Classic D&D Review: Curse of Xanathon

The first adventure in the Expert series had been the fairly serious Isle of Dread. The second had been more of a funhouse dungeon in Castle Amber. Expert Set Adventure Module X3, Curse of Xanathon, wandered into some seriously weird territory. It is designed for 5-8 characters of levels 5-7. Douglas Niles had begun his writing career at TSR by writing the not-for-novices novice-series adventure … Continue reading Classic D&D Review: Curse of Xanathon

Final Fantasy VII

Today’s the day that the second part of the Final Fantasy VII remakes comes out – this one called Rebirth. I’ve been playing through the first part (Remake), and it’s an example of how good content can be expanded, given excellent voice acting and gameplay, and become even more than the original. It’s funny to think of a game from so long ago – the … Continue reading Final Fantasy VII

Classic D&D Review: Into the Maelstrom

M1: Into the Maelstrom is the first of the adventures designed to use with the D&D Master set, that is the expansion of the D&D Basic game for levels 26-36. In the D&D Companion set, the PCs were rulers of kingdoms or the ruler’s principal servants. By D&D Master, their mortal lives are drawing to a close and they’re reaching towards the possibility of Immortal … Continue reading Classic D&D Review: Into the Maelstrom

Isle of the Ape

I’m meant to be writing a proper review of Gary Gygax’s “isle of the ape”, but a nearby bushfire means I’m a bit distracted at present. In addition to not being at my computer. Most of the last adventures Gygax produced were pastiches of known works of fiction, and Isle of the Ape was no exception. The template was laid down in “Dungeonland” where Gygax … Continue reading Isle of the Ape

The Shattered Obelisk, session 14

We played our 14th session of The Shattered Obelisk on Monday, January 29, 2024. This continued their play through Chapter 6, as they moved into the Crypt of the Talrund. We resumed play with the characters examining the puzzle door that led to the crypt underneath Talhundereth. It’s a nice puzzle, completely derailed by three features: One, it’s unclear. Two: It needs art. Three: The … Continue reading The Shattered Obelisk, session 14

Classic D&D Review: Vault of the Drow

D3: Vault of the Drow was released in 1978, one of the initial offerings of adventures from TSR for the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons game. Written by Gary Gygax, this adventure is the sixth part of the seven-part Giant/Drow/Queen series. The conclusion, Queen of the Demonweb Pits would not be released until 1980. After following the retreating drow in the first two parts of the … Continue reading Classic D&D Review: Vault of the Drow

D&D 5E Review – Lamordia: The God Engine

Set in the realm of Lamordia, one of the domains of Ravenloft, The God Engine is a horror-themed adventure for level 1-2 characters, with a suggested running time of four to six hours. There is a distinct steampunk vibe to the proceedings, and it contains adult concepts. The plot concerns a fossilized elder brain which gains control of a researcher and forces him to create … Continue reading D&D 5E Review – Lamordia: The God Engine

The Shattered Obelisk, session 8

Our eighth session of The Shattered Obelisk took place on Monday, November 20, 2023. We’d had another week break as a player was moving. At the time I thought we were back for an extended run. Little did I know! A reminder of the party members at this point: With the Lost Mine and the Spider dealt with, the party returned to Phandalin to deal … Continue reading The Shattered Obelisk, session 8

Shadow of the Dragon Queen, session 11

Our eleventh session of Shadow of the Dragon Queen took place on Monday, August 14, 2023. In our last session, the heroes had defeated Belephaion, the leader of the Dragon Army forces in the City of Lost Names and prevented his plans for the city. However, we weren’t quite done with Chapter 6; there was still a couple of events to go. Those events were … Continue reading Shadow of the Dragon Queen, session 11

D&D goes F.A.S.T.

One of the odder launches occurred this week: Dungeons & Dragons now has its own dedicated streaming channel. Except almost everything you’d assume about the service is wrong. Just at the moment, it is showing three original shows – “Encounter Party”, “Faster, Purple Worm! Kill! Kill!”, and “Heroes’ Feast” – and repeats of the D&D Cartoon from the 80s. Possibly other things, but I haven’t … Continue reading D&D goes F.A.S.T.