|
|
|
Other comments left by this customer: |
|
|
|
|
Originally posted here: https://theotherside.timsbrannan.com/2022/10/100-days-of-halloween-tomb-of-witch.html
Tomb of the Witch Queen (5e)
PDF. 13 pages. Color cover and interior art.
Truthfully it is not fair to compare this one to ones done by professional teams with Kickstarter money. This is just one guy, Jon Paget, doing things on his own. The adventure is for 5e and claims to be for characters 1st to 12th level. Ok.
We start this one like so many of the other witch queen tomb adventures. The PCs hear of about the tomb and the riches within. Officials have gone to seek it out but never returned. So it decided that expendable experts are needed. That's the PCs.
The adventure can be scaled to three different levels Low (levels 1-4), Mid (levels 4-8), and High (9-12). The adventure is divided into four separate "layers." Each follows the last and increases in difficulty. Until you reach the tomb of Sassaya herself.
I can see this being a good Convention style game when people could bring their own characters.
But I am not sure if even this idea overcomes some of the shortcomings of this adventure. The adventure is as linear as it can get. While I am ok ignoring this in some older adventures, this is a 5e one published in 2021. The rewards at the end are uninspired. Sure there is a table to scale the rewards, but this sort of thing comes right out of the DMG of many editions. I don't need an adventure for that. Give me some new magic or something interesting. NOW there are some here. There is a d12 table of interesting additional rewards. THAT should have been the model for the main rewards. Again I have said it many times, if I am going to plunder a witch's tomb I better find some cool spell books.
I mentioned the adventure was linear. Well it is so much so that there are no proper maps. The Labyrinth, Level (or Layer previous) 3 has a kind of a flow-charty color-coded thing that the author obviously is proud of AND it is a neat idea in theory. I am not sure how it acts in practice though. Maybe I am getting hung up on the word "Labyrinth". This piece does look like it scales well.
The list price is just under $5. Even by my revised guidelines of 25 cents a page for content (this has 10 pages of content for 13 overall pages) that only gets us to $2.50. There is not much in the way of art; no imagery of what the characters might see for example. Only one newish monster with a stat block. Mostly skill checks really. If it had been at or under $2.50 I could have merited giving it another star.
|
|
|
|
|
Creator Reply: |
Thanks for your honest review, including the module's shortcomings. I've adjusted the price and given more of a description to explain that the labyrinth isn't a mapped out area, but rather a player-led section of the roleplay. |
|
|
|
|
Originally posted here: https://theotherside.timsbrannan.com/2022/10/100-days-of-halloween-sepulcher-of.html
Robert E. Howard casts a long shadow over Fantasy Role Playing in general and D&D in particular. This is best seen in two different near clones, Adventurer Conqueror King and Hyperborea. So when ACKS did an adventure that was an homage to Taramis and "A Witch Shall be Born", well I had to check it out.
Sepulcher of the Sorceress-Queen
Print and PDF. 56 pages. Color cover and interior layout art with black & white art.
For Character levels 7th to 9th.
Ok. So another tomb with a sleeping undead witch. It is a powerful trope. This one features the Sorceress-Queen Semiramis of Zahar who has been dead, but sleeping, for 1000 years. She had been betrayed by a former lover (and having killed her first 100 lovers she should have seen this one coming) and is now waiting for her chance to rise and rule again.
The adventure is part of a loosely connected series but it is mentioned that it can be used as a stand-alone adventure and placed anywhere.
The adventure involves going into her tomb, stopping her from rising, and maybe make off with some treasure. The tomb is full of undead horrors and other dangers. To make things more interesting there is a group of lizardmen in the tomb trying to do the same thing as the characters.
It then becomes a race against time, times 2. Get to the queen before she gains her full power and get to the treasures before the lizard men do.
