World of Whitethorn 1B: The Village of Oester

[Messageboard Golem]

"World of Whitethorn 1B: The Village of Oester" is an intermediate adventure setting designed for a party of four to six good or evil player characters (PCs) of 3rd-5th level.

Refugees from the village of Oester have been flooding the city of Calas, fleeing from an unspeakable terror that has ravaged the northern settlement. Their faces still show the horror they have endured and their tongues are silenced by shock and fear. Could it be a plague? Could it be a terrible monster? It is up to the adventurers to discover the cause of this panic.

Little do the adventurers know a shadowy evil has risen from the dead to possess the abandoned tower on the hill overlooking Oester. Most have forgotten about this sinister force, except the king. He knows that his family’s past has come to haunt him and threaten his line’s succession. Will the adventurers help hide his family’s past and preserve the monarchy or reveal the truth and weaken it?

 

[GameWyrd]

This review is based on the pre-print copy of The Village of Oester. I’m only pointing that out in case a disgruntled employee at the printers decides to tip a bucket of yellow paint into the press at the last minute. I’ve seen pre-print copies from Open World Press before and they always turn out just as good as you’d hope for. Actually no, that’s misleading. I’ve seen a pre-print draft from Open World Press before. There’s only been one, The Hamlet of Thumble, and I rather liked that.

World of Whitethorn 1B: The Village of Oester follows on from World of Whitethorn 1A: The Hamlet of Thumble in the way their prefixes would lead you to expect. You don’t need The Hamlet of Thumble to use The Village of Oester and that’s worth noting. Without the first book you’ll be left to work out the minutia of the Reputation mechanics yourself but that’s easy enough. In some ways it might help not to have played through Thumble first, that adventure worked equally well for good or evil player characters but I think Oester’s plot works best with good aligned characters. Oester’s appendices include both good and evil pre-genned characters.

If you’re worried about spoilers then this is point where you should bid this review adieu.

There’s the ever so slight danger of an "You’re in the tavern when..." beginning for Oester. The PCs are in the city when a stream of distraught refugees fleeing their village, Oester, begin to get people talking. The most linear way to get the game going is to have one family of these refugees beg the PCs to go to Oester and help themselves to the contents of their abandoned house in exchange for some money. I guess it is permission based looting. I think it would be best to avoid having this encounter in a tavern. It would be better still if the players talk themselves into investigating the rumours about the village. The only advantage of steering the PCs to the city in order to meet the refugees there is that it’ll be easy to show how little the Crown cares about troubles in Oester. There are few reasons why the Crown, the Royal authorities, cares little for trouble in Oester and they’re all wonderfully tied into the plot. There are rumours of a brewing war and that’s one reason why troops can’t be spared to investigate the village.

I got Baldur’s Gate vibes from the World of Whitethorn 1A and I get them again from the World of Whitethorn 1B too. This is a complement. I loved that old D&D computer game. This time round the similarities between the CRPG and this pre-written adventure are clearer. There’s trouble afoot, there’s the build up to a possible war and it falls to the PC group to investigate trouble closer at home. Just like in Baldur’s Gate, if the PCs rush straight to the mine (or in this case the village) and attempt to "solve" the problem by hacking and slashing then they’re doomed to fail. Just as in Baldur’s Gate the game is far more entertaining if the PCs get involved in all the side quests and inter-connected encounters that surround the core plot.

The Village of Oester is a world-building scenario. The idea is, I think, that Open World Press put together the campaign world of Whitethorn through the locations and new rules found in this series of adventures. I think it’s going to work very well. Open World Press have shown game-wise foresight. The encounter tables, for example, aren’t stacked with melee opponents carefully pitched at the PC’s current character level. The encounter tables make sense for the area the game is set in. You won’t find wandering dragons here. There’s a small chance that the players will encounter a monster, but even then it’s likely to be something like a sleeping or rabid dire badger. Encounters with bandits or barbarians from the hills are more likely, especially at night. Some of the highlights of the book are the special encounters. Special encounters are those scenes that are foreshadowed elsewhere in the adventure, often by rumours, and can be missed out entirely, or might spawn entire campaigns in their own right.

