Blinsky’s Toyshop is an adventure for level 3 to 7 characters set in the land of Barovia. As it is centred around a somewhat cursed toy shop, I see no difficulty in playing this adventure in most settings, except perhaps Dark Sun. It might feel too light-hearted for there!
The basic idea is that the characters visit Blinsky’s Toyshop, one of the more memorable locations in Curse of Strahd, to discover that things have gone a little wrong, and the various customers and their children are trapped. After overcoming crazed monsters, animated toys, and devious traps, they need to deal with the source of all the madness: Piccolo, the monkey wearing a tutu, who has a new headpiece that may be a little cursed.
This adventure is full of fun ideas. It is the sort of experience I very much enjoy, as do my players. There is an element of whimsy to the encounters – where else would you find yourself facing a bright blue, pink polka-dotted hippopotamus? – but a more serious undercurrent underlies it as well. The juxtaposition of amusing – if mad – monsters with occasional tragedies provides something likely to be memorable.
I like the magical costumes, which, when worn, give the wearer the abilities of whatever creature the costume is. And that has the slight flaw of being hard to remove! So, you have the dual enjoyment of discovering that the flumph is a trapped customer, and then that a character can turn into a flumph (for at least some of the adventure) by donning the costume themselves.
If you want a more serious campaign, this scenario is likely not for you. However, I am very fond of whimsical (if potentially deadly) adventures, so it fits the bill.
The formatting of the adventure is one of its weaker points. It is not bad, but it does not always make the best use of the page. However, I am happy to say that it is not overwritten. For me, it sits comfortably in the space of enough information to run the encounters, while not too much so I lose track of details.
The artwork is a highlight.
The suggested running time of the adventure is two to four hours, although I suggest that the authors might want to revisit their mathematics because that is not to what the estimated durations add up! I expect that the action would most likely take one four-hour session, but perhaps longer depending on how much the players engage with the things they discover.
As you can perhaps tell, I very much enjoy this adventure. It hits many elements I want in Dungeons & Dragons scenarios and has enough invention to surprise the players while still providing exciting challenges. Recommended.