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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Simon Collins" data-source="post: 2009178" data-attributes="member: 9860">Beware! This review contains major spoilers.This is not a playtest review.Treasure Quests is a book of linked adventures ranging from low to high level.At $26.99 for 160 pages, this is a fairly average priced book compared to others of similar size. The book uses ring-binding to effect a flat layout (no need to balance pages open with heavy objects). This is a good idea at first glance, being very effective in regard to its aim. However, my previous experience with ring-bound books has been that pages tear out very easily when in constant use - time will tell on this one. The cover art is good (although it features a green dragon breathing fire). There is no internal art, but each two-page spread has an accompanying mini-map. The maps are fairly average - each one has compass direction and scale, though the scales vary considerably, changing between feet, yards and miles - examples range from 20 feet squares to 100-yard squares, and 8-mile squares for one of the city maps.The writing style is facile, condescending and lacking imagination. Text 'boxes' include game rule information and automatic character actions - e.g. "You move a little faster wanting to get to town before the noon sun warms you too much". Editing mistakes are regular.Each two-page lay-flat spread has a short adventure with a few locations and a map. Most locations have an occupant with some form of treasure. Each adventure can be linked to another to create one big mega-adventure or used to slot in to an ongoing campaign for more experienced GMs. The adventures have a thread running through them - three heroes who saved the area 300 years ago from humanoid invasion have left their scattered belongings through the various locations in the mega-adventure. The adventure begins in a small village leading onwards in location and challenge until a final showdown with three liches in the finale.I won't waste my time describing each of the adventures - none of them contain anything you haven't seen before if you've been roleplaying a year or more. Take stock locations (orc lair, country village, city, necromancers tower, dragon lair, etc.). Add monsters from the Monster Manual or NPCs from the DMG as appropriate. Add treasure, lots of treasure. Voila. Instant adventure.There are no ELs for the encounters nor CRs for the monsters/NPCs. There is little mention of personality or background for any of the characters. Statistics are often incorrect. Information relevant to one adventure is to be found in another later on. Treasure is monty-haul like, monsters included that are WAY too high for the supposed low-level PCs (and vice-versa). The list is endless.Conclusion:James Ward tells in the introduction that he was GM'd by Gary Gygax back in 1974. The adventures in this volume have not moved on much from those days. First-time GMs with munckin players may enjoy this volume for its simplicity. Apart from that and the temporary advantage of the ring-binding, I can find nothing more to recommend this volume. Don't waste your money.</blockquote>

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