Interludes - Brief Expeditions to Bluffside

[Messageboard Golem]

Before I begin my review, I have to state that since its inception as a company, I've been impressed by Thunderhead Games. Slight correction, with Hal Greenberg, I should say. The man is...well personable for starters but what I've found most interesting about Hal, is his ability to find an idea and stick with it, no matter the changes. Originally slated to be just a primer to Bluffside (a city that looks primed as we head closer into the new year), this grand PDF became something more after Hal and his crew heard from us gamers. Now it's here...and it's time to see what Hal and his fun loving bunch have cooked up for us.

Artistic Stuff: The Cover art, while not truly imposing, is very good. A nice winter scene with hints of danger, help to bring us closer to seeing what is possible here so close to Bluffside. Interior artwork, I found very good, as the maps, and the latice work along the pages, provided a nice frame work and ideas to help add to the richness of the product.

The Meaty stuff: Before I get to that, I should explain one thing. This isn't just ONE adventure, nor it just a bunch of vingettes, it's really a whole campaign world chopped up and given to us, and yet at the same time, it doesn't treat the DM/GM like a complete idiot, merely giving guidance and direction, focusing each interplay that much more closely, for the enjoyment of both the game players AND the guys that run it. While I could diverge into the numerous nuances, at it's heart, this adventure about survival, both of those kidnapped, and that of the adventurers. Here, a local group of theives, call the Hammers, have a had a slight...detour in their usual raiding and highway robbery on one of the few road accessible to wagons and travelers on their way to Bluffside. The detour becomes the lives and kidnapping of a small but well to do family, the Greyfoxes, and the adventures, (being the nice guys they are...or if they want a reward there is one), go off and try to find them. In the course of this adventure, they dive into a world of both intrigue, mysteries and various surprises. Then comes the really FUN part. After it's all done you can still continue on ward, investigating the mysteries surround the small Hamlet of Kirkwood and it's Coldwind forest...or you can move on to Bluffside. Doesn't really matter which as I'm sure that with the updates coming AND Bluffside soon to follow, many an adventuring party will find themselves FAR to busy to care that much about petty annoyances like production!

Oh and before I forget, be sure to check out appendixes, for info on all the various NPCs (which are listed in their own boxes in each encounter BUT also more detialed info can be found here), magical items like fetishs, and even new feats, prestige classes and handouts too! Could you ask for more? Well more is to come when they do the updates/web enhancements for Interludes, the earliest one slated for some time in December). So please, don't feel left out JUST yet.

Overall I have to say this has been the most thorough intriguing and yet well written and designed PDF product I've ever seen. I recommend for ALL DMs of every skill level. And don't let the size fool you, for only 5 dollars, it worth every penny and more.

 

[Simon Collins]

Beware! This review contains major spoilers.

Interludes: Brief Expeditions To Bluffside is currently downloadable from www.thunderheadgames.com. It is due to be released in paper format in December.

Price: Normal price $7, currently on special at $5
Page Count: 61
Price per page: About 8 cents per page
Designed for Character Level: 2nd

Format: 4.99MB Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) file. Softcover as of December '01.

Artwork: The front cover (aka first page) is an average-quality colour picture of some adventurers in a snowy environment passing a stone behind which hides a and . The internal black and white artwork is mostly good quality though there are a couple of exceptions.

Additional Page Use: The back/last page gives an introduction to the module. The penultimate page is an advert, the one before that is the OGL. Pages 2 and 3 contain credits and contents.

Maps: The maps are average computer-generated ones, that have poor contrast. There is a downloadable 3D Map on the website as a web-enhancement.

Text Density: Text density varies considerably and there are different fonts/font sizes used throughout the module, used for different purposes. Dependent on these factors, the density can be good to poor. There are occasional large amounts of space on certain pages between sections of the module (up to 3/4 page on one). There is a narrow graphic margin on the side of each page which is mirrored by white space on the other side. There is also a header and footer to each page which takes up further space.

Text Style: The text style is concise and without frills. There are a few typos.

The Adventure: The module begins with an adventure summary and background. The adventure is centred on the small hamlet of Kirkwood, near the city of Bluffside. A group of bandits run by the Thieves Guild in Bluffside (the Hammers) kidnaps travelers and lately townsfolk for the lucrative slave trade, using information from a spy (Tania Florence) boarding in the only inn. While Tania is laid low with the flu and unable to contact the rest of her group, her second-in-command kidnaps an important family using a blizzard as cover, and attempting to make it look like the work of a local goblinoid tribe.

