Simon Collins
Explorer
Beware! This review contains major spoilers!
The Toad God's Treasure is a downloadable .pdf adventure designed for four 4th-level characters. It costs $5 and is downloadable from www.anubium.com
Presentation: The adventure is a 36 pages long Adobe Acrobat file. The front page is a plain title page with credits. The final page is an advertisement and the penutimate page shows the OGL. The internal black and white artwork ranges from average to good, and is relevant to the text. There is a full page map at the end of the adventure, which gives a clear, if rather dark, topdown view of the dungeon complex. The text density is average for a .pdf file and there is a narrow coloured margin at the side of each page.
The Story: The first page includes a short contents section, followed by a piece of flavour text that acts as an introduction to the adventure - a cult dedicated to a toad god once flourished and had many secret temples. The adventure then goes on to detail players background (recent earthquakes, the arrival of a mad prophet to the town the PCs are in) and GMs background (centering on the inhabitants of one of the forgotten underground temples to the toad god: a giant is trapped in one of the caves after an earthquake surviving on carrion crawlers, a renegade band of goblins hide from their former tribe there, and Cirdis - a devotee of the forgotten toad god - seeks to awaken the ancient priests who lie 'sleeping' in the temple). In the GMs Background there is also a section giving advice on preparing the adventure. Several alternative adventure hooks are then proposed, which make good sense within the context of the adventure, and one that introduces an interesting dwarven NPC as a possible dubious employer. Options are also given for the PCs to discover clues to the whereabouts of the forgotten temple through the Gather Information or Knowledge skills (rumours and research). The text goes on to give some options for sights and smells to enliven uninteresting areas and an outline of basic features of the dungeon (walls, doors, etc.). A sidebar encourages the GM to use the variant rule on falling damage - the first d6 of damage is subdual damage. The next section deals with the Temple of the Toad God, including a random encounter table (as does each of the location sections). The adventure is from this point on a dungeon crawl - the PCs must deal with traps and monsters, and may gain treasure from doing so. In fact, each encounter area is described using the terms 'trap', 'creature', and 'treasure' (if appropriate) with the explanations of each of these factors at the end of the text for each area. So you get "Disturbing the statue or the ash pit without mentioning the Toad God with respect causes the Creature to attack. The ash pit is a Trap that conceals the Treasure." The Creature, Trap, and Treasure are then described at the end of the description. Each area also has a Development section, which gives further information that migh have an effect on the actions of the PCs. At the beginning of each area the room size in feet is given. A sidebar in this first section gives alternative rules for cave-ins and collapses - a distinct possibility given the recent earthquakes. The next section, Ruins of the Temple, details an area of the temple which has been damaged by the recent earthquakes, and holds a lost local warrior who has fallen in love with Cirdis after he slipped her a magical potion. The next section details the Lair of the Goblins, which provides some opportunity for roleplaying - both with the goblins and the restless ghost of a paladin. The next section, Cavern of the Hill Giant, as well as giving the opportunity for some challenging combats, also features a new creature, the Malfeasant, an incorporeal undead whose primary focus is to incite violent emotion in those around it and feed off the souls of those killed in the results. Its powers are the reason for this temples historical demise. This section also offers a way out and a Good-aligned but possibly competitive NPC party, which can be used for PCs who are finding the going tough. The final section, Crypts Of The Priests, which allows for some gratuitous undead-bashing, with a climactic battle with a wraith whose coffin holds the ultimate treasure of the adventure, the Idol of the Toad God. There is also a sidebar with a variant rule for underwater combat. The main NPC, Cirdis, can be placed in any one of the location sections within the dungeon complex by the GM, and each section has some guidelines for doing so. Depending where Cirdis is located, he is at varying levels with differing numbers of henchmen. The following section deals with concluding the adventure and has a description of the Idol of the Toad God. Following that is a new skill description - Knowledge (Spelunking) - three new feats (Alert Climbing, Mountaineering, and Spelunking) - four new spells (friends, push, successive shot, and write) and a new creature (the malfeasant). The next section has all the statistics for the various monsters and NPCs, including Cirdis at various levels. This is finished off with an Encounter Level table (ELs range from 1 to 8). Finally, there is the map of the complex.
