Preview for Rise of the Mimic Moon

This scenario was recently released by Kobold Press, and it looked too intriguing to pass up on it. Here are the thoughts I had while reading it.

• The initial premise, of a mimic the size of a moon, is great!

• One line, taken from the table Why Do They Want It?, really sold me: “...to transplant the seedling into the chest of a dead god to resurrect it.” That made for a connection with the adventure anthology Graveyard of the Gods, which I am hoping to receive in early 2023.

• Shortly thereafter is a description of the effects the moon-sized mimic has on the campaign setting: “...causing massive flooding in coastal cities and communities.” While my mind first went to Saltmarsh in Greyhawk, before long I realized that Freeport would be an excellent setting for this adventure.

• There are numerous fun variants of mimics, along with some new, thematic spells and equipment. I could see the spells and gear being devised by one or more of the mystical groups in Freeport, and presenting surprises to my players.

• In the suggested timeline for a campaign, one of the sessions is described as “The Great Voidship Heist.” That, of course, screams to be used in a Spelljammer campaign.

• I don't love the fact that there are three full-page adds in the PDF, something that is not disclosed in the listing for it on DriveThruRPG.com.

All in all, it looks like it will be a lot of fun, and provide a good chance to link together five previous Freeport campaigns with my current Spelljammer one.

Rise of the Mimic Moon

-Nate

Reflections on Spelljammer Academy

Over the past four sessions my party played through the free adventure Spelljammer Academy; here are my thoughts about how it went.

• There is lots of room to expand these four scenarios. This year my group is playing every other week, and so it worked well to push through at a faster pace and thus set the group up for Light of Xayrxis.

• My players were sometimes alarmed about the tasks their characters were being sent to undertake. This was especially the case for one player who missed Session 3, and upon arriving for Session 4 learned that the heroes were crewing a salvaged tyrant ship bound for the beholder world of H'Catha.

• One option is to add more drilling of skills, especially at the start of sessions: target practice, weapons sparring, navigation exercises, lessons about wildspace geography, and the like. I can imagine starting sessions with the heroes engaged at such tasks, and then moving into specific missions—and thus adventures—afterward.

• Those exercises could then be used to set up a competition between groups of students, perhaps called crews, similar to that between the four houses in the Harry Potter novels and films. The DM could keep a running tally of how well they do, with some kind of prize or recognition for the overall winners at the end of the term.

• Another option is to make more use of the illusions in the simulation chamber; have the heroes deal with a jammer leech, fight off a scavver attack, lead a boarding party, train for the H'Catha mission, and the like.

Here is the link to my campaign notes, by the way. 

Spelljammer Campaign Notes

All in all, I was satisfied that these scenarios gave my players and their characters a good introduction to the Spelljammer setting. For DMs who want to draw out the training process, though, there's a good resource called Spelljammer Academy Expanded, available on the DMs Guild website. It presents stat blocks for more of the NPCs, ideas for expanding and adding encounters during the training, and ideas for transitioning from there into the Light of Xaryxis adventure.

-Nate

Spelljammer Academy Expanded

Review of Boo's Astral Menagerie

Next, here are my thoughts and questions about the monster book from this boxed set.

• I like the layout of this book, with roughly one creature per page. There are a few pages with two creatures each, and of course a bunch that take up more than one page.

• Along those lines, I also like to see variant stat blocks for some of the creatures. For example, there is the vampirate, with mage and captain variants.

• This book seems to fill in some of the setting lore that was missing from the Astral Adventurers Guide. For example, we learn (I think) that creatures can't reproduce in the Astral Sea, so they enter Wildspace systems to do so.

• The book presents some ready-made plot elements, such as b'rohg gladiators, giff gladiators and githyanki laboratories.

• What is the Far Realm? It is home to at least two of these monsters.

• I really like starlight apparitions as a plot device.

• A few of these present ready-made crews for vessels, such as negoi and vampirates.

All in all, I like this book. At 64 pages, it might be a little slim, but the content that's in it is solid.

-Nate 

Review of the Astral Adventurers Guide

Like, I suspect, many other people, I went out and bought the new Spelljammer boxed set for D&D when it was released on Tuesday. Here are my thoughts and questions about the first book.