There’s a possible encounter with Birna the outcast barbarian woman. The players might help her fight off some bandits. It’s up to them. The GM has the option of being evil and having one of the masked bandits actually being the King’s son. If the group helps Birna then she may turn up later to return the favour. Another encounter, this time with a Paladin, might also earn the group a handy ally when the going gets tough. Veptuna the Seductress is a great encounter. It’s especially twisted given that the demoness is in the process of drowning a little girl the players might be trying to rescue even as the scene starts. If the players hang around and chat to the seductress then the poor girl drowns. Veptuna is also a great way to give a player who’s annoyingly too easily distracted by a bit of eye candy his comeuppance.

It’s more than likely that quite a few of the special encounters, or rare random encounter, are too much for the characters to deal with. They’ll have to talk their way out of some. Characters may very well need to flee from some fights. Of course, there are some plot crucial scenes that do need to be carefully gauged to the PC’s abilities and The Village of Oester does this very well. Important scenes have a choice of Effective Levels for the GM to pick from. One encounter with a group of thugs allows the GM to pick and mix from a list of NPC thugs to find the right EL for the scene. Another encounter allows the GM to swap zombies for ghouls or ghouls for ghasts as needs be. There are separate stats for each possibility. The level of detail is impressive.

To get the best from The Village of Oester you need nicely pro-active players. The group needs to be one that’ll go off and investigate things – even if it’s just the promise of experience points, reputation, or gold. Your players might talk about encounters from this adventure for months. However, even if the players avoid the best bits of the book the GM will be able to use all the new spells, templates, feats and items from the appendices and save them for later. There’s nothing wrong with the core plot either; go to Oester, discover it’s awash with undead horrors and sort out the mess. Sorting out the mess will be trickier than most players are used to. I doubt they’ll be able to vanquish the curse by force of arms and will probably find themselves trying to get a member of the royal family to offer an apology. Ouch. Tricky.

I’m not a fan of pre-written adventures. I find them horribly linear and that they break too easily if the players show any lateral thinking. Oester does a good job at winning me over. It’s not particularly linear and will thrive on lateral thinking players. The game still makes some of the pre-written adventure errors that annoy me though. Some of the ready to read dialog tells the players what their characters are thinking and that shouldn’t happen. I’d never read "To your horror" or "You are astonished to see" – I’ll let the players be astonished, or roleplay astonished characters, if they want. At one point we’re told that if the pre-genned Dwarf PCs is being used that he’ll go over and introduce himself to some NPC Dwarves. Let’s leave that to the player to decide. In most cases, though, The Village of Oester shines with successes and avoids all the common pit traps for pre-written adventures. If you’re looking for a quality adventure then The Village of Oester and the World of Whitethorn series should be first on your list.

* This The Village of Oester review was first published at GameWyrd.

 

[trancejeremy]

Note: This was largely written from an advance copy and the use of my precognitive powers, but now I have have a physical copy.

The Village of Oester is the follow up to the excellent and well received d20 module (or "adventure setting") "The Hamlet of Thumble" from Open World Press. While it's not directly related, it is set in the same world as Thumble, and if you have Thumble, you can see the adventure locations on the region map in it. Actually, in many ways, it's the opposite of Thumble in most respects.

While Thumble was almost really a sourcebook for the hamlet itself, Oester is almost entirely an adventure. While part of a town is detailed (fairly well, too), it's actually of a place called Mullikin. Oester has largely been abandoned because of a horrible curse, and that is actually the whole basis of the adventure. The PCs hear about the problems in Oester (in general terms) and presumably will investigate. (This is one of the weaker aspects - trying to get the PCs involved).

The trip to Mullikin (which is the largest town on the way to Oester) is fairly uneventful, though they will have some fun in the town itself. After the shenanigans there (which I probably liked the best), the PCs will presumably go on the road to Oester. They will have a somewhat strange trip, meeting a very strange barbarian, among others. Not much is left of Oester in terms of population, much of the adventure is really set in the nearby "Tower of Vernest" (which actually probably would have been a better name for the module).