The Good: If you've read any of my previous reviews, you've probably gathered I'm not a great fan of dungeon crawls - ususally because they make no sense and are repetitive. This adventure breaks the mould though. There is a good mixture of combat, traps and exploration with some interesting opportunities for roleplaying with NPCs who have innovative roleplaying hooks. In addition, this adventure has the feel of having been well thought out, and the presence of the creatures, traps and treasure on the whole has excellent internal consistency. In addition, there is plenty of advice throughout the adventure for the GM on how to handle various issues in the adventure and to add variation to encounters and locations.
The Bad: The adventure seemed very crowded to me - there are a lot of creatures in this 'forgotten' temple. On the surface this does not seem like a particularly bad thing, but when I started looking more deeply at certain encounter areas, there was a potential for the PCs to be attacked in fairly quick succession (or all at once) by a number of fairly powerful creatures - the perfect example is the Cavern of the Hill Giant, where the PCs could encounter the angry Hill Giant (EL 7), the Malfeasant (EL 8), up to two carrion crawlers (each with an average of about 20 hp), four ankhegs (average of about 25 hp each), possibly a 4th-level Cirdis, and possibly an unfortunate combat with the NPC party if the PCs attack without thinking.
Now any GM worth his salt is going to be sensible here, and the text does give guidelines for reducing a quick succession of encounters, but I was concerned about the general level of Encounter Area ELs (as opposed to Creature CRs) in the adventure. The GM would be well advised to err on the side of caution in some locations. The skills, feats and spells were mostly 2nd Edition D&D re-vamped.
Conclusion: This is a well-written and well thought-out dungeon crawl that reminded me of some of the better 1st Edition D&D adventures (in fact, better than these because of the excellent internal consistency). The dodgy Encounter Area ELs and the new feats/skills/spells are about the only weaknesses in the adventure. There is plenty of advice for inexperienced GMs and a good new monster. The adventure itself is designed to be relatively generic and can be easily dropped into most standard fantasy campaigns (as long as you can put up with the idea of a Toad God!). I would have liked to have seen more information for scaling the adventure for PCs of different levels; since the author seems to have followed the guidelines for Dungeon Magazine adventures, it would have seemed in keeping with the quality of the adventure to have included a sidebar to this effect, and would have enhanced its useability.
The Toad God's Treasure is a downloadable .pdf adventure designed for four 4th-level characters. It costs $5 and is downloadable from www.anubium.com
Presentation: The adventure is a 36 pages long Adobe Acrobat file. The front page is a plain title page with credits. The final page is an advertisement and the penutimate page shows the OGL. The internal black and white artwork ranges from average to good, and is relevant to the text. There is a full page map at the end of the adventure, which gives a clear, if rather dark, topdown view of the dungeon complex. The text density is average for a .pdf file and there is a narrow coloured margin at the side of each page.
The Story: The first page includes a short contents section, followed by a piece of flavour text that acts as an introduction to the adventure - a cult dedicated to a toad god once flourished and had many secret temples. The adventure then goes on to detail players background (recent earthquakes, the arrival of a mad prophet to the town the PCs are in) and GMs background (centering on the inhabitants of one of the forgotten underground temples to the toad god: a giant is trapped in one of the caves after an earthquake surviving on carrion crawlers, a renegade band of goblins hide from their former tribe there, and Cirdis - a devotee of the forgotten toad god - seeks to awaken the ancient priests who lie 'sleeping' in the temple). In the GMs Background there is also a section giving advice on preparing the adventure. Several alternative adventure hooks are then proposed, which make good sense within the context of the adventure, and one that introduces an interesting dwarven NPC as a possible dubious employer. Options are also given for the PCs to discover clues to the whereabouts of the forgotten temple through the Gather Information or Knowledge skills (rumours and research). The text goes on to give some options for sights and smells to enliven uninteresting areas and an outline of basic features of the dungeon (walls, doors, etc.). A sidebar encourages the GM to use the variant rule on falling damage - the first d6 of damage is subdual damage. The next section deals with the Temple of the Toad God, including a random encounter table (as does each of the location sections). The adventure is from this point on a dungeon crawl - the PCs must deal with traps and monsters, and may gain treasure from doing so. In fact, each encounter area is described using the terms 'trap', 'creature', and 'treasure' (if appropriate) with the explanations of each of these factors at the end of the text for