ASC Review: Bones of the Mountain

Bones of the Mountain (Jakob McFarland)

S&W adventure for PCs of 5th 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.

This one's okay. Starts out with a banger of a premise...feels very mythic/folklore. Seven wights ride down from the Black Mountain every full moon on the back of their giant wolves, carrying off women from the valley below; a mad Sherpa claims he can lead you to their dark fortress for 100 gold coins.

Site is biggish (18 encounter areas) but it is still a "small" fortress. Draugr are just "wights" in my book (literally in my book...if you read my Five Ancient Kingdoms, you'll find I've replaced the "wight" entry with "draug." Well, druj really...had to go all Zorastrian, after all...but draug is what the Northmen call them. Oh, yeah...here, too), but in THIS adventure they are:

Frozen undead soldiers. They shall be statted as zombies with 3HD.

What exactly does this mean to be "statted as zombies?" They don't share the same AC or HD as zombies. Does the author mean they can be turned as zombies? Do they always attack last like zombies?

The mythic/folklore feeling persists throughout the adventure and helps make any weirdness (the friendly werewolves, the illusion-generating spider) seem like part of some dark fairytale rather than gonzo bullshit. No, the real problem lies with the treasure count. The scenario doesn't say how many PCs it assumes, but seven seems about the right number and that would mean some 67K in treasure for a site this size. Instead, we get less than 20% of that as potential take...far, far too little.

McFarland's adventure is still playable D&D, and has got some nice theming going for it. But the treasure is way off and despite some pretty beefy encounters (the worgs, wights, and draugr are nasty), it could probably stand to contain one or two more threats/hazards. Three stars (***) with definite potential.

Champs...Again

A typical orky game. Dropped passes. Strong running. A lot of stomping of the opposing team's quarterback. If you roll with the greenskins in Blood Bowl, that's the game you're going to see.

But what a beatdown!

It's tough that Zach Charbonnet tore his ACL, as he's our third down / red zone back. For all Kenneth Walker's talent (and he IS talented...extremely), he doesn't have the same nose for the endzone. If Charbs is on the field yesterday, that 19-0 lead going into the 4th quarter is probably more like 27-0. 

But I'll take it. Heck, I would have taken a 6-0 victory. Just like I'd take a 1-0 victory in Blood Bowl. Because a win is a win is a win. And a trophy is a nice memento to commemorate a really good season. Which is what the Seattle Seahawks had this year...a really great season.

Way to go, boyz. Well deserved. This time I'll be at the parade.

Waaagh!

ASC Review: Secret of Glassmaking

The Secret of Glassmaking (Billinger Bence)

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.

ASC Review: Spiteful Springs

Spiteful Springs (Zathras Adventures)

ACKSII adventure for four to six PCs of levels 1st-3rd

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.

More ACKS. Yay.

This particular author does not seem to understand the concept of "useable adventure design." We do not have numbered or lettered encounter locations; instead everything is word salad ("tepidarium," "palaestra," "lower tunnel") said place names being spread over SIX PAGES OF MAPS.  Yes, Gibson's rules dictate that a MINIMUM of one page of maps be included...but, personally, I feel that giving THREE TIMES as many pages of maps as text is kicking the spirit of the contest in the teeth.

Plus, this technically has ZERO "keyed locations." Disqualified.

ASC Review: Ghostlight Mesa

Ghostlight Mesa (J. Coffey)

An adventure (I guess)

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.

So, let's see. No stated edition. No estimated number of party members. No assumed level of experience. Just: here's this thing I slapped together, look at the pretty artwork I included.

I should probably just disqualify this one out of hand rather than wasting my time but, whatever (you see why Bryce Lynch gets so mean...and drinks so heavily...right? I mean, these things are only two pages long!). Based on the stat blocks in the "bestiary," it appears this is written for some verson of "Basic D&D" but the person obviously doesn't know how to USE basic D&D because his x.p. totals for the monsters in this thing are insane:

• Large Mesa Rattlesnake, XP 150 (nope, should be 10-16)
• Mesa Top Rat, XP 3 (no, there is no edition of D&D ever that awarded less than 5 x.p.)
• Brown Bat, XP 7 per bat, 70 per swarm (should be 5 per bat)
• Lone Goblin Scout, XP 5 (correct!)
• Goblin Shaman, XP ?  (really? You just couldn't be bothered to figure this out? Should be 50)
• Sasquatch Wendigo, XP 400 (nope, should be 175, 300 tops, but I don't see anything here to warrant the bonus)

You know what? This one gets disqualified anyway because its THREE pages long. Yeah, it includes the (small) maps on those three pages, but the contest rules clearly state a maximum of two pages of text PLUS at least one map.

