Crothian
First Post
Village of Oester
Adventures are a dying art these days. A few years ago the market was saturated and many were not that good. Companies are less likely to print adventures these days. With fewer adventures out there now it really makes the good ones shine a little brighter. Village of Oester though, is not a good one, it is a great one.
Village of Oester is the second module written by Ed Cha of Open World Press. It is the follow up to the Hamlet of Thumble. One does not need the first module to run to the second, but they are well connected and make a good one two punch. The adventure is designed for 3rd to 5th level characters and is a good mix of interesting encounters, combat, and role playing.
The book is presented with a nice color cover of an adventuring party on a raft coming up to a half woman have squid thing. It’s called a Vargenzin and is one of the new creatures in the book. The cover art is done by Storn Cook and he did the cover to The Hamlet of Thumble. That gives the covers a good consistency between the two. The interior art and cartography are both well done. The layout is just great making everything inside flow and easy to read.
The adventure is really more then an adventure. It presents a full town that is well described and easy to use. It is the details that really make this product great. There is a crime and punishment table. If you commit adultery one gets flogged. If one bears false witness he gets flogger and/or imprisoned. If one commits rowdy behavior they get a fine and or a beating. That is a great touch to any town or city. Each NPC is fully stated and described. Each also has a pair of sample dialogue to help give the tone and speaking habits of the NPC. Another simple yet great touch that helps bring the NPCs alive and give them their own sound.
The meat of the adventure is a mystery. The people of Oester are fleeing an unspeakable evil. They are a bit panicky and unclear exactly what is going on. At times the adventure can get a little tough for the PCs, this is not an easy module to hack and slash through. There are some NPCs though that the party can meet up with who can help give the PCs the strength they need to get by. I am not going to present spoilers here. The strength of the module is in the reusable towns and rules that do not have to go away once the adventure is run. That is another detail I like, that the module has great use after it is run.
There are some more DM tips in this book just like in the first. One of ED Cha’s strengths is he understands that a few little changes DMing style can really help any DM. There is a new template, the Abyssal Knight, presented here. There is a new feat, a new spell, some magical items, and a couple of monsters. All fit nicely in the module and are very well detailed. Lastly there are some pre-generated characters presented here. One fun thing the Ed choose to do was create good PCs and then the same PCs as evil ghouls that have failed the mission and now have a new one.
The Village of Oester is a a great module. It is presented as a follow up to the Hamlet of Thumble but does not require it. There is a living and breathing town presented in this module with rich NPCs and side plots. As only the second product Open World Press has released, it makes me eagerly await what they have in store for us next.
Adventures are a dying art these days. A few years ago the market was saturated and many were not that good. Companies are less likely to print adventures these days. With fewer adventures out there now it really makes the good ones shine a little brighter. Village of Oester though, is not a good one, it is a great one.
Village of Oester is the second module written by Ed Cha of Open World Press. It is the follow up to the Hamlet of Thumble. One does not need the first module to run to the second, but they are well connected and make a good one two punch. The adventure is designed for 3rd to 5th level characters and is a good mix of interesting encounters, combat, and role playing.
The book is presented with a nice color cover of an adventuring party on a raft coming up to a half woman have squid thing. It’s called a Vargenzin and is one of the new creatures in the book. The cover art is done by Storn Cook and he did the cover to The Hamlet of Thumble. That gives the covers a good consistency between the two. The interior art and cartography are both well done. The layout is just great making everything inside flow and easy to read.
The adventure is really more then an adventure. It presents a full town that is well described and easy to use. It is the details that really make this product great. There is a crime and punishment table. If you commit adultery one gets flogged. If one bears false witness he gets flogger and/or imprisoned. If one commits rowdy behavior they get a fine and or a beating. That is a great touch to any town or city. Each NPC is fully stated and described. Each also has a pair of sample dialogue to help give the tone and speaking habits of the NPC. Another simple yet great touch that helps bring the NPCs alive and give them their own sound.
The meat of the adventure is a mystery. The people of Oester are fleeing an unspeakable evil. They are a bit panicky and unclear exactly what is going on. At times the adventure can get a little tough for the PCs, this is not an easy module to hack and slash through. There are some NPCs though that the party can meet up with who can help give the PCs the strength they need to get by. I am not going to present spoilers here. The strength of the module is in the reusable towns and rules that do not have to go away once the adventure is run. That is another detail I like, that the module has great use after it is run.
There are some more DM tips in this book just like in the first. One of ED Cha’s strengths is he understands that a few little changes DMing style can really help any DM. There is a new template, the Abyssal Knight, presented here. There is a new feat, a new spell, some magical items, and a couple of monsters. All fit nicely in the module and are very well detailed. Lastly there are some pre-generated characters presented here. One fun thing the Ed choose to do was create good PCs and then the same PCs as evil ghouls that have failed the mission and now have a new one.
The Village of Oester is a a great module. It is presented as a follow up to the Hamlet of Thumble but does not require it. There is a living and breathing town presented in this module with rich NPCs and side plots. As only the second product Open World Press has released, it makes me eagerly await what they have in store for us next.
