From what I can gather, the products being released for free at RPGNow have been sitting on the author's website for a bit previously. So if you are someone that trolls the web looking for gaming goodies, you might have already come across this. For the rest of us, this is new stuff.
If I have one complaint, and this applies to many of the adventures one gets in PDF format, is that the keyed maps are stuck in the back. So I'm reading keyed descriptions without any idea where the corresponding map is. Not a killer issue, but it is an annoyance. I'd suggest if you are going to read this with an idea to run it, print the maps our for reference.
The maps themselves are serviceable, and there is even a blank map for use by the players, which is a nice touch (it's basically graph paper, but still, a nice touch).
The adventure assumes a silver standard (so something that would cost 10 GP in the rulebook will instead cost 10SP). It does state, however, that expo is based on GOLD, not silver. This may cause some leveling issues.
From the blurb:
Into the Unknown! The wilderness around the cave stronghold called Gold Hill Trading Post is dangerous and scattered with ruins of large and small settlements. Will your party find fame and fortune, solve ancient mysteries, or just disappear into the Borderlands like so many that came before? This module contains underground and wilderness maps that form a detailed adventure and mini-campaign for beginning characters, including an abandoned village, haunted graveyard, ruined church, traders’ camp, wilderness encounters, and monster lairs. It also includes a ruined keep and dungeon as well as a mapped and detailed “base camp” stronghold.
The module is designed for use with all “classic” fantasy roleplaying game rulebooks or sets for Basic- and Expert-level players and gamemasters. It can be converted for use with “Advanced” fantasy game rules and compatible systems with a minimum of effort. Cover art by William McAusland! Print version available at www.barrataria.com
Yeah, I bought this off Lulu a good while back and I really enjoy it. Look also for their kid focused Adventures at Rainbow Lodge (the theme is a bit tame). I sure hope Barrataria Games can get back into the swing of things since there were at least two great sounding follow up products in the works - Caves of the Spider-Sorceror? Anyone in cahoots with spiders needs a visit from adventurers!
ReplyDeleteThanks for another nice review, and that which you question should be considered errata. 1 sp= 1 xp in the World of Stronghold. I did mention that the sp standard is not used in the adventure as written; in retrospect this probably should have gone in a footnote or appendix or something.
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