Explore a library of magically awakened books in this mini-adventure for level 5.
A review copy of “Off the Books” was provided by the publisher. Find more DMs Guild Reviews on my website and YouTube channel.
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Designed by: Dana Floberg
Off the Books is a 5th level mini-adventure that turns a library into a dungeon crawl. An enchanted book of fiction has brought several characters to life, and the library needs a helpful group of adventurers to set things right.
A new party descends into this deadly dungeon.
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We interrupt your regularly scheduled Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden to bring you an entirely new mini-campaign! It’s the Forge of Fury (from Tales from the Yawning Portal), with guest DM, Heather.
Starring:
Absalon, level 4 aasimar cleric of death
Lat’Zure, level 4 githzerai rogue soulknife
Youb Asic, level 4 human champion fighter
Frank, level 4 tortle battle master fighter
Rech, level 4 human champion fighter
When we last left off, our doomed heroes were dead, dying, or hovering around 1 hit point, with a pair of fresh orc reinforcements bearing down on us.
This week, those poor bastards are no where to be found, as an all-new team descends into this deadly dungeon.
Create hundreds of magic items, weapons, and armor through defeated monsters.
This review has been sponsored by the publisher. Find more reviews on my website and YouTube channel.
Support my work by using affiliate links for shopping and pledging via Patreon.
Designed by: Wilson Belshaw
Inspired by Pokémon and slottable gear, The Foestone Compendium introduces magical gems called foestones. Foestones capture the essence of a defeated monster, conferring its abilities and traits into weapons, armor, and wondrous items, with literally hundreds of options.
Continue reading “DMs Guild Review – The Foestone Compendium”
Deeper into the dungeon we discover a room full of angry orcs. Everything’s going fine until the orcs start exploding.
Live streamed and uploaded every week on YouTube. Join us live on Fridays at 7:30 pm Pacific/10:30 pm Eastern!
Chat with us in the Official Discord Server.
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We interrupt your regularly scheduled Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden to bring you an entirely new mini-campaign! It’s the Forge of Fury (from Tales from the Yawning Portal), with guest DM, Heather.
Starring:
Snigbat, level 3 goblin beastmaster ranger (and Piggie)
Gazz, level 3 goblin armorer artificer
Owla Din, level 3 owlin paladin of glory
Vasool, level 3 loxodon druid of the moon
Recter, level 3 elf way of the drunken master monk
Deeper into the dungeon we discover a room full of angry orcs. Suddenly we’re in for the fight of our lives, and not all of us will make it out.
Three new locations and adventures that expand Chapter 4 of The Wild Beyond the Witchlight.
This review has been sponsored by the publisher. Find more reviews on my website and YouTube channel.
Support my work by using affiliate links for shopping and pledging via Patreon.
Designed by: Daniel Kahn
Like the excellent Hither Adventure Bundle and Thither Adventure Bundle , the Yon Adventure Bundle enhances a chapter of The Wild Beyond the Witchlight by expanding underdeveloped content, or adding all new mini-adventures, in three different locations.
This adventure bundle focuses on chapter four. Yon is a mountainous realm of constant thunderstorms ruled by the melodramatic hag, Endelyn Moongrave. It includes the Astronomer’s Throne, Korred Clans, and Mill in the Mists, which can also be purchased separately. Each adventure includes maps, statblocks, and magic items, and are designed for parties around sixth level.
In our first session, our characters take on a mission to plumb the depths of an dwarven stronghold, now overrun by orcs.
Live streamed and uploaded every week on YouTube. Join us live on Fridays at 7:30 pm Pacific/10:30 pm Eastern!
Chat with us in the Official Discord Server.
Support the channel via Patreon
Starring:
Snigbat, level 3 goblin beastmaster ranger (and Piggie)
Gazz, level 3 goblin armorer artificer
Owla Din, level 3 owlin paladin of glory
Vasool, level 3 loxodon druid of the moon
Rector, level 3 elf way of the drunken master monk
We interrupt your regularly scheduled Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden to bring you an entirely new mini-campaign! It’s the Forge of Fury (from Tales from the Yawning Portal), with guest DM, Heather.
