In the Belly of the Beast is not only an excellent product in its own right, it deserves to be the template by which other adventures will be written.

Review Originally Published May 21st, 2001

Not only is every Penumbra product from Atlas Games a tour de force of excellence, each betrays an immense talent which is capable of constantly providing a fresh perspective to every aspect of a high quality product. In the Belly of the Beast, sprung forth from the brow of Mike Mearls, offers no contradiction to this rapidly emerging reputation.

PLOT & CONCEPT

Warning: This review will contain spoilers for In the Belly of the Beast. Players who may find themselves playing in this adventure should not read beyond this point.

In the Belly of the Beast begins when the players are approached by Bruno Mezzia, son of Hallan Mezzia and heir of House Mezzia – a powerful and wealthy family in possession of a trading empire. He wants the PCs to help him take care of the Ring of Iron, a local guild of thieves and slavers which has been causing problems. What the PCs don’t know, though, is that Bruno is trying to establish his own position of power within the city’s underworld – and is planning to use the PCs to do it.

When the PCs and Bruno attempt to go after a stronghold of the Ring of Iron located in the city’s sewer system, however, things go wrong: Unknown to Bruno (or the PCs), a member of the Ring of Iron has come into possession of a rare and strange magical item belonging to a necromancer. In fact, the necromancer from whom they had stolen it had – in turn – stolen it from a tribe of orcs.

What none of them knew is that the magic item in question was a chrysalis – an egg from which the demon Vog Mor would be born into the world. While located in the sewer stronghold, the egg has hatched – trapping the Ring of Iron, the necromancer’s apprentice (who killed his master and now pretends to be the master), and a war party of orcs who came after the egg inside the belly of the slowly emerging Vog Mor.

Bruno and the PCs, of course, end up in exactly the same place.

So, to sum up:

The PCs, the head of a would-be crime family, a gang of slavers, a war party of orcs, and a would-be necromancer (who is slowly going insane) are all trapped in the belly of a demon who, in a few short hours, is going to wake up and take over the world.

Cool.

SOMETHING NEW IN MODULES

“This adventure is roleplaying-intensive.”

How many times have you seen a module claim that? 15? 50? 500 times? How many times have you read those modules and then found out the author was telling you a bald-faced lie?

Every single time, right?

The problem with writing a “roleplaying-intensive” module is that, by its very nature, character interactions cannot be as neatly summed up as “when you open the door you see 5 orcs in a 10’ x 10’ room playing poker”. Monsters meant for slaying, traps meant for escaping, dungeons meant to explore. These can be quantified, described, and mapped with precision. Negotiations with King Strophius to release the Mycenaen prince he holds for ransom? That’s a bit more difficult to put down on paper – and ultimately relies upon the particular DM and PCs who are handling the negotiations.

So “roleplaying-intensive” adventures are an interesting conundrum: You can make ‘em. You can run ‘em. You just can’t buy ‘em.

Or so I thought.

There are times when I love being proved wrong.

In the Belly of the Beast is a roleplaying-intensive adventure, and it really, really, really works. No, really: It does. Would I lie to you?

So how does Mearls do it?

First, he gives you five different factions of power in the demon’s belly: The PCs (which he, of course, leaves undefined), Bruno Mezzia and his thugs, the Ring of Iron slavers, the Blood Hatchet orc war party, and the “necromancer” and his servant. Each group is detailed, and each member of the group is detailed – giving the DM a full grasp on his cast of characters.

Next, he gives everyone a common goal: Escape the demon belly.

Then, he gives everyone a common enemy: The servants of the demon who are trying to get past the impromptu barricade and kill everyone.

And then, to round out the foundation of the scenario, he gives everyone a reason for distrusting everyone else – and a reason to ally with one another against the others.

Into this potently developed dynamic, Mearls then adds an exhaustively detailed series of events (and potential events) which allow the mutable plot of the adventure to form. Mearls carefully designs this episodic plot so that it can adapt to whatever actions the PCs may take, giving the DM a strong helping hand without forcing them to tie their players into strait jackets. At the same time, he doesn’t allow the episodic nature of his narrative structure to dominate the actual playing experience – tying his events to each other in a variety of ways, so that the underlying dynamic of the scenario will create a holistic and memorable gaming experience no matter who plays it… or how.

