Some spoilers. Last part of the Rescue trilogy, an assault on the complex where Prince Ruthic is being held. As "Tenebrous" suggests, shadow magic is weaving its spell, and deception, mental anguish, as well as tough combatants, await the heroes. Reality is shifting, and the six lower level rooms are dealt with in random order. Extreme danger lurks if you linger in one chamber (see front cover) for too long; there are splendid troves of magic heroes will need later. The final tower has three sections, each with a task (free the Prince, discover a concealed exit, align stones and escape) whilst battling formidable foes, and a time constraint as poisonous fumes spread and the party suffocates if they have not completed the missions. Play is likely to be exciting: resources must be juggled and the Prince protected. In the event of a mission failing, there is an extra scenario, Dream Shackles, giving a chance of another go.

In play, the powerful first group had done well in the two previous parts of the trilogy, accumulating a good stock of useful items, and extra companions: Yarra, Crames, and Sir Hector (a Lorenthian knight). The Mind Bender seems the most challenging room on level one, with Crames poisoned by a giant spider, but otherwise the heroes did well. (They slew the serpent.) Efficient progress in the tower, coupled with good numbers and boosts from herbs and potions, enabled them to take a shot at the Shadow Lord; he rolled poorly, and was destroyed; an outrageously lucky throw discovered the exit quickly. Keeping Arisien alive paid off handsomely in the final chamber as his skill was central to activating the portal. Only seven levels of smoke accumulated; a success so comprehensive it rivalled "Where Eagles Dare". A second group had fewer members and assets, and lost a companion to a shadow controlled Ranger in the Mind Bender room. Otherwise there was good progress in the lower chambers. They were able to free the Prince, which set the scene for a battle royale with the Shadow Lord. The tenebrous one took damage, but slew two of the group as they struggled to locate the exit. A timely appearance by Saint Emilia gave the heroes some breathing space, and a depleted group took the crown and limped to the transportation room. Once again having Arisien (called Ludwig in this group) still in play was important, and a rearguard action was fought. Fleeing was the only option when the Terror Wing arrived; one stone was not fully aligned, and the Prince, rolling poorly, suffered a permanent injury (crushed left arm). Ten levels of smoke and a near thing, but another triumph.

Very few errors. Some suggested changes: p17 Event Deck, Black Queen. "Shadow Knight" not "Death Knight"; p39 Top. Should read "The Shadow Walkers Event Table" not "Reading Room"; p52 Challenge level should refer to "skeletal knight", not "armoured skeleton". Delete +1XP armoured skeleton from Outcomes and Experience table on p53, add +2XP per skeletal knight destroyed.

Highly recommended. A satisfying conclusion to the first phase of a Shadow Deep campaign.

Awesome product. Nice campaign and really useful magic item list to complement the one listed in the main rulebook.

Rangers of Shadow Deep (RoSD) tries its hand at solo dungeoneering. This genre has been attempted in other products, ranging from programmed adventures (sometimes with reveal as you explore maps), to random generation systems; the RoSD approach is a hybrid of the two (skewed to the former). The scenario goal is to traverse levels and find the exit rather than looting, as part of an ongoing rescue mission behind enemy lines.

Levels seem to increase in difficulty as you descend. On the first three levels there are no rooms you must enter aside from the (unknown) one with an elevator; there is an interesting tension between visiting rooms and possibly gaining useful information and items, but having monsters to battle and suffering extra event cards; you might guess the exit room is located some distance from the entry room. Plenty of exciting touch and go combats; in corridors, the party may be pressed on multiple fronts. Good variety in the types of room: as well as foes to overcome there are objects with which one can interact (for weal or woe), testing of non-combat skills, and the occasional physical obstacle. Several interesting revelations, some cryptic.

In a first play the heroes found a helpful map locating the armoury and exit room on level one; they proceeded without much difficulty. Spectacular success on the "Shadow Magic" level: the Minister of the Deep, 2 Masters and 9 Acolytes defeated (along with a shadow knight), and a plethora of magic items and treasure gained. Tougher times on the lowest level, with Humpbacks proving to be formidable foes; one companion lost and a few narrow escapes; two allies gained and enlisted. A second group (taking different paths and visiting some new rooms) generally had a trickier time; plenty of work for archers when securing corridors. Two companions fell, and a ranger was almost lost to a spectral horseman, but the heroes managed to escape Dungeons Dark.

Possible improvements: (i) 2nd level, p. 28, event Red Three, suggest adding "If no heroes are in a corridor, treat this as no event" as per Red Four; (ii) Dungeon level 4 map, p. 34, Spawn Point 4 is not labelled (but referred to in the Event Table). Suggest adding extra doors to rooms X and Y to increase choice of paths (and replayability).

