This is my ‘ToDo’ reviews list. Except maybe the old stuff. I don’t like reviewing older stuff. I’m not begging, I’m more just organizing the six separate ‘buy’ lists I have and informing people what is on my list.
“It’s on the list” … unless it’s not, in which case you should mail me your request.
Oh man, I don’t know.
Hope you haven’t stopped permanently… I enjoy reading your reviews.
I hope so too. This site is a great resource for checking out OSR adventures. You warn me about the shit ones so I don’t buy them! 🙂
And so do I.
I emailed you about a complimentary review copy of Liberation of the Demon Slayer a couple weeks ago. Let me know if you’re interested…
VS
More reviews on Google+ ?
Hey. You don’t know me… and I don’t know you… but I love your reviews.
I appreciate your (colorful) frankness. If you ever find yourself exhausted from reading ODD / OSR dreck, lacking inspiration to do another review, or just plain burnt out — because I can imagine that running this blog for so many years has got to have it’s low points — please do me a favor and take a short break, then come back to this very post, and soldier on!
I find your reviews immensely valuable, and your review insights point out many pitfalls I can avoid when creating my own adventures. Well done, sir. Well done.
Not yet any review of Beasts & Barbarians ? This is (based on the Savage Worlds) the best universe for Sword & Sorcery I have ever seen. I wrote a bunch a reviews about many of their products : http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product_reviews.php?products_id=96199&customers_id=886920
Hey Bryce, allow me to make a suggestion. You probably already know that WotC is going to release Tales From the Yawning Portal in April, containing seven old-school adventures adapted for the D&D 5E rules. It’s an official bridge between old and new! The adventures are:
– Against the Giants
– Dead in Thay
– Forge of Fury
– Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan
– Sunless Citadel
– Tomb of Horrors
– White Plume Mountain
Why don’t you review (or re-review) the old ones as the launch of the book approaches? And after the book is released, you do a review comparing the old and new, what’s better and what’s worse! That’d be awesome!
Anyway, suggestion made!
Keep on keeping on.
Hi Bryce, I’d recommend taking a look at the Treasure Vaults of Zadabad, and possibly the prequel Well of Souls. I think that TVoZ is amazing, and I’m surprised I don’t see more reviews of it. I wrote my own review on my own blog, but I’d be curious to see your take.
Added to the queue!
And,I need to do a much better job responding to people …
Any plans to review the Hyperborea modules?
– Ghost Ship of Desert Dunes
– The Mystery at Port Greely
– Forgotten Fane of the Coiled Goddess
– Beneat the Comet
Well, I guess now there are! 🙂
Some products to consider:
DCC 91 Journey to the Center of Aereth
DCC 91.1 The Lost City of Barako
adedded
I just found some new and different OSR-style adventures. Somebody has begun translating Danish OSR-adventures to English. Some are at DMs Guild, others at Drivethru.
Try and check out these two:
* Palace of Sweet Dreams (at DMs Guild)
* The Flooded Temple (at DriveThru)
Hey Bryce, if you want to check out “The Invitation From The Blue Baron” that would be cool! I’m curious to know your thoughts on the adventure.
You can get it here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-hlnlR7qn5XSjRiS0FHSnBWYkE/view
and here: http://drivethrurpg.com/product/214418/An-Invitation-From-The-Blue-Baron-A-Collaborative-Dungeon-For-Blueholme?src=hottest_filtered
Elevator pitch: This wonderful forty four page adventure that you hold in your hands was written for Blueholme Prentice rules ™. The book was a collaborative effort between some of the brightest minds in the Old School Role Playing community. Detailed within this book is a twenty two room dungeon, new monsters & spells, and all kinds of interesting twists. The Blue Baron holds his masquerade party annually, and because of this we have added a pile of random tables, which should easily allow replaying this adventure with different results! Grab a few sets of dice, some pencils, paper and few friends and delve into the masquerade.