CONCLUSION

So, at the end of the day, In the Belly of the Beast lays claim to being something a little different, something a little new, and something which should definitely find its way into your gaming library. In fact, if your players aren’t able to look back fondly and say, “Hey, remember that time we were stuck in the belly of Vog Mor?” then you’ve definitely made a big mistake in not grabbing this module up and running it.

Now, a real quick note on a weakness I think the product has: It is marketed as containing a “tear-out section”. This section contains the stat sheets for the major NPCs, a combat chart, a hand-out, and the adventure’s map. I, honestly, cannot imagine anyone actually bothering to tear this section out of the module – and the net result is that information which could have been presented in a truly useful manner, now disrupts the lay-out of an otherwise excellently presented adventure. While I applaud Penumbra for experimentation on the one hand, on the other I wish that they would focus on producing the high quality product they’ve proven they’re ably capable of producing and leave the gimmicks for when they are truly deserved and needed.

That’s my assessment as a reviewer, GM, and player. Now, if you’ll indulge me for a moment, I’d like to pass my judgment on this product as a freelancer who has written or contributed to roughly half a dozen D20 products:

In the Belly of the Beast establishes a paradigm for developing roleplaying-intensive modules. Mearls is, of course, building upon design tools which have been developed before, but, to my eyes, he has done so by creating the ground floor of something that deserves a very close look. I, personally, am already working on a module which will play around with and develop these concepts – and, once I’m done with that, I’m probably going to take a look at combining it with an old idea of my own and seeing how they can be combined to enhance a dungeon environment. I encourage other freelancers (and GMs) to look at Mearls’ work in this light as well – not only to duplicate what he has done, but also to open your minds to doing things using new tools and methods.

Okay, I’m off my soapbox. You can stop reading and go out to buy your own copy now.

…

No, seriously. I’m done.

…

C’mon. Get out of here.

…

Look, I’m going to call the cops if you don’t leave!

…

Okay, that’s it. You’re in trouble now, big guy! You just wait and see!

Style: 4
Substance: 5

Author: Mike Mearls
Publisher: Atlas Games
Line: Penumbra
Price: $8.95
ISBN: 1-887801-96-0
Product Code: AG3202
Pages: 32

This adventure had a HUGE impact on me as a GM. I’ve previously discussed its influence on the Universal NPC Roleplaying Template, and you can trace its impact all the way into So You Want to Be a Game Master. I think it would be fair to say it’s directly or indirectly impacted almost every single roleplaying scene I’ve run in the past quarter century.

I also remember it being incredibly effective in actual play. The faction setup, the flexible diplomatic relations, the event sequence, and the looming threat of Vog Mor all combined beautifully. (Although, if I recall correctly, I souped things up with some material from The Book of Fiends.)

So, yeah, this one is a certifiable classic. Really deserves to be on more Best Adventures of All-Time lists.

For an explanation of where these reviews came from and why you can no longer find them at RPGNet, click here.

“More chaos on the chessboard.” A sequel to the classic Knightmare Chess, Knightmare Chess 2 can be used independently of the original or as an expansion.

Review Originally Published May 21st, 2001

My review of the original Knightmare Chess can be found here. If you are unfamiliar with that game, you should probably check that review out first, as I give a more detailed overview of the mechanics and gameplay therein.

“Move a piece. Play a card. Chess will never be the same…”

This was the tagline of the original Knightmare Chess.

“More Chaos on the Chessboard.”

And this is the tagline of Knightmare Chess 2.

The game found in Knightmare Chess 2 is identical to the first game. In fact, Knightmare Chess 2 is designed to be totally independent of the original – including all of the rules, and requiring none of the cards, from the original. It can also, of course, be played as an expansion set.

