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DDEX1-03 Shadows of the Moonsea (5e)
Publisher: Wizards of the Coast
by Mark E. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 08/12/2018 19:29:07

The Good.

I love it when any adventure brings in good amount of social interaction. Getting to meet with various NPCs as part of the investigation portion of the adventure promoted good role playing and gave the players allows the players to feel invested in the world.

The Bad.

I had a hard time trying to get the backstory of the island to come into play. I would of liked more pre-written dialog to help guide the types of answers the locals would be willing to provide. The rail-roaded events played out as they needed to but it was forced and the sudden arrival of the final encounter didn't make sense thematically.

I'm sure if I ran this adventure again I would handle some of it differently, but there was so much to prepare for in the island locations. Not knowing which direction players were going you end up needing to throw out half of your preparation since they can't do it all before nightfall.

The Great.

Any adventure with kobolds is great in my book. They can be goofy or fierce as needed by the story. I only wish there was more variety of them in this session. The bone outfits were a nice touch.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
DDEX1-03 Shadows of the Moonsea (5e)
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DDEX2-10 Cloaks and Shadows (5e)
Publisher: Wizards of the Coast
by Mark E. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 08/01/2018 21:43:35

The Good.

The urban jungle; not knowing who might be a spy or guard with a your name and a rough description of your face. I've always loved these sorts of adventures. That, and the trope of the framing the heroes so they have to discover "who done it" and clear their name are the main reasons why I love this adventure.

The city regions are very well defined so you can run this adventure "theatre of the mind" with no issues. I loved the multiple locations that the players can visiting, this adds a layer of replay-ability to the module since they will most likely not visit them all in a single session.

The Bad.

The sandbox nature of the module is a double edge-sword. My first time running this module, it went well beyond the 4-hour mark. In fact, I had to split it up into two sessions. My recommendation for any DMs trying this module is to prepare for each possible encounter before hand. You never know which route the players might take when the boots start running.

My only real critique of the module is the introduction hook for the players. If you are running this as part of Season 2 of Adventures League then no problem, but if it ends up being a pick-up group at your local gaming store it won't make any sense.

The Awesome.

I can't recommend this module enough. Any adventure that promotes and rewards good role-playing (as opposed to roll-playing) is a win-win for everyone at the table. Get into it! Use voices, set the environment, and hint at dangers that aren't there to keep up the suspense.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
DDEX2-10 Cloaks and Shadows (5e)
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DDEX1-04 Dues for the Dead (5e)
Publisher: Wizards of the Coast
by Mark E. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 08/01/2018 17:31:26

The Good.

I loved the setup of this adventure and the fact that it is realistic dungeon near an urban center. It allows the players to jump right into the action and start making decisions about how they want to explore rather than shifting to a travel montage with 1d4 random encounters.

The combination of social encounters and traps help keep the players on their toes and keeps the adventure from turning into a hack-n-slash fest.

The Bad.

As with most dungeon designs, I found the interior layout a little strange. I recognize that you want the players to explore their way through the dungeon but forcing them down one path with only one option to deviate from it was annoying for me. I would love to see the map design representative of an actual working crypt with the occasional cave in if you want to block off a passage way.

The Awesome.

All in all I loved this adventure. It is a great introduction to players on the ins and outs of fighting undead and continues the Season 1 storyline for Adventures League very well. I recommend getting this and all the Phlan adventures as a way to take your players from levels 1 to 5.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
DDEX1-04 Dues for the Dead (5e)
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DDAL07-01 A City on the Edge (5e)
Publisher: Wizards of the Coast
by Mark E. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 11/08/2017 12:50:49

The Good.

Overall the mini-adventures do a great job of introducing the players to the different locations around Port Nyanzaru and some of the encounters they could expect while adventuring in the Tomb of Annilhiation campaign.

The dinosaur race was a wonderful detraction from the typical dungeon crawl flow of most adventures.

The Bad.

Though these mini adventures advertise that they can each be run in 1 hour, you should budget at least 2. The number of encounters (both social, combat, and traps) easily push you past the expected time limit. If you are running this adventure as part of an organized event you will have to fast-track any social encounters which some players (including myself) enjoy. I've run the sessions multiple times and so far my record is 3 mini adventures in a 4 hour time block. And that last adventure felt very rushed.

Also my players were not overly excited about the rewards. Even the Volo's Guide mini adventures (also meant for level 1 play) had a magic item thrown in every now and then. The lack of magic items and low xp/gp left the players feeling not to excited about the new land of Chult that stretched out before them. They were however very interested in the amulet pieces they acquired but, as they were not able to form Voltron at the end (player comment), they were left with feelings of "what's the point?"

The Ugly.

I would have preferred it if these missions had not been tied to the factions but instead came directly from one or more of the Merchant Princes. That would of opened the door for some closure on the amulet's assembly and intended purpose right away. As it is, these missions should really have been included in the Tomb of Annilihation hardcover module as side quests to do in Port Nyanzaru.



Rating:
[2 of 5 Stars!]
DDAL07-01 A City on the Edge (5e)
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DDAL06-01 A Thousand Tiny Deaths (5e)
Publisher: Wizards of the Coast
by Mark E. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 08/20/2017 11:27:43

I recently ran this adventure for a new AL group. The encounters reminded me of the opening scenes of Lost Mines of Phandelver and worked well to give the players a mix of exploration and combat. I loved the mechanics for the kobold ambushes and alchemist inventions. They really helped keep the players on their toes and move the adventure along.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
DDAL06-01 A Thousand Tiny Deaths (5e)
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