Whimsical and Deadly – A Review of Castle Amber

Castle Amber is an adventure module that is packed with entertainment. Within its slender 32-page count, there are 70 encounter areas, 17 new(ish) monsters, and an adventure that can be particularly deadly. It just doesn’t always make that much sense. Inspired by the Averoigne short-stories of Clark Ashton Smith, an early 20th century writer of horror, fantasy and science-fiction, Tom Moldvay has crafted an adventure … Continue reading Whimsical and Deadly – A Review of Castle Amber

Review of Deities and Demigods for AD&D

Deities & Demigods is the second work published by TSR covering deities of different mythologies for the D&D game. The first work was Gods, Demigods and Heroes, which was the fourth supplement to the original D&D game. In the earlier work, Tim Kask, then rules editor at TSR, wrote, “This is our last attempt to delineate the absurdity of 40+ level characters. When Odin, the … Continue reading Review of Deities and Demigods for AD&D

Fun with Mushrooms – A review of In the Dungeons of the Slave Lords

In the Dungeons of the Slave Lords is the final adventure in the four-part Aerie of the Slave Lords series. It was originally written to be the final round of the AD&D Open Tournament at Gen Con XIII in 1980.  There’s no doubt that In the Dungeons of the Slave Lords was a tournament module, as it begins with the party, having been captured at … Continue reading Fun with Mushrooms – A review of In the Dungeons of the Slave Lords

Pathfinder’s Kingmaker – spoilers ahoy!

We finished our third session of the Pathfinder adventure path, Kingmaker, today, which also concluded the first volume of the six-volume set. It actually took a little longer than I expected, a little over three hours, which is not how long it looked when the group were finishing off the last of the exploration of map hexes; that proceeded fairly quickly, mainly because there were … Continue reading Pathfinder’s Kingmaker – spoilers ahoy!

Pathfinder NPC Fail – Council of Thieves

One of the lovely things about Pathfinder and 3.5e is that they allow the players a great deal of scope to build their characters. Occasionally too much, but if the player has an idea of what they’re doing, they can have a lot of fun with what is possible. 4E is more constricted, but – at this late point in the system’s development – it’s … Continue reading Pathfinder NPC Fail – Council of Thieves

A first look at “Lords of Waterdeep”

Thanks to the kind people at Wizards of the Coast (and especially Rodney Thompson), I’m now in possession of the new D&D boardgame, Lords of Waterdeep.  The game is mostly a worker-placement game, a common mechanics in European boardgames, but not one I’ve previously seen in a D&D-themed game. As I really, really enjoy worker placement games, I can’t wait to actually play it. Over … Continue reading A first look at “Lords of Waterdeep”

Pathfinder: Night of the Frozen Shadows review

The Jade Regent adventure path tells the story of Ameiko, lost heir to the Minkai Empire, and her travels to regain her birthright. The players take the roles of her companions as they overcome the challenges that stand between her and the throne. They are opposed by the current holders of the Empire – the Five Storms, a group of Oni who just need to … Continue reading Pathfinder: Night of the Frozen Shadows review

Review of C2: The Ghost Tower of Inverness

My reviews of old AD&D adventures have recently hit writer’s block, and that writer’s block has been caused by this adventure. Regarded as one of the classic AD&D adventures, The Ghost Tower of Inverness is a very strange module that is the second of the Competition series. In addition to the scenario, it also contained pregenerated characters and rules for scoring if you actually want to run … Continue reading Review of C2: The Ghost Tower of Inverness

Review of Thoth’s Dagger (from Call of the Chthonians)

Curse of the Chthonians is an scenario pack for Call of Cthulhu of four adventures. This is a review of Thoth’s Dagger, the third adventure in the pack, which I recently ran. The adventure reads well, with its plot revolving around the eponymous dagger which the characters first encounter at an auction in the United States. Misfortune and curses follow the dagger – and one of the … Continue reading Review of Thoth’s Dagger (from Call of the Chthonians)

Review of Mordenkainen’s Magnificent Emporium

It is fair to say that the fourth edition of Dungeons & Dragons has had a few problems with magic items. After the excesses of 3E, where a character needed about 10 magic items just to keep up (and for them to be continually increasing in value), the designers pared down that list to just three (armour, amulet and weapon) and then depreciated the effectiveness … Continue reading Review of Mordenkainen’s Magnificent Emporium