The adventure gives us a bunch on new magic items, a new spell, and five new (ish) monsters. The adventure itself is cut from familiar cloth but the map is quite good and great for groups that like to explore old tombs.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Originally posted here: https://theotherside.timsbrannan.com/2022/10/100-days-of-halloween-baleful-coven-5e.html
Unlike the others I have reviewed so far this month I do not have a spot for this one figured out. So maybe something will come to me while I type.
The Baleful Coven (5E)
Print and PDF. 24 pages. Color cover and interior art.
For five to seven characters of 6th to 7th level.
It is described as bringing standard fantasy characters into contact with threats of the "Far East." Which is cool, to be honest. Not sure if it will fit into my game just yet, but I like the promise of it so far. It does have one of my favorite archetypes, the white-haired witch, and there is a coven made up of a hag and two warlocks.
I am going to pause here to note that this was originally a Pathfinder adventure. I bought the PDF of it a while back but I now notice it is gone from both DriveThru's and Paizo's websites. I mention this because I feel some of the fingerprints of Pathfinder, and in particular how they handled witches and hags, can be seen in the 5e version here. For example, while a warlock here, Masami Onishi is very much a "White Haired Witch" from Pathfinder. This is not a complaint mind you. Save in only I wish the Pathfinder version was still available. Granted it was released 10 years ago.
The bulk of the adventure takes place on the demi-plane of The Dream of Vengeful Reckoning. Ok, I do rather like that too. The adventure then becomes a search for how to leave this demi-plane. Naturally defeating this coven of "witches" is one of the ways to do it.
The adventure is actually rather well put together and I can see it being run over a long afternoon-evening or a could of smaller sessions. This is exactly what it was designed for. There are memorable NPCs which is the real hook for me.
So yeah a fun adventure with some great ideas.
Use with my War of the Witch Queens
There is a solid idea here, but not the one I think Legendary Games wants me to hook into. I mentioned the NPCs were memorable, and they are interesting, but you know what would be better? If I took three witches from three different adventures the characters had "defeated" and used them. I have seen enough movies this month where witches come back to some form of life to get vengeance on those who killed them. Set them up into a demi-plane, or for my purposes, a Liminal Plane, where the dead witches can get their vengeance on the still-living PCs.
This is for 6th to 7th level so it would need to be part of an earlier adventure. My top choices right now are Trilena (Rahasia), Llorona (The Witch of the Tarriswoods), Kyleth (Saga of the Witch Queen), and Morfa (The Witch Queen of Cair Urnahc). I just need to pick three. Though Morfa and Trilena have both come back from the dead once already. I do admit that Kyleth on the top of the list to replace Masami Onishi. While I know a couple are supposed to be hags I feel that is a hold-over from the Pathfinder adventure where only witches with hags can make covens. Also no need for me to add more winter witches, my cup is over flowing with them!
But what good is killing a villain if you can't bring them back from the dead to terrorize your players? I mean characters. Yeah. Characters.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Fantastic system. I was glad to grab all of these before OSE came out. Now redundant, but I still love having my copies.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Originally posted here: https://theotherside.timsbrannan.com/2022/10/100-days-of-halloween-adventure-module.html
Adventure Module V3 - Toil and Trouble
PDF and softcover book. 20 pages. Color cover, black & white interior art.
Designed for 4 to 6 characters of 3rd to 5th level.
For this one I have both the PDF and softcover versions. Also, we are given our first real and proper introduction to the "Witch Queen" none other than Natasha. It has everything a good adventure should have. Plots and intrigue, a ruined tower, cultists, caves, giant bugs, new monsters and new spells.
In this one, you have to stop the Dark Star coven dedicated to Natasha.
Again the witches of Natasha are presented as clerics or you can use the BRW Witch class.
I also admit I find the modules colored in Red, Blue, and Green to be very esthetically pleasing.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Originally posted here: https://theotherside.timsbrannan.com/2022/10/100-days-of-halloween-adventure-module.html
Adventure Module V2 - Red in Tooth and Claw
PDF. 12 pages. Color cover, black & white interior art.
Designed for 4 to 6 characters of 2nd to 3rd level.
