Simon Collins
Explorer
This is not a playtest review.
Beware! This review contains spoilers.
Teeth Of The Moon Sow is the second adventure in Mongoose's 'Horned God And Moon Sow' quadrology for the Slaine campaign setting. It is suitable for characters of levels 4-5.
Teeth Of The Moon Sow is a 96-page mono softcover product costing $19.95. Layout is pleasing on the eye, though subtitle fonts are fairly large and there are a few chunks of white space here and there. Both inside covers are used (OGL and an ad). Art is a mix of excerpts from the comic series and new art, both of which are generally good. The cover art is not quite as striking as previous covers in the Slaine series but has a gloomy attraction about it showing Slaine in a ruined city backdrop fighting a horde of soldiers with winged helms. The maps are attractive, half-art depictions of various adventure locations, though without scale or compass direction. The writing style is evocative and clear; editing is also good.
A brief introduction reminds GMs of the adventure background and gives some advice on awarding XP and Enech. A section wraps up the loose ends from The Invulnerable King and gives advice on running the adventure standalone.
The adventure begins with the PCs returning to Gorias to find that things have gone from bad to worse due to the influence of the stones on the irascible King Osdann. Indeed, it is likely that the PCs will be imprisoned by Osdann and the adventure involves escaping from Gorias and searching for the key to the seemingly invulnerable Osdann's death. The PCs re-encounter the Weather Witch, and must speak with the dead to discover an important clue, before travelling deep into the Sourlands. Here they encounter an outcast Drune priest and the local undead. After securing their prize, they must return to Gorias. There are plenty of ideas interspersed here to create various side events and advice on developing nemeses for the PCs from the major NPCs encountered so far.
The PCs must then raid a Drune encampment to rescue the fifth stone and have a chance to interact with the horned god Carnun. On their return they discover they must seek the legendary Cauldron of Plenty in order to restore the sister of the Weather Witch to life before they can proceed. This side trek involves visiting the powerful fortress of Dinas Emrys and undergoing some unusual trials to test courage and wisdom.
The PCs once more return to Gorias, where they find Osdann in the process of being overthrown, with Gorias under attack. The battle is complicated by the arrival of drunes and units of animals led by the Horned God, Carnun. In the looting after the battle, the PCs should come across an ogham book, which will lead them further into the ongoing adventure. The book ends on a bit of a cliff-hanger that leaves the characters in a dilemma, with the resolution of Osdann and the five stones one problem, the ogham book another, and the possibility of searching for the sixth stone still in the running too.
An appendix contains stat blocks for NPCs such as warband unit rosters for Shadows, Drunes, and Fir Domain, as well as a general Drune priest and a Drune prisoner.
Conclusion:
I was able to somewhat ignore the forced plot hook that was prominent at the beginning of this quadrology but Teeth Of The Moon Sow is more up-front with its railroading. Several times, the PCs are faced with situations they have no control over, are saved by a deus ex machina, or their actions are stated by the book outright. With its mythic feel, epic quest storyline, and brooding atmosphere, it seems a great shame that the author wasn't able to retreat from some of this railroading. In other places, he has managed to avoid these pitfalls extremely well, giving useful advice on how to take the plot in different directions dependent on PC actions. If only he had used the same skills all the way through...
It will take some work by the GM to change what is a great novel into a good role-playing adventure but the quality of the writing, ideas, and overall concept should make the work worthwhile.
Beware! This review contains spoilers.
Teeth Of The Moon Sow is the second adventure in Mongoose's 'Horned God And Moon Sow' quadrology for the Slaine campaign setting. It is suitable for characters of levels 4-5.
Teeth Of The Moon Sow is a 96-page mono softcover product costing $19.95. Layout is pleasing on the eye, though subtitle fonts are fairly large and there are a few chunks of white space here and there. Both inside covers are used (OGL and an ad). Art is a mix of excerpts from the comic series and new art, both of which are generally good. The cover art is not quite as striking as previous covers in the Slaine series but has a gloomy attraction about it showing Slaine in a ruined city backdrop fighting a horde of soldiers with winged helms. The maps are attractive, half-art depictions of various adventure locations, though without scale or compass direction. The writing style is evocative and clear; editing is also good.
A brief introduction reminds GMs of the adventure background and gives some advice on awarding XP and Enech. A section wraps up the loose ends from The Invulnerable King and gives advice on running the adventure standalone.
The adventure begins with the PCs returning to Gorias to find that things have gone from bad to worse due to the influence of the stones on the irascible King Osdann. Indeed, it is likely that the PCs will be imprisoned by Osdann and the adventure involves escaping from Gorias and searching for the key to the seemingly invulnerable Osdann's death. The PCs re-encounter the Weather Witch, and must speak with the dead to discover an important clue, before travelling deep into the Sourlands. Here they encounter an outcast Drune priest and the local undead. After securing their prize, they must return to Gorias. There are plenty of ideas interspersed here to create various side events and advice on developing nemeses for the PCs from the major NPCs encountered so far.
The PCs must then raid a Drune encampment to rescue the fifth stone and have a chance to interact with the horned god Carnun. On their return they discover they must seek the legendary Cauldron of Plenty in order to restore the sister of the Weather Witch to life before they can proceed. This side trek involves visiting the powerful fortress of Dinas Emrys and undergoing some unusual trials to test courage and wisdom.
The PCs once more return to Gorias, where they find Osdann in the process of being overthrown, with Gorias under attack. The battle is complicated by the arrival of drunes and units of animals led by the Horned God, Carnun. In the looting after the battle, the PCs should come across an ogham book, which will lead them further into the ongoing adventure. The book ends on a bit of a cliff-hanger that leaves the characters in a dilemma, with the resolution of Osdann and the five stones one problem, the ogham book another, and the possibility of searching for the sixth stone still in the running too.
An appendix contains stat blocks for NPCs such as warband unit rosters for Shadows, Drunes, and Fir Domain, as well as a general Drune priest and a Drune prisoner.
Conclusion:
I was able to somewhat ignore the forced plot hook that was prominent at the beginning of this quadrology but Teeth Of The Moon Sow is more up-front with its railroading. Several times, the PCs are faced with situations they have no control over, are saved by a deus ex machina, or their actions are stated by the book outright. With its mythic feel, epic quest storyline, and brooding atmosphere, it seems a great shame that the author wasn't able to retreat from some of this railroading. In other places, he has managed to avoid these pitfalls extremely well, giving useful advice on how to take the plot in different directions dependent on PC actions. If only he had used the same skills all the way through...
It will take some work by the GM to change what is a great novel into a good role-playing adventure but the quality of the writing, ideas, and overall concept should make the work worthwhile.
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