PosterBoy
First Post
The Cave of Life is listed as a complete adventure setting for Darwin’s World by RPGObjects. In the Darwin’s World setting, the players portray people trying to survive in a post-holocaust land.
A First Look
The Cave of Life is a 19 page pdf available for free. This is their standard format for their Darwin’s World books.
*Warning – Spoilers*
The cover of the file has a black and white piece of art depicting the final boss of the adventure. The interior is mostly black and white. The artwork is mediocre to poor quality. The color maps appear to be a collection of textured shapes placed on a map and labeled in a simple graphics program.
A Deeper Look
The Cave of Life starts off with a list of credits, which includes not only the author, (who is also the artist), but four editors and a dozen playtesters as well. Then, there is a paragraph titled “Book Versioning” which states that RPGObjects “regularly updates their products to correct typos, errors, and game mechanic issues”.
Following that, there’s the Introduction, in which RPGObjects states that “The Cave of Life is a complete adventure setting for Darwin’s World.” I assure you, calling “The Cave of Life” a complete adventure setting is an exaggeration.
Under “Background”, RPGObjects states that “The Cave of Life is an introductory module, a good starting point for beginning a campaign in Darwin’s World.” However, I have to disagree - mainly due to the high CR ratings of many obstacles found within "The Cave of Life".
The adventure is about how the heroes, “members of a primitive desert tribe”, go on a quest as warriors by entering “The Cave of Life.” After running the adventure, however, my players and I have started referring to it as "The Cave of Death", due to its high mortality rate. The plot is that the heroes are sent here to get water and prove they got “the right stuff”.
I will now go over the playtest that I ran. The three heroes entered into “The Cave of Life”. After climbing down a ladder, they went down some stairs. Under this area, the text states that a Climb skill check must be made with a DC 10. It then states:
“Any character failing (the Climb skill check) slips, trips, or simply falls straight through a rusted section of stairs – falling from the platform with a horrified cry, never to be seen again (he is killed instantly from the fall).”
Two of my three players failed their Climb skill check. This “good starting point for beginning a campaign” just took out two thirds of my party in the first fifteen minutes. Be grateful you weren’t one of the players who failed the roll – players who were looking forward all week to beginning their new Darwin’s World campaign – players which spent hours creating their character sheets.
Now, luckily, there’s more.
(However, a merciful GM may instead wish to assign a flat 3d6 damage to the unfortunate PC.)
Deciding to take the 3d6 route was a very easy decision for me, because I knew that executing two of the three characters would have ended the campaign right there. There are many better ways to start an adventure for 1st level characters than giving them a CR 2 trap to overcome.
And so, I rolled 3d6 for the two characters, sending one player in the negative hit points area. Luckily, the other two players were able to get her out of the water and she was able to make a stabilization roll before going -10. So, now, the players are extremely low on hit points, and are already talking about their characters in the past tense.
This is where my players stopped. I think the time I was chewed out for running this adventure as written lasted longer than the adventure session.
I won’t even bother mentioning the CR 5 monster that this “introductory module” contains. I think I’ve made my point by now.
Conclusion
Someone once mused that it angered them that people published stuff that they wouldn't use themselves or never playtested. I am unconvinced that happens that often. However, “The Cave of Life” seems to be a possible example. This adventure is simply unplayable as written, and I cannot imagine that anyone would not care if they had ever spent hours creating on a PC, just to send them plummeting to their death in the first ten minutes of a campaign.
RPGObjects needs to start exercising a certain amount of quality control if they expect to be taken seriously in the d20 market. This book is so much worse than that of its peers that I am forced, for the first time, to award a score of one.
I should, to be fair, point out that this is not among RPGObjects’ more recent products. They do appear to have improved significantly in both content and editing. I reviewed this product only to warn fellow gaming groups interested in a Darwin’s World campaign to be cautious when running “The Cave of Life”. In short, take a look at their newer products, but avoid this one. It is not good. If you think you can save it, rewrite it on your own, because RPGObjects has only revised this product once in its two year span.