The adventure is basically two parts - getting to the tower, and the tower itself. The latter is a fairly straight forward dungeon crawl (or tower crawl in this case), but the first part of the adventure has a lot of role-playing potential. The strongpoints of Thumble also exist in this - the NPCs are very well detailed, both in terms of stats, and more importantly, in terms of personality and motivation. For the most part, they seem real. There are also a lot of side quests in Oester, though some will probably be too tough for the PCs.

It's somewhat dark in tone, though nothing really horrible. It's really pretty much like Resident Evil. The creepiest parts are in a side encounter (though I imagine Troy McClure would find it quite enjoyable), which is depicted on the cover. I actually had a nightmare about one of those, though it happened after seeing something similar on Sealab 2021.

Some of the NPCs the players will meet are also delightfully weird - one of them seems straight out of a 70s movie (one of those that are simply about travelling from place to place, meeting weird people).

The ending is also a bit unexpected. While your players can just kill the bad guy, that's not the optimal ending. The optimal one also has something of a twist to it. The optimal ending also provides a good spring board for the PCs to own their own stronghold/town.

The maps are absolutely fantastic. One of the downsides of the modern computer age is that it's quick and easy to make maps - while it's fine for amateurs, many RPG companies (especially d20) also went the computer program route. This often results in very sterile and artificial looking maps, at least I think it does. These maps look like they are out of a fantasy novel from the 70s or early 80s. So maybe there is a nostalgia factor.

The art is also pretty good. Not all the art was available when I got the manuscript, and now that I see it all in the final version, I have to say, it's actually excellent. And there is a lot of it. I was pleasantly surprised at how well Thumble turned out, layout wise, as the Mystic Eye people aren't great at it, but Oester is even better.

All in all, it's an enjoyable module - it combines all the things I like - a bit of a mystery, killing zombies, roleplaying with weird NPCs.

Still, it's not perfect - I found the timeline a bit confusing. It's not clear exactly when the tower was abandoned. It seems like at least 3-4 generations ago, yet the tower has prisoners still in it from then. Granted, they are from long lived species, but I would think getting food was a bit problematic, since they are chained to the wall.

It's also not that original in plot. The plot (something turns the people of a village into monsters) is actually is fairly close to that of "Unhallowed Halls" and a couple other d20 modules I have. (Why is it that people always get turned into something awful? If I were a villain, wouldn't it be much more fun to turn them into supermodels or something?)

Other than the timeline vagueness, the adventure is well written, and things are made easy for the GM. There are extensive random encounters (including not just type, but what they are doing), info on the weather, and the insight into the NPCs personality really helps a lot. The encounters are also generally scaled for a fairly wide range of party levels.

There's an option to play evil PCs, but that scenario involves them being ghouls. While I'm sure it would be even more angst ridden than being a vampire, I think most people would not want to play ghouls.

Like most undead heavy modules, it is perhaps a bit too weighted towards Clerics/Paladins. If you have them, it will likely be easy (or easier), if you don't, it will be difficult. And like a lot of adventures, it won't be terribly useful after you've run it. Thumble was a great value because you could use Thumble itself as a village in your game, or use them in some other game on short notice (like I did with Stargate, I just changed the halflings to Samoans). Still, quite a bit of Mullikin is described (around 15 locations), and even more is shown on the map of it (around 50). And with a little amount of work, it would make a decent modern day or Call of Cthulhu scenario. B++ (I originally gave it a B+, but as it looks better than I expect, I'll give it a B++ and round it up to a 5 here, though it's more 4.5 ish)

Also, I did get to run it, and have incorporated the whole region into my home brew world. And one of the NPCs from this (Birna the Barbarian) is now one of my favorite recurring NPCs.

 

[Messageboard Golem]

They don’t make adventures like this any more. Intrigue, mystery, bizarre characters, and yes, a little bit of twisted sex… The Village of Oester has it all.