Disqualified.

ASC Review: Great Drum Primordial

Great Drum Primordial (Ethan B.)

AD&D (??) adventure for about four to six PCs of 6th 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.

This adventure does not say what TSR-era edition it's been designed to be compatible with. Reading through it, I'm guessing AD&D due to things like druid spells and carnivorous apes (the latter of which don't appear in OD&D). Regardless, we're going to treat it as such so I don't need to disqualify yet another contest entry out of hand.

So. Let's get to analyzing.

First off, I think it's important to point out to the author that there is no such precious stone as a "blood diamond." Blood diamonds...also called "conflict diamonds"...is the term given to diamonds mined from war zones, and sold (generally in spite of sanctions) to fund terroristm, insurgency, and warlords. It is a political term for a dimaond smuggled by organized crime cartels, the "blood" being on the hands of the people making money off such stones. 

As such, it does not make sense to have the "savage" tribesmen here trade in "blood diamonds."

Next, in AD&D only humanoid tribes have "witch-doctors," a particular term given to a particular type of humanoid spell-caster. If the "savages" have a priestess with druidic powers, she's a druid. Druids are supposed to be true neutral so there would not be a dichotomy between "good witch-doctors" and "bad witches;" druids can certainly be of different temperaments (kindly or maniacal) but they don't represent different poles, only ONE pole (i.e. spirituality). Also, a stone adze is a small, handheld tool. It is NOT the equivalent of a bec de corbin (a 6'+ pole arm)...I'd suggest googling images of both and comparing. Regardless, a druid uses NEITHER.

A lot of this adventure looks half-baked. We're told something about this "fraud" site being created by a "Professor Creptic" to confound his rival "Doctor Starling." But what does that mean? Did he put the savages there? Did he create the drum that drives the apes "apeshit" (an amusingly named procedural ability of the carnivorous apes attributed to a magic artifact)? Then why did he have an expedition to the area that was ultimately slain? And what the hell is this 10,000 g.p. reward for a live ape that was never mentioned before the final paragraph? The set-up in the intro made this look like a rescue mission for Doc Starling!

This adventure site is kind of a confusing mess with some interesting ideas that are somewhat spoiled by what appears to be deliberately offensive language and themes at times. It's sloppily executed and shows a poor understanding of AD&D (a ring of human influence doesn't have "charges") and for a treasure count that should around 90K it provides (maybe) one-fifth that amount. An editor might have helped.

This one gets a one star (*) rating. Sorry.

ASC Review: Stormlord's Citadel

The Stormlord's Citadel (Birch Boyer)

ACKSII adventure for three to six PCs of levels 9th-11th

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.

It may surprise some of my readers to know that I do keep tabs on my fellow judge's on-going reviews...although I AM careful not to read their reviews before writing my own (I'm trying to render my judgments unbiased and un-colored by others' analysis). So it's with some interest I noticed reviews for this adventure popping up on three of judge's lists already (one coming out as early as January 10th!). While I definitely spend zero time worrying or wondering about my fellow reviewers order/methods of reading these things, the fact that so many pulled this one early made me decidedly curious and excited to finally get to it.

And, of course, it's another ACKS adventure.

Man, I know Ben was explicit that ACKS is "close enough" to count in the "must be compatible with TSR-era D&D category." Yes, I know. He wrote it, I respect it. But when I read the "quicksilver golem" has

aerial and aquatic mechanoreception 150', acute hearing, immune mundane and all physical, magic resist +11, skirmishing, paralyzed by cold (one round per die of * damage, in lieu of the damage), contortionism

I can't help but find myself asking: Really, Ben? Really?

Whatever. Three stars and devil take your "surging blows" and "topple and fling" feats.

[Really, Ben? Compatible with TSR-era D&D?]