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Message: <blockquote data-quote="JoeGKushner" data-source="post: 2011203" data-attributes="member: 1129">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.</blockquote>

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