This brief educational module clocks in at 5 pages, 1 page front cover, 1 page SRD, leaving 3 pages of content, so let's take a look!
This was moved up in my reviewing-queue as a prioritized review at the request of my patreons.
So, this is an adventure - but it's also more than that; It's a little educational exercise for kids. So yeah, potential players should jump to the conclusion.
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All right, first things first - you need red cabbage, white vinegar, baking soda, a large pot, a glass bottle, a strainer and an ice cube tray and about 3 hours preparation in advance to make special ice-cubes; of these, about ~30 minutes are required to prepare the potion. The calm of a peaceful midsummer's afternoon is broken by an agitated youth, who runs forth, saying that Cecil's in trouble. After a brief interlude, where characters may use their skills (whether it's Survival or Climb) to scout for Cecil, the kids and Margareth will find Cecil - who has eaten a wild mushroom in the forest. Unfortunately, the healer does not have all the ingredients; she needs frost stones, which are, alas, guarded by a vicious yeti who doesn't like visitors.
The kids will need to procure frost stones from the yeti (the special ice-cubes prepared); these will then need o be dropped into the potion she hands the PCs (the other prop she prepared). On trek to the mountains, the PCs can outrun or battle some hungry wolves and start climbing the mountain. At the summit, the PCs can battle the yeti and find the frost stones - and watch them change the color of the potion! Back down below, a pained Cecil will have learned to lesson to not eat wild mushrooms. After the adventure, the module sums up how exactly the trick with the red cabbage and the ice cubes worked - basically, this is teaching by adventure.
Conclusion:
Editing and formatting are top-notch, I noticed no glitches. Layout adheres to a beautiful two-column full-color standard and the pdf comes with two bookmarks in spite of its brevity. The module isn't too heavy on art apart from the beautiful layout's numerous graphic elements, but honestly, it doesn't need to be - the original art that's here is awesome. Stats and spells are hyperlinked for your convenience.
Justin Andrew Mason's after school adventure is awesome, pure and simple. Let me elaborate: I think our current generation and developments in society have caused children to not have enough time for...well, actually being children. When I reminisce about my childhood (which wasn't always pleasant, to say the least), I tend to not have any nostalgic rose-tinted glasses on. But my mom went all the way trying to teach me as much as possible without making it feel like cramming. And guess what? Lessons associated with things you love and enjoy...they tend to stick. I can still remember all those lessons and pieces of information. You can run this module in 2-4 hours, depending on your pace...and it imparts one important life lesson as well as providing a memorable concept to impart the acidic/alkaline concepts as well as pH-indicator concepts to the kids. If I were to complain about one thing, then perhaps that an explanation of these concepts for people who did not enjoy a proper education (or just forgot) would have been nice in an appendix...but seriously, you can research that in 5 minutes while the cabbage is simmering.
Fun, educational and suitable for children of all ages (and even open-minded adults who enjoy this kind of thing), this little educational adventure is absolutely awesome - 5 stars + seal of approval. We need more of them! Seriously, so much more! With enough of these avid roleplaying kids will not only start excelling in language/history-based subjects and math, but also in other subjects. Really awesome in concept and execution. Get this!
Endzeitgeist out.
RPG Superstar 2013