I know these aren’t strictly traditional OSR, but they are OSR adjacent, neo-OSR, quasi-OSR, 4th wave OSR, etc., so here goes: Crimson Dragon Slayer edition 1.11, Slaves of Tsathoggua, Stairway of V’dreen, and the dungeon map/toolbox aids The S’rulyan Vault and The S’rulyan Vault II.
I only have one suggestion to make.
N3: The Destiny of Kings
One of the very few 1st Edition DnD scenarios to be upgraded and reprinted for the 2nd Edition and it’s not tied to any of the major settings…
Another suggestion, though I do hope at some point you get round to the one above.
Hard Light, it’s a ‘Keep on the Borderlands’ type scenario for the Stars Without Number reworking of D & D.
I want to add my vote for you to review old / classic modules. You say, there are enough reviews out there on them. I think nostalgia makes it hard for other reviewers who played them as kids to do them justice. Also, there is something special to your style. One example I know of is your contrarian view on Tomb of Horrors, which typically gets rave reviews elsewhere.
I think some of them are famous due to having shaped the hobby. Think about paintings from the early renaissance that introduced perspective into art: even though on an absolute scale the execution was flawed, this made them meaningful in a way the thousands of later works with slicker execution can never be. Likewise, the first social investigation adventure, the first with a timeline of unfolding events, the first with an antagonist who is not just waiting in the last room, like the original Ravenloft, broke new ground. You appear to be uninterested in the historical significance of these adventures, judging them rather on their merit for playability, wonder and fun. It would be valuable to get a review on them from that point of view.
If that is still not an option for you, I’d like to request reviewing the 5e Adventures WotC puts out, like Tales from the Yawning Portal, Tomb of Annihilation, etc. These are quite expensive to buy, and I believe you would provide a valuable service to your many readers who trust your judgment.
Dungeon Full of Monsters by RedBox Vancouver
A Field Guide to Hot Springs Island, & Dark of Hot Springs Island
The Field Guide was not an adventure. It’s the player’s guide to the adventure (Dark). It’s also, in my opinion, pretty contrary to the spirit of said adventure itself and not particularly useful to most GMs. Whereas Dark is a GOAT adventure setting IMO.
I wrote a review of each one:
Dark of Hot Springs Island: http://artifactsandrelics.blogspot.com/2017/07/pre-review-dark-of-hot-springs-island.html
A Field Guide to Hot Springs Island: http://artifactsandrelics.blogspot.com/2017/08/more-mini-reviews-pirates-of-drinax.html (the third mini-review)
Good Reviews. And good DM advice in your Sociopaths recap.
I’d love to hear about Dungeon Full of Monsters as well 🙂
Bryce,
do you have any plans to review Tomb of Annihilation from WotC?
Also, I second Hot Springs Island.
Hmmm, I had not. I’m allergic to ToHorrors. But, I’ll put it on the list. All three.
The Isles of Mist is a bunch of free materials: an island hexcrawl, some mini adventures, and the Thedron Barrows, a dungeon with factions. The island maps are beautiful. Hopefully worth your time to review.
Mistress of the Ghost City?
by Alphonso Warden? Ok, it’s on the list.
I’d like a review of Hot Springs Island as well. Also Mortzengersturm by Hydra Collective. Also World of the Lost by LotFP
If you are planning to do Pathfinder products, I’d love a review of Fen of the Five-Fold Maw (by TPK Games). My reaction to it was very different to Endzeitgeist’s review on Drivethru, and I’d really appreciate your take on it.
I hate you ‘Jeff.’ I declare, publicly and forever, that I now hate all ‘JEFF’s!
Oh man, just when you think you’ve hit rock bottom a Jeff comes along and suggests something like this.
I would love to know your thoughts on the most recent edition of The Lost City of Barakus
Seconded on Barakus
This one and Stoneheart Valley from Frog God games.
both on the list now
Hi Bryce !. I enjoy very much your reviews . Because of them , i’ve discovered: Fight on ! Magazine, Stonehell Dungeon, and too many other jewels of the OSR.
