S&W adventure for three to six PCs of 4th level
I am reviewing these in the order they were submitted. For my review criteria, please check out this post. All reviews will (probably) contain *SPOILERS*; you have been warned! Because these are short (two page) adventures, it is my intention to keep the reviews brief.
A simple little piece with a glassmaking theme. Tacoma-native Dale Chilhuly has had a pretty profound impact on my locale, so I know a bit about the glassmaking biz (I've been down to his workshop and galleries), and can appreciate the concept...there IS something magical about the art. Though this one feels a bit more Venice than T-Town.
Took me a minute to figure out the map...thought I was looking at an archipelago before figuring out AHA, this is the whole (flooded) island, and what I'm looking at are the parts that haven't been submerged. Makes sense...and makes for a novel method of exploration. Presumably via canoe or raft. Dig it.
14 encounter areas...great. About eight of areas have some sort of danger present (good ratio of monsters to traps), all pretty much level appropriate.
Treasure is too light...should be closer to 17K and it's barely more than 7K. There are some rather nice magic items, but magic items don't award x.p. in S&W.
This one is nicely done. It's clean, clear, playable D&D...perfect for an evening's entertainment. It gets three stars (***) with a "+" and could easily be upped to the "solid" (4-star) level by fixing the treasure...I'd suggest putting more in the warehouse (with the glass golem), adding a forgotten chest to the empty shipwreck, and throwing a bone in the secret room (seeing as how the players have to go to the trouble to FIND the secret room...maybe left over gambling loot?). But overall this is a pretty good concept.
Thank you for the review! I will fix the treasure. After reading your previous reviews, I'm starting to understand what is enough. And yes, you are correct about the Venetian style. This adventure was inspired by Murano, a small island close to Venice. It has a great history of glassmaking.
ReplyDeleteJust a quick clarification about the treasure. I didn’t explain the treasure in the warehouse and the master’s tower very well. In my head, the 75–150 gold was meant to be per piece, not total. So if the party loots everything in the warehouse and the tower, they should end up with around 3–4k gold. By my math, the whole site has roughly 12k gold worth of treasure, still shy but maybe looks better.
DeleteI've been to Venice but never Murano. Regardless, it's a great idea for an adventure site. Well done!
DeleteMurano definitely a perfect adventure inspiration- it or neighbouring venetion controlled islands had to be abandoned multiple times over the centuries due to foul miasmas and curses iirc (malaria outbreaks leading to total abandonment for decades or more)...
ReplyDeleteThe real world is wonderful inspiration for D&D.
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