DriveThruRPG.com
Browse Categories
$ to $















Back
pixel_trans.gif
Other comments left by this customer:
You must be logged in to rate this
pixel_trans.gif
CCC - Anime - 1-1 Legend of the Sword Bandit Surprise
Publisher: Dungeon Masters Guild
by Jac Z. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 06/24/2018 15:34:56

TL;DR: A module with great roleplay potential, marred by lousy editing, bad combat planning, and an overly unforgiving mechanic.

Well, this one was a mixed bag.

From a roleplay perspective, I liked this module. Travelling to a visions of the past to find out the truth was a neat concept. The progression of the story in town was passable. There are a few options for the players to explore, but the information they provide is too similar. Not too much incentives for them to visit the whole town, and if they did, the information they can learn is quite repetitive.

My personal favourite part of the adventure is by far the "memory bottle". Giving players a chance to flesh out their character's backstories is always a great thing. Often times people spent a lot of effort to write their character's backstories, but there aren'e enought opportunities for them to showcase their stories.

Now, the bads:

First things first - if the possibility of fighting a Shadow Ogre exists, please at least include the stat block of a Shadow Ogre in the module.

Typos. The proof-reading job of this module was horrible. Just look at the cover page of the mod: "find out what when wrong during the Festival of Stars". It's "what WENT wrong", not "what when wrong". Similar typos exist throughout the module, and many of the grammar structure were very clumsy.

Combat, specifically the "What if they intervene" mechanic. Basically, if the players did anything that would hinder the original history from playing itself out, time would reset itself, and the players will be attacked by Shadows. The first occurance of this was accpetable, possibly due to them interacting with the NPCs in the vision in an inappropriate way.

But when it comes to investigating the theft at the temple, there are too many ways for the players to act in a way that would prevent the theft from happening. It took my players four trials to figure out they were "supposed" to hide, let the theft happen, and then follow through. That means my players are supposed to have fought the Shadows FOUR times, which was easily a TPK.

It is an extremely unforgiving mechanic, and the players have nowhere close to enough clues to figure out what went wrong, until it's too late. The "recording" freezing and turning back time is a great concept, but the Shadow Attack with EACH AND EVERY reset should never have made it through playtest.

The final Night Hag fight made absolutely no sense. There is no incetive, no lore reason, NOTHING, that would provoke the Night Hag to fight the players. If she was to be hostile from the beginning, she could have easily attacked and killed the players when they were lying in the pool. It was a horribly written and extremely forced combat at the end of the encounter.

Besides, my table went through one Shadow Attack, and that was already enough to earn them max xp, alongside with the other roleplay objectives they accomplished. The Night Hag fight served ZERO purpose.

To sum up, the roleplaying aspects of the module were good. But typos, formatting, and bad combat design could potentially completely ruin the player's experience. The pros failed to cover the cons.



Rating:
[1 of 5 Stars!]
CCC - Anime - 1-1 Legend of the Sword Bandit Surprise
Click to show product description

Add to DriveThruRPG.com Order

pixel_trans.gif
DDAL07-18 Turn Back the Endless Night
Publisher: D&D Adventurers League
by Jac Z. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 06/05/2018 17:38:22

TL;DR: A very fitting finale of the entire season.

(Spoiler alert)

This is a very, very well written module. The entire season has been building up to this final moment, where our heroes must prove themselves worthy in Ubtao's maze, and ultimately prevent Dendar from being released to the material plane.

The many different potential encounters in the maze were diverse and fun, with my personal favourite being "Windows in Time". Meeting Elisande once again was a very sweet moment. Trying to out-wit Ubtao, trying to out-wit the dark side of Ubtao... All of which made the heroes feel like the worth of their souls were being tested by Ubtao himself.

And then the final fight was difficult but fair. The terrain itself is fighting against the heroes, and the Red Wizards were no pushover. My only comments would be: (1) The 18 zombies became largely irrelevant in the fight, because everyone had ways to fly over them, or just nuke them with one AOE spell; (2) I made the lockbox only accessible by one character, as the character was imbuded with the essence of the lock (otherwise a Fighter with Action Surge would lock Dendar up way too easily lol).

This was a great module. The level of epicness my players felt throughout were fitting for the Tier-4 status they have earned as an adventurer. What a way to round out the season.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
DDAL07-18 Turn Back the Endless Night
Click to show product description

Add to DriveThruRPG.com Order

pixel_trans.gif
DDIA-XGE Underworld Speculation
Publisher: Wizards of the Coast
by Jac Z. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 06/04/2018 17:26:40

TL;DR: Amazing ending, mediocre process.