The module continues with some adventure hooks, including an option to run with pre-generated PCs. The idea of Theme Boxes is then introduced, which is essentially advice on scaling and modifying the adventure to suit parties of different sizes, levels, classes and interests. These Theme Boxes are applied to each scene where appropriate, giving great flexibility and extra options to many encounters. There is also a history of Kirkwood and a table for Wandering Encounters, as well as a sidebar with the hamlet's stats and a note about Tania.

The next section deals with the various locations and inhabitants of Kirkwood. Locations where there are likely to be regulars (e.g. the inn) have those regulars listed. Each section not only has notes for roleplaying the NPCs but also a section entitled 'Hooks' which gives information about the needs of the NPCs to facilitate roleplaying with the PCs, and also Rumours which the NPCs know (or rumours about the NPCs), with a note as to their truth (these rumours are summarised in an Appendix). The complex relationships and motivations of these NPCs provide an intriguing and detailed background to Kirkwood. There is also an opportunity for a run-in with a Shadow Lynx (a new creature) who lurks at the outskirts of town.

When the patriarch of the kidnapped family falls into the inn, bloody and frostbitten, the PCs are sent by the local healer to investigate urgently. They discover the farmstead littered with clues that the kidnapping is done by goblinoids (a new creature called a Raker) and their wolf-like mounts (also a new creature). They also meet the guardian of Kirkwood, a local ranger, who can help. He tells them of the location of the raker lair, in a ruin near a disused holy grove.

If the PCs approach the grove, they can encounter goblin guards who can be overcome but are more useful if parleyed with. The PCs may also face a cursed cemetery with accompanying zombies, and there are various options for adding traps and other modifications using Theme Boxes for each encounter area. In addition, there is an area that has been left to the DM to detail (or miss out). Scattered through the buildings are clues that this was once a religious area dedicated to a forgotten god, which could tie usefully back to the motivation of one of the NPCs in Kirkwood. In fact, the PCs may enter the temple which was the religious centre of the ruin in order to talk to or kill the leader of the goblinoids (a raker called Bruubrah).

In the temple itself, there are plenty of goblins, rakers and rippers, as well as further clues to the purpose of the temple and various Theme Boxes for many of the encounter areas. Encounters are detailed with tactics and treasure, and information known by NPCs where appropriate. There is also advice for laying clues to further adventures The tougher opponents are classed rakers (ranger, adept, wizard, barbarian). The PCs need to kill or parley with the raker leader to discover that the goblins are not responsible for the kidnapping, and can learn of the spy in Kirkwood. One of her cronies has been captured by the goblins and a letter he was carrying provides the truth (the half-orc bandit is still imprisoned by the goblins).

The PCs can then take the half-orc bandit back to Kirkwood for questioning (a sorceress uses magic to make him talk). In the meantime, Tania the spy has disappeared. There are options for proceeding if the PCs return with only the note or empty-handed. The PCs are asked to try and catch Tania on her way back to Bluffside.

In the next section, which is event-based, the PCs encounter an evil Thorn Faerie (new creature), a cleric who has been robbed by the bandits and set as a trap, and the final climactic encounter with Tania and her bandits (the DM is advised to enable Tania to escape so as to be used as a recurring villain later in the campaign).

The extensive appendices include sections on new feats (armoured caster, sixth sense), new spells (agony of deceit, remove exposure), new magical items (cloak of elemental endurance, everfull waterskin, various goblinoid fetishes, font of the wisdom of ages, reading glasses and a magical quarterstaff), new extraordinary items (goblins sleep poison, full stats and roleplaying details for all the NPCs, development of adventure hooks from the adventure (some of which have web enhancements listed for them, including tracking down the demon that is keeping the rakers and goblins of the area from attacking any of the settlements in the area until they free it from its prison), and new creatures (Arbor Fish (actually a bird), Bhagaista (a flying cat), Giant Tree Slug, Ice Flower (uses ray of frost and confusion), Lynx, Mule Deer, Nevaequarlani (drow/elf cross), Raker, Ripper, Shadow Lynx (dark sabretooth lynx with links to nevaequarlani), Snow Leopard, Snow Racer (furred poisonous reptile), and Thorn Faerie (thorny evil illusionist dryad). There are also player handouts, a rumour summary and two prestige classes: Blood Guardian (an arcane scion of a rare bloodline who develops leadership traits) and Sister of Mercy (female fighter/cleric that can help spirits to pass over to the other side).