A beautifully-colored cover depicts a demon called the vargenzin, a type of octopus-succubus, trying to seduce a party of adventurers. Her ploy seems to be working on the men, but not the female member of the group who appears more interested in something stirring in the murky water. It’s a brilliant layout and probably the most clever cover illustration I have seen in a long time.

Most of the interior art is very good to excellent. There is more atmosphere and ambiance to these pictures than found in most RPG products today. Each seems to be specifically related to the text as opposed to generic art. I also enjoyed the maps a lot, too.

The Village of Oester starts out much like The Hamlet of Thumble with a map, a weather chart, and detailed random encounter tables for the region. This is supposed to be a sequel, but I can see it easily used without its predecessor. In many ways, it is very different because of the darker tone and subject matter.

The next section is about a strange town called Mullikin. I think that this could have been an entirely separate book entitled The Town of Mullikin, which would make sense in this series. I’m glad it was included here though because there are quite a few interesting characters I’d like to use like a low-life group of gangsters and a quirky dwarven entourage. I really liked the Crime and Punishment listing, too, which gives an idea of what kind of a punishment might be appropriate for a crime in a medieval fantasy setting. One minor error I noticed though was that a portion of the stat block (HD and hit points) for a dwarf NPC was repeated.

What follows are an abandoned village and mysterious tower. These are the locations for the main adventure. As you go deeper and deeper into the tower, more and more clues are revealed about why it and anything around it is cursed. There are four full variations of the boss with varying treasure which I think is great. The possible endings are surprising because it could get the adventurers involved in local politics and even taking over a domain to rule over.

Also included is a section on the marsh to the east of the village. There are more potential adventures and side quests to be found here, including one involving pirates.

The end of the book has some new rules like a template for undead warriors, a feat, a spell, a couple of new monsters, and a bunch of new magic items. There is also a brief DM Tips section in The Village of Oester which I found a bit weak compared to the plethora of great advice found in The Hamlet of Thumble. Of course, you’ll find pre-generated characters for both good and evil player characters.

The Village of Oester offers more adventure and adventure ideas than you can possibly expect from a 64-page product. This is a great value and definitely a keeper. Grade: A

 

[JoeGKushner]

Adventures are a hard sell these days. Its good to see Open World Press still out there providing solid material for GMs to run. The Village of Oester is an adventure for 3rd-5th level characters that takes place in the same world as the Hamlet of Thumble.

Let me state my bias here. I don't like village adventures. They've been done to death. This doesn't mean that there are no good adventures in that field, just that it's not my first cup of tea. In addition, while the whole World of Whitethorn isn't forced down your throat, it is very present here, especially in its assumption about the characters and their level of access to certain individuals, which just doesn't mesh well with my own campaign.

The introduction gets me off on the wrong foot. The author starts off by informing us that it is not necessary to have run the previous module but that it's encouraged and that there are rules in that module and that once again, you can run this without the previous module. He must mention this four times on the first page. The rest of the book does a better job of just getting on with the adventure.

The adventure itself relies on the characters hearing about a flock of refugees from the village of Oester and investigating why they are fleeing. There are a few methods offered up but in essence, it's up to the characters to take it upon themselves to see what's happening.

The good news is that the author provides a town to stock up on rumors and information with over 40 locations loaded with NPCs and background information before hitting the plague ridden village. The good thing about the town, Mullikin, is that it includes a quick crime and punishment listing, dialogue for the NPCs, and a few classic encounters with halflings and noble knights that allow the GM to use the module for more than just a simple village quest. Some interior maps would've been good, but honestly, how many maps of taverns and bars do we need?

On the road, the characters can have some more interesting encounters, things that don't necessarily have to end in the death of everyone involved. The characters can meet a bandit that is more than he seems, as well as improve their odds latter on by helping out a female barbarian, Birna who in turn can help the players.

