Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.
Rocket your D&D 5E and Level Up: Advanced 5E games into space! Alpha Star Magazine Is Launching... Right Now!

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="JoeGKushner" data-source="post: 2010360" data-attributes="member: 1129">Heart of the Machine is a licensed new adventure by Mystic Eye Games for the Dragonstar setting. Designed for 4th level characters, the module has some innovations  and this 64 page book reminds me in many ways of Morrick Mansion by Necromancer Games.The book is broken up into roughly three sections. The first part describes the city of Drelandan on the planet Dreiga. There is enough information with enough mapped locations to make the city useful not only for this adventure, but with some effort, several more. This includes not only the bars and taverns, but the church and grove of the druids. Wise GMs should make footnotes about the various locations as they go through the module so that they can seamlessly integrate it into the adventure.The second part of the module whets the players appetite for adventure. It relies on the old standard of the party being asked for help by a wanted man and depending on their actions, being targeted by a gang even if they decline to help the desperate stranger. Of course, attacking a group of adventurers is often the least intelligent thing anyone can do and there are several encounters set up to play off this initial meeting.One of the innovations here is that the book doesn't rely on the party doing things one way. There are several things mentioned that the party may do, and the end results, i.e. The party overcoming the gang, are the only parts that matter. This could be a straight invasion of the punk's coffee lair, a diversionary tactic to split the gangsters up, or with clever players, something else. It's goal oriented.The real secret of the module however, isn't the battle against the gangsters, but finding out who they work for and investigating this lone base in the wilderness. After some exploration and combat, the party will emerge triumphant and wiser or dead. Not a good choice eh?Okay people are saying, then why is this a 64 page module? It sounds short. Well, like I said, it reminds me of the Mansion. See, the first 42 pages are pure adventure. The rest of the material includes the new creature, the mastermind behind the events, a marbuzi, his spells, new magic items, robots, weapons, equipment, and vehicles. In this way, the book (about 8 pages), is part sourcebook, part adventure. The rest of the book is filled with the stats of the NPCs. This includes the name, background information and full stat blocks. Most of these individuals are non-combatants so the  mileage on them is entirely up to the GM. Those who want ready made characters have their choice of five characters.One of the strengths of the adventure is the theme boxes. These boxes provide the GM additional notes on how best to change the encounter, depending on the strength of the party. For example, they have ideas on using the party with a heavy base of 'gunslingers' or 'treacherous traps'. In other words, for parties with a lot of fighters or thieves. This prevents the material from being static. Another useful trick is the adventure seeds scattered through the text. Useful material, but not deeply detailed.It has a two-column layout. Art ranges from fair art to good. The maps however, are top notch, done by Ed Bourelle. The maps are readable and are only lacking a map key. Interior covers are not used. Layout is much better in this book as far as white space and font sizing goes, nothing like Raw Recruits or Vigilance. This is something very important to me. The layout is better. It's not important to me because it's a good layout and better format, but it's important because it shows that unlike some companies, Mystic Eye Games is interested and committed to IMPROVEMENT. The only problem is with the s when it happens at the end of a word in a possessive form, as there's a space between the word and the s like Voltagg s on page 11.Heart of the Machine should provide your Dragonstar players with at least three nights of solid adventure and the wise GM will set up side missions for the players as they move through the city to insure maximum usage of the adventure.</blockquote>

Verification