Goblin Squad Member. Organized Play Member. 1,856 posts (2,546 including aliases). 3 reviews. No lists. No wishlists. 5 Organized Play characters. 20 aliases.
Wonderful idea and well implemented! The art is great, they are easy to assemble and if you need more, you can always print more up. I really hope that Paizo continues this line of products!!!
it's driven deep into the turf! Nick has done an excellent job with the first full adventure in the GameMastery series. Nick does a great job of giving good background and supporting info about the town and locals, as well as the resolutions without bogging down the pace. The use of sidebars is very good, as well. The kobolds are vicious, the story is solid, there are two great new monsters. Let me put it this way... spiffy ability: Belly Grease?? Tell me more...
The only major problem I see with it is that it will be sadistically pummeling to some parties. There are some carnage-inducing encounters and traps that MUST be overcome to be fully successful. A wand of cure light wounds or some similar healing bump will probably be critical. A couple bad rolls and your party is in a world of hurt with a long way to go and little time to rest. It adds to the tension, certainly, but it could go south real quick.
Bottom line: great story, really strong villains and monsters, good supporting artwork...this is an excellent buy!
it's driven deep into the turf! Nick has done an excellent job with the first full adventure in the GameMastery series. Nick does a great job of giving good background and supporting info about the town and locals, as well as the resolutions without bogging down the pace. The use of sidebars is very good, as well. The kobolds are vicious, the story is solid, there are two great new monsters. Let me put it this way... spiffy ability: Belly Grease?? Tell me more...
The only major problem I see with it is that it will be sadistically pummeling to some parties. There are some carnage-inducing encounters and traps that MUST be overcome to be fully successful. A wand of cure light wounds or some similar healing bump will probably be critical. A couple bad rolls and your party is in a world of hurt with a long way to go and little time to rest. It adds to the tension, certainly, but it could go south real quick.
Bottom line: great story, really strong villains and monsters, good supporting artwork...this is an excellent buy!
I picked up the deck just before I started in with a new group and showed them to the DM before we started play. He looked them over and agreed to give them a try. It was a blast! Somewhere between absorbingly hysterical and thrilling. Everyone enjoyed the deck, even when it was used against us.
The cards offer a wide range of lethal/painful effects that add a lot of (red) color to your crits. Whee, it's not just x3 damage, it's a Pierced Lung and now the target is starting to drown on his own blood!! I also think a Fumble deck is necessary!
I've been generally impressed with Goodman Games' Dungeon Crawl Classics series and have picked up several. #24 in the series, 'Legend of the Ripper' is probably my favorite to date. I would actually give it 4 1/2 stars if the option was open.
It offers a great urban adventure to stop what seems to be the return of a brutal serial killer, but has deeper supernatural causes. Multiple deeper supernatural causes. The rich history provided to the DM sets the adventure up nicely.
As stated in the product description above, it gives a lot of lee-way for placing the module within any coastal city in your camaign, and many opportunities to tailor it beyond the scope of what is written.
My complaints: the artwork, as with most of Goodman Games adventures is not of a terribly high quality (read: fairly lousy), but the player handouts are good. Also, the seeds it lays for future adventures (particularly access to the Mare Stone) may be too powerful for some DM's tastes. This will have to be a personal call, though (I liked it).
If you and your players liked the old 'Sinister Secrets of Saltmarsh' series from 1st ed, I would encourage you to take a look at 'Legend of the Ripper'. If your players are more into pure hack and slash, while they might be challenged by some of the encounters, they will most likely be bored by the pace of the module.