Once again, Rogério Vilela is responsible for the haunting, evocative, mesmerizing, and unquestionably gorgeous illustrations to be found in elegant display upon each and every card in the set – granting Knightmare Chess 2, like its predecessor, a unique and memorable visual presence at the game table.

The sole detectable difference between Knightmare Chess and Knightmare Chess 2, in my opinion, is one of degree: In Knightmare Chess 2 you will find cards haunting the extremes. Whereas the majority of the cards in Knightmare Chess were fairly predictable and understandable variations upon the rules of chess, in Knightmare Chess 2 you will find that many cards will have only an extremely subtle effect upon your strategy – while others will have all the tactical delicacy of a jackhammer.

But after playtesting these games extensively – both in isolation and in various combinations with each other – there is no doubt in my mind: Knightmare Chess 2 measures up to the immense quality of its predecessor in every way. Although I’d still recommend picking up Knightmare Chess first, but Knightmare Chess 2 should find its way to your gaming table soon after.

Style: 5
Substance: 5

Designers: Pierre Clequin and Bruno Faidutti
Publisher: Steve Jackson Games
Price: $14.95
ISBN: 1556343485
Production Code: SJG1322

The current edition of Knightmare Chess from Steve Jackson Games includes both the original Knightmare Chess and Knightmare Chess 2.

I quite like the “expansion pack which is also a stand-alone version of the game” model. Steve Jackson Games has used this for a number of different games going all the way back to OGRE and GEV. More recent examples include the various Dominion games. I think it’s a model that could be very profitable and useful for RPGs (albeit not ones with 300 page rulebooks).

For an explanation of where these reviews came from and why you can no longer find them at RPGNet, click here.

I think my eyes are bleeding.

Review Originally Published May 21st, 2001

I knew I was in trouble with Galal’s Grave when I read this on the very first page: “Enmity between Elf and Dwarf was laid aside to sunder Evil else all was lost.”

Perhaps I was merely rushing to judgment – and there was, in fact, some perfectly good reason for the elves and dwarves to go around separating “Evil” into pieces (rather than doing more logical things, such as eliminating or destroying it). But if there was such a reason, it remains blissfully undisclosed within the pages of this module.

The mislaid cliché and questionable thesaurus-dipping of that passage, unfortunately, is only slightly indicative of a tone which infects the entire introduction of the adventure. The inexplicable “Evil” makes war with “Elves” and “Dwarves”, which are sometimes referred to as “Good” and, puzzlingly, as the “fey”. We learn that the Elves had a hero in Galal, and the dwarves had a hero in Balor – who were both killed when “Evil surprised the force of Good”. (Strangely this happened at a time when the “forces of Good” were both “poised to eradicate the remnants of Evil” and “in the midst of overwhelming odds”). Galal and Balor were buried in “unknown graves”.

PLOT

Warning: This review will contain spoilers for Galal’s Grave. Players who may find themselves playing in this adventure should not read beyond this point.

You know, I don’t really have any objections to alliteration, per se. For example, I don’t have anything against “Galal’s Grave” as a title. But I have to admit that I’m more than a little skeptical about the adventure starting in an inn named “Gulum’s Gullet”. I mean, honestly, people. We’re in the middle of a G shortage.

This is, of course, where the PCs enter the picture: They come to the Gullet through a number of possible hooks – ranging from the cliched (they’re on their way to a “city filled with adventure” when they stop at the inn) to the bizarre: “It is the 79th anniversary of Galal and Balor and strange lights have once again been sighted around Gulum’s Gullet, an inn within a nearby village. Last year was the 78th consecutive year the lights have appeared. Perhaps one of the graves is nearby?” Perhaps. But other questions abound: Why does the 79th anniversary suddenly have people making the connection? Why is Gullum’s Gullet named instead of the village as a whole? If it was “four score and seven years ago” (87 years ago) that the struggle with “Evil” took place (as we are told on page 2), why is it now only 79 years since it took place?