This one takes place six months after the first adventure in the series. Following the pattern laid down at the time of the earliest adventures this one now includes some hex-crawling with some random encounters. These are encountered before the party returns to Volage. Indeed this module is very explicitly a hex crawl to investigate the area around the Hamlet of Volage. So there is no true purpose or "victory condition" nor should there be. The purpose is the exploration of the surrounding area. Though there is the threat of the Dark Star Coven. Details have to be uncovered before the next adventure can take place. There is a nice little teaser about the "Queen of Witches."
I will admit I not 100% sure why it has to be 6 months later except to allow a season to pass.
The most fun here are the werewolves in the woods.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Originally posted here: https://theotherside.timsbrannan.com/2022/10/100-days-of-halloween-adventure-module.html
Adventure Module V1 - The Hamlet of Volage
PDF. 13 pages (+ covers). Color cover, black & white interior art.
Designed for 4 to 6 characters of 1st to 3rd level.
This is where we get our "V" in the V series; the Hamlet of Volage (not to be confused with the Village of Hommlet a few miles over). This adventure introduces the players (and characters) to Volage which in the middle of a battleground between two warring covens of witches. The Cloven Hoof Coven (Diabolic) and the Dark Star Coven (Demonic).
Though the adventure does not start that big. It begins rather with a rivalry between local families and accusations of witchcraft.
Much like the adventures this is an homage too, we get a nice selection of memorable NPCs. Tables of rumors (some true, some false) and a village.
In this first adventure, you have to deal with the witches (here a subclass of Cleric) of the Cloven Hoof coven. Their patron is Dispater. Nice, great choice. Though there is a note that if you have BRW Games product Darker Paths 2 - The Witch you can use that for these NPCs.
There are some new spells and two new magic items.
It feels like it can be played in an afternoon or longer setting, maybe 6 hours. Faster if the PCs figure out what is going on.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Originally posted here: https://theotherside.timsbrannan.com/2022/10/100-days-of-halloween-dungeon-crawl.html
Dungeon Crawl Classics #17.5: War of the Witch Queen
PDF. 28 pages. Color cover, black & white interior art.
This is the precursor to the larger Saga of the Witch Queen. I grabbed it to have a complete collection and to see if there were any differences between this and the newer version. I would still love to get my hands on a printed copy.
This adventure is designed for D&D 3.5/d20 OGC. This means converting it to Pathfinder is really a non-issue. More to the point we can convert Kyleth from an 8th-level Sorcer to an 8th-level witch.
The main differences here between this adventure and the counterpart Saga adventure, War of the Witch Queen is that this is for D&D 3.5e and Saga is for AD&D 1e. They are the same adventures with very minor tweaks.
Both send the PCs on a quest to stop and kill Kyleth the self-styled Witch Queen. It is a straightforward dungeon crawl. This is not a weakness, but rather its strength.
The obvious question is do you need this one if you have Saga of the Witch Queen? I say yes since the systems are different (but can be converted).
|
|
|
|
|
|
UPDATED 10/13/2022
Originally posted here: https://theotherside.timsbrannan.com/2022/10/100-days-of-halloween-dungeon-crawl.html
Dungeon Crawl Classics: Saga of the Witch Queen
PDF from DriveThruRPG. 84 pages. Monochrome cover and black & white interior art.
This is a meaty module. 84 pages, covers, maps, and OGL still leave a lot of pages for content.
First off, if you are not familiar with Dungeon Crawl Classics modules they are meant to emulate a certain feel of early 80s play. They went on to create the game Dungeon Crawl Classics, but the adventures are still largely OSR compatible. Actually, I didn't see a single thing in this adventure that screamed ts should be used for one system or the other, though on the cover they claim "1e." That is good enough.
This adventure is actually 3 adventures in one. Legacy of the Savage Kings, The Lost Passage of the Drow, and War of the Witch Queen (which I will discuss later). Each one is a different part of the Witch Queen's plan.