• I should start by saying that I was really excited for this product. Back in junior high and high school two of my friends, my brother and I played in a long-term 2^nd Edition campaign that went into space, traveled from world to world, and culminated in the epic adventure Under the Dark Fist. For that reason alone, Spelljammer has a special place in my heart.

• These books, and the map and DM screen, are really pretty. It's interesting to compare modern full-color books to the old black-and-white ones.

• Life in astral space is Long! I'm not quite sure what to think about allowing characters to be ageless there. How many of them would choose to do that?

• The new races presented in this book seem interesting and fun. They are definitely different from the fantasy standards.

• Characters' and creatures' air envelopes are cubes now? I guess that makes sense if they're depicted on a Battle Mat.

• The minimum complement for a spelljammer ship is now two—the captain and the character on the helm. It makes me a little sad that we don't need to send other characters aloft to handle the rigging, but I still think there should be other characters on watch.

• It seems like ships just keep flying until they've lost all their hit points, at which point they break apart. I assume that the spelljamming helm is still functional, though.

• A little more explanation of the stats used in the ships' stat blocks would be nice.

• I am pleased to see some familiar ship types depicted, albeit with updated deck plans and names.

• The deathspider is a neogi ship again! I never cared for having it be a drow vessel, as was the case in 3^rd Edition.

• There are seven pages dedicated to the Rock of Bral, one of which is a full-page picture. Of course, there's also a whole supplement dedicated to it from 2^nd Edition, and one could easily harvest bits and pieces of that.

• I miss the quotations that they used in the 2^nd Edition books. There are some empty spaces in this book where those would fit nicely.

• It looks like catapults have been replaced with mangonels. That seems to make sense. Also, jettisons have been, well, jettisoned.

All in all, this book provides a lot of exciting content. It could certainly have gone into greater detail in some different areas, but I think it provides a solid framework on which to start building adventures and campaigns in Wildspace.

-Nate 

Review of Spelljammer Academy

A month ago now, Wizards of the Coast released this four-part scenario on their D&D Beyond platform. Here are my thoughts after reading through it.

• First off, I cut and pasted the content into an Open Office document, exported it into a PDF, printed it, and then read it. I imagine the hyperlinks in it are quite handy.

• This whole scenario reminds me a lot of Star Trek, with cadets being trained for service at the Academy. I wonder if the adventure that comes with the boxed set, Light of Xaryxis, will have the same kind of feel to it.

• Advancement in this scenario is quick. Really quick. Each of the first three parts “takes approximately two hours to play” and advances the characters by a level. That's four levels that could be earned in a long day of gaming!

• I appreciate that, while the scenario takes place in the Forgotten Realms, the island Nimbral is isolated from the rest of it. That is such a big campaign setting, with so much history behind it, that I would find it intimidating to run a scenario in the Realms.

• These scenarios are approved for use with the D&D Adventurers League. I think it would be fun to run them for various groups and see how they play out in different ways for each.

• On the one hand, it feels like this scenario is written for new DMs; the text talks the DM through encounters. It is written for “three to seven 1st-level characters,” however, and does not provide suggestions for modifying the number of opponents that the characters face in combat situations.

• Part 3 of the adventure sends the heroes, as 3rd-level characters, to the planet H'Catha in Realmspace. That seems like a perilous assignment for a group of cadets.

• That voyage includes a level increase in the middle of the journey, since it is divided between parts 3 and 4 of the scenario.

• Finally, I wonder how the Academy leaders even know to send the heroes on that assignment, which involves recovering a meteorite from that planet. How do they know that it is there?

• All in all, this seems like a fun scenario; I wonder if the published adventure, Light of Xaryxis, will have the same kind of tone.

I am really looking forward to the release of the new books tomorrow. 

-Nate

Blood & Treasure

I am posting the trailer for this series. It looks like the first season ran on CBS starting back in 2019, but it is currently available on Amazon. I'll post my thoughts about the episodes as I watch them. 

-Nate 

Blood & Treasure

Reading Again: Shadow Roads--Birthright

If the image that accompanies this post looks the same as that from the last one, then that's because it's the one from the trade paperback collection of the two arcs, which are at the time of this writing the last ones in the Shadow Roads line. 