Anyway. Once you’ve got the PCs in the inn (which is frequented by everyone from peasants to merchants to mercenaries to nobles), they’ll hear a gleeman recite a poem about Galal and Balor. Afterwards the gleeman will tell them that “’tis no secret where Galal is buried” – despite the fact that, two pages earlier, we were told that nobody knew where he was buried. (Which is okay, because, quite frankly, it’s pretty silly for the secret to have been “lost in time” when it happened within the lifetime of your average elf and dwarf.)

If they follow the gleeman’s “exacting directions” they will come upon a path, which they can follow. The only trick is that – at one point – the path branches in two: One path (which has been marked by a boulder as the “path of life”) leads away from the grave. The other path (which has been marked the “path of death”) leads to the grave. This was done by dwarves who were asked to aid the elves in their “deception.” Yeah, those tricky elves – marking the path to a GRAVE as a path of DEATH.

Who am I to judge, though? It’s apparently worked for the past 79 and/or 87 years.

At this point there are several keyed descriptions. Unfortunately, it appears that they forgot to print the map for this part of the adventure and it’s practically impossible to render any sort of connected sense out of it. A few choice bits of illogic do appear, though: For example, an orc shaman who believes that a sentient tree holds a legendary blade demands that the tree hand it over. The tree refuses. The shaman responds by killing the tree and cursing it to act as a prison for the legendary blade. Oh, that crafty orc shaman. He got just what he wanted.

…

… wait a minute.

Anyway, things proceed pretty normally once the PCs are inside the prison tree. Maps for the interior of the tree are included (poorly done as they are), and the adventure reveals itself as a fairly boring and cliched dungeon – despite the interesting premise of locale.

To add insult to injury, it turns out at the end of the day that this is just a false crypt. The real grave of Galal is somewhere else entirely. Ha ha. Gotcha.

To which one is forced to reply:

Who cares?

OTHER WEAKNESSES

Galal’s Grave compounds its other problems with a mediocre lay-out and overall design. Adding to this sense of amateurism, unfortunately, is the artwork of Derek T. Stevens. At times Stevens betrays moments of high quality which are made even more noteworthy by the distinctively exotic character of his work (for example, the pieces on pages 11 and 15 of Galal’s Grave). At other times, however, Stevens betrays his neophyte status (most notably in pieces such as that found on page 8 of Galal’s Grave).

CONCLUSION

I would like to say Galal’s Grave is not without its strong points. I hate telling lies, though, so I can’t.

In the final analysis I’m afraid the conclusion is self-evident: The OGL and D20 trademark licenses have produced some products of truly exceptional quality. Galal’s Grave, on the other hand, represents the other end of the spectrum that we all knew would crop up sooner or later: A poor vision, compounded with amateur production values and layers of cliches deep enough to choke a horse.

Style: 2
Substance: 1

Title: Galal’s Grave
Authors: Jamie Lloyd
Company: Fiend Games
Line: D20
Price: $6.00
ISBN: 1-931275-00-9
Production Code: TLG1501
Pages: 22

When discussing the OGL and similar open licenses, some people will point to adventures like Galal’s Grave and conclude that the OGL is a mistake. “Look at all the garbage!”

I have a different mindset: As Theodore Sturgeon said, 90% of everything is crap.

Look not at the worst that the OGL or science fiction or television has to offer. Instead, consider all of the priceless gems and wonders which we would otherwise not have.

As for the rest of it?

Well, that’s why we have reviews.

For an explanation of where these reviews came from and why you can no longer find them at RPGNet, click here.

Privateer Press blasts its way into the D20 marketplace with a module of surpassing quality and a setting whose merest hints are inherently intriguing.

Review Originally Published May 21st, 2001

When The Longest Night, Book One of Privateer Press’ Witchfire Trilogy, showed up in my mailbox it immediately drew my attention:

First, it was 64 pages for $9.95 – which, if the material inside was of any quality at all, would make it a fairly great value in the D20 marketplace.

Second, the book’s artwork and layout were extremely slick. In fact, of all the first-time D20 publishers, I would have to say that Privateer Press has put together the best-looking inaugural product so far. (For those of you who don’t care what a product looks like, consider: If someone’s willing and capable of putting together a visually appealing product, it vastly increases the chances that they cared enough to make the actual meat of the product worth biting into.)