In our first session, our characters take on a mission to plumb the depths of an dwarven stronghold, now overrun by orcs.
Who knew the fall of an intergalactic empire could be so boring?
The Collapsing Empire by John Scalzi
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
Warning: some vague spoilers.
I’m glad The Collapsing Empire was not the first Scalzi book I read, as I may have written him off entirely. The Old Man’s War series was full of fun sci-fi ideas, with the backdrop of an exciting intergalactic war. Conversely, The Collapsing Empire is mostly just boring.
The Interdependency is a human-only empire that long since left our fledgling galaxy via the Flow, a series of connected space-highways that allow for relatively short travel over vast distances of space. The empire exists in a medieval caste system, with powerful noble families ruling over everyone, and the admittedly cool-named Emperox at the top.
The problem is the Flow is starting to shift, cutting off entire stations and worlds from one another, bringing an end to the empire.
The first half of the novel is mostly concerned with the one habitable world at the ass-end of the empire, End. It’s economics, politics, and endless dialogue had me waiting for something interesting to happen.
The few seemingly interesting bits, a kidnapping of a noble, a saboteur aboard a spaceship, an assassination attempt, are resolved so quickly they lose all sense of drama. The second half improves somewhat as our main characters reach each other, but as book one of a duology, we’re not given a satisfying ending yet.
I also failed to see who the protagonist actually was, and which characters were driving the story forward. The new Emperox is a good character, but she doesn’t get to do much of anything, and the same can be said of Lady Kiva and Lord Claremont. A brief investigation toward the end gave me a glimmer of hope, only for it to be solved almost instantly, like most plot points throughout the story.
I still enjoy Scalzi’s writing, however. Dialogue is quippy yet realistic, and chapters are short and easy to read. Lady Kiva is a delightfully horny, vulgar, bisexual disaster, and I wish she had a much bigger role in the story. But it’s not enough to make me want to read the second novel.
I’ll give Scalzi another shake in the future, but as someone who enjoyed the Old Man’s War series, The Collapsing Empire was crushingly disappointing.
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A Feywild mini-adventure, for levels 5-7.
A review copy of “Full Moon Fey Tales” was provided by the publisher. Find more DMs Guild Reviews on my website and YouTube channel.
Support my work by using my affiliate links and pledging via Patreon.
Designed by: S J Doble
Full Moon Fey Tales doesn’t have anything to do with werewolves, but it does feature a short but fun romp in the Feywild, for levels 5-7.
With news of the Chardalyn Dragon reaching the nearby town of Targos, the Marshals race to intercept it with their Frostmaiden-powered artifact.
Live streamed and uploaded every week on YouTube. Join us live on Fridays at 7:30 pm Pacific/10:30 pm Eastern!
Original character art by Jimmy McClure.
Music by Kevin MacLeod.
Chat with us in the Official Discord Server.
Support the channel via Patreon!
Previously on Rime of the Frostmaiden
Starring:
Valravn, level 6 Eladrin Bard of Eloquence
Fray, level 6 Halfling Barbarian of the Beast/Fighter
Celeste, level 6 Plant Spore Servant
Edmond, Level 6 Human Alchemist Artificer
Thimbleweed, level 6 Gnome Swarmkeeper Ranger
With news of the Chardalyn Dragon reaching the nearby town of Targos, the Marshals race to intercept it with their Frostmaiden-powered artifact.
Continue reading “Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden Session 39 Recap”
Fourteen lairs from levels 1-15, based on new creatures from Tome of Beasts 2.
A review copy of the module was provided. Read more Roll20 Reviews and watch the video reviews on my YouTube channel.
Support my content via Patreon.
Designed by: Kobold Press
Tome of Beasts 2 Lairs is the follow-up to Kobold Press’ Book of Lairs, highlighting some of the creatures from Tome of Beasts 2 by designing entire lairs around them. You don’t need the actual monster book to run these lairs, however, as all necessary monsters are included, as well as gorgeous battle maps featuring a wide variety of dungeon settings.
Eric Watson 