Yes, telling my players they were trapped in a fish bowl was the biggest grin I've had as a DM, ever. It was one hell of a plot twist, and kudos to the author for thinking of this.

On the flip side, the adventure itself wasn't very memorable. Apart from the initial interaction with the orb, the core of the module was just trying to find their way out of the fish bowl, with encounters written in to spice things up. With the lack of skill checks or exploration objectives, it became a very combat heavy module, and felt very repetitive very soon.

To improve the module, the roleplaying and the combat need to be spaced out to keep things fresh, and the exploration element need to be heavily improved. The employment of the players to investigate Xanathar and the process of investigation should be fully fleshed out (instead of as a very rushed hook). The orb and its blessing should appear deeper into the fish bowl (instead of the very beginning) to space out the combat encounters.



Rating:
[2 of 5 Stars!]
DDIA-XGE Underworld Speculation
Click to show product description

Add to DriveThruRPG.com Order

pixel_trans.gif
DDAL04-07 The Innocent (5e)
Publisher: Wizards of the Coast
by Jac Z. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 06/04/2018 15:30:46

TL;DR: It was... okay. Not bad, but there wasn't anything particularly memorable either.

The major issue I have with the module is that most of the story development happened behind the scenes (AKA written in the "Adventure Background"), and many of those things were hinting towards something larger happening. Whilst the DM has full access to those information, the players had very few ways to decipher what exactly is going on.

The most interesting bit of story available for the players to find out was between the Visitor, the love triangle, and the tragedy that occured at the marriage. And it wouldn't have been hard to drop enough clues for the players to figure out the whole story, or at least have the adventure start in Orașnou, so they can at least learn about the young couple, the love-blinded brother, and the Visitor. As it stands, it felt like they were just thrown inot the dark.



Rating:
[2 of 5 Stars!]
DDAL04-07 The Innocent (5e)
Click to show product description

Add to DriveThruRPG.com Order

pixel_trans.gif
DDAL04-08 The Broken One (5e)
Publisher: Wizards of the Coast
by Jac Z. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 06/04/2018 15:23:08

TL;DR: A very solid 2-hour module. Great narrative that is fitting for the Barovia & Ravenloft setting.

A little bit of context. I'm currently running all the Season 4 Tier 2 modules as a series. Since my players entered Barovia in DDAL04-07 The Innocent, this was their first introduction to Orașnou.

The introduction dinner meeting depicted living in Barovia quite well. The options offered from the Burgomaster ranged from helping out the crops to killing civilians, covering most grounds on the moral spectrum. And then the narrative swiftly changed to Luca and the murdered sheep, presenting the characters with two more moral challenges - whether to defend Luca, and how to deal with the mob.

The final fight is more challenging than I thought it would be. The legendary action combined with the recharge ability could make a brutal combo, and if any of the players failed the horror save, they could just be ruled out of the entire combat. It's a hard and fair fight.

(Then again, they need to die to be risen by the Mist, and the Dark Gifts are one of my favourite parts of the Barovia campaign setting, so....)



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
DDAL04-08 The Broken One (5e)
Click to show product description

Add to DriveThruRPG.com Order

pixel_trans.gif
DDAL07-15 Streams of Crimson
Publisher: D&D Adventurers League
by Jac Z. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 06/04/2018 15:02:59

TL;DR: Well-written module with high replay value.

I enjoyed this module as a player, and I enjoyed this module as a DM.

The interactions with the Red Wizards has a lot of RP flexibility, and it also made the players felt like they are important characters, making decisions that could have massive impacts on the major lore events in Faerûn - which they totally should. They are Tier-4 now, basically world renown heroes. The recognition of their past adventure deeds was a huge "feel-good" moment.

The exploration of the Sanctum was also fun. The challenges presented were fair, provoking players to behave in an unfamiliar way (no divination magic, no teleport etc.), without feeling too restrictive, and were fun to overcome.

The combat were also great. Depending how they behave, they can end up fighting everything in their path, or fight close to nothing until the boss fight. Spellcasters are always what makes fighting interesting, and the Magic Tattoos did a good job in distinguishing the Zulkirs and normal Archmages.