-Nate 

Birthright 8-10

Another short arc, these issues were published in June of 2019 and then, following a delay, in July and September of 2020. Here are my impressions:

• This is very much a Henry story, and that's a good thing. I think this new storyline allows the authors to focus on one character for a bit, and then come back to the whole group.

• In an RPG campaign, I think that could look like running a side mission for one or more players. On the other hand, the GM could also just make sure to incorporate elements of the background stories that players have for their characters, to give adventures and the campaign as a whole that personalized feel.

• The scene in which Henry unlocks some of his power is quite well done.

• The final scene really makes it feel like the authors have more stories to tell in this setting, even if we haven't seen a new issue in almost two years.

Reading Again: Shadow Roads--The New World

 Here are my impressions about this short story arc.

-Nate

The New World 6-7

This short arc was published in February and May of 2019. Here are my impressions:

• These two issues both clarify the nature of this new (old) world, and open new possibilities. In Issue #6 we are told, “The Six are gone forever. But, their power—their magic—was not destroyed. It was scattered...”

• At the outset we find Abigail in a place called Purgatory 13, but Kalfu tells us that a group known as the Court of Order has decided to let her return to the world, to prevent the scattered magical power from falling into wicked hands.

• Rat Port, Arkansas is another great location, even though we don't see much of it.

• Mizadori is an intriguing villain, and his hotel, which changes in order to confuse visitors, is a cool location for exploration.

• There are numerous lingering questions, such as, “What is the Shadow Constitution?”

Reading Again: Shadow Roads--The Crossroads

Here are my thoughts about this arc, the first in the new(ish) series. 

-Nate 

The Crossroads 1-5

This story arc, which kicked off the new series titled Shadow Roads, ran for five issues, published from June to November of 2018. Here are my impressions:

• Issue #1 snuck by me at first. I'd first spotted Issue #1 of The Sixth Gun as a Free Comic Book Day offering back in 2010, grabbed it, read it and loved it. I didn't make it to FCBD in 2018, in part because I had no idea that Issue #1 of Shadow Roads would be there.

• The series (re)opens a whole new world. It is the same world of The Sixth Gun, but without the sixth. As is described in this series, the elements of magic have been scattered throughout the world, and there are unnatural things that threaten life. That's a great setup for an RPG campaign setting!

• A new series brings new characters. Whereas in The Sixth Gun they were introduced slowly over a number of arcs, here we meet a whole bunch of them in the first few issues. I like Barry as a comical contrast to the series Henry, and Isabella as a sassy counterpart for Ghost Eyes. One character is even a werebear!

• There are still a few old, familiar faces, too. The reader knows, I think, what happened to Gord/Kalfu, and it's nice to see Buzzard Wife again. Just how Abigail Redmayne is still here remains a mystery.

• There are lots of new places, too! This time around we have action taking place in England and Mexico, along with the American southwest. The end fight also gives glimpses of the Louisiana bayou, the Himalaya Mountains and the Forbidden City in China. It's fun to imagine the possibilities of where this series could go.

• How could a GM create stats for the Hunter? One idea I had is that the character gains an Advance each time he hunts down a foe who has a Trait that is higher than his own, or an Edge or special ability that he lacks. In that way, he grows in power because of his hunting.

Reading Again--The Sixth Gun: Boot Hill

Here are my thoughts about this story arc, the final one of the series. 

-Nate

Boot Hill 48-50

This story arc ran for three issues, published in April, May and June of 2016. Here are my impressions:

• It's strange to think back about waiting a whole year for this series. At the time it was rather excruciating, but definitely worth the wait.

• The final battle in this arc is truly epic; I wonder how it would play out with the Savage Worlds RPG. One might need to use the rules for Mass Battles, along with a few individual conflicts happening at the same time.

• The fact that this story arc takes place in Boot Hill means that we see old faces returning again, and that helps make for a great finale.

• Finally, I see what they did there with the characters of Gord and Kalfu. At the time, of course, I didn't know what bearing that would have for the series Shadow Roads.

Reading Again--The Sixth Gun: Hell and High Water

Here are my thoughts about this story arc. 

-Nate

Hell and High Water 42-47

This story arc ran for six issues, published from August 2014 to March 2015. Here are my impressions:

• The first issue of this arc presents a good deal of exposition—important, but one could become impatient for advancing the storyline.

