Simon Collins
Explorer
Beware! This review contains major spoilers.
This is the fifteenth booster adventure by AEG. It is designed for three to four characters of level 7-10. It costs $2.49.
Production and Presentation: This module is 16 pages but each page is only ½ the width of an A4 page. The front (soft)cover features poor colour artwork, the back cover features an introduction to the adventure. There are two mediocre internal pieces of black & white artwork and the central pages contain a basic un-scaled map of the palace and library. The final page and the inside back cover contains OGL bumpf. The inside front cover contains advertising.
The Story: An evil sorcerer kills the unicorn protector of an elven forest in an attempt to control a gelugon known as The Blood Moon. The forest has been corrupted and the elves are leaving the forest in droves. The city of Myr lies at the heart of the forest. The PCs are begged by the elves to investigate, and are told that information regarding the situation might be found in the library of Myr. Battling their way through devils and undead which plague the forest, they come to Myr. They investigate the library, which has been taken over by Servants Of The Blood Moon (a new monster). They find clues to help them understand what they are facing. They turn to the palace of Myr, the lair of the half-elven sorcerer who seeks to control The Blood Moon, who is imprisoned in a sacred grove at the heart of the palace. If the sorcerer faces defeat, he may release the devil by breaking his magical staff (topped by the unicorn horn). The devil ignores the PCs, kills the sorcerer, and disappears. Using a gift from a good cleric trapped in the palace temple and the unicorn’s horn, they can create a new unicorn who will heal the forest.
The High Points: Despite the numerous combats hinted at in the above overview, this module seems very combat light. The text leaves development of combat mainly to the discretion of the DM and concentrates on providing interesting NPCs (a mad blind adventurer waiting for his dead colleagues to come out of the forest) and settings (the forest drips with blood, the diabolically desecrated druids grove at the finale). There is a rumours section at the beginning, which can provide the players with a challenge to unravel the truth from the groundless fears and hopes of the elves. The new monster, Servants Of The Blood Moon, was excellent – the outsider resembles a nosferatu vampire, tattooed with evil runes. It wraps its tattered vestigial wings around itself to make itself invisible and hunts with stealth and intelligence. Its charm and fear abilities, along with a nasty ever-bleeding wound ability make a rounded and useful creature for any setting.
The Low Points: The worst part of this adventure is the ending, which uses a really horrible deus ex machina finale – both in terms of the gelugon devil ignoring the PCs if released, and the soppy recreation of the unicorn. The DM has to do a fair amount of work to prepare for this adventure, planning some of the combats and expanding on some of the locations. The real climax of the adventure (a penultimate meeting with the sorcerer and ten Servants) is too tough for the party level described – actually EL 17. In fact, the DM will need to carefully plan encounters with the wealth of devils and undead free in the forest and in Myr, and the party is advised to proceed with caution.
Conclusion: One of the better adventure boosters, spoiled only by it’s disappointing ending. Much of the plot, setting and NPCs can be easily transplanted into a home-grown campaign but needs a fair amount of work to be able to run it smoothly. The new monster is the best I have come across in all the AEG adventures. Scrapes a Good rating from me because of this and its adaptability.
This is the fifteenth booster adventure by AEG. It is designed for three to four characters of level 7-10. It costs $2.49.
Production and Presentation: This module is 16 pages but each page is only ½ the width of an A4 page. The front (soft)cover features poor colour artwork, the back cover features an introduction to the adventure. There are two mediocre internal pieces of black & white artwork and the central pages contain a basic un-scaled map of the palace and library. The final page and the inside back cover contains OGL bumpf. The inside front cover contains advertising.
The Story: An evil sorcerer kills the unicorn protector of an elven forest in an attempt to control a gelugon known as The Blood Moon. The forest has been corrupted and the elves are leaving the forest in droves. The city of Myr lies at the heart of the forest. The PCs are begged by the elves to investigate, and are told that information regarding the situation might be found in the library of Myr. Battling their way through devils and undead which plague the forest, they come to Myr. They investigate the library, which has been taken over by Servants Of The Blood Moon (a new monster). They find clues to help them understand what they are facing. They turn to the palace of Myr, the lair of the half-elven sorcerer who seeks to control The Blood Moon, who is imprisoned in a sacred grove at the heart of the palace. If the sorcerer faces defeat, he may release the devil by breaking his magical staff (topped by the unicorn horn). The devil ignores the PCs, kills the sorcerer, and disappears. Using a gift from a good cleric trapped in the palace temple and the unicorn’s horn, they can create a new unicorn who will heal the forest.
The High Points: Despite the numerous combats hinted at in the above overview, this module seems very combat light. The text leaves development of combat mainly to the discretion of the DM and concentrates on providing interesting NPCs (a mad blind adventurer waiting for his dead colleagues to come out of the forest) and settings (the forest drips with blood, the diabolically desecrated druids grove at the finale). There is a rumours section at the beginning, which can provide the players with a challenge to unravel the truth from the groundless fears and hopes of the elves. The new monster, Servants Of The Blood Moon, was excellent – the outsider resembles a nosferatu vampire, tattooed with evil runes. It wraps its tattered vestigial wings around itself to make itself invisible and hunts with stealth and intelligence. Its charm and fear abilities, along with a nasty ever-bleeding wound ability make a rounded and useful creature for any setting.
The Low Points: The worst part of this adventure is the ending, which uses a really horrible deus ex machina finale – both in terms of the gelugon devil ignoring the PCs if released, and the soppy recreation of the unicorn. The DM has to do a fair amount of work to prepare for this adventure, planning some of the combats and expanding on some of the locations. The real climax of the adventure (a penultimate meeting with the sorcerer and ten Servants) is too tough for the party level described – actually EL 17. In fact, the DM will need to carefully plan encounters with the wealth of devils and undead free in the forest and in Myr, and the party is advised to proceed with caution.
Conclusion: One of the better adventure boosters, spoiled only by it’s disappointing ending. Much of the plot, setting and NPCs can be easily transplanted into a home-grown campaign but needs a fair amount of work to be able to run it smoothly. The new monster is the best I have come across in all the AEG adventures. Scrapes a Good rating from me because of this and its adaptability.