It was a little unfornuate that since I ran this module in a convention, time was a constraint, and I didn't get the chance to explore the optional encounters. Maybe I'll go back to look into those someday.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
DDAL07-15 Streams of Crimson
Click to show product description

Add to DriveThruRPG.com Order

pixel_trans.gif
DDAL07-11 A Lesson in Love (5e)
Publisher: D&D Adventurers League
by Jac Z. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 06/04/2018 14:54:50

TL;DR: The module tried to accomplish too much, and in the end accomplished very little.

"Yay! We finsihed the side quests! That was fun! Oh yeah, what exactly was our main quest again?"

The entire adventure can be summarised as "the missing daughter is with Arameg, get her out", and everything else in the module were just filler content to fill up the 4-hour time slot. The relationship between the plot points were also very, very far-stretched, almost like they were just pieced together for the sake of plot convenience.

The arm with the sword and the signet ring, looking for the man's adventuring journey, seeking out a ship at the bottom of the ocean, cleansing aberration leeches, negotiating with Arameg... These are all fun ideas with a lot of potential on paper, but none of them got the attention they deserved to do those ideas justice.



Rating:
[2 of 5 Stars!]
DDAL07-11 A Lesson in Love (5e)
Click to show product description

Add to DriveThruRPG.com Order

pixel_trans.gif
DDAL07-12 In Search of Secrets (5e)
Publisher: D&D Adventurers League
by Jac Z. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 06/04/2018 14:44:58

TL;DR: Good dungeon crawl, interesting traps, combat undertuned, slightly too short.

I'm a big fan of the traps in the module. They are interesting, provides a fun challenge for the players to find out the answer and overcome, without being over-complicated. My personal favourite is definitely the trap where the players are faced with their worst nightmares, and allowing them to describe how their characters' overcome the nightmare. That was the highlight of the module, and a great moment for RP and character development.

Now the downside. As many have pointed out, the combat was too easy. Maybe the intent was to balance between the ease of combat and the difficulty of the traps, but it was undertuned. The optional fight with the Fire Snakes had potential to include more interesting Fire Elemental monsters, and the final boss fight needed more challenging Yuan-Ti monsters (luckily they are fairly abundant from the other Tier-3 module).

I think this adventure has the potential to be great. It just needed a bit of adjustment of the challenge difficulty, which relies on the DM's experience and judgment to accomplish. As long as the DM puts his/her DM liberty into good use, this'll be a fun run.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
DDAL07-12 In Search of Secrets (5e)
Click to show product description

Add to DriveThruRPG.com Order

pixel_trans.gif
DDEX3-12 Hillsfar Reclaimed (5e)
Publisher: Wizards of the Coast
by Jac Z. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 03/30/2018 01:35:49

This adventure is AMAZING. A 2-hour module with enough roleplay details that can be easily stretched out to 4 hours (which is what I would recommend, the RP opportunities really are worth the time).

The roleplay encounters are designed in a way that players (or characters) who are into RP will thrive in them, whilst player (or characters) who aren't that interested in RP would not be penalised.

The final combat is thematically appropriate, challenging, AND contained a great plot twist, leaving the players wondering what would happen next. I highly recommed DMs prepare this module as your "emergency T1 module". Both new and old players will enjoy it.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
DDEX3-12 Hillsfar Reclaimed (5e)
Click to show product description

Add to DriveThruRPG.com Order

pixel_trans.gif
Hunter
Publisher: Dungeon Masters Guild
by Jac Z. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 03/30/2018 01:30:46

It's a fun adventure all around. Can be ran both as a stand-alone module, or a side quest that your player randomly stumbled into when they were traversing the Jungle of Chult in the ToA HC.

Two pieces of advice I'd like to give to my fellow DMs when running this adventure:

  1. How to create the "correct" atmosphere is probably the most important thing when running this content. They should feel the urgency (and a little bit of fear) of being hunted down by an unknown beast. Make sure that the beast is slain only at the very end of the adventure.

  2. Handling the group of mercenary NPCs could be tricky. Giving the NPCs to your table could ruin the immersion a little bit, but running them yourself (which is what I did) could be a little bit tricky, especially during combat.