• We get to see the King of Secrets! He and his servants make a striking impression.

• Shards of the King's mirror could make for useful relics, given that they connect to similar items carried by Knights of Solomon in the field.

• “The Six seeded messengers into each new world.” That is interesting, especially when combined with the different forms that the Six have assumed in various worlds.

• At the end of Issue 43 we see someone standing behind Kalfu. I don't recall if I guessed who that was when I read that issue for the first time, but we eventually learn that it is Gord Cantrell, who struck a deal with that crossroads demon.

• The appearance of Kirby in his changed form is intriguing. For one thing, it confirms that the snakemen are made from existing humans, which could be a good plot hook. Secondly, it opens the possibility that someone could undergo the transformation process, and yet still retain a semblance of their true identity.

• Finally, we see a lengthy battle that sprawls throughout a small town. This could make for an exciting encounter in an RPG session, using a town such as Fort Griffin as the backdrop.

• Oh—riding the Thunderbirds into battle is awesome!

Reading Again--The Sixth Gun: Not the Bullet, But the Fall

 Here are my thoughts about this story arc. 

-Nate

Not the Bullet, But the Fall 36-41

This story arc ran for six issues, published from December 2013 to May 2014. Issue #41, The Grey Witch, is technically a standalone issue, but I include it here as this arc provides a natural lead-in to it. Here are my impressions:

• Whereas the last arc provided major character development for Becky, this one clearly moves the story into the endgame. Just as I'm looking at my home campaign for this year, with a handful of sessions remaining, this one shows how to raise the stakes and start wrapping up important elements.

• The meeting between Missy Hume and the heroes, and what happens from there, makes it clear to everyone that this is happening.

• Does this arc give readers a glimpse into how snakemen are created?

• The standalone The Grey Witch gives us a deep dive into Griselda's background, which is informative.

• On the other hand, the decision that Becky makes regarding her pistol at the end of the arc left me perplexed and wondering how it leads into the next one.

Reading Again--The Sixth Gun: Ghost Dance

Here are my thoughts about this story arc. 

-Nate

Ghost Dance 30-35

This story arc ran for six issues, published from April to October in 2013. Here are my impressions:

• It's cool to see more exploration of Native American characters in this setting. Representation matters!

• Related to that, I can imagine running a game in which all of the heroes are Native characters, in adventures that take place before European settlers begin arriving in America.

• I also enjoyed taking a deep dive into the Winding Way and the worlds of alternate possibilities to which it can lead, including prehistoric and medieval time periods, along with a “modern” world in which General Hume was victorious. I think it would be fun in a campaign to take heroes from the Wild West and let them run amok in those time periods.

• This also lets the GM bring back old foes and use them in new ways, such as Hume's four horsemen teaming up with Becky against the Skinwalkers.

• Here we have another large-scale battle, and this time we see some dissension in the ranks between Missy Hume and her Pinkertons.

• This arc provides a definite turning point in Becky's development, which makes me start thinking about how I as a GM would pace character advancement if this were a campaign. (I'll have more on that thought after I finish the series.)

• Once again, there's a great epilogue that closes this arc and sets up the next one.

Reading Again--The Sixth Gun: Winter Wolves

 Here are my thoughts about this story arc. 

-Nate

Winter Wolves 24-29

This story arc ran for six issues, published from August of 2012 to February of 2013. Here are my impressions:

• Once again, this arc opens with parallel storylines—Drake and Becky are looking for Fort Treadwell, and the others are looking for them. I could see working something like this into a Savage Worlds RPG campaign if the players each controlled multiple characters.

• Fort Treadwell is cool. I like the idea of dropping this rough-and-tumble place into the setting, on the edge of the frontier.

• This is also a good example of developing the setting's history, with the act of betrayal that created a Crossroads in this place.

• The primary antagonist for this arc is a new character/monster, which is an interesting way to set up a new adventure while adding to the overall storyline. Also, it's the kind of villain that the heroes might not be able to defeat in combat, pushing them to find another way to resolve the conflict.

• Gord makes a stone cold decision to resolve the main conflict in this arc; I would love it if my own campaign contained such emotional moments.

• We see Becky unleash a new Power of the Sixth Gun and thus take the fight to Missy Hume. This is a cool example of how the GM could give the heroes a magical weapon, and then increase its potency as the heroes gain Advances.