Finally, the first page I flipped open to was page 11 – which features a great picture of an “industrial steamjack” (which is also found in the background of the back cover). For lack of a better description, a steamjack is basically a steampunk mecha.

Admittedly, this last element made me more than a little skeptical of the book’s claim that the DM could “easily replace the names of gods, locations, and the like” in order to use the adventure in any campaign world. But it did leave me seriously intrigued about the Iron Kingdoms setting which Privateer Press is introducing here.

SETTING

Warning: This review will contain spoilers for The Witchfire Trilogy. Players who may find themselves playing in this adventure should not read beyond this point.

The first dozen pages of The Longest Night present the merest inklings of the Iron Kingdoms setting, with most of the focus being set upon Corvis – the city in and around which the adventure takes place. A few highlights:

The Iron Kingdoms are most notably set apart from other fantasy settings by their possession of steam technology. The most impressive display of this technology is the steamjack: A robotic entity (which looks a lot like a heavy gear to me, but I’m biased) which is powered by steam and given a brain by magic, and on which the rapid growth of the Iron Kingdoms has been built.

The Kingdom of Cygnar, in which the city of Corvis is to be found, was founded roughly 400 years ago at the end of the Orgoth Empire. Little is known of the Empire, but its ruins and relics can still be found throughout the Iron Kingdoms. Cygnar was ruled by a tyrant as recently as a few decades ago. Fortunately, the tyrant (Raelthorne) was overthrown by Leto, his younger brother. Unfortunately, Raelthorne escaped – and many of his cronies have simply slipped through the cracks.

Corvis, itself, is a port city built upon the junction of two major rivers. It is also built in the middle of a swamp, which has given it a unique architecture: Instead of building out, the city has built up. The lowest levels of the city (the Undercity) have actually sunk beneath the swamp itself, creating a series of what are essentially urban dungeons in which a wide variety of creatures can be found. At the highest levels the rich and powerful can be found, and inbetween is everyone else.

The Longest Night gives us only the meresting inklings of what the complete Iron Kingdoms setting will hold, but what’s here is extremely intriguing: First, Staroscik has laid out a geography which makes it easy to justify dungeon complexes and ruins: Either they’re sunken catacombs beneath the city, or ruins of the Orgoth Empire, or the remnant of a resistance movement. Next, he gives you a number of different places from which to spice an adventure – villains who escaped with Raelthorne’s rule, ancient imperial relics, and so forth. Finally, he wraps all of this up into a great fantasy setting, which is given a very unique character through the light application of a few steampunk elements – not enough to overwhelm the traditional fantasy atmosphere, but more than enough to add a little excitement.

ADVENTURE

Ten years ago a coven of witches in Corvis was executed, with the town universally condemning them to death. The truth, however, was that the trial was the machination of a corrupt politician – Magistrate Borloch — who had first used the coven to gain power and then set them up in order to cover his own back. Actually, there is a deeper truth: Borloch himself had been manipulated by the mage Vahn Oberen. Oberen had set the entire chain of events in motion so that he could act as the witch’s executioner, chopping their heads off with the arcane Witchfire – a blade which would allow him to steal the sorcerous powers of the witches.

Unfortunately for Oberen, things didn’t go exactly according to plan: He did execute the witches, but was knocked unconscious by the powerful forces flowing into him. Borloch rushed the mage away before his identity could be discovered, and Father Dumas, the head of the local church who was seeing to the burial of the witches, unwittingly entombed the Witchfire with them.

Fast forward ten years: Alexia Ciannor, Dumas’ nieceand the daughter of one of the coven members, was only a young girl when her mother was executed. Now, however, she is a powerful sorceress in her own right – and hungry for revenge.

