Elderlight Press
Generic/Universal
levels 5-7
The quiet village at the mountain’s base is gripped with fear—protective symbols line every door, and whispers of shadowy figures haunting the forest grow louder. What sinister forces lurk in the mist? What ancient power stirs beyond the veil? Gather your party and ascend into the unknown, where the shadows themselves may not be what they seem…
This eight page “adventure” is just the flimsiest of pretexts to have some dice rolling in … three encounters?. It’s a read-aloud followed by a combat, in outline form.
There is a giant spectrum of games. You can play Warhammer. You can play one of those indie RPGs in which you explore your own death for some catharsis. Somewhere in the middle is D&D. I’m out camping right now. Just like D&D, camping means something to people. It could mean backpacking in to the woods over a week. It could also mean sleeping in a giant RV in the middle of a parking lot like campground while 600 grandkids run around and you sit around watching Tv outside. Or any of a thousand different variations. Now, someone says to you “Hey, wanna go camping?” Which one can you expect? Alas, it is the same with D&D. The D&D experience I’m looking for is not 4e. It’s not Warhammer. I’d play those if I wanted to play those. I’m not fanficing my character or min-maxing them. I’m a brave little tailor with a glint in my eye and sharp knife up my sleeve in a hole in the ground. I guess you get to play 4e D&D if you want, but I just don’t see the appeal when games do it better.
And thusly this adventure. It’s sitting in the generic/universal category but it is clearly 5e. But it’s the kind of 5et that is 4e. This is just the barest outline of an adventure in order to get to the die rolling. It starts with the Village. Literally the bolded heading ‘Village’ followed by “Dynamic Moment: As the players arrive, they witness a villager hurriedly nailing new protective charms to a door. A scream echoes from another house, abruptly silenced. This adds immediate tension.” You will get no details about that scream. It’s just window dressing. It’s all just window dressing. The first encounter is you travelling to a grover in the woods and getting attacked. I guess you talk to the villagers and they tell you they are scared of the grove and so you go? Anyway, you’re walking to the grove. There’s a short read-aloud ““The trees grow denser, their trunks twisted and blackened as though scorched by an unseen flame. The mist thickens with each step, swallowing sounds and casting strange shapes in the periphery of your vision. Then, the whispers start—faint voices at first, like distant murmurs on the breeze. But soon, the whispers form words: ‘Turn back… your fate awaits.’” And then combat starts as ‘Shadow Creatures’ attack you. What are they? Your guess is as good as mine, all we get is a pretty lengthy stat block with no description or ambiance to their attacks. The next encounter is your skill challenge, as you navigate some cliffs and ledges. Make an Athletics or Acrobatics roll to navigate safely. Last up, another very short read-aloud that says you’ve arrived and then are attacked by the grove’s shadow beast guardians. COMBAT! (In color! Caje is a cajun!)
If I ignore the half page stat blocks then the text here takes two pages. Which STILL seems excessive for a short read-aloud followed by a combat or skill check. There’s literally nothing more to this. Agnostic my ass.
For the sake of a civilized society you must be allowed to enjoy this gameplay. But, try as I might, I don’t see it. I guess, if that’s what you’re after then this adventure is perfect for you. It’s got a grid map for your minis and You get a little read-aloud before your die rolling starts. So, you found one that fits your style perfectly?
Also, there’s no fucking level range in the marketing/cover/etc. And no fucking loot.
This is $4 at DriveThru. The preview is six pages, and the core six pages of text, so you do get to see the entire adventure Good preview. And worth it to see a fine example of this sort of thing.
Per the blurb on Drivethru, it’s for levels 5 to 7. Which is also pretty much the first thing you see if you look at the preview. Maybe this was added after Bryce wrote his review?
It’s also part of an ongoing series, so I think the intention is that the PCs are already investigating rumours of shadow creatures (for some unspecified reason) so are motivated to check out the grove.
In terms of loot, the veilkeeper’s charm is a nice-to-have magic item, provided you are familiar enough with “5e speak” to translate “advantage on Wisdom saves against necrotic effects” into your system of choice.
The Rift Residue is of no practical use unless you are using a system that encourages crafting magic items. However, I can see some story potential in it – the Order of Naive Paladins offers you 500 gp for it, whereas the Order of Sinister Necromancers offers you 250 gp for it along with veiled threats about the consequences of turning down their generous offer.
As for the token of the Villagers’ gratitude, one of those plus 2 gp will purchase you a dagger in 3.x D&D.
So if you are playing it in a “gold for XP” system, then no XP for you.