The town of Oester itself makes a great little place for a GM whose just seen Dawn of the Dead as a necromatic plague has overtaken the place and people, even the few living ones, aren't themselves. There are some encounters that should remind players that not everyone has their best interest at heart as they attempt to discover the origin of this magical disease.

The players will sooner or latter, make their way to the Tower of Vernest where they can discover the truth behind the foulness here. It's the type of dungeon crawl I like, a small one where the player's aren't underground forever and ever. One of the nice touches that the author provides is the main foe of the encounter has several write ups, allowing the GM to quickly customize the encounter for the player's power level, especially if they have aid form previous NPCs they've allied themselves with or assisted.

One of the more interesting encounters happens in The Blackened Woods, where the characters learn of Veptunna the Seductress. If you look at the cover of the product, you might notice something. This demonic creature is not only tempting the party down the wrong path, but is drowning a small child using her tentacle like lower limbs. The author does a good job of providing the GM with numerous options for using Veptunna, including her use of a village of deformed half orcs and an opposing lizard folk village. This in turn provides the GM with other cast members including the dangerous Glamorgin the Terrible, a pirate who trades with the marsh dwellers.

The conclusion of the adventure is fairly open and allows the GM to take several different routes even while it expands the political atmosphere of the setting. This is probably one of my problems with the adventure in that it pits the characters into very high level politics involving a king and his heirs as well as foreign powers who have vested interest in the area the characters are exploring.

In terms of new crunch, the author provides us with a new template, the abyssal knight, a new feat (stunning shield bash), new spell, magic items, and monsters. The Sword of Beastslaying has potential to become a focus in any campaign as it's an intelligent item and as a GM, I can never get enough monsters so the moldy slime and vargenzin (demon), are welcome additions to any game.

There are some minor things that may worry people. The first is the double dip in price. By that I mean the page count is reduced from the first adventure and the price has gone up. Similar things have happened with other companies including Sword & Sorcery when they released their Termana hardcover as opposed to their Ghelspad hardcover. The price-page count is pretty standard even with interior covers not used. Laoyut is fair but a little crowded. I'm not a fan of border artwork that cuts into the text at the top and bottom.

There were a few mistakes here and there. Travel time for example, pits character at about 12 miles per day when the PHB puts it at 24 miles overland at a walk. The Monster Manual lists a 7 hit dice skeleton as a CR of 3, but here it's 4. Typos were few like on page 40, when its detailing Baron Vernest as a skeleton, noting that under his immunity to cold, that “Abysal Knights are not effected by cold.” The layout was solid for the most part but some issues like the gray box not covering the text on page 56 crept in. Little stuff.

I wasn't crazy about the pre-generated characters or the whole evil factor. The pre-generated characters have special abilities and penalties and the plot hook for the evil characters is weak at best. His GM tips this time around are a little weak. Recommending that the GM avoid “He tried to attack you, but misses”, is pretty much the same thing as “He swings his sword at you and you are hit.” I also don't like reference to other products, especially when its tied into details of this adventure like the alternative core class necromancer which is due in another product.

So what do I like about the book? The overland maps are fantastic. They give the setting a good rough and rugged feel. The potential for future books, especially an adventure by Ed that takes place in Calas, a city, is also great. The art is much improved from the first book. Eric Lofgren and Diego Paredes do a great job. Eric's art is dark and dangerous with lots of nasty undead illustrated while Diego's are more like little moments captured in time. How about Sir Owain standing by the bar or Vargenzin, a demonic spawn that torments the characters? All good stuff. Lee's work isn't my style but he illustrates a great pose of a villager under attack from undead, very in tune with my brain and its recent viewing of Dawn of the Dead, despite the pixilation that picture suffers.

Ed provides a lot of options for GMs to put their own materials into the paces by customizing the game. Do the characters move down the path of royalty? Do they stay in the various villages or head back to the city? How do they best work with the numerous NPCs that they can encounter? These are good tools for GMs to augment their campaign and provide character hooks for future encounters. GM's looking for more village based adventures are in luck as the Village of Oester provides that much needed undead bashing and devious politics that we all know and love.