I would like to read your reviews about City of Dark Trolls (Fight On! Issue 14) , about the second half of Stonehell megadungeon ( into heart of Hell ) and finally about DCC module Journey to the Center of Aereth and its two suplemments.
Regards from Spain.
A couple more:
Frostbitten & Mutilated
The Gardens of Ynn
I thought Frostbitten was more of a setting?
And Gardens is just a random generator?
Frostbitten is…but it is pretty glorious and adventure oriented, similar to DCO.
Ynn- not sure; thought it was a point crawl similar to Slumbering Ursine Dunes
The Complete Roslof Keep Campaign
I’d like to suggest Tomb of the Lovelorn, it’s in the same series as The Flooded Temple, Grave of the Heartless and The Dragons Heart and from the preview looks to be one of the more intelligent dungeon scenarios out there.
@ Bryce, I’m curious why you’re bothering to review Pathfnder adventures at all. Pathfinder is the antithesis of old school. I can grudgingly understand why you review 5e products but Pathfinder? Don’t get it.
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Funny/TransformersGeneration2
???
I’m an idiot.
Ahh! Got it
Bryce, I love your reviews. I just wondered if ou had ever read the “Jaunt” series by Roan Studio
No vested interest on my part, I was just curious as to your opinion.
http://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse/pub/8657/Roan-Studio
I just added a few to my list.
I just came here to suggest that too! Nice maps.
You might want to check out Mines, Claws, Princesses
http://knights-n-knaves.com/thescribesofsparn/KK2-FINAL2-opt-a.pdf
I’d like to see you tackle the official BFRPG adventures: BF1 Morgansfort, BF2 Fortress, Tomb, and Tower, BF3 Strongholds of Sorcery, and so on. They’re all free at http://basicfantasy.org/downloads.html. As they’re for one of the first clones, and they don’t get talked about much, I’d like to read your take on them.
Also the later DCC adventures, since you seem to have stopped with those.
Tomb of the Necromancers, for Crypts & Things, since you liked Blood of the Dragon so much.
Lixury Palace of Bones
I think ‘Something Stinks in Stilton’ by the Melsonian Arts Council and ‘Sacrebleu’ might be up your alley.
You may want to read and review this lil’ fella – it seems to fit your ethos and style well.
Sacrebleu by Tito B.A.
http://www.rpgnow.com/product/243550/Sacrebleu?src=hottest_filtered
I’d like to see your thoughts on these:
http://www.rpgnow.com/product/132949/In-the-Wake-of-the-Zorkul-No-Art-Version
http://www.rpgnow.com/product/127617/ZH01-An-Overwhelming-Sense-of-Loss
I’d appreciate your thoughts on Shattered Heart Adventure Path #1, The Ties that Bind, by AAW Games. It was written for Pathfinder but there is also a 5th edition version. Endzeitgeist loved the Pathfinder version but is clearly biased (understandably so, in the circumstances), so a more objective review would be great.
Bryce, you should removed the Dungeon Magazine tag from this review https://tenfootpole.org/ironspike/?p=2219
Thx!
Found another one. Add the Dungeon tag to Dungeon Adventures 40 https://tenfootpole.org/ironspike/?p=2545
http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/245450/Name-Not-Found?src=newest_free_titles
Heir and Back Again
That better not be a pun …
http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/235454/5E-Heir–Back-Again
(un)fortunately not?
For something a bit different, you might review Kellerin’s Rumble (available for free download at Malrex’s Modules). One sentence summary: PCs get to interact with a James Bond villain (complete with crocodiles).
There have been a lot of official DCC adventures published since your last review of a Goodman product. As a DCC fanboy, I’ve really enjoyed one (Enter the Dagon), been underwhelmed by most and disappointed by a bunch. I’d be interested to hear your take.
Edgewise: If you’re willing, I’d be interested in what you found good and not good at table. Have you written about any of this on a blog or forum or google plus, etc?
as a rule of thumb all stroh adventures are really good. i also have enjoyed shadow under devil reef by hook and curtis’ shudder stuff.
