5E Adventure Review: Temple of the Nightbringers

M.T. Black’s adventure, Temple of the Nightbringers has been released as a free pdf on the DMs Guild site. It’s designed to be played in a single session by first-level characters. The adventure is very elegantly presented, and is well-written. The plot is simple: after arriving in the town of Melton, the PCs are sent to deal with a goblin lair. It uses one of … Continue reading 5E Adventure Review: Temple of the Nightbringers

Book Review: The Crystal Shard

In March 1988, R.A. Salvatore’s first book of his many, many books about the dark elf ranger, Drizzt Do’urden, The Crystal Shard, was released. I read it a few days ago as part of my reread of all the Forgotten Realms novels. My impression? It was better written than Darkwalker on Moonshae. The dialogue, in particular, is much better. The story is told in three … Continue reading Book Review: The Crystal Shard

5E Adventure Review: The Five Temples of the Earthmother – Life and Moon

The Five Temples of the Earthmother, part 1: Life and Moon is a somewhat unwieldy title for an adventure. Thankfully, the adventure is a good one, well worth investigating. Written by Shawn Merwin and Christopher Sniezak, both of whom have written Organised Play adventures for Wizards of the Coast, as well as other adventures and supplements, the first instalment of Five Temples sets the player … Continue reading 5E Adventure Review: The Five Temples of the Earthmother – Life and Moon

D&D Expeditions Narratives

Have you ever wondered about what the background was on the adventures of the D&D Expeditions line? Now, you can find out! Travis Woodall, the D&D Adventurers League Content Manager, has uploaded three documents to the DMs Guild – one for each season – that have information on the story themes, city information, and NPC information that guided the creation of the adventures. Season 1 … Continue reading D&D Expeditions Narratives

Book Review: Ashes of the Tyrant

Ashes of the Tyrant is the fifth book in Erin M. Evans Brimstone Angels series, which tells the tale of two twin tiefling sisters in the Forgotten Realms. Following on from Fire in the Blood, this tale sees the sisters and their friends travelling to the Dragonborn city of Djered Thymar, where they must solve a series of murders in the city. A secondary plot … Continue reading Book Review: Ashes of the Tyrant

Book Review: Darkwalker on Moonshae

In May 1987, the first novel set in the new Forgotten Realms world was published. Darkwalker on Moonshae by Douglas Niles was a tremendous book – at least, that’s what I thought when I read it – several times – as a teenager. Today, I finished reading it again for the first time in decades. The book does not start well, with a fair bit … Continue reading Book Review: Darkwalker on Moonshae

On the Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide

The Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide is the first non-adventure book published by Wizards of the Coast for D&D 5th Edition since the core rulebooks. It’s an unusual book, as – unlike most of the campaign books released in the past – it is aimed primarily at players, not Dungeon Masters. This isn’t to say that Dungeon Masters won’t find it a useful book, but that it’s … Continue reading On the Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide

An Afternoon with Sword Coast Legends

As a break from my busy RPG and work schedule, I spent a bit of today playing through the default Sword Coast Legends campaign. I haven’t really gotten that far yet – I’m in Luskan, uncovering the plot against the guild at present – but I now have the experience of several hours playing the game. And I’m enjoying it. A lot more than I … Continue reading An Afternoon with Sword Coast Legends

Book Review: Spellstorm by Ed Greenwood

I first encountered the Forgotten Realms shortly after it was released as a campaign setting, then drifted away from it in the AD&D 2E days, before reconnecting with it recently. Thus, my knowledge of Realmslore is either very old, or very new. Spellstorm is Ed Greenwood’s latest book, and it combines the very old and the very new. The major characters in the book – … Continue reading Book Review: Spellstorm by Ed Greenwood

D&D Review: D&D Starter Set

Many of my reviews are written as “capsule” reviews, which is to say, reviews where I’ve read the product but haven’t played through it. The sheer amount of product against the number of hours I have available to play games necessitates that. For products which I do have the chance to play, it’s something of a relief. My judgement as to whether it’s a good … Continue reading D&D Review: D&D Starter Set