But yeah, 10/10 worth the money.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Hunter
Click to show product description

Add to DriveThruRPG.com Order

pixel_trans.gif
Ruins of Mezro
Publisher: Dungeon Masters Guild
by Jac Z. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 03/30/2018 01:22:33

I have ran both the Tier 1 and Tier 2 content of Ruins of Mezro. They make great alternative introductions to the ToA HC. The Tier 1 hook introduce the players directly to the threat of the Death Curse, and the Tier 2 hook is amazing if you want to run the HC starting from Tier 2, which skips over the vast majority of the travel in the jungle of Chult (which isn't everyone's favourite part of D&D).

On the flip side, Ruins of Mezro doesn't work as well as stand alone adventures. Mainly due to how "sandbox" the ruins actually are, and it can be fairly tricky to guide your players through all the lore and story the ruins has to offer. But then again, Guild Adept content were supposed to be supplements to the HC, which Ruins of Mezro did a great job at.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
Ruins of Mezro
Click to show product description

Add to DriveThruRPG.com Order

pixel_trans.gif
DDAL07-08 Putting the Dead to Rest (5e)
Publisher: Wizards of the Coast
by Jac Z. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 02/24/2018 11:04:13

TL;DR: A linear and combat driven module.

Much like the final module of the T1 trilogy, this module closes of the T2 trilogy with a module that can be quite tough when it comes to combat. If your table has the "wrong" faction combination, they'll have to face a maximum of two extra encounters, which can make for a much more challenging experience than a different table.

Apart from that, there really isn't a highlight to the module that I can pinpoint. The link to the previous module is a nice touch, giving the characters a feeling of "finishing what we started" if they played through 07-06 and 07-07, albeit the plot linkage wasn't a strong one.

The progression itself is just linear and straightforward. Go here, kill this, go here, kill this, final boss, fight, win. I wish Ullal has done more to ward out or placed puzzle at the temple, instead of just leaving his lackies to defend. That would've made for a more interesting experience.

Was thinking about giving it 2/5, but knowing that the intent of the T1 & T2 mods are supplementing the hardcover, instead of having a standalone solid storyline of its own, I'd say it does a decent job in being the supplement. Not a biggest fan of this approach, but that's a different discussion.



Rating:
[3 of 5 Stars!]
DDAL07-08 Putting the Dead to Rest (5e)
Click to show product description

Add to DriveThruRPG.com Order

pixel_trans.gif
DDAL07-10 Fire, Ash, and Ruin (5e)
Publisher: Wizards of the Coast
by Jac Z. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 02/23/2018 19:20:36

TL;DR: has the potential to be a great adventure, all encounters need to be entirely re-designed.

Enough people has talked about how the combat was way undertuned for a T3 table, and that the encounters are too scattered and weak.

To play the Devil's Advocate, let me talk about some of the module's redeeming factors:

  • Exploring the heart of a volcano, which has become the lair of demons, is quite an exciting exploration for the players. Just don't give them a map.
  • Magical Darkness & Wild Magic Surge forces the players to be a little more creative with problem solving.
  • Defeating the Lieutenants one by one and knowing that you are being blessed by Wizard Spirits on the way gives a great sense of progression.

Here are some of the edits I made to the encounters to make it fitting for a T3 table:

  • Replace everything that happens in the upper level with an encounter against two full powered Stone Golems. Have the golems pound on the flame cultists (who accidentally activated the golems), and the noise of that drew the attention of the adventurers. This can be an optional fight if they choose not the intervene.
  • Only leave four combat encounters in the lower level, one with each lieutenant, one with the final boss. The small fights with minor demons pose no threat at all.
  • Change Yulethe to a Glabrezu, accompanied with 2 or more Barlguras. Have the Glabrezu use Power Word Stun on the obvious caster, and the Barlguras emmerge from invisibility to double down on him/her.
  • Change Goryx into a Nalfeshnee, using the +3 Pike as a toothpick as he recently finished eating the wyrmling.
  • Change Xalumbros into a Young Red Shadow Dragon, the same mama dragon the players have interacted with, but was "consumed by the shadow". Nothing brighter than a dim light can be emitted in that room.
  • Banishment against any of the demons won't work, because the volcano is a passageway to the Abyss. Instead, upon cast of Banishment, the spell slot is expended, and have the caster roll on Wild Magic Surge.
  • The Balor starts on maximum HP, Raxakon reduces it to the average value (instead of a laughable 147).
  • Remove the Umaja that disables the Balor's Magic Resistance trait entirely. Without Magic Resistance, the fight is laughably easy.
  • Djzark does not disable the entire Fire Aura trait, only the within 5 feet damage per turn. Melee attacks will still invoke the 10 (3d6) fire damage.
  • Alkana grant advantage on Death Throes, and then maybe Fire resistance, not immunity.
  • When the Balor succeed on his Whip attack, and the target failed the Strength save, the target is flung to the Abyss immediately, taking psychic damage and return at the end of the Balor's next turn. So bascially a modified Hurl through Hell from Fiend Warlocks.