The High Points: This is an extremely comprehensive and flexible module. The idea of giving advice for scaling and modifying encounters rather than general advice for the module is groundbreaking stuff, and an aspect I would like to see across the board. The depth of NPC information not only gives a good basis for roleplaying but also provides the DM with lots of hooks for subplots and subsequent adventures. There are plenty of options within the adventure itself, and there is no feeling of being railroaded. The value is brought beyond its already substantial attributes with the new feats, spells, creatures and prestige classes, and the free web enhancements at www.thunderheadgames.com. And the hamlet of Kirkwood, with intriguing depth already developed for you, can still be dropped into most campaign settings with a few minor amendments.

The Low Points: The ELs of the raker/goblin lair are almost certainly too high for PCs of 2nd level to surive (several of them are 6-8, one after the other). Its mentioned in the text that the aim is to negotiate with the goblinoids rather than eliminate them, but I felt that this should have been stated by an NPC (perhaps Fallar Sunbird) rather than to the DM by the author. Some sort of warning is definitely needed if the party tend to hack first and talk later. There were a couple of other inconsistencies with the plotline, but nothing that couldn't be worked around by a DM with an ounce of sense. It would have been nice if the quality of artwork and maps (average) had matched the quality of the rest of the module (superb), but its a minor fault when the module is so good.

Conclusion: A well-balanced, thorough and imaginative module that mixes a twisting plotline with complex NPCs, a mystery, a fully-fledged settlement that can be dropped into most campaign settings, lots of 'crunchy bits' and an innovative method of scaling and modifying individual encounters to suit a variety of parties. Go get it while its still $5.

 

[Psion]

Though the D20 system market seems very packed, new players are still coming on the scene all the time. One of these new companies is Thunderhead Games. Though comparatively late to the D20 marketplace, Thunderhead Games is generating a lot of enthusiasm in some online forums.

This is in part due to the background of those involved in Thunderhead Games. Many of the names in THG are no strangers to the D20 community. Some have already done much work on various OGL netbooks as part of the D&D Community Council.

Thunderhead's upcoming offerings are centered on their city setting, Bluffside. Interludes: Brief Expiditions to Bluffside gives us a glimpse into the Bluffside: City on the Edge setting. The adventure actually occurs in a small town near Bluffside, Kirkwood.

Interludes is an adventure intended for a party of 2nd level characters, though the theme boxes feature (see below) makes this easily adaptable to higher or lower level parties.

A First Look

Interludes comes in the electronic format as a 4.65 MB zipped pdf file. Adobe acrobat reader is required to read the document. It has 61 electronic pages, including the color "cover" pages. At the time of this writing, the adventure is available for download for $5.00 US. The download page (at www.thunderheadgames.com) has a crossed out "normal" price of $7.00 US, though it is not clear when this higher price will be charged, if ever.

Except for the two pages that act as a "cover," the document is black-and-white. The front cover illustration is of middling quality, depicting some travelers in an arctic setting with an inhuman spy or assassin lying in wait. The interior art is likewise merely of passable quality, except for the cartography, which is good. Attractive border flourishes are illustrated on alternating sides of the page, which is convenient for those who wish to print out the document.

The graphical layout is good. Further, the document makes good use of the PDF format. The pre-defined bookmarks provide a convenient way to navigate the contents of the document for those that intend to use on a computer.

The text density is fairly good. Given the text density, page count, and presentation, Interludes is a good value at the current price of $5.00.

Thunderhead Games has also announced that they will be releasing a printed version of Interludes in December. The print version will have 64 pages and will be available for $10.95.

A Deeper Look
(Warning: This section contains spoilers regarding the contents of the adventure)

The adventure is arranged into three "parts" describing the setting and the adventure, and 6 appendices. The appendices provide most of the game mechanical details such as the NPCs, new creatures, items, spells, feats, and prestige classes introduced in the aventure, as well as the player handouts.

