Invasion of ArunKid

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ArunKid - a small farming village with a sinister legacy. Now, a group of gnomes seeks vengeance for wrongs done to them long ago. But to save the village, the heroes must seek answers from the most unlikely sources. Everyone seems to want to claim the village of ArunKid - the gnomes, the Kingdom and even a murderous band of brigands. But who should get it is up to the heroes to decide... This Kingdoms of Kalamar adventure is intended for 1st to 3rd level players.

 

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The Invasion of Arun’Kid is a D&D adventure based in the Kingdoms of Kalamar campaign setting. It is intended for a party of three to seven 1st-2nd level characters and is designed to be ideally suited as the first adventure to kick off a new campaign.

The adventure is a stapled, softcover booklet. It has a color cover, black-and-white interior and is 48 pages long. Invasion includes five pages of maps and ten pages of ImageQUEST illustrations. Advertisements for other Kalamar products adorn the inside of the adventure’s front and back covers. It's priced at $11.99 (US).

Invasion’s plot centers around an invasion of the adventure’s namesake village, Arun-Kid, by a group of gnomes. The gnomes are seeking their clan’s lost treasure, which they believe was stolen by one of the village’s residents. The player characters must defend the village from the gnomes and then later from a second invasion by a group of brigands who also seek the treasure. In addition to battling the gnomes and brigands, the player characters may have to negotiate and free hostages, as well as search a tomb for the treasure itself. The players’ task is aided (or perhaps hindered) by the intervention of troops sent by the local lord.

Invasion is not exactly your typical introductory adventure. The player characters are cast as defenders rather than monster hunters or treasure seekers. Also, the gnomes are not the typical evil cannon fodder found in most low-level adventures. The negotiations with the gnomes and the possible interference from the local lord’s troops are also aspects that I rarely seen in a published adventure.

My reservations about Invasion are few. With the open nature of its plot, Invasion is not exactly the best adventure for a novice game master to cut his teeth on. The adventure’s suggestion to have the PCs spread out in various locations in the village when the initial invasion begins may also make it a bit tough to organize the various fights.

I applaud Scott Casper for not only including several adventure hooks and starts, but also for providing the game master with plenty of advice on how to deal with ‘what if’ situations in the adventure. The adventure also has some nice additions like a new potion a new spell and a new NPC class, the brigand. In addition to this is a random encounter table for the Kalamar plains, as well as a useful glossary of people and places found in the adventure. Finally, the included ImageQuest illustrations have a pleasant ‘charcoal sketch’ quality about them and are a welcome addition.

 

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By Glenn Dean, Staff Reviewer d20 Magazine Rack

*** Warning --- Possible Spoilers!***

Sizing Up the Target
The Invasion of Arun’Kid is a Dungeons & Dragons adventure for the Kingdoms of Kalamar adventure setting by Kenzer Co. Written by Scott Casper, this 50-page adventure retails for $11.99.

First Blood
The Invasion of Arun’Kid is an adventure for 1st to 3rd level characters set in Kenzer’s Kingdoms of Kalamar setting. The adventure consists of both site- and event-based encounters set around a small village. It includes both combat and roleplaying encounters, and in fact a great deal of the adventure can be resolved through clever diplomacy and negotiation rather than a hack-and-slash approach, if players are so inclined.

The adventure begins in the small village of Arun’Kid, a one-goat farming town founded decades ago by a retired adventurer who used his personal fortune to establish and support the town. The town is suddenly invaded by a band of gnomes tracking a rogue who stole their clan treasure. The PCs must resolve the mystery of the clan’s treasure, defeat or placate the gnome band, smooth over relations with the local baron, and potentially defeat other threats to the town following the rumored hoard.

In addition to the major encounter areas, the adventure includes full statistics for the town and all of its residents, along with several variations on plot hooks and rumors that serve both to begin the adventure and provide leads to other possible adventures in the area. There are five full pages of maps, as well as 16 half- or full-page illustrations designed to give players a visual feel for the adventure. A full cast of characters (with statistics) is provided in the appendix, along with a new NPC class, the Bandit, a new-to-d20 magic item, and a new spell.

The Invasion of Arun’Kid could be used as a stand-alone adventure or as the beginning to a campaign. Most of the encounters are with typical PC-type races, and the majority of the encounters are village or wilderness-based, making this a refreshing change from the more traditional introductory dungeon adventure.

Critical Hits
The Invasion of Arun’Kid provides a great setting in which to begin a campaign. The village of Arun’Kid is completely detailed, and has a number of engaging and interesting NPCs. The visual aids really help to bring the village and the adventure to life. With the additional background material and hooks present in the adventure, there is the potential for a number of sessions of low-level adventuring in and around the town.

The adventure is well designed to support multiple styles of parties and play. The player characters can be residents of Arun’Kid – probably the best way to start – or travelers; background is provided to start the adventure with either option. Encounters are designed to be solved either through combat or roleplay, with outcomes and experience given for each approach – a nice touch that sets this adventure aside from many that simply allow PCs to hack their way to the end of the adventure – though there is potentially enough combat for even the most bloodthirsty PC.

Critical Misses
The Invasion of Arun’Kid, though a great beginning adventure, might be a little difficult for beginning GMs to run. The opening series of encounters is designed for PCs at different individual locations, rather than for a unified party, which can be a challenge for a novice GM. The product also assumes the use of the Kingdoms of Kalamar campaign setting and Player’s Guide; many of the NPCs have Kalamar-specific feats that are not provided in the module. It is quite easy to substitute core feats for them, though, and Arun’Kid would translate well to most other fantasy campaign settings, particularly those with a grittier, lower-magic feel.

Like every adventure publisher, Kenzer had to make a choice as to where to locate NPC and monster stat blocks. While my preference is to have them in the encounter text, Kenzer has chosen to place them at the end of the module. Luckily, though, since so many of the encounters could potentially be resolved through diplomacy, page-flipping should be relatively minimal for the GM. Stat blocks also do not list weapon damage with adjustments, so the GM will need to figure those in advance.

Coup de Grace
The Invasion of Arun’Kid provides a nicely fleshed-out setting in which to begin a campaign. Though it is designed for the Kingdoms of Kalamar campaign setting, and is thus not an OGC product, any GM could adapt it readily to his or her own favorite campaign setting. Though higher in price than the average adventure module of its length, the price is offset by the inclusion of a number of visual aids which can be quite handy in running the adventure.

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 www.d20zines.com.