The PCs get involved when Alexia starts stealing corpses, and Father Dumas asks them to find out who’s doing it. The PCs will eventually figure out that the corpses are the jurors from the trial of the coven ten years ago (Alexia is practicing her abilities to create the undead and getting some of her revenge at the same time). This will lead them to the crypt in which four of the witches were buried (the fifth, Alexia’s mother, and the Witchfire are entombed at the Church in Corvis – a warning against all others who would practice witchcraft). There they will learn that Alexia has raised them as well (she is attempting to bring the entire coven back to “life”). This will eventually take them to Alexia’s hideout in the Undercity, but she will escape – leading them to the abandoned Fort Rhyker, where Alexia has slowly been creating an army of undead. The adventure wraps up when Alexia marches her undead forces against the city of Corvis, using them as a distraction so that she can strike at her mother’s tomb – raising her from the dead and seizing the Witchfire. Oberen will attempt to seize the Witchfire at this time, as well, and the PCs will be decisive in determining which of the two sorcerors end up with the blade.

(The reason the adventure is called The Longest Night can be found in the timing of Alexia’s attack: She chooses to strike during the Longest Night Festival – so called because it takes place during an eclipse which blackens the sky for an entire day.)

WEAKNESSES

The biggest problem I found in the adventure was in the initial investigation sequence (during which the PCs are attempting to figure out the identity of the person stealing the corpses). Staroscik needs to strew around a lot more clues in this section if he seriously expects PCs to figure out what’s going on (without, of course, having the DM lead them by the nose from one clue to another). Here’s a rule of thumb that’s always served me well in designing mystery scenarios: Assume that the PCs will miss one clue in three, and you’ll probably have your bases covered. Staroscik, on the other hand, seems to assume that the PCs are going to track down every single bread crumb he plants. He’s wrong, and quite a few playing groups are going to find themselves wandering around without a clue (pun intended).

The only other problem with the adventure’s structure is to be found immediately after the PCs return from the tomb of the first four witches. Staroscik points out that the PCs will have probably figured out that Alexia is somehow involved in all of this (although his exact reasoning here is a little vague – again, more clues are necessary). He then proceeds to stonewall them from actually going after Alexia (the guard will ignore their accusations, Father Dumas will oppose them, etc.) – forcing them to simply follow her until she can lead them to her secret hide-out.

First off, stonewalling the PCs is just not cool. And, furthermore, there’s no need to do it here. If the PCs do go after Alexia, then they can still end up in her secret base by having her take them there. What’s really annoying is that Staroscik actually sets up all the pieces to make this work (including an escape plan for Alexia once they’ve reached her secret base beneath the city), but encourages DMs to stonewall their PCs anyway. Silly and clumsy.

My biggest gripe (as opposed to a serious problem) with The Longest Night is the lack of steamjack stats. This is a major oversight, not only because they seem to be pushed as one of the really unique elements of the setting, but also because Staroscik uses one in the course of the adventure. Although the oversight can be worked around, it shouldn’t have to be.

The only other problems are nothing more than nitpicks, really: The map of Corvis provided (which is done in a historical style – which is to say that it’s more a picture of the city with certain locations keyed) doesn’t seem to really match the description in the text (and a number of locations are left unkeyed). Some boxed text didn’t get boxed (but should obviously be read outloud to the PCs). The maps of Fort Rhyker are very confusing and need to be puzzled out to a degree because the relationships between staircases are not immediately apparent (each floor and section of the fort is printed on a completely separate page). At one point Staroscik claims that a protection form evil spell will prevent Alexia from entering an area – but Alexia’s write-up lists her as neutral, not evil. Minor typos. That type of thing.

STRENGTHS

All right, before I nitpick the product to death, let’s take a look at the strengths of The Longest Night (which are considerable):

First off, as I note above, the setting is extremely well-designed. And, surprisingly, the city of Corvis and its surroundings can be easily included into any generic fantasy world. Removing the steam technology (which is really the only potentially jarring element of the adventure) can be accomplished by simply ignoring it whenever it’s included. (On the other hand, you could include Corvis as a city in which this new technology is just now being pioneered.) Staroscik makes this an even more attractive proposition by loading the city, even in its brief coverage here, with elements and adventure seeds which go far beyond the scope of this single adventure.