One interesting aspect of the adventure is a feature called theme boxes. Theme boxes are boxed sections that appear throughout the adventure that give details that the GM can throw in to better fit the adventure to the players. Theme boxes come in seven categories:

· Greater Than - Describes alterations that can be added if the PCs are more powerful than the prescribed party level and numbers.
· Less Than - Conversely, the less than theme boxes describe how an encounter can be toned down for a smaller party or less experienced PCs.
· Holier Than Thou - The party has multiple or strong divine spellcasters.
· Puzzles and Pits - The text describes this category as being for "role-play heavy" parties. I found that slightly misleading in the case of this module, for where I took this to mean that such sections would be more involved NPC interactions, in actuality it often refers to sections where a trap or puzzle is resolved by player descriptions instead of game mechanics.
· Spell Slingers - The party has strong or multiple arcane spellcasters.
· Sword and Shield - The party has strong or multiple fighters (or, I would assume, fighter-types such as barbarians, rangers, and monks.)
· Treacherous Traps - The party has strong or multiple rogues.

In the adventure, each theme box is labeled with one of the above categories and a checkbox. If you feel the box applies to your group, you simply check the box so that when you run it, you remember to use that version of the encounter. I found this to be a wonderful way to make an adventure more adaptable.

The adventure itself is basically a fairly linear plot based adventure with an embedded site based adventure. The central villain is a crime organization from Bluffside called the Hammers. The events behind the adventure are triggered when the ranking member of the Hammers in the area falls ill and fails to make her contacts. Her second in command makes a bold raid on the town, and the local leader of the hammers tries to cover the mess up by blaming it on the local goblins.

Part 1 is entitled Kirkwood. It details the history and locales of the village of Kirkwood and it sets of the adventure with the initial events. A few hooks are provided to get the party into Kirkwood. Once in Kirkwood, the party can interact with a number of NPCs, but eventually will be pulled into the adventure by a man stumbling into the inn out of a coming storm. With a little investigation and prodding from the NPCs, the players discover that he is the only member of the Greyfox family left uncaptured by a recent raid.

I found the organization in part 1 very confusing. The town of Kirkwood is presented in a typical keyed-site format, but the events that spurn on the adventure are interspersed throughout. Further, the village encounter descriptions include some rumors that are apparently relevant to this adventure, with some "hooks" that are apparently placed to provide activities for players in Kirkwood independent of the adventure - and this does not become clear until after you digest the adventure. I think that the setting information should have been presented first, followed by the events. Further, the intent of the hooks should have been made clear if it didn't play into the adventure.

The second part is the goblin lair. The Hammer operative set it up to appear that the goblins were responsible for the raid. The catch is that one of the Hammers got captured by the goblins that they hoped to blame the incident on, and they are expecting company.

The goblins are controlled by a member of a new goblin variant race called rakers. The goblin hideout is in an ancient grove that was dedicated to a long forgotten deity. This part of the area consists of three keyed encounter areas: the ancient grove itself, a temple within the grove, and the basement of the grove. The players will have to face goblins and other threats throughout the area. However, the key area of this part is the basement. The basement contains the captured Hammer prisoner (who will later be interrogated) and a note from the Hammer leader that may prove to be the vital link.

The captured Hammer has a story he will tell. For some reason, this was left as a handout in the back. This struck me as a little odd: I thought the story was a little to short and simple to deserve a handout, and the story would have best been left inline in the text instead of making the GM flip to a section that is not worth printing out.

There is a good chance that it will skip the track, as players have a habit of not going to that one room you hope they would. Fortunately, the next part includes some notes for getting the adventure back on track if the players miss the connection.

The last part assumes that the players return to Kirkwood with their captured Hammer (and a captured raker as well.) It is assumed that the Mayor will interrogate the Hammer at this point, but the same section could have been used if the party does a good job interrogating the hammers as well. As mentioned, the third part also has ideas for kicking the adventure along if the Hammer and/or the incriminating note are not found.

The information the party gathers should lead them to the Hammers' lair in the forest. The party will likely be exposed to some random encounters and a special encounter with a wicked fey creature called a thorn faerie. Then they will happen upon a member of the sisters of mercy (a new prestige class detailed in the adventure, representing an order of battle scarred clerics that have turned towards the ways of healing.) She was a prisoner of the Hammers, but she was fed information that the Hammers hope will lead the party into an ambush. The final battle is with the hammers leader (having recovered from her illness) and some of her lackies.

Amongst the prisoners of the Hammers are a pair of siblings, Jezzica and Brandyn Bergen. Jezzica is a member of the blood guardian prestige class introduced in the appendix. The inclusion of these two seemed a little gratuitous to me. Though I am not above such tactics in introducing new and interesting NPCs myself, it probably would have been better if their role in the adventure or backdrop was more relevant that just "random prisoners."