each area. So you get "Disturbing the statue or the ash pit without mentioning the Toad God with respect causes the Creature to attack. The ash pit is a Trap that conceals the Treasure." The Creature, Trap, and Treasure are then described at the end of the description. Each area also has a Development section, which gives further information that migh have an effect on the actions of the PCs. At the beginning of each area the room size in feet is given. A sidebar in this first section gives alternative rules for cave-ins and collapses - a distinct possibility given the recent earthquakes. The next section, Ruins of the Temple, details an area of the temple which has been damaged by the recent earthquakes, and holds a lost local warrior who has fallen in love with Cirdis after he slipped her a magical potion. The next section details the Lair of the Goblins, which provides some opportunity for roleplaying - both with the goblins and the restless ghost of a paladin. The next section, Cavern of the Hill Giant, as well as giving the opportunity for some challenging combats, also features a new creature, the Malfeasant, an incorporeal undead whose primary focus is to incite violent emotion in those around it and feed off the souls of those killed in the results. Its powers are the reason for this temples historical demise. This section also offers a way out and a Good-aligned but possibly competitive NPC party, which can be used for PCs who are finding the going tough. The final section, Crypts Of The Priests, which allows for some gratuitous undead-bashing, with a climactic battle with a wraith whose coffin holds the ultimate treasure of the adventure, the Idol of the Toad God. There is also a sidebar with a variant rule for underwater combat. The main NPC, Cirdis, can be placed in any one of the location sections within the dungeon complex by the GM, and each section has some guidelines for doing so. Depending where Cirdis is located, he is at varying levels with differing numbers of henchmen. The following section deals with concluding the adventure and has a description of the Idol of the Toad God. Following that is a new skill description - Knowledge (Spelunking) - three new feats (Alert Climbing, Mountaineering, and Spelunking) - four new spells (friends, push, successive shot, and write) and a new creature (the malfeasant). The next section has all the statistics for the various monsters and NPCs, including Cirdis at various levels. This is finished off with an Encounter Level table (ELs range from 1 to 8). Finally, there is the map of the complex.
The Good: If you've read any of my previous reviews, you've probably gathered I'm not a great fan of dungeon crawls - ususally because they make no sense and are repetitive. This adventure breaks the mould though. There is a good mixture of combat, traps and exploration with some interesting opportunities for roleplaying with NPCs who have innovative roleplaying hooks. In addition, this adventure has the feel of having been well thought out, and the presence of the creatures, traps and treasure on the whole has excellent internal consistency. In addition, there is plenty of advice throughout the adventure for the GM on how to handle various issues in the adventure and to add variation to encounters and locations.
The Bad: The adventure seemed very crowded to me - there are a lot of creatures in this 'forgotten' temple. On the surface this does not seem like a particularly bad thing, but when I started looking more deeply at certain encounter areas, there was a potential for the PCs to be attacked in fairly quick succession (or all at once) by a number of fairly powerful creatures - the perfect example is the Cavern of the Hill Giant, where the PCs could encounter the angry Hill Giant (EL 7), the Malfeasant (EL 8), up to two carrion crawlers (each with an average of about 20 hp), four ankhegs (average of about 25 hp each), possibly a 4th-level Cirdis, and possibly an unfortunate combat with the NPC party if the PCs attack without thinking.
Now any GM worth his salt is going to be sensible here, and the text does give guidelines for reducing a quick succession of encounters, but I was concerned about the general level of Encounter Area ELs (as opposed to Creature CRs) in the adventure. The GM would be well advised to err on the side of caution in some locations. The skills, feats and spells were mostly 2nd Edition D&D re-vamped.
Conclusion: This is a well-written and well thought-out dungeon crawl that reminded me of some of the better 1st Edition D&D adventures (in fact, better than these because of the excellent internal consistency). The dodgy Encounter Area ELs and the new feats/skills/spells are about the only weaknesses in the adventure. There is plenty of advice for inexperienced GMs and a good new monster. The adventure itself is designed to be relatively generic and can be easily dropped into most standard fantasy campaigns (as long as you can put up with the idea of a Toad God!). I would have liked to have seen more information for scaling the adventure for PCs of different levels; since the author seems to have followed the guidelines for Dungeon Magazine adventures, it would have seemed in keeping with the quality of the adventure to have included a sidebar to this effect, and would have enhanced its useability.
