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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Messageboard Golem" data-source="post: 2010538" data-attributes="member: 18387">By John Grigsby, Staff Reviewer d20 Magazine RackCaution: This review may contain spoilers which may jeopardize your enjoyment of the adventure if you intend to participate as a player. Remember, cheaters only cheat themselves.Sizing Up the TargetHeart of the Machine is an adventure for the Dragonstar campaign setting from Mystic Eye Games. This 64-page softcover adventure was written by Stefon Mears and features the artistic talents of Ed Bourelle, Brad McDevitt, and Jeremy McHugh, with cover art from Jhoneil Centeno. It retails for $13.99.First BloodHeart of the Machine is an adventure in three parts and is intended for 4th level characters. The whole of the adventure takes place on the planet Drelga, a small and insignificant (though not for long) planet on the outskirts of the Great Dragon Empire. Four ready-made PCs are included as optional characters if the party is of insufficient experience or does not have characters prepared.Recently, rumors have filtered from Drelga about people disappearing. Is they were just transients, no one would likely question it, but other, more prominent local figures have turned up missing as well. The players don’t know this at first, however, until their ship arrives at the backwater planet for whatever reason (a few suggestions are offered in the adventure) and they find that the capital city is barely larger than a small town.In brief, the characters arrive at Drelga for a brief layover and soon find themselves embroiled in the kidnapping plots. Ideally, they will be moved to investigate and will eventually trace the plot back to its source, wherein the real (and horrific) truth is revealed. The adventure is fairly straightforward and only takes up about 20 pages. Despite this, it looks to be entertaining and would probably fill out a single game session nicely. A GM could easily fit it into an ongoing campaign as a side trek or brief diversion.The remainder of the book features a fairly detailed description of Drelandan, the capitol city of Delgar, and some new campaign material. The city is well-detailed, with several accompanying maps that could be used to expand the adventure. In addition, it includes a listing of names and establishments that are left unrealized, in case the GM should find herself in need of one. For each location that is fully described, a selection of rumors and adventure hooks is also thoughtfully provided (the rumors are also compiled into a master listing at the end of the section).The new material includes a new race, four new spells, a new magical item, several robots, two new weapons, two new items of equipment, and several new vehicles and spacecraft. There are also some player handouts and some thoughts on continuing the adventure. As is the case with most adventure products from Mystic Eye Games, the NPCs are given on name, race, class, level, and hit points within the text, but are fully described in their own appendix.The layout is comfortable and easy to read and there are no weird fonts to send the eyes into spasms. I also noted no significant spelling, grammar, or formatting errors in my read-through. The plot is very simplistic and there really isn’t much of a sub-plot, but it should prove engaging, nonetheless.Critical HitsSome encounters include notes for modifying the circumstances to fit the situation, whether the party is aggressive, more role-play oriented, or of a higher or lower level than the adventure recommends. This is actually a practice that I wish other designers would use because it makes adjusting the adventure a lot simpler. In addition, there are “quick fixes” addressing things like the group being soundly defeated, splitting up, and the like. All of this contributes to a much more enjoyable game from the GM standpoint.I’d also like to take a moment to address the chase scene that occurs in the scenario. The chase mechanism used is both easy and fairly realistic and it really enhances the adventure. It requires a little work to set up ahead of time on the part of the GM, but it will really bring the scene to life if used properly.Critical MissesThe only real complaint I have is that the adventure just seems too darned short. Out of 64 pages, the adventure itself takes up only 20 (29, if you count the NPCs and ready-made PCs). The remainder is little more than filler (though some very good filler). As it stands, this is really more of a brief diversion and though the price is alright for what you get, I just think that there could have been more done with the plot than what there was (perhaps one of the continuation hooks could have been expanded on).Coup de GraceOn the whole, this is a decent value. The background material provides a GM with a viable setting in which to base further adventures, as well as some new goodies that can be used in the campaign, and the adventure itself, though short, is still entertaining. Spells, equipment descriptions, creatures, and similar content derived from the SRD are named as Open Game Content, which accounts for about 30% of the book. The plotline seems pretty original (at least, it isn’t something I’ve seen a hundred times in movies or books) and though most of the work is aimed at GMs, the players will doubtlessly enjoy the adventure and may be able to use some of the new goodies described here.To see the graded evaluation of this product and to leave comments that the reviewer will respond to, go to The Critic's Corner at <a href="http://www.d20zines.com/html/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=471&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0" target="_blank">www.d20zines.com.</a></blockquote>

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