Interludes brings with it a boatload of new goodies for the D20 system. This includes:

-- 2 new feats (armored caster, which you may recognize from the Netbook of Feats, and Sixth Sense)

-- 2 new spells (agony of deceit, which causes pain whenever a target lies, and remove exposure, which negates effects of exposure to whether)

-- 2 new prestige classes (the sorcerous blood guardian and the previously mentioned sisterhood of mercy)

-- 11 new magic and extraordinary items.

-- 12 new creatures (many animals, plus creatures like the thorn fairy and the goblinoid rakers)

Summary

Interludes is very strong on content. A small setting, well detailed NPCs, plus new system material help ensure that the product remains useful long after you run it.

The adventure is fairly decent overall. Though fairly linear in nature, it does try to pay attention when there is a strong possibility that the players will go off the beaten track. Further, I am really enamored with the theme boxes concept. It is a very slick concept that I would not be surprised to see other D20 system publishers emulate.

My chief complaints are with the organization of the adventure. The way the material is scattered, especially in part 1, seems like it could make this a confusing adventure to run. Anyone wishing to run the adventure should get things clear in their head before setting out to run the adventure and make sure they know where the relevant sections of the adventure are among the setting material.

-Alan D. Kohler

 

[Morrus]

I've had this adventure for some time now, but decided to hold off reviewing it until I had fully run it. Well, my gaming group finished playing through the module a few days ago, so here's my review.

Most of the other reviewers have summed up the contents of the adventure, so I'm not going to spend time writing up an overview of the adventure or a list of what's contained within. Instead, I'm going to concentrate on how the adventure is written and presented, and how it plays out.

The adventure itself is fairly small, but cleverly contains so many embedded plot hooks that, with some work on the DM's part, it can be drawn out for quite some time. The town of Kirkwood is well detailed, each location containing a description of the area, a list of NPCs likely to be found there (and I don't just mean stats of the shopkeep - an area will also contain details of people form other parts of the town likely to be found in the area - regular customers and so on) plus a plot hook or two. These plot hooks are small (e.g. - at the local shrine, the collection has been stolen by the gy who runs the carriage-house across the road), but the overall effect is to create a lively and interactive town which feels alive. I found it remarkably easy to run a session where the players didn't do much more than wander around the town doing their shopping and speaking with the locals.

Of course, all this is just backdrop for the adventre itself which, if you have read the other reviews here, is an attempt to rescue a loacal family from their mysterious kidnappers. It's nicely done, with false leads and red herrings, and the process of discovering who was responsible requires the players to undergo a short exploration of the local wilderness and a indulge in a dungeon crawl - esentially an inflitration of the lair of who they believe the kidnappers to be. Of course, they turn out to be wrong - the local goblinoids wish to be friends with the humans of Kirkwood and are able to provide some info which helps the party find the real culprits.

I had great fun during this dungeon crawl. The goblins came across as misunderstood victims of racism and stereotyping who fear the evil murderous humans to the south who tend to kill them on sight; the party found themselves between the goblnis and thier captive half-orc prisoner, both of whom claimed that the other was responsible for the kidnapping - I was lucky in that the party botched their Sense Motive rolls, and had no idea who was telling the truth, especially since the goblins had captured and tortured the half-orc and planned on eating him for dinner! With a lawful good party member or two, this whole situation can be twisted into quite the moral conundrum.

The second half of the adventure involves chasing the culprits north and rescuing the poor family from their grasp. There are a couple fo encounters on the way (one including the delightful new monster, the Thorn Faerie) The culprits, a bandit group, are quite a challenge for the PCs, and the battle to rescue the missing family has quite a strategic element to it, including ambushes and lots of assassin/rogue techinques from the bad guys. I changed this encounter a little and turned it into a sneaking, scary thriller where the PCs slowly snuk through the forest, knowing that their enemies were hiding around the area, and that they had set numerous traps, attempting to pick the PCs off one-by-one in classic thriller style.

That's the adventure - as you know from reading the other reviews here, there is a substantial appendix containing various prestige classes, monsters etc. Some of this I found a little redundant, other parts I found very well done.

One other note - Thunderhead Games are producing various web-enhancements for this adventure, the first due round about now. I have an advance copy of it, and it nicely expands the Thorn Faerie encounter - dpending n how your adventure pays out, it can be sued to expland the encounter at the time or used as a 'return to' appendix at the end of the advanture. Two or three other expansions are planned also.