Second, the adventure itself – like the setting – can easily be incorporated into campaign setting. Corvis provides a distinct backdrop for the adventure, but Staroscik is careful to keep the structure of the adventure separate from the backdrop – so replacing Corvis with any other city of your choosing is easily accomplished.

And, of course, the adventure is worth playing. Despite a handful of minor structural flaws (which are easily fixed – increasing the number of places a clue can be found and ignoring Staroscik’s advice to stonewall your PCs should take you all of about five minutes), The Longest Night has a great plot, set-up, and cast of characters. It is also an adventure which hits a lot of different notes: You’ve got an investigation, an urban dungeon, a wilderness dungeon, a fortress, and a siege by the undead.

The Longest Night is also distinguished by the simple care with which it has been crafted: For example, Staroscik is careful to provide insight and support into multiple solutions for any problem – including non-combat solutions – looking at not only the short-term, but also the long-term impacts they will have on a game. Perhaps the best example of this is to be found when the PCs enter the tomb of the four witches, in which a tribe of gobbers has taken up residence. This is the same tribe of gobbers which assaulted the caravan the PCs were guarding at the beginning of the adventure – and Staroscik draws a number of different ways in which they can be linked, taking a minor background element and suffusing it throughout the adventure as a whole.

CONCLUSION

The Longest Night is an excellent adventure for any campaign world, and the quality and care which has been shown here is more than sufficient to draw me back for the next two parts in the trilogy.

The strengths of this product have also left me looking forward to Privateer’s release of Corvis: A Guide to the City of Ghosts later this summer. The Iron Kingdoms setting is truly fascinating, and even if I don’t run a campaign there full time, I’ve got my fingers crossed that Privateer will keep walking a fine line which will allow me to incorporate Corvis into another campaign world with relative ease.

And, god help me, I’m even keeping one eye open for their release of the Monsternomicon. Their promise of “unique and useful D20 creatures”, in combination with the monsters shown in this book, have me pleasantly intrigued. (Besides, they actually managed to find a half-way decent name for a monster compendium – and I didn’t think that was possible any more).

In short, to return to the product I’m actually supposed to be reviewing, The Longest Night has left me seriously impressed. You should check it out.

Style: 5
Substance: 4

Title: The Witchfire Trilogy: Book One – The Longest Night
Authors: Matt Staroscik
Company: Privateer Press
Line: D20/Iron Kingdoms
Price: $9.95
ISBN: 0-9706970-0-7
Production Code: WF001
Pages: 64

For the record, although I never wrote a review of it, the Monternomicon is one of my favorite and most-used bestiaries. Privateer Press knocked it out of the park with that one. (I haven’t checked out the 5E version, but have little doubt it’s still worth checking out.)

Oddly, my strongest memories of The Longest Night — which I never found the opportunity to run — ended up being the awkward railroading and undercooked clues, with the result that for many, many years I’ve had a kind of “meh” opinion of the module. I suspect it was because I ended up thinking deeply about those elements of the adventure in a way that ended up fundamentally affecting my thinking on adventure design. (You can see the dawning of the Three Clue Rule peeking out up there. And Alexia was something I was thinking about when writing The Principles of RPG Villainy.)

Rereading my review, however, my focus has apparently done a disservice to the rest of the module in my memory. Maybe I should take the time to finally check out the rest of the trilogy.

For an explanation of where these reviews came from and why you can no longer find them at RPGNet, click here.

The Horror Beneath spends a lot of time shooting itself in the foot.

Review Originally Published May 21st, 2001

This adventure, to put it bluntly, is a mess:

1. You’ve got a bunch of maps. Tragically, three of them are completely illegible. Actually, I don’t know if “illegible” is the right word, because they’re also completely unkeyed. Let’s just say that — between the fact that they are unkeyed and reproduced in a muddy and indistinct greyscale — it’s nearly impossible to figure out what information they’re supposed to be conveying. The fourth map is of a dungeon. This one is keyed with numbers. For reasons beyond the scope of imagination, however, these numbers are not referenced in a standard D&D format. Instead, Metcalf has decided to describe his dungeon in, basically, a stream of consciousness format – dropping the numbers into the middle of the text between a couple of parentheses whenever he feels its convenient. Simply incredible. It takes true skill to deliberately go out of your way like this to make a product as unusable as possible.

