{"id":8182,"date":"2022-09-10T07:11:00","date_gmt":"2022-09-10T11:11:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tenfootpole.org\/ironspike\/?p=8182"},"modified":"2022-08-29T12:49:27","modified_gmt":"2022-08-29T16:49:27","slug":"the-fall-of-silverpine-watch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tenfootpole.org\/ironspike\/?p=8182","title":{"rendered":"The Fall of Silverpine Watch"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
By Scott Rehm\nAngry Games Inc\n5e\nLevel 1<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
While escorting a merchant through the alpine forests of Asternia, the heroes find that the titular fortress, Silverpine Watch, has barred it\u2019s gates to travelers. Inside the fortress, the heroes must deal with undead abominations risen from the Watch\u2019s former garrison and the vengeful ghost of the Watch\u2019s commander.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This 102 page adventure features a small garrison tower with 24 rooms. The designer justifies the page count by calling it an adventure for first time players. The basic outline of the adventure is not terrible, but the format is terrible and the descriptions depressingly flat. I can\u2019t imagine trying to run this thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ok, so, no, it\u2019s not 102 pages for 24 rooms. The actual adventure begins around seventeen, or maybe page twenty f you ignore the fluff meeting each other shit. Or, page 37 if you ignore a brief overland journey full of tutorial play. And, then, it send on page 68, so those 24 rooms \u201conly\u201d come in at 31 pages. Hey hey hey! Only about a page a room! Of course, in reality, some get two or three pages and an empty room just takes up a column. Just. The rest of the page count has the monster stats, some magic items descriptions, and maps and handouts and pregens. Sure, handouts are fun. Soak em in tea and burn em! But, also, ahem how about a little extra work on the adventure?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019m supposed to say nice things about an adventure first, but, I find that hard to do here. Because I am so offended. I think what I\u2019m most offended by is the implicit assertion that More is More, when it comes to an intro adventure. Describe everything. Provide excruciating detail nd advice to the DM on what to do and how to do it <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I cannot think of a more terrible way to introduce someone to D&D. By setting expectations that you need to know all of this, that you need to read and be familiar with all of this? That you need, what, sixteen thousand hours to prep the adventure, in order to run it? Or, worse, take forever reading a room, at the table while the players are waiting, to read and understand a room \u2026 while they bored and think thats what D&D is. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I am aware that people think I\u2019m fucking idiot. _I_ think I\u2019m a fucking idiot. But, shit like this is the reason WHY I harp on this shit so much. I don\u2019t know The Angry DM. I don\u2019t follow them. Presumably they have a decent audience and, I guess, are a decent DM. There is no way in fucking hell that they would use this adventure, as written, to run a game, could there be? No, surly not. So, instead., they wrote something that they would never use, in its current form? We do not learn how to play D&D by making each room in to a book. The fucking 1E DMG existed in a time in which there was no internet. There were not Tv shows and podcast and a million twitch streams and youtube channels showing people how to play D&D. If you want to know how to play D&D then you learn how to play D&D. I find it hard to believe that ANYONE would wander in to the Angry DM\u2019s website, find this adventure, and be like \u201cYup, thats it, I know nothing else but Im gonna grab four other people and play D&D!\u201d We must assume that people read English and will take a bathroom break when needed. Because otherwise we get something like this. Something SO padded out that it is impossible to run. SOmething that leaves the impression that you need billions of hours to prep and adventure and that running it will be an arduous task. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
And, notably, it does this without creating any sort of an interesting environment. The degree to which each room is described is \u2026 interesting. It\u2019s using an general overview statement and then some bullets, but, it\u2019s all facts based and EXTREMELY bland. It\u2019s meant, I think, for the DM to riff on. But it comes off as uninspired and mechanistic. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cB2 As Oona and the party chat, they round a bend in the road and find their way blocked by a fallen tree. The dense forest and rough terrain make it impossible to drive the cart around the roadblock. [useless text follows, then \u2026]<\/p>\n\n\n\n