So - all in all a darn good adventure; it was great fun to run. My only complaints were a slight redundancy int he appendices and perhaps some minor graphical problems with the maps in the book - when printed out, I found them very hard to read indeed, and actually had to guess some elements of it during play. The adventure does benefit from a DM willing to put the work in to bring Kirkwood to life and to make use of all the mini plot hooks and colourful characters.

 

[Messageboard Golem]

I'm a dungeon master that doesn't have that much time preparing adventures for my players. So sometimes I like going to my local gaming store and buy a module. And now that I have found it and paid for it, I'm in title to give my opinion on it.

Well, seeing how this module is made, I must say that the artistic point of view is nice. The text is well written, it got me interested into buying it just by seeing how it was made.

It was upon reading it that I found out that the product wasn't what I had in mind when I got it. The module has 62 pages , in truth, really about 15 pages are left for the adventure. The rest you have more detailed NPC'S (12 pages) , you have new monsters and 2 new prestige classes (12 pages), and you have a very detailed village in wich the adventure starts in (11 pages). The rest is left to new magic items, new feats, and so on.

If you plan on doing the adventure in question as is, 1 game session should pretty much cover the whole thing, and I hope you are the kind of DM that likes putting on a show for players by playing multiple NPC'S interacting between each other while the players look at you, since some stuff like such is planned into it.

What ticks me off about it, you have a plan, 2 floors, of a ruined monastery wich : 'is left for the game master to develop further and has no bearing on the current scenario'.They say they have left an appendix for ideas on how to devellop further ideas into the adventure. Well the appendix in question is half a page long, 6 ideas are in it , and those ideas are very brief.

If you are looking for something to use as a village setting, well this thing is for you. But if you are looking to buy this thing to do an adventure, well you have to sharpen your pencil and buy some sheets, because what you have in there is very basic and is just an intro.

After reading the thing, I went back to my gaming store, bought another adventure module, feeling that interludes is just an 'interlude' into getting my money's worth.

But I must say it has potential, a few ideas in it are ok, but dont buy the thing if you're looking for a complete adventure module. Expect alot of work if you want it to last a few game sessions.

On this, I wish you all good gaming.

 

[Messageboard Golem]

I picked up, and just finished running, Thunderhead Games' first adventure, Interludes: Brief Expeditions to Bluffside. From the high grades that I've seen this product receive, it made up my mind to buy this one (I got the print version of it). I was happily impressed by it.

Good Stuff

I saw many great things in this module when I first started running it. The opening chapters included how to run the adventure, a brief history of the behind the scenes plot, and this new system for scaling the adventure with theme boxes.

I have seen that most of the other reviews for this product have already gone into depth on the theme boxes, so I won't waste the time of the reader saying how wonderful this idea is... I'll just let you know that the sessions I ran I used two of them: Hollier Than Thou (I have a druid, a cleric, and a paladin in my game) and the Puzzles and Pits (my whole group, including myself, have a grand total of nearly a century's worth of gaming experience). With the combination of the two different theme boxes, this adventure took on an entirely different light.

The adventure itself, which seems to be excluded from the other reviews other than a basic gleaming, is very well written. With the party starting out in Kirkwood (a small hamlet) they discover that the early winter storm (which caused my party no end of problems) blows in an evil plot to kidnap a family of important townsfolk. The characters are shocked to discover that the only person to escape the kidnappers falls into the beautifully rustic Rosewood Inn, in a bloody and frozen heap.

The party then goes to the Greyfox family home and begins to conduct their investigation (only partially assisted by a few of the towsfolk). They discovered the tracks of the goblinoid rakers and their canine ripper mounts. A ghost of a man, the old ranger Fallar Sunbird gives the party some much needed answers to the questions they now have (in particular what made the tracks in the snow and where they are rumored to be found). The party immediately leaves to go and rescue the poor kidnapped family and begins to run afoul of the wintery weather and late night conditions (I am a particularly cruel DM that always enforces the environmental factors on the party, which the party was very happy that there was a new divine spell called remove exposure that they got from the cleric Synthia Mistwarden).

The second part that detailed the Holy Grove area was perhaps my favorite part. A peacful and serene area that held evil beyond reasoning (for 2nd-level characters, a tribe of goblins and a few rakers are about the most evil thing they will come across for a time). My fourth player (the nevaequarlani monk) died a horrible and painful death at the hands of the goblins, and the player had a blast too. Rarely have I ever seen such simple yet so detailed combat tactics. It wasn't the same old "in Room 2 there are 3 goblins and a door to Room 3, which has 4 more goblins that never hear the battle and won't come in to aid anyone". My party did have a small problem with the goblin's sleep poisoned blowgun darts (I think the dice were cursed that day). But eventually the characters made it to the temple basement, where the goblins made their home.