2. Metcalf seems to have persistent problems with the English language. My favorite examples are his nebulous sentence structures, which result in treats like this: “He is unarmed and has no weapon proficiencies. He doesn’t think he needs them.” Needs weapons or needs weapon proficiencies? “Steorra’s temple is the oldest and largest in Ravendale.” Oldest and largest… what? Building? Temple in general? Steorra’s temple in general? You’d assume the second, but this passage is made particularly hilarious by the sentence which appears two paragraphs later: “Temple of Saint Tollan: Ravendale’s newest temple, as well as the largest.”

3. What’s truly bizarre is that the adventure spends a bunch of time discussing Ravendale… which serves absolutely no purpose except as a place for the PCs to pick up an undefined adventure seed which is going to take them to another town: Scarborough.

4. When the PCs reach Scarborough they find the entire town deserted… except for one family, the Tendermores. They discover this when they find the Tendermore’s fourteen-year-old daughter drawing water — by herself — from the well. First off, this staggers my suspension of disbelief: Everyone in town has been dragged off by zombies except your family, and your daughter is wandering around by herself? The daughter will take them back to her house, where the PCs will meet her father Jonathon. To add insult to injury, however, Metcalf closes this description with: “…he believes that he and his “boys” can hold their own.” Who are his “boys”? I dunno. Are they literally his sons, or do the quotation marks imply something else? I dunno. Is the wife of the house still alive and around? I dunno. Are there any other daughters? I dunno.

5. As if Metcalf’s lock-lipped descriptions are not bizarre enough, we then get the sequence of events that night when the zombies come: “The Tendermores are not very effective archers, the zombies should have no trouble advancing to the front of the house.” So, in other words, they’ve had no problems holding them off this long – but as soon as the PCs show up, the Tendermores are doomed? Apparently so, because no matter what the PCs do, they will “see two of the Tendermore women taken by the zombies.”

6. Actually, they’re not zombies. They’re grub hosts – which are just like zombies, except they can’t be turned. They are also the way that the Brood Queen (who’s hiding out in that dungeon, which is supposed to be part of an abandoned dwarven citadel, but doesn’t look it) creates her young (the Brood Warriors).

Basically, The Horror Beneath had a semi-decent idea (Aliens in a fantasy setting), but then simply fumbled the ball in executing it. Actually, let me rephrase that: They didn’t fumble the ball. They deliberately tossed it on the floor, tripped over it, broke their leg, stumbled over their target audience, and plunged off a cliff.

It would have been better if the maps had been legible. It would have been better if the presentation had been smoother. Heck, it would have been better if the plot had been comprehensible.

In short: Don’t buy The Horror Beneath.

Style: 2
Substance: 1

Title: The Horror Beneath
Authors: Eric Metcalf
Company: Nightshift Games
Line: D20
Price: $8.95
ISBN: 192933228-9
Production Code: CFE4001
Pages: 32

Style 2? I was apparently feeling generous that day.

I feel bad for Eric Metcalf. He was one of the very first adopters of the OGL and D20 System Trademark License, making the superhero RPG The Foundation and The Horror Beneath two of the earliest third-party 3rd Edition supplements, before the market became glutted with competitors. Unfortunately, this just meant that the entire hobby’s eyes fell upon what were extremely neophyte efforts. Sort of like grabbing someone who just took their first singing lessons and thrusting them onto a Broadway stage. Yeah, the result is terrible. But you can still empathize.

Re-reading this review, it was also interesting seeing my early reaction to someone forgetting how to key a dungeon. Notably, back in 2001, I don’t recall anyone trying to justify this.

For an explanation of where these reviews came from and why you can no longer find them at RPGNet, click here.