Welcome to Kirkwood
Written: Mar 26 '02 (Updated Mar 26 '02)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Innovative presentation of material, lots of "crunchy" bits
Cons: Lacks consistency in presentation of material (capitalization, abbreviations, etc.)
The Bottom Line: A great low-level adventure with a fine layout. Good for an introduction to Dungeons and Dragons and the Bluffside campaign.
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| lhandren's Full Review: Interludes: Brief Expeditions to Bluffside Books |
[Review originally posted on my website, Black Falcon Aerie]
A while back, I was contacted by Thunderhead Games and asked if I would like to get a preview copy of their upcoming Interludes: Brief Expeditions to Bluffside adventure. I don't believe any self-respecting gamer would have turned down anything free, so I said, "Certainly!" Now, there are several dozen d20 publishers out there right now, and I've come to expect a certain "average" quality overall. Imagine my surprise when I opened up this module and found a product that was as well planned, written, and laid out as this! Now, before continuing I would like to mention that I have not had the opportunity to playtest this adventure. My review will not be over the playability of the adventure itself, but over the product as a whole and the new materials. Also, to avoid giving away the details of the adventure, I'm not going to spell them out for the players. The gist of the adventure is printed on the back of the book:
"With the first flakes of winter snow in the air your party finally sees the end of a long journey in the hamlet of Kirkwood. Fornheim, the caravan master, has paid you well for keeping him and his profits safe for the last four months. Your escort is at an end. Bluffside, city of wonder and excitement, calls. Just a few loose ends and you can leave for your new lives of action and adventure."
First let me discuss the presentation of the module. Nice, full color cover (a given in this day and age) that prominently displays the d20 logo as well as the "Requires the use of the Dungeons & DragonsŪ Player's Handbook..." notice. The back page contains the printed OGL notice as well. It is good to see a company following (or at least making an effort to follow) the OGL standards. To me, that tells me at least a little time was spent on the product rather than a rush job to cash in on the d20 bandwagon. The inside layout is nice, neat and easy to read. A very ornate page decoration is found on either the right or left side of each page. Although that adds
nothing to playability, it really makes the product look more "professional" and once again tells me that some thought and effort went into this. Map illustrations are included (printed in the module, not as pull-outs) and are legible and include a scale (something I was shocked to see so many companies leave out!). "Read aloud" text is displayed in BOLD type. I kind of like the shaded box better, but it makes sense when you see the other uses of the shaded boxes in this module (more detail below). Interior art is very nice, detailed, and brings the product to life very well. As in most cases, I don't like every piece of artwork in the book, but it is well done and does a good job of illustrating locales and events in the story.
I have been very impressed with the "little things" in this product that make it a joy to work with. For example, it has a very good table of contents. I don't mean a "Chapter 1, page 5. Chapter 2, page 15., etc." This product spells out everything in the appendix sections with a page number, even the NPCs! Want the details on Fianna Lythia, look on page 34. This is unbelievably useful, a practice that I wish more d20 publishers would adopt. Of course there is the obligatory "Adventure Summary" at the beginning, which is pretty standard. But it gets better, there is a breakdown of each part of the adventure which describes the major events that occur in each. You read this one section, and you have a very good grasp on the entire adventure. Why don't more companies do this? Reading this one page told me that I was interested in the story, and I didn't have to spend an hour reading a module that I may
end up having no interest in using.
Don't you hate when you start reading through an adventure, and there are all kinds of details, but they're buried in the regulat text? This product makes outstanding use of sidebars and shaded text to present game mechanics separate from the story information. That's not that unusual, many d20 publishers are doing that. But once again, Thunderhead Games takes the idea to another level. Something in a area require a Listen check? There is a little shaded box beside the area entry that lists the skill check, the DC, and what the results of the check produce. I don't know about you, but I've had players enter an area and I have forgotten something that is in it. With this method, everything shows up bright and clear and easy to read. Find a room with a locked box? There's a shaded
text area that lists the box, the skill check required to open it and the DC right there for you.
Do you like role-playing over hack-n-slash? I do. Ever had your PCs want to talk to everyone in the room for information and you have to start making stuff up on the fly? I have. This product is packed full of "Hooks" and "Rumors" that give you tons of information to drop out for the characters to nibble upon. Little personal quirks and details for NPCs can be found in the "Hooks" sections, which makes role-playing the NPCs much easier. A fleshed out NPC is a memorable NPC. This is almost as good as the shaded text boxes of information. Ever had your PCs look for clues at a crime scene or other suspicious location? How about a list of all the available clues along with the skill checks and DCs to find each one? Oh yes, that's what I'm talking about.
Now, I've mentioned a lot of little details that really make this product good. I was tickled to death at all of this. But I'm not done yet. No doubt, you've seen adventure modules that have little sidebars for "Adjusting the Adventure." Yet again, Thunderhead Games takes this to yet another level. Not only are there notes for making encounters easier or harder, how about notes on how to modify encounters based on party make-up? Got a lot of spellcasters, how about notes on how to make the encounter more fitting to that style of play? Wow, I'm impressed! Not only did they take the time to write a good module, they also took the time to write alternates for many of the encounters. Did I mention earlier that this product shows no signs of being a rush job?
Okay, okay so the adventure is presented in a very neat, useful way with lots of little extras to make it DM friendly. Is that all? Hardly. How about 2 new Feats, 2 spells, 10 magic items, and 2 extraordinary items? Oh what the heck, 13 new monsters that can be used in most any campaign as well. This starting to sound like a mini-sourcebook? Alright, get 2 new prestige classes too (one of them written by none other than Monte Cook). This is 64 pages worth of crunchy goodness for $10.95. I've paid more than that for half as much material. (DOH!)
Alright, I'm raving over this product, is there nothing wrong with it? Well, it's a very low level adventure (2nd+), which is great for new Bluffside campaigns, but not so great for those who have higher level characters. Some tailoring can make the adventure usable for higher level players, of course. This isn't a problem per se, but I can see that making the module less useful to the d20 players that have been gaming for a while now. However, on the flip side, if you are new to DMing, this is the place to start. I've never seen such a useful, DM-friendly product.
I did notice one of my pet peeves in the module. There are places where capitalization and punctuation vary from the way they are used in "official" D&D products. In most cases, this is minor stuff (example, "small-size" rather than "Small"). This doesn't hamper the usability, but I like to see the standards upheld. Granted, I'm guilty of violating them myself on my web pages (especially in my earlier days), but I like to see publishers adhere strictly to the standard. Minor detail, but I don't want you to think I just glazed over problems for the good stuff.
In the end, I admit I was floored by all the detail and effort put into this product. I don't have a lot of use for a level 2 adventure, but after seeing this, I cannot wait to get my hands on their higher level products. If you see this in stores, pick it up and look through it. I think you'll agree, this adventure sets a new standard for the d20 module. If you are new to DMing or are interested in starting some new characters, this is a great way to begin. You're going to get a lot of bang for your buck right here. This is a fantastic first showing from Thunderhead Games, keep an eye on these folks, there is tremendous potential here. The module hit stores in December, pick one up!
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
lhandren
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Reviews written: 19
Trusted by: 2 members
About Me:
Freelance RPG Writer and Microcomputing Consultant
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