Reading through this adventure is one part excitement for the new and one part excitement for the nostalgia. For the new, I wanted to learn more about Kyleth (the eponymous Witch Queen and not to be confused with Keyleth) and the tome Ars Maleficus. The nostalgia comes from many little easter eggs throughout the pages that call back to adventures of the TSR days. I am convinced the Mad Hermit here is the same as the one in the Keep on the Borderland for example. There are also hints of influences from Vault of the Drow, Ravenloft, and even the rest of the GDQ series. In fact, the second adventure, "The Lost Passage of the Drow" could be slotted into the D series and no one would be the wiser. Replace Baba Yazoth with the proper Baba Yaga and have one of the many adventures she features in as a side trek.
There are a number of named characters that would work well as witches, Maeve, Baba Yazoth, and of course Kyleth herself. While using the title of "Witch Queen" Kyleth is only an 8th-level Magic-user. Make her a 9th or 10th-level witch and then you have something really scary.
Does it work with The Witch? Yes, absolutely. There is a number of great items and story points in this adventure for any witch character. In fact, I would say that any good witch would want to see Kyleth taken out on general principle. Plus there are a number of encounters and NPCs that would benefit from the rules in the Witch. Night Hags get more spell-casting powers for example and the medusa can also have some levels of the witch class.
Of course, there is the issue of Kyleth being one of The Thirteen. The Thirteen most evil wizards, witches, and necromancers in the world. She was the newest member, who are the other 12, and what are their plans? Is anyone up for an adventure against the Legion of Doom? I might have to come back to this idea. I can see witches, vivamancers, blood mages, evil wizards, and necromancers as part of this evil cabal. Each provides something different.
About the physical book. The book is 80 pages and printed on very heavy paper. It is softcover, but the binding looks good. With the heavy paper and glossy cover, I expect this to hold up to wear and tear. The cover is bound on, so no taking it off to use as a GM screen with maps. I am glad I have this as a PDF too to print out the maps and the handouts. I am really, really happy with this module.
UPDATE: Of course, I took this idea and ran with it making Kyleth one of the many Witch Queens that is gathering at the Tredecim. Kyleth was my first choice as the murderess of the Witch Queen, but I quickly dropped that idea. If Kyleth had kill the High Queen then her ambitions would be greater. No Kyleth is an opportunist. She sees the tide turning and decides now is her time to strike.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Originally posted here (with my campiagn ideas): https://theotherside.timsbrannan.com/2022/10/100-days-of-halloween-witch-queen-of.html
The Witch Queen of Cair Urnahc
For Pathfinder 1st Edition and D&D 5th Edition.
This adventure series was Kickstarted back in 2020. I am grabbing the versions found on DriveThruRPG. It looks like the PDFs were sent out as soon as the Kickstarter finished from what I can tell.
I will be reviewing both versions and pointing out where the differences lie.
PDF. 84 pages. Color covers and interior art. Levels 3 to 6.
Before I get into the adventure itself I do want to say something about Page 3 which covers the basics of how "Zan's Adventures" work and the layout. I know there is no reason at all that people need to conform to a "book" layout, especially since many people will read this on some sort of device. The adventures do not follow a book layout per se, but they do add a few things. For starters, color is used more to denote different sorts of outcomes or text. This is great, unless you have some sort of Red-Green color blindness. Rare yes, but these are the things I look for.
But there are some very strong benefits here as well. For example, the NPCs, including the Witch Queen herself, are well-defined in easy-to-read blocks to aid the DM/GM while running the adventure. Same with the locations.
The areas are defined as our three main antagonists. It is possible that one or more are freed from their tombs to enact their evil plans. Well we have character sheets in the back for those. Also, there are other NPCs and a ton of monsters to interact with. Now given that one of the encounters is not 1 but 2 Death Knights, I think this one should be scaled up a bit. When I run it I might use just one Death Knight with skeletal minions.
There is a whole section of possible outcomes and endings. The adventure is not quite a free-form sandbox, your locations are limited, but how the players investigate them are up to them.