• Finally, the epilogue for this arc does a good job of setting up the next arc, and provides a good example of how to wrap up a session with a hook into the next one.

I&I for T6G: Territory by Emma Bull

Here's a novel that can provide inspiration for adventures and campaigns set in the world of The Sixth Gun and Shadow Roads; it is Territory by Emma Bull. 

-Nate

Territory

I I first read this novel back around 2010, after a trip to the Grand Canyon, when I was starting to take an interest in supernatural westerns. Coincidentally, that was also when Oni Press released Issue #1 of The Sixth Gun for Free Comic Book Day. Here are a few of the impressions that it left on me after this second reading.

• This novel is a slow burn, taking its time in building up the conflict.

• It provides an interesting look at (mostly) everyday life in a small western town, which I liked.

• Taking that a step further, it also provides insight into how characters can gain influence and build names for themselves and their associates, possibly leading up to a political campaign or the pursuit of other offices, such as Sheriff or Marshal.

• The fire provides an excellent example of a dramatic scene that does not involve combat, but still puts the heroes in real danger.

• It's an interesting take on relatively subtle magic, too, a setting in which ordinary people don't know about or believe in the occult. Some of the drama, then, comes from how they react when they see it for themselves firsthand.

• Dog House Rules provides some excellent content that relates to this story, including some of the following PDFs. There's a free one that presents stats for the Earp brothers, which would need some adjustment to reflect the use of magic in this novel; the second is a comprehensive writeup for a town that was frequented by Doc Holliday and Big Nose Kate, which could be an excellent backdrop for a story like this one.

• https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/258973/Savaged-Six-Guns-Lawmen--The-Earps--Mastersons

• https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/195491/Frontier-Towns-Fort-Griffin-Savaged

World Builder & Game Master's Guide Review

I picked up this little book because I'm interested in building campaign worlds; three years ago I ran a Pathfinder space fantasy game in my own setting, and looked for tips about how to do it. With that in mind, I have to say that the name of this book doesn't reflect its contents very well. It does have a lot of good information for GMs who are planning events, especially for gaming clubs and conventions. It doesn't have a lot for those who are developing home-brewed settings for their own private home campaigns. 

Presented below is a quick summary of each chapter in the book, including what I liked or didn't like about each of them.

• Part 1, “World Building,” provides information about just what it says. It was particularly interesting for me to see suggestions for what other people think should or should not go into content for Savage Worlds.
• On a side note, it became very apparent to me that I write content for this blog differently from how a lot of SW content is created.
• Part 2 is “Savage Worlds for All Ages.” It provides lots of suggestions for running club-related games, which is something that I really enjoyed doing back in college. As a teacher, I've considered the idea of starting a gaming club at school, but have not yet tried to do so.
• Part 3, “Risks and Reversals,” is an interesting look at one style of adventure design. It gave some good insight into how the GM can inject dramatic turnarounds into the game.
• “High-Powered Games,” Part 4, had what I think is some good advice, but it's of less interest to me because I tend to start a campaign at the beginning of the school year and finish it by the end, meaning that campaigcharacters don't become that high in power.
• Part 5, “Building Your Tribe,” was perhaps the most interesting article for me. It focuses on running games at conventions, which is something I really enjoy doing. There was lots of good advice for doing so in this one.
• “Turning Your Ideas into SWAG” is Part 6. I found this one interesting, too, as I've thought about that idea in the past, but it's not something that I'm ready to try doing yet.
• Part 7, “The Long Game,” has some interesting history of Deadlands, and suggestions for managing development when running multiple campaigns that all build up a combines history of the setting.
• Parts 8 and 9, “Anecdotes” and “Under the Hood,” are more of a hodgepodge, with bits about many different elements of the game. They were interesting, too.

All in all, I enjoyed reading this book, but I think the name could be more accurate. At $19.99, I'm satisfied with my purchase.

-Nate

Savage Worlds Adventure Edition Review

Late in September I picked up a hardcover copy of the Savage Worlds Adventure Edition RPG; I've finally finished reading it and am ready to write a review.

-Nate

Savage Worlds Adventure Edition Review

Last month I finally picked up a hardcover copy of this new RPG, and wanted to share my thoughts about it.

