Vigwyn the Unruly
First Post
Does anyone have this yet? Is it any good?
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Scourge of the Howling Horde
- Thread starter Vigwyn the Unruly
- Start date
Scourge is written for novice DMs and players, and is pretty good at its task. It provides a couple of introductory encounters, a small village, and a small (12 room) dungeon, all in the new Dungeon Delve format.
There are nice opportunities for combat and roleplaying within.
The primary flaws in the product are
a) it's pretty short
b) the backgrounds are too dark, interfering with the legibility of the text
c) it's the first 32-page adventure with the new cost of $15, making it seem very expensive
Cheers!
There are nice opportunities for combat and roleplaying within.
The primary flaws in the product are
a) it's pretty short
b) the backgrounds are too dark, interfering with the legibility of the text
c) it's the first 32-page adventure with the new cost of $15, making it seem very expensive
Cheers!
Vocenoctum
First Post
I'd say the main thing it lacked for a Novice DM, is an actual intro scene for the PC's. It just puts you on the road, which I guess is fine, but a simple "you all meet at an inn and receive word of adventure!" would also have been handy.
I was thinking of running it as a one shot, but just using some of the NPC's as the PC's (pregens) the Dwarf Moneylender, Elf Wizard, <unknown> Cleric, etc. That's the other thing they skimped on, giving some details for a starting DM such as race or some quick notes for other important NPCs.
I was thinking of running it as a one shot, but just using some of the NPC's as the PC's (pregens) the Dwarf Moneylender, Elf Wizard, <unknown> Cleric, etc. That's the other thing they skimped on, giving some details for a starting DM such as race or some quick notes for other important NPCs.
Olaf the Stout
Hero
I saw it in the flesh for the first time at my FLGS today.
The book does seem very dark as Merric says. $14.95 is also pretty pricey, especially since the Twilight Tomb and Sons of Gruumsh were also 32 pages but were only $9.95. A 50% increase is a big jump.
It was also the first look I got of the new delve format. It looks ok so far. I also saw Expedition to Castle Ravenloft for the first time today. It also has the new delve format. While I like the mini combat maps that they give of each section it would be nice to be able to get them scaled to mini size. Does anyone know if the maps are available for download from Wizards so that you can print them out and use with minis?
Olaf the Stout
The book does seem very dark as Merric says. $14.95 is also pretty pricey, especially since the Twilight Tomb and Sons of Gruumsh were also 32 pages but were only $9.95. A 50% increase is a big jump.
It was also the first look I got of the new delve format. It looks ok so far. I also saw Expedition to Castle Ravenloft for the first time today. It also has the new delve format. While I like the mini combat maps that they give of each section it would be nice to be able to get them scaled to mini size. Does anyone know if the maps are available for download from Wizards so that you can print them out and use with minis?
Olaf the Stout
Vocenoctum
First Post
Olaf the Stout said:
They have them for download, but not Mini Scale:
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ag/20061031a
Olaf the Stout
Hero
Vocenoctum said:
Thanks for that. Do they have them for the Scouge of the Scowling Horde too?
Olaf the Stout
Edit: Woo Hoo! 1,000 posts! I'm second level now.
Glyfair
Explorer
Olaf the Stout said:
It definitely is pretty clear and nice for giving DMs the lay of the land and options. I like the HP boxes, something I've used in my own game for ages. I wonder how the whole format will work for high level adventures, though.
The worst thing, by far, is the dark grey background and essentially black & white text. Very, very hard to read.
Olgar Shiverstone
Legend
I just got this. And while I love adventures, I found this one disappointing. It's intended for novice DMs, which I accept as sacrificing some features, but it is still really light on adventure for the length. It's partly the "tutorial information" taking up space, but mostly the delve format, which doesn't make the maximum use of space (plus there is a fair amount of white space on many of the pages).
On the plus side, it has some good roleplaying encounters in the little hamlet (basically, there are two encounters on the road, the hamlet, and then a 12-room cave dungeon which lacks much innovative in its layout) -- but it lacks a map of the hamlet or the surrounding area, which I thikn is useful for an introductory adventure. The plot is a fairly typical "goblins threaten local village".
As 1st level adventures go, both Keep on the Borderlands and Sunless Citadel provided significantly more adventure possibilities, more depth, and a reasonable amount of tutorial in a 32-page length. The Basic Game boxed sets provide a fair amount of introductory tutorial; IMO a stand-alone module at this price, even in 32 pages, should offer a bit more in the way of adventure possibilities. The product also misses the chance -- and has the blank space for it -- to do more teaching: for example, it could have monsters that use grapple, or a more interesting environment where more skill checks would come into play, to teach the new DM more. I'm surprised too at the lack of an "adventrue hook" section to help get the game started -- I'd think this would be more useful for the novice DM. It really feels as if the quality slipped with this product. It's like paying for a full price module, getting a lot of layout fluff, and getting one set of caves of the Caves of Chaos, or half of one level of the Sunless Citadel, even allowing for the novice DM hints. The hit point and spell boxes are a nice touch, though (though I don't usually write in my modules).
Oh, yeah, and I find the delve pages almost impossible to read given the dark backgrounds.
Overall: D+. Let's hope the sequel is better.
On the plus side, it has some good roleplaying encounters in the little hamlet (basically, there are two encounters on the road, the hamlet, and then a 12-room cave dungeon which lacks much innovative in its layout) -- but it lacks a map of the hamlet or the surrounding area, which I thikn is useful for an introductory adventure. The plot is a fairly typical "goblins threaten local village".
As 1st level adventures go, both Keep on the Borderlands and Sunless Citadel provided significantly more adventure possibilities, more depth, and a reasonable amount of tutorial in a 32-page length. The Basic Game boxed sets provide a fair amount of introductory tutorial; IMO a stand-alone module at this price, even in 32 pages, should offer a bit more in the way of adventure possibilities. The product also misses the chance -- and has the blank space for it -- to do more teaching: for example, it could have monsters that use grapple, or a more interesting environment where more skill checks would come into play, to teach the new DM more. I'm surprised too at the lack of an "adventrue hook" section to help get the game started -- I'd think this would be more useful for the novice DM. It really feels as if the quality slipped with this product. It's like paying for a full price module, getting a lot of layout fluff, and getting one set of caves of the Caves of Chaos, or half of one level of the Sunless Citadel, even allowing for the novice DM hints. The hit point and spell boxes are a nice touch, though (though I don't usually write in my modules).
Oh, yeah, and I find the delve pages almost impossible to read given the dark backgrounds.
Overall: D+. Let's hope the sequel is better.
Glyfair
Explorer
Olgar Shiverstone said:
I looked at this last evening and I think I realized what happened here. It seemed it was produced with one of the colored backgroundsthat WotC is so fond of. This might not have been too bad, but some management type seems to have decided they could save some money by having it produced with B&W printing instead of color printing. Instead of checking to see if it was appropriate, the change was just OKed and we ended up with nearly unreadable areas of the adventure.
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