The plots that weaved between each NPC (even the rakers) was fabulous. My players capitolized on the conflict between D'saasz and T'bangah and it made the game play that much better. The characters stuck up deals and bargains with the evil rakers (even the paladin did, feeling that their evil nature was a birth defect in the overly cautious goblinoids), and they received the next piece of the puzzle, the half-orc Gizur Ungg.

The race back to the town of Kirkwood and the ensuing roleplay between the party, the raker representative, Gizur, the mayor, and the mayor's crew lasted for nearly 3 game sessions for us. After resupplying and getting a few items from Kenna and Synthia, the party set off for the final confrontation with the group that Gizur belonged to, the Hammers.

Along their path north, my party ran into the evil thorn faerie (I ran the web enhancement for that encounter so the characters could get a few more experience points), the divinely scarred Arnora Stillwater, and then they finally reached the showdown. The druid was severely wounded in that battle, but the combination of the cleric and the paladin brought the battle to a close (which I ran over the course of two game sessions).

Bad Stuff

I really saw nothing to wrong with any of the module, except that I didn't like the read aloud text just being bolded and the picture of Bluffside at the end of the module is a bit blurry.

Crunchies

New Feats
Armored Caster - since I didn't really have an arcane caster in the party, this one didn't really do much for us. However, I did let the monk player make another character and he made a sorcerer/fighter with this feat.
Sixth Sense - we loved this one. The paladin leveled (to level 3) and took this feat. He is 100% more difficult to pull the wool over on because of it (and it saved the party when they fought against the Hammers at the end).

New Spells
agony of deceit - the sorcerer/fighter has finally convinced Kirkwood's Kenna to let him have this spell (he saved all his money from character creation specifically for that spell).
remove exposure - my divine casters love this. As I mentioned before, I am very cruel DM that inflicts harsh environmental penalties on my parties.

New Magical Items
cloak of elemental endurance - the cleric bought one of these, and I really like it as a low level character item - great job Thunderhead Games!
everfull waterskin - I went to the Thunderhead Games site and see that they have some desert stuff planned in the future (July and September 2002). While the skin means little to a party full of divine casters (Synthia healed the druid), it does free up some much needed spell slots for a desert game.
the fetishes - while these didn't physically appear in most of the module, the rakers can make them. The party is now going through the ruins of the Holy Grove researching for Synthia. They come in contact with the goblins and rakers on a regular basis now, and even have signed a treaty with them that if they discover any money that they will give them half. (The characters feel guilty of swinging weapons first and asking questions second.)
font of the wisdom of ages - this is an interesting item. I'm thinking of inflicting a potion like this on my players at a later date.
reading glasses - this is definitely an invaluable tool in the party's researching. Synthia has allowed my party to use one of these, but they need to return it before they leave the area.
Synthia's quarterstaff of the traveler - Synthia is definitely a force to be reconded with, and this staff makes her the perfect party patron. I think the Hammers may come back to Kirkwood to cause more problems for my party by stealing the staff.

New Extraordinary Items
Goblin Sleep Poison - I love this stuff. My party wasn't expecting it at all.
Golden Pocket Watch - the thought of realistic items never occured to me in a fantasy game. A clockwork watch made of gold is a truly valuable item and I look forward to playing with this item a bit more.

NPCs
These NPCs breathe. I have never seen a module that gives you as much information about the minor players as it does the main NPCs.

New Creatures
Arbor Fish - a fish that is actually a bird. While this sounds goofy (it did to me to begin with), I think it adds an element of the fantastic to the setting.
Bhagaista - a flying cat familiar. While I dislike all things feline as a rule, my sorcerer/fighter player is begging me for this one.
Giant Tree Slug - once again, a great fantasy element.
Ice Flower - this plant is a very sneaky way to get your players' attension.
Lynx - normal animal.
Mule Deer - normal animal.
Nevaequarlani - this is a great new race. The depth of history for this race borders on mythical proportions. I hope Thunderhead Games does more with these guys in the future.
Raker - the primary force behind part two of the adventure. Intelligent, barbaric and ruthless.
Ripper - the raker's canine companions.
Shadow Lynx - the nevaequarlani's mysterious animal companions. These creatures follow along the same historical path as the dark drow/elf decendants.
Snow Leopard - normal animal.
Snow Racer - a snake that borrows through the snow, with fur instead of scales. Once again, a great fantasy element to detail the world.
Thorn Faerie - nice to see that someone has finally given the dryads a few darker relatives. I like to use evil dryads, but these beat my incarnations hands down.