A First Look
The Cave of Life is a 19 page pdf available for free. This is their standard format for their Darwin’s World books.
*Warning – Spoilers*
The cover of the file has a black and white piece of art depicting the final boss of the adventure. The interior is mostly black and white. The artwork is mediocre to poor quality. The color maps appear to be a collection of textured shapes placed on a map and labeled in a simple graphics program.
A Deeper Look
The Cave of Life starts off with a list of credits, which includes not only the author, (who is also the artist), but four editors and a dozen playtesters as well. Then, there is a paragraph titled “Book Versioning” which states that RPGObjects “regularly updates their products to correct typos, errors, and game mechanic issues”.
Following that, there’s the Introduction, in which RPGObjects states that “The Cave of Life is a complete adventure setting for Darwin’s World.” I assure you, calling “The Cave of Life” a complete adventure setting is an exaggeration.
Under “Background”, RPGObjects states that “The Cave of Life is an introductory module, a good starting point for beginning a campaign in Darwin’s World.” However, I have to disagree - mainly due to the high CR ratings of many obstacles found within "The Cave of Life".
The adventure is about how the heroes, “members of a primitive desert tribe”, go on a quest as warriors by entering “The Cave of Life.” After running the adventure, however, my players and I have started referring to it as "The Cave of Death", due to its high mortality rate. The plot is that the heroes are sent here to get water and prove they got “the right stuff”.
I will now go over the playtest that I ran. The three heroes entered into “The Cave of Life”. After climbing down a ladder, they went down some stairs. Under this area, the text states that a Climb skill check must be made with a DC 10. It then states:
“Any character failing (the Climb skill check) slips, trips, or simply falls straight through a rusted section of stairs – falling from the platform with a horrified cry, never to be seen again (he is killed instantly from the fall).”
Two of my three players failed their Climb skill check. This “good starting point for beginning a campaign” just took out two thirds of my party in the first fifteen minutes. Be grateful you weren’t one of the players who failed the roll – players who were looking forward all week to beginning their new Darwin’s World campaign – players which spent hours creating their character sheets.
Now, luckily, there’s more.
(However, a merciful GM may instead wish to assign a flat 3d6 damage to the unfortunate PC.)
Deciding to take the 3d6 route was a very easy decision for me, because I knew that executing two of the three characters would have ended the campaign right there. There are many better ways to start an adventure for 1st level characters than giving them a CR 2 trap to overcome.
And so, I rolled 3d6 for the two characters, sending one player in the negative hit points area. Luckily, the other two players were able to get her out of the water and she was able to make a stabilization roll before going -10. So, now, the players are extremely low on hit points, and are already talking about their characters in the past tense.
This is where my players stopped. I think the time I was chewed out for running this adventure as written lasted longer than the adventure session.
I won’t even bother mentioning the CR 5 monster that this “introductory module” contains. I think I’ve made my point by now.
Conclusion
Someone once mused that it angered them that people published stuff that they wouldn't use themselves or never playtested. I am unconvinced that happens that often. However, “The Cave of Life” seems to be a possible example. This adventure is simply unplayable as written, and I cannot imagine that anyone would not care if they had ever spent hours creating on a PC, just to send them plummeting to their death in the first ten minutes of a campaign.
RPGObjects needs to start exercising a certain amount of quality control if they expect to be taken seriously in the d20 market. This book is so much worse than that of its peers that I am forced, for the first time, to award a score of one.
I should, to be fair, point out that this is not among RPGObjects’ more recent products. They do appear to have improved significantly in both content and editing. I reviewed this product only to warn fellow gaming groups interested in a Darwin’s World campaign to be cautious when running “The Cave of Life”. In short, take a look at their newer products, but avoid this one. It is not good. If you think you can save it, rewrite it on your own, because RPGObjects has only revised this product once in its two year span.
