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Message: <blockquote data-quote="(un)reason" data-source="post: 8436647" data-attributes="member: 27780">Dungeon Issue 37: Sep/Oct 1992part 4/5The White Boar of Kilfay: WIllie Walsh continues to be their most prolific adventure writer, with another celtic inspired one that reminds us wild boar were actually one of the scariest real world animals of centuries past, requiring whole teams of hunters with dogs and specialised spears to have good odds of winning the fight. Not that this is devoid of supernatural elements either. The eponymous boar came from the darkest depths of the forest, and slew both a human & an elf from separate hunting parties before escaping. Both sides now hold a grudge and want to be the ones that get revenge, further complicating things politically. Perhaps a multiracial team of adventurers bringing it back and sharing the meat would be the best way to satisfy everyone's sense of honour? So you get blindfolded & led through the elven portion of the woods (as they're a reclusive paranoid lot, in tolkienish tradition) and sent into the depths which even they fear to tread, to face goblins, evil trees, giant spiders, crocodiles, the net using trolls from the cover and other creatures I won't spoil, and eventually catch up with the boar, gaining clues along the way as to the boar's location & nature from the more intelligent monsters if you bother to talk with them before attacking or search their stuff afterwards. There turn out to be some quite interesting twists in the plot that I won't spoil for you, as if they players knew them in advance they'd act completely differently and ruin them. It's interesting and full of flavour, but it shows even he isn't immune to the temptation to make things a bit more linear and tell a particular story rather than letting the dice fall as they may. Not his best work ever, but still head and shoulders above any of the genuinely railroady polyhedron adventures in both worldbuilding and flexibility. It's still well within the usable range of quality as long as you know your players haven't read it. Side Treks - Their Master's Voice: As usual, the side trek is a single encounter built around an amusing gimmick. An obnoxious enchanter has raised a pair of leucrotta from babies, and uses their mimicry skills to complement his own mindfuckery & illusions. They provide the distraction and lure PC's away from camp, and he sneaks in and takes their stuff while it's unguarded, using sleep spells and similar tricks if they were smart enough to leave someone behind. They'll probably betray him eventually, but in the meantime it's a pretty effective trick. So this is particularly notable because the enemies aren't trying to kill the PC's, and could well succeed in their plans without ruining the campaign. Will you take the loss and head on with your main objective, or develop a serious grudge and scour the whole area for the culprits? If you do, the next conflict will be much more serious, as unsurprisingly, they've trapped their lair in case of pursuit. Let's hope the PC's aren't blinded by rage and able to play this as smartly as their opponents. A fairly interesting use of a less common class & monster that gives them sensible goals, this seems like a good one to use after a big adventure when the PC's are headed back to town and heavily loaded down with treasure, and maybe a little less cautious than they would be on the outward journey. Can't let them get complacent, can we?</blockquote>

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