New Prestige Classes
Blood Guardian - a little high powered for a game of this level, but I do like the concept of it.
Sisterhood of Mercy - the cleric of my group wants to become this prestige class. He only has three problems in this: 1) he's male, 2) no fighter levels, and 3) nothing in his path that has scarred him. I love this prestige class and can't wait for any future information about them.

Final Words
Since I'm running a little long-winded, I'll make this brief. I liked what I saw here and it influenced me buying this product. I liked running it, but more importantly, my players liked playing it. More than one night I got phone calls from my players requesting that I run another session of it. We aren't normally the types that buy modules, and I was going to just buy this one for the source material. I read it over and it definitely does hold a great adventure. Thanks Thunderhead Games crew for making such a wonderful product.

Thunderhead Games, is there ever going to be more information about the Road Wardens? My paladin wants to become one.

~Paul Jefferson

 

[Menexenus]

Summary: This low-level adventure shows some sparks of creativity, but in the end it doesn't live up to its potential.

On the surface: (I am reviewing the .pdf version.) This module consists of a color cover with 60 pages of black and white interior. The side of each page sports a nifty margin design containing the page number. The interior art is very sparse and unremarkable. The only eye-catching art in the product is Mitch Cotie's character portrait on p. 42. The typeface is reasonably dense, but somewhat difficult to read, even at 180% magnification. Only the first 30 pages contain the adventure; the last 30 pages is entirely devoted to appendices. The cartography is simplistic and is not as clear as it should be in black and white.

<Warning: spoilers follow.>

Innovative Ideas: Aside from some obligatory new feats, spells, prestige classes, and magic items, the only real innovation in this product is the use of Theme Boxes. The Theme Boxes are an interesting idea which allegedly give the DM options for altering the adventure to suit the tastes of the PC's and the composition of the party. In theory, I think this is a useful idea. However, the idea was used very inconsistently in this product. Sometimes the Theme Boxes simply highlighted important information rather than giving the DM options for altering the adventure as advertised. For instance, one Theme Box simply supplies the DC for recognizing an amulet as a holy symbol. Other Theme Boxes simply suggest that the DM increase or decrease the number of Wandering Monsters encountered.

Pros: I liked that critical information is displayed in easy to find boxes. Also, this adventure gives a DM ample opportunity for role-playing. Virtually every character you could possibly meet over the course of the adventure is listed in the appendix with a stat block, physical description, a list of motivations, and a characterization of how and under what circumstances that character is likely to interact with the PC's. It is refreshing to see an adventure that is more than just hack and slash.

Cons: Unfortunately, the storyline of this adventure is very hard to follow in many places. First, if there is a trail leading directly from Kirkwood to an ancient shrine, how come nobody knows about it? Second, if the evidence of the attack at the farm is all illusionary, why don't the PC's get a chance to detect this? Third, why does the group of thieves capture a family of farmers when they think their leader in Kirkwood is captured? Perhaps they are intended as hostages to secure Tania's release. But if so, then why do they keep the family captive after they realize Tania is free? (Why not just kill them or sell them into slavery?) Fourth, since the story anticipates that the PCs will have met Tania at the inn, I assume that she is there with them and learns about the raid on the Greyfox farm at the same time they do. So how is there time for Tania to write a note to her underling, for someone (who?) to deliver it to Gizur (where?), and for Gizur to follow its instructions all before the PCs arrive at the Greyfox farm? (BTW, why is Gizur (Rgr5) "utterly terrified" of Tania (Rgr4) and Sokki (Rgr3)?) Fifth, why does the adventure assume that the party will return to town with a goblin in tow? Sixth, supposedly Tania is motivated by a desire for revenge. Revenge for what?

Final Thought: I realize how difficult it is to craft a truly memorable adventure at early levels. Still, there is little that makes this adventure stand out and just as much that is holding it back. If your players are the inquisitive type who expect a plotline that makes sense, you will have to put a lot of work into this adventure to make it playable. Plus, despite the page-length of this product, the adventure itself is relatively short. If all the extra (and ultimately unnecessary) feats, spells, prestige classes, and monsters were eliminated, this product could easily have been 36 pages rather than 60. If I could give fractions, I'd give this product a 3.5.