Those might seem like heavy buffs to the Balor in the final fight, but I can assure you it's not. I ran the aforementioned encounter twice, and both times my table managed to defeat the Balor. One table even challenged the Balor directly without any wizard spirits aiding, and still won handily.



Rating:
[2 of 5 Stars!]
DDAL07-10 Fire, Ash, and Ruin (5e)
Click to show product description

Add to DriveThruRPG.com Order

pixel_trans.gif
DDAL07-09 Unusual Opposition (5e)
Publisher: Wizards of the Coast
by Jac Z. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 02/23/2018 18:57:50

TL;DR: Lazy writing & an uncohesive plot.

Pros:

  • The final fight was a challenging one, especially if you modify the spell list of the archmage. Psychich Scream + Hellfire Orb make for a great opener to the fight. Maze the Paladin or the strongest looking melee striker. Pre-cast Mage Armor, Mirror Image, Fire Shield and Crown of Stars for the archmage, and use your reactions to Counterspell the cleric instead of using Shield. This doesn't necessarily lead to a TPK if your table has a balanced party, it just adds an element of urgency to the fight. I prefer fast and crisp fights over a drawn out grind. You kill the archmage you win, vice versa.

Cons:

  • A very linear plot. Only variation comes in how you deal with the hags and the Ramshackle King. Neither has any significant impact to the plot.
  • The quest chain is very disjointed. Each part of the quest chain just "happens to" point you towards the right direction, to a point where it feels like the information is given just for plot convenience.
  • The roc fight feels very out of place. The voyage to Refuge Bay feels like filler content just to stuff it up to 4-hours.


Rating:
[2 of 5 Stars!]
DDAL07-09 Unusual Opposition (5e)
Click to show product description

Add to DriveThruRPG.com Order

pixel_trans.gif
CCC-YLRA01-03 Bound By Duty
Publisher: Dungeon Masters Guild
by Jac Z. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 02/08/2018 17:34:29

By far my favourite module to DM in the trilogy (with no disrespect to the other two, this one is just really awesome in my book).

As a DM who really likes RP-ing, here are a few of my favourite things about the module:

  1. This is probably the first time I've seen a module that presents the table with potentially conflicting objectives. Depending on which factions are presents on the table, there could be a situation where half of the table wants the wedding to succeed, and the other half trying to make it fall through. Plus, they might also have different objectives that they have to try to prioritise. Do you save the fireworks? Do you save the weapons? Would you go out of your way to protect the crew members? Furthermore, this also incentivise the players to RP amongst themselves, especially if they are aware of their conflicting goals. It is a very refreshing idea.
  2. Yay for multiple RP-ing opportunities! You have the freedom to interact with any NPC in any point of the adventure, and how you interact with them will have its effect towards the ending of this adventure. The module also provides a lot of leads to draw the players' attention and want to speak to the NPCs. Quoting my table, "Guys, we're in a Nick Sparks movie!"
  3. The combat encounters have a lot of callback to previous adventures, Wobbles from CCC-YLRA01-02, Walharrow II from DDEX1-9, the ghost ship to the whole S1 storyline. It's a great nod to previous lore events, and I happen to be a DM who DM-ed the whole Tyranny of Dragons series. Many of them also pose a good challenge, not in the traditional sense of swarming the players with powerful monsters, but creating situations that forces the players to split the party, even just momentarily.
  4. Jay Africa played at my table. Yup, the author of this very module was playing at my table. Adding that to my CV right now. ("I don't remember writing in stuff that deals 19 damage!")

Nitpick: As an authentic Chinese, I, uh, wasn't particularly fond about the names of the Shou NPCs, especially the crew members. Or I'm just being too sensitive. Anyways.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
CCC-YLRA01-03 Bound By Duty
Click to show product description

Add to DriveThruRPG.com Order

pixel_trans.gif
Displaying 1 to 15 (of 38 reviews) Result Pages:  1  2  3  [Next >>] 
pixel_trans.gif
pixel_trans.gif Back pixel_trans.gif
0 items
 Gift Certificates