Highly recommended (and I look forward to Tenebrous Citadel).

A collection of (not directly connected) missions, mostly for beginning and less powerful rangers. A welcome opportunity for other authors. The emphasis is on missions that can be repeated, and make sense whatever the current state of the war. Some spoilers in the following reviews of individual adventures.

Treason in Tallis

A mission defending the palace in the capital against a disloyal noble. An intriguing switch to fighting the enemy within. Ripe for prequel expansion. I added:Lady Anne's Ball (with the board set up a ballroom with adjoining gambling tables) to gain gossip about potential traitors and their plans; Raid on the Townhouse, a burglary of Baron Audric's residence in the capital, to find clues to where, when and how the attack will take place. Information picked up in the social encounters give bonuses for the raid; success in the burglary triggers the Treason in Tallis scenario as the climax of the mission.

In play, the loyalists won twice, managing to save some innocents from the fires, and defeating the Baron after a tough struggle.

To Help the Sick

A variant on Blood Moon, with Shadow Deep agents to unmask and information to gain from a contact. Excellent use of foreboding as undead forces increase at the edge of the board, waiting for "all is revealed" to attack. The heroes gather clues to trigger the event, also determining who are the healers, who are the imposters. An innovative event deck with some cards replaced, others discarded. Play one was touch and go at the point when zombies attacked, but a fire wizard turned the tide and the rangers and retinue achieved near total success. The second group also tottered when the undead storm was unleashed, but managed to triumph with the loss of one companion.

Possible improvement: no experience point listing for defeating wolves or agents of shadow deep.

The Baleful Tower

Fast moving and fun mission for one highly experienced ranger. In the first scenario, the "healing pool" adds extra options. I like the mechanic of double cards after one run through of the event deck to encourage the ranger to enter the tower. There is flexibility in the second scenario, as you can decide whether or not to risk battle (for a fine reward) with a fearsome monster. In play I added one companion, mainly to pick up clues, etc. Outstanding success in the first play through, albeit with some unlucky rolls by the Chimera in the climatic encounter; the Dark Light Axe (Mandalorian anyone?) was claimed. A weaker ranger was overwhelmed by a horde of skeletal knights adjacent to the tower in a second play.

Possible improvements: scenario one, the example layout has a missing clue marker (near the centre); scenario two, strange event deck cards, the red queen is missing for no obvious reason.

From the Shadows

Some optional rules for using stealth presented, then a simple but challenging scenario to save villagers from a gnoll force. In a first play, a strong martial group ambushed the gnolls, then won by force of arms (and spells). The party lost a companion; they were fortunate the gnoll reinforcements did not arrive quickly, the heroes can end up facing a sizable force. In the second play, the ranger and retinue concentrated on quiet rescues and fighting retreats. Resolved quickly, one companion detected, surrounded and slain, five villagers rescued.

The Evacuation

Party escorting villagers being moved to safer locales. The protection of carts on the trail seems the more challenging scenario, as there are some potentially nasty ambushes; opponents when guarding the camp are less numerous, although the ranger and retinue may have been weakened. Excellent replay value: any two plays are likely to trigger different encounters (although the chances of fighting a troll seem very slim). Already tried and tested, as an earlier version has been freely available for some time.

Group one fared badly on the long road as they tried to fight a rearguard against gnolls as the carts moved to safety, only for the latter to suffer an assault by zombies. A depleted force managed to defend the campsite. A second group was menaced by zombies, then gnolls, and a zombie attack from further up the road. They were more successful in fighting one set of enemies at a time, and took no losses, but arrived late at camp. Night attacks were repulsed with relative ease.

Possible improvement: add a 50% chance of "you have a bad feeling about this" to the spooked horses entries, to give a greater variety of opponents at the campsite in replays.

Overall Impression

A fine collection of repeatable adventures, filling a gap in the material published thus far: you can develop a new ranger and followers without replaying corebook scenarios.

Regarding pricing, the pdf and physical copy combination offers best value.

Highly recommended.

Great Stuff. The book is lovely and well presented and the stuff inside is worth the money

Cheers

Un très bon jeu malgré un manque de liberté! Il faudrait juste un livre sur la création de scénarios rapides!

First part of an epic rescue mission: a series of encounters in a desert behind enemy lines. The heroes are ambushed by variant monsters in a sandstorm in scenario one; the second may be the most innovative, the party must discover the true name of a Djinn before they can defeat it; more emphasis on horror in the next encounter, undead to battle, bodies and skulls to find, and a captive to rescue, in a leaning tower; the final scenario has the most tactical decisions, how to split your forces, attack at night or during the day, as well as a formidable mutant to battle.