The biggest differences in these two come from the NPC and Monster statblocks and how the various skill checks work. All in line with the rules of Pathfinder and D&D.
The end has maps you can print out. There is also an additional product, Map Pack for the Witch Queen of Cair Urnahc for VTTs and Roll20 in particular. I also find these are good to print. For an extra $2.00 it is worth it to me.
There is an OGL at the end, but the author might want to swap out "DM" in their text for "GM" for OGL compliance.
All in all not a bad adventure. Pretty straight forward to be honest. There are some new monsters so that is fun. I would have liked to see some unique treasure if nothing else the Spellbook of Witch Queen Morfa.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Originally posted here (with my campiagn ideas): https://theotherside.timsbrannan.com/2022/10/100-days-of-halloween-witch-queen-of.html
The Witch Queen of Cair Urnahc
For Pathfinder 1st Edition and D&D 5th Edition.
This adventure series was Kickstarted back in 2020. I am grabbing the versions found on DriveThruRPG. It looks like the PDFs were sent out as soon as the Kickstarter finished from what I can tell.
I will be reviewing both versions and pointing out where the differences lie.
PDF. 84 pages. Color covers and interior art. Levels 3 to 6.
Before I get into the adventure itself I do want to say something about Page 3 which covers the basics of how "Zan's Adventures" work and the layout. I know there is no reason at all that people need to conform to a "book" layout, especially since many people will read this on some sort of device. The adventures do not follow a book layout per se, but they do add a few things. For starters, color is used more to denote different sorts of outcomes or text. This is great, unless you have some sort of Red-Green color blindness. Rare yes, but these are the things I look for.
But there are some very strong benefits here as well. For example, the NPCs, including the Witch Queen herself, are well-defined in easy-to-read blocks to aid the DM/GM while running the adventure. Same with the locations.
The areas are defined as our three main antagonists. It is possible that one or more are freed from their tombs to enact their evil plans. Well we have character sheets in the back for those. Also, there are other NPCs and a ton of monsters to interact with. Now given that one of the encounters is not 1 but 2 Death Knights, I think this one should be scaled up a bit. When I run it I might use just one Death Knight with skeletal minions.
There is a whole section of possible outcomes and endings. The adventure is not quite a free-form sandbox, your locations are limited, but how the players investigate them are up to them.
The biggest differences in these two come from the NPC and Monster statblocks and how the various skill checks work. All in line with the rules of Pathfinder and D&D.
The end has maps you can print out. There is also an additional product, Map Pack for the Witch Queen of Cair Urnahc for VTTs and Roll20 in particular. I also find these are good to print. For an extra $2.00 it is worth it to me.
There is an OGL at the end, but the author might want to swap out "DM" in their text for "GM" for OGL compliance.
All in all not a bad adventure. Pretty straight forward to be honest. There are some new monsters so that is fun. I would have liked to see some unique treasure if nothing else the Spellbook of Witch Queen Morfa.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Originally posted here: https://theotherside.timsbrannan.com/2022/10/100-days-of-halloween-curse-of-web.html
Curse of the Web Witch
PDF. 10 (14 with maps) pages. Color cover. Black & White interior art.
For 4-6 adventurers of levels 2nd to 4th.
Another mini-adventure that could be run in the afternoon. A cursed artifact from a forgotten god has transformed a priestess into a horrible monster, a web witch!
The PCs have to track her down (not too hard) and destroy the artifact.
This one has a few new monsters including the Web Witch. All in all quite a fun little romp.
The web witch here is fun and I like the stats, but I think I would rather use the web witches I made a few years before this one.
Again, like the Return of the Warlock this one can be easily adapted to any world. In fact, it is recommended you do so.
About Dungeons of Dazegoneby
Both of these adventures are part of their "Dungeons of Dazegoneby" line of adventures. Here is what the author Matt Kline has to say about that:
I can remember a time in my distant past when I could head to the local mall walk into one of the two bookstores they had at the time, plunk down around five dollars, and walk out with a brand new Dungeons & Dragons module. Our Dungeons of Dazegoneby line is a tribute to old-school gaming, paying homage to a time filled with graph paper maps, wandering monster tables, hand-drawn character sheets, and lazy afternoons filled with adventure and wonder. We hope you enjoy playing these products as much as we enjoyed making them.