• I like the size of the book. As a graphic-novel-sized hardcover, it matches my book for The Sixth Gun campaign setting.
• The added comments, by a GM and the players Emily and Nate, are a fun touch.
• The Skills section did a nice job of cleaning up some overlap, especially with the Knowledge skills. Also, the fact that all characters start with d4 in Athletics, Common Knowledge, Notice, Persuasion and Stealth opens up points for other choices.
• There are some interesting new Edges, too, and the use of the social ones seems clearer than it was in the previous edition.
• I like the flexibility that's encouraged for character advancement, with suggestions for faster or slower character development.
• The same goes for the use of Bennies to affect the story.
• The Power modifiers provide a good means of letting characters with arcane backgrounds adapt the Powers they invoke for specific situations.
• As before, the Game Mastering section provides a solid overview of how to plan and run adventures and campaigns using these rules.

All in all, this is a solid, compact game that I would recommend for all manner of campaign settings and styles.

Arabella Traitor of Mars Review

Here's my review of the latest novel of the Arabella franchise.

-Nate

Pros I enjoyed the ship-to-ship combat scenes in this novel more than either of the previous novels. What is more, it's fun to read a series of novels that develop interesting characters from one book to the next. The gravitas of the big confrontation at the end carried more weight than either of its predecessors, too.	Cons Once again it took me a little while to get into this book, with the action being somewhat slow to develop. Early in the novel the main character, Arabella, made a decision that made me ask, “Would she do that?” At first I was more troubled by that question, but after a while it made more and more sense to me.
Additional Notes The end of this story presents some huge questions about what will happen next, and only time will tell the answer. There is still the lingering question of Aadim and his sentience.

Traitor's End Review

This scenario, Part 6 of the Return to Freeport campaign, was released back in October. It is the finale for the series, following the PCs as they return to Freeport after their big fleet battle to seek the traitor who was colluding with the Mazin invaders. 

On a positive note, it features a solidly written investigation that can succeed via multiple paths and that takes the PCs to numerous interesting locations throughout the city. The author did a good job of creating new locations, ones that are different from the usual tropes of the docs, taverns and the like. The scenario also includes a chase scene, using rules from the GameMastery Guide, and the combats feature a variety of interesting opponents. There's a good puzzle, too, which something that I think not enough scenarios feature. Finally, part of the adventure includes a celebration of Drac's Fall, which can be an homage to previous PCs who participated in the original Freeport trilogy. 

Being critical, I think the scenario feels a little disconnected from the previous ones, since the big engagement with the Mazin has already been foiled. There's a solid threat presented by the primary antagonist, and the end location makes for a dramatic confrontation and battle. Even so, the fact that it takes place on a shadowy demi-plane that seems like Freeport is a little weird, given that there's already an alternate version of the city—Freetown—existing in the Abyss, as detailed in the adventure Hell in Freeport. I also worry that some of the scenes don't take into account flying characters, which seem to be pretty common at high levels. 

All in all, I think it will be fun.

-Nate

A Storm of Sails Review

This scenario, Part 5 of the Return to Freeport campaign, was released back in February, but I've taken my time getting to it because I'm still waiting to see the sixth and final adventure in the series be published. I read it, though, and enjoyed it; here's the breakdown. 

On a positive note, this scenario includes a lot of ship-to-ship combat—something that has not been all that common in a campaign setting based around pirates. Indeed, there are two different engagements between the fleet that the PCs assembled in The Freebooter's City and the attacking Mazin armada. The rules involved are a simpler version than those presented in Ultimate Combat, and even the ones in the Player's Guide for the Skull & Shackles adventure path, and it seems like they'll work well for fast fleet action. My only concern is that they might seem a little too simplified, perhaps causing players who like crunchier mechanics to be frustrated. Should that be the case, though, then the GM can always fall back on more complicated rules. 

My only real frustration is that this adventure, like previous ones in the series, uses stat blocks from books such as the NPC Codex, requiring access to that text rather than repeating the stats in the module itself. It's a small complaint, I know. Now it just remains for the last adventure to be published, taking the action back to Freeport so the PCs can confront the traitor who's been working to undermine their heroic efforts; let's hope that it's been worth the wait.

-Nate