‘Do Not Let Us Die in the Dark Night of this Cold Winter’. Some sort of survival-type wilderness thing where the players can save a starving freezing village? Looks really interesting. You should check it out Bryce!
Hey Bryce, I know it’s more of a survey than an in-depth review, but would you be up for hitting some of the more recent One Page Dungeon Compendiums? They’re grab-bags of great/mediocre/crap, but I love stealing ideas and maps from them.
I’d be interested in a review of Necromancer Games’ Tomb of Abysthor, either the original d20 version, the Pathfinder version or the Swords & Wizardry version (for the latter two the Tomb is part of the “Stoneheart Valley” product from Frog God Games). It appears to be highly regarded, and has a lot of stuff in it I like, but there are also a few bits that I strongly dislike (mostly the entries which include the phrase “Lawful Good characters who …”).
I can say that it is one of the most fun dungeons I have run. It has a very good balance of exploration, combat, and sense of wonder; it is just large enough to feel expansive without being overwhelming (which Rappan Athuk tends to be); and it has a good variety of content. It hits a lot of sweet spots, and it has worked nicely in practice. There is one level (Abysthor’s tomb) which is kinda linear and gimmicky, but otherwise, it is very solid.
I want to like Necromancer/Frog God adventures, but find them uninspiring and boring and very mundane ( other than the hex crawl classics line). There is a certain flatness and density of text I find hard to overcome.
That’s my impression too. Walls of text everywhere, and no solid reasons to believe it’s worth the time. Even the art looks pedestrian and samey. It’s a shame, because the production values seem good and we all want to like their stuff. Prices don’t help either.
The Mortuary Temple of Esma, by Anthony Huso (he of Night Wolf Inn).
The Weird That Came to Brigdoltan, a Dolmenwood adventure.
And by my previous post, I MEANT The Weird That Befell Drigbolton, a Dolmenwood adventure
https://tenfootpole.org/ironspike/?p=3584
Whoops, I sure missed that. Thanks.
The Dragon’s Secret by Jennell Jaquays.
Given you regard her as the greatest living adventure writer (and I think the case can be made), I’m surprised you haven’t reviewed this yet.
A sample from the Hexed Places series. (Minimal hexcrawl, on rpgnow.)
Found a PWYW one that looks decent at first blush:
https://www.rpgnow.com/product/250834/City-of-Illanter-Kellerins-Rumble
…perhaps the message is getting out there.
I enjoyed the review. Thanks!
You are a force of nature (in a good way like the tides, not at all like flatulence or dead fish)
Thanks for the suggestion squeen! 🙂
It’s been a while since you’ve reviewed any DCC adventures. I loved Enter the Dagon, but I have been disappointed by a number of other recent releases.
If you have a chance you might really like Ben L.’s “Through Ultan’s Door” Issue#1 – it’s 90% a 30 room dungeon crawl.
https://throughultansdoor.bigcartel.com/
I also admit this is a bit self promotional as I played through this dungeon with the author GMing and later drew the map in the zine.
How about The Castle That Fell From the Sky. http://www.lulu.com/shop/steve-robertson-and-jimm-johnson/the-castle-that-fell-from-the-sky/ebook/product-23854671.html
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/m/product/257155 – latest Hill Cantons product
In the same vein: https://www.rpgnow.com/product/256916/Witchburner . Second-latest Hydra product? I just grabbed this along with the newest from Dying Stylishly, a thematic kin to Gardens of Ynn: https://www.rpgnow.com/product/257113/The-Stygian-Library .
A review of the (deliberately wordy) Witchburner could be combined in a compare and contrast with the shorter (and randomly generated) The Village and the Witch.
I know you’ve been avoiding 5e reviews recently, but what about Dungeon of the Mad Mage? Megadungeon, Undermountain, 23 dungeon levels for characters from levels 5 to 20, different themes on each dungeon level… and even a derelict Spelljammer vessel! I’d really like to see your point of view on this one, so there goes my suggestion!
