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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Simon Collins" data-source="post: 2008568" data-attributes="member: 9860">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 $5Page Count: 61Price per page: About 8 cents per pageDesigned for Character Level: 2ndFormat: 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.</blockquote>

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