Damn. I could have written that myself! So yeah I get what they are doing here and I am happy they are doing it. The maps from Dyson Logos really help.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Originally posted here: https://theotherside.timsbrannan.com/2022/10/100-days-of-halloween-curse-of-web.html
Return of the Warlock
PDF. 10 (14 with maps) pages. Color cover. Black & White interior art.
For 4-6 adventurers of levels 2nd to 4th.
A skull taken as a trophy has the trapped spirit of our warlock here, one Kalis Magefire. He has escaped and has taken hostages demanding to fight the heroes that killed him. Too bad those heroes have been dead for years.
The adventure sounds simple enough. The warlock's spirit has taken control over the hall built dedicated to the heroes that defeated him. He know wants to fight those heroes. Failing that you all will do.
Sneak in, defeat the warlock, save the hostages.
The strength in this adventure will be how easy it can be adapted to nearly any setting or set-up.
I would recommend that the "heroes" used here be from your own campaign. If you (like most of my fellow graybeards) are now playing with a different group the name drops might not have the same resonance, but it will still be fun.
About Dungeons of Dazegoneby
Both of these adventures are part of their "Dungeons of Dazegoneby" line of adventures. Here is what the author Matt Kline has to say about that:
I can remember a time in my distant past when I could head to the local mall walk into one of the two bookstores they had at the time, plunk down around five dollars, and walk out with a brand new Dungeons & Dragons module. Our Dungeons of Dazegoneby line is a tribute to old-school gaming, paying homage to a time filled with graph paper maps, wandering monster tables, hand-drawn character sheets, and lazy afternoons filled with adventure and wonder. We hope you enjoy playing these products as much as we enjoyed making them.
Damn. I could have written that myself! So yeah I get what they are doing here and I am happy they are doing it.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Originally posted here: https://theotherside.timsbrannan.com/2022/10/100-days-of-halloween-witch-of-wydfield.html
A while back I downloaded the adventure The Witch of Wydfield by Brave Halfling Publishing. It is a fun adventure and is designed for 0-level characters for Dungeon Crawl Classics. I used it as a "Session 0" with new B/X characters for the War of the Witch Queens.
I'd love to put up a review of the adventure itself, but it is no longer available from DriveThruRPG. It is however still available if you download the Map Bundle.
The Witch of Wydfield (Adventure)
PDF. 10 pages, color cover, black & white interior.
By John Adams & Colin Chapman. Art by Steve Zieser & Mark Allen.
This is a Level 0 Adventure for the Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG, something they call "the funnel" it is a great idea but I used it for B/X, handing out copies of the Moldvay Basic red book to all the players.
The adventure is pretty strait forward. It is a classic Hammer Horror-style Witch Hunt. Honestly, put on Rush's Witch Hunt or The Necromancer and you have the vibe perfectly.
There is one location, the witch's cabin. The monsters are her minions. We ran it all on cold winter's afternoon and evening. Kill the witch, save the girl, and collect the treasure.
The adventure is gritty DCC RPG which is a great start for me and this campaign.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Originally posted here: https://theotherside.timsbrannan.com/2022/10/100-days-of-halloween-witch-of-wydfield.html
The Witch of Wydfield (Map)
My family loves terrain, minis, and maps. So the map for this was a big incentive for them to play. I spent a Christmas afternoon printing out the maps and gluing them to cardboard. I did the outside on one side (with flaps for secret areas) and the witch's lair on the other. Worked so fantastic that I really want to use it for something else now.
We augmented it all with some terrain my youngest 3D printed and some trees and other materials we bought from Michael's craft store.
Note: If you buy the Map and Adventure bundle you do not need to buy the map alone. But the Map and Adventure bundle is the only way to get the adventure now.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|