally bought had one of the maps cut cleanly in two. I am not sure if this is a widespread problem or a singular incident, but if you're buying it from your FLGS, check that the maps are okay before heading home.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

The maps are pretty, and very useful if one happens to play DDM. The adventures themselves are about as deep and engrossing as you can imagine when the content is 16 pages of text

Goodman Games' first $2 module, The Dragonfiend Pact, is 16 pages, widely acclaimed and did well in the Ennies the year it was released. (Not sure if it won or what.) Their second $2 module, The Transmuter's Last Touch, also 16 pages, is also well received.

Most of the classic 1E modules weren't much more than 16 pages back in the day. Most Dungeon adventures today are 16 pages or less, and include ads.

If the FL adventures aren't well-done -- I don't own any, so I don't know -- it's not the fault of the length.

 

[Shadowslayer]

I like em. The maps add a nice visual. As a rule, the encounters are loosely tied into one another, forming a sort of adventure. If you come into one looking for a solid adventure, you'll probably be somewhat disappointed.

With Frostfell Rift, they gave 2 encounters for each map rather than just one. Again its only a series of connected encounters rather than a whole adventure. The reason the ELs are all over the board on this one (in answer to NiTessine) is because a number of encounters are listed as something you would come back to later on in the campaign, as a way to get more mileage out of your maps. You're not necessarily supposed to go from one ancounter to the next to the next. It doesn't quite work that way. Thats why the ELs go from 4 to 17.

SPOILER
The whole thing is based on the PCs having campaign-long run ins with a Cult of Erythnul, starting with an encounter with Cultists in a Library (map 1). The PCs supposedly befriend the librarians and eventually find out about the cult. At this stage you could have them do something else, but be stalked by Cultists. Eventually the PCs get word from the librarians that the Cult has an ancient shrine in Hailstorm Tower. (map 2) PCS wreak havoc on Hailstorm tower. Then maybe the PCs do something else, until its discovered that Pilgrims on their way to the Library have disappeared. Reports point to the Skyfrost Mountains (map 3) where the PCs once again wreak havoc and recover the goods the pilgrims were bringing to the library. and so on and so on. It all seems to be aimed at having the Cult pop into your campaign as recurring villains.
End of spoiler

So, look at each encounter as the climax to a chapter in your "inspired by Frostfell Rift, but mostly homegrown" campaign.

Or, you could do what I do and just use the maps for whatever encounter I can dream up. Just remember that the main point of these products is the maps themselves.

In response to Merric: I agree wholeheartedly. Some of this stuff doesn't come up that often. I really wish they'd just do some more generic maps aimed a the RPG end. The strike against these maps for me is that because its also meant for DDM, too many of these maps have your DDM staple terrain: The magic circle, the blood rock etc etc. I'd really like to see just a generic forest, generic mountain, generic swamp, a campsite, a bridge over a creek, cemetery, crossroads...that kind of stuff.

But, its not that big a strike. I own all of these to products to date and plan on continuing to buy them.

ANd if you're not into maps and visuals, save your money.

 

[JustKim]

When the series was first announced I thought they were booklets detailing a specific location (Like City of Splendors does for Waterdeep, for example), and I was really disappointed with the final product.

Now I have some miniatures and I found some of the maps interesting, so I picked up the more exotic sets. I don't care for the encounters at all and I wish the DDM rules weren't stamped all over the maps. Some of them are also poorly drawn, with perspective problems, and there always seems to be one that isn't useful for anything. One of my fire maps also came with a long tear down the fold, but I laminate them so it wasn't that big a deal.

I might get another one for some desert maps or swamp maps, but I haven't been impressed enough to collect them.

 

[NiTessine]

Goodman Games' first $2 module, The Dragonfiend Pact, is 16 pages, widely acclaimed and did well in the Ennies the year it was released. (Not sure if it won or what.) Their second $2 module, The Transmuter's Last Touch, also 16 pages, is also well received.

Most of the classic 1E modules weren't much more than 16 pages back in the day. Most Dungeon adventures today are 16 pages or less, and include ads.

If the FL adventures aren't well-done -- I don't own any, so I don't know -- it's not the fault of the length.

Note that my sentence continued "and four battlemaps". The battlemaps set certain demands on the content of those 16 pages, which translates into a lot of combat encounters (because when you have a beautiful, lavishly illustrated battlemap, you're not going to waste time with Diplomacy or any of that rot).

With Frostfell Rift, they gave 2 encounters for each map rather than just one. Again its only a series of connected encounters rather than a whole adventure. The reason the ELs are all over the board on this one (in answer to NiTessine) is because a number of encounters are listed as something you would come back to later on in the campaign, as a way to get more mileage out of your maps. You're not necessarily supposed to go from one ancounter to the next to the next. It doesn't quite work that way. Thats why the ELs go from 4 to 17.

Well, that explains it. Thanks. I guess we won't be seeing that one in Living Greyhawk, so I can safely read it now...