Olgar Shiverstone
Legend
Since WOTC has been publishing adventures lately, I'd decided to pick some up and see what they were doing -- so I got the two Eberron adventures.
Shadows of the Last War was a bit linear, but it at least gives the PCs multiple options for overland travel, plus has a bit of dungeon in which the players can make choices about where to go. As an introductory "travelogue" adventure, you can forgive it a little bit of linearity. Merely average, over all -- 3 out of 5 stars at best.
Whispers of the Vampire's Blade, though, is such a railroad it puts the original Dragonlance series to shame. It tries for a cinematic, story-based experience and probably achieves it, at the expense of PC free will. It's an event-based adventure, but the only thing the DM can vary is the timing of the events. Unlike Speaker in Dreams, which used a flowchart to allow the DM to arrange events in a variety of orders depending on what lines of investigation the players pursue, the events in Whispers happen one after the other.
The events of many are even preordained --
In one encounter,
. Encounter events are predetermined:
Well, what if the PC's do something about it? The most original event of the adventure
Even the dungeon at the end of the adventure is a railroad --
Sheesh! Give the PCs some choices why don't you! Cinematic is one thing; predetermined is entirely another. Blech. One star out of five. Don't count on me purchasing further products authored by David Noonan.
I hope this isn't the shape of things to come -- between the two adventures, it feels like a slide into the predetermined story-based adventures of Dragonlance or 2E. Or is that what DMs/players are looking for these days?
Shadows of the Last War was a bit linear, but it at least gives the PCs multiple options for overland travel, plus has a bit of dungeon in which the players can make choices about where to go. As an introductory "travelogue" adventure, you can forgive it a little bit of linearity. Merely average, over all -- 3 out of 5 stars at best.
Whispers of the Vampire's Blade, though, is such a railroad it puts the original Dragonlance series to shame. It tries for a cinematic, story-based experience and probably achieves it, at the expense of PC free will. It's an event-based adventure, but the only thing the DM can vary is the timing of the events. Unlike Speaker in Dreams, which used a flowchart to allow the DM to arrange events in a variety of orders depending on what lines of investigation the players pursue, the events in Whispers happen one after the other.
The events of many are even preordained --
the target of the chase is encountered multiple times, but must escape at the end of each scene.
the PCs are supposed to get on an airship -- but if they don't, another airship arrives, practivally shanghais them, and takes them to the first airship!
"On round five, the warforged kills the driver", or "After two rounds, the airships ram and both fall out of the sky."
is the masked ball, but the PCs won't do much to influence the adventure until the ball is ended by a mandatory fight from which the BBEG absolutely must escape!
it's one room after another with only one entrance and one exit, and the BBEG is in the last room!
Sheesh! Give the PCs some choices why don't you! Cinematic is one thing; predetermined is entirely another. Blech. One star out of five. Don't count on me purchasing further products authored by David Noonan.
I hope this isn't the shape of things to come -- between the two adventures, it feels like a slide into the predetermined story-based adventures of Dragonlance or 2E. Or is that what DMs/players are looking for these days?
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