Thanks!
🙂
JD1 Cess-Pit of the Bog-Mother and JD2 Darkland Moors are small modules by TSR artist Jeff Dee. I haven’t heard much about them either way, and I’d be curious to see what sort of adventure chops Dee has.
Also, Malrex (“Red Prophet Rises”) has a new one: Standoff at Sandfell Sea Fort.
Another thing you might want to check out is Dead Planet for Mothership – It’s a couple adventures and adventure generators – a bit a kit, but it’s fun and clever. Also gotta be a change of pace after all these drippy 5E things – space horror pastiche!
The Book of Terniel for…Pathfinder. I would actually run this thing! (a PF adventure no less). There are some things that can be done better, but the layout, flavor, internal consistency, player agency, and formatting are excellent and work harmoniously together- really done with the GM and play at the table in mind. I feel like more adventure writers should read this thing just to see what a good layout looks like for adventures.
ok, but this if this is a troll … I’m reposting the midwestern truecoat movie clip again.
Since I like to find weird and interesting stuff for you to review…”Darkmoor RPG: Once Upon a Time there was a Swamp”…the Darkmoor description is fascinating…
“Darkmoor is a game set in a self-deprecating fantasy universe, full of action and magic, where anything is possible! Giant apes and huge, colourful pandas train in the art of kung fu in remote monasteries in preparation for the Steel Fists Tournament. Huge robot toys chase one another through different parallel dimensions waging an automated miniatures war. Coins, jewelry and all kind of possible treasures pop out of the monsters you just killed in dungeons created by crazy robot butlers
Have no clue if this thing is any good…but that’s some crazy gonzo shit.
Bryce, Pacesettergames is having a sale right now. All PDFs are $2 piece. I know you’ve reviewed a few of their modules before but there’s a bunch more. You might want to take a look
http://www.pacesettergames.com/
I’ve never heard of any of these!
Bryce, Pacesetter Games is currently running a sale on all of their modules. PDFs are only $2 each. Might be worth grabbing some to review. http://www.pacesettergames.com
Well, that’s odd. Posted twice an hour and a half apart lol
I still maintain if you want to be taken seriously as a reviewer you need to review material such as Dark Tower, Caverns of Thracia, WG4, and so on so that folks who know exactly how good such material is can judge YOU on your reviews.
The only way he can be taken seriously as a reviewer is to review the classics? Yeah, okay. I keep waiting for your drum to break so I won’t have to keep hearing you beat it anymore.
Suck my drum.
Clever. Why don’t you Darwin Award yourself, you waste of skin
Invasion of the Tuber Dudes? No reviews but it looks Brycey.
Bryce, can you resist doing a review of RPGPundit Presents #59? (You will understand why when you read the title.) Or is that one safely left to the Prince of Nothing?
I was on the brink of failing my saving throw; too bad I have already reviewed parts of this series: https://beyondfomalhaut.blogspot.com/2017/10/review-rpgpundit-presents-1-3.html
I’ve sworn off Pundit stuff until I hear someone say he’s written something more serious. The last few forays in to Presents have each seemed like one little idea expanded upon a little … “there’s a castle with a guy living in it”
“While the source material could theoretically be interesting it is conveyed with textbook bluntness that utterly strips it of any potential to inspire or amaze. The best that may be said of it is that it is functional and executed with a workmanlike efficiency that makes it easy to adapt it into one’s homecampaign. Like a reverse King Midas, Pundit’s touch never fails to turn gold into lead. Try again. 3 out of 10. ”
Apply judiciously where needed.
Bryce, have you had the opportunity to look at « What Ho, Frog Demons », Hill Canton’s latest release?
Another thing that might interest you is « Witchburner » by Luka Rejec
I was wondering if The Pretty Girl is up for a review? The Tar Pits of the Bone Toilers. Happy to send a complimentary copy.