Welcome variation in the mission set ups and opponents to be faced. There is a mechanic for hunger/thirst penalties due to desert travel, and the best chance of avoiding these is to keep your camels (and handler) alive. Having overarching considerations beyond individual scenarios makes the overall mission more coherent. One omission: no experience listing for the gnoll shaman, warden, or guard dog in scenario 4.

In play, the heroes won all scenarios, but the oasis encounter would have been close if the Djinn had not rolled poorly, and a companion was lost to the skeletal knights in the tower. The toughest opponent was the Humpback in the final scenario: it killed a companion before falling to a wizard.

A strong start to The Rescue. Highly recommended.

Mission where the company is (accidentally) ambushed, and then has a chance to ambush an enemy wagon train in return. Heroes have an opportunity to gain an animal companion in the latter scenario, and there are other potential beneficial finds.

Missing from the experience table for scenario 1: +3XP for any boar killed by the heroes.

In play, the first attack seems dangerous as the company is disorganised at the start, and casualties were taken; the wagon ambush can be carefully planned, with remarkable success on one occasion: no losses, civilians successfully rescued, spellbook found, tiger befriended, and all but one wagon opened, none escaping.

An expanded bestiary of animal companions is included.

A solid adventure, perhaps lacking the wow factor of some previous scenarios, but enjoyable nevertheless. Recommended.

Spectacular first scenario, with a touch of Indiana Jones/Jackson's Moria as the heroes try to battle foes and escape as the floor crumbles, with a drop into a lake of fire beckoning. A lockpicker is required, and the ability to fly is a considerable asset. The second "find the exit door" mission is easier and less innovative, but is enlivened by the (probable) appearance of the Ogre Gorbin, who can be recruited.

Much can go wrong in the first scenario and that is what happened in both plays as several heroes took the fiery plunge. Comfortable success in the second mission, although in the second play one companion was pulverised by the skeletal ogre whilst clutched by ghoulish claws. Bad times for Gorbin: not met by the first group; slain by the second.

A punishing gauntlet, a good scenario to use for a squad trapped behind enemy lines.

Highly recommended.

I don't think there's a game I've played more both solo and cooperatively then Rangers of Shadow Deep. I've played through many of the same missions many times and they never get old.

So I have owned this game for over a year now, I am fairly confident I can review this now. Anyone who has played Frostgrave will know the mechainics well except this is a real update to those mechanics with companion advancement updated rules on crits and turn squence. It is also powered down with the main hero the ranger being very custom to each player want to play a spell caster you can want to be an archer or a heavy armoured knight or even want to mix it up you can. this game bridges the gap between rpg and wargame perfectly.

The game also allows you to play Co-op which i have done with friends as well as my 10 year old daughter, its easy to pick up easy to play but also challenging. The main book has in it two mini campaigns the intro campaign and burning light a much more challenging adventure. there are also many expansions out there as well as more on the way. the Author of the books Joseph is also hugely involved via the facebook group and blogs something you never see.

So does it have any down sides yes it does but they are pretty minior the missions don't have map layout for deployment just a discription this allows you to use what you have but also means you have to make the terrain challenging and try to not make it too easy for you. Also the huge amount creatures required in the bestiary might mean you dont have all the required models however say you dont have gnolls you could just use orcs etc its your game. There is also minimal fluff which anyone who knows the authors previous work will know he does that so that you can set it in your own worlds but i know people out there like the fluff. None of these points are really that negative.

So if your looking for a single player or co-op RPG/wargame this is perfect for you the replaybility is also there and with more campaigns coming out all the time its well supported. North star has also started releasing a line of miniatures for the setting too.

A change of pace as the heroes are directly involved in the war: they form elite units in actions crucial to the outcome of a major battle. The enemy plan (and what must be done to stop it) gets revealed in satisfying chunks. The four missions have good variety: a holding action, whilst wounded soldiers retreat; a lightning strike to decimate opposition commanders and discover their plans; a diversion, with stealth key; the final combat, something of a meatgrinder, with a potentially spectacular ending. Success (and items gained) in previous missions (can) influence how difficult the subsequent missions are. Missions one and three are for inexperienced rangers; two and four for grizzled veterans.

In two plays, ultimate success both times. The first group succeeded in all missions, doing very well in the first two, then losing a companion in both missions three and four. The second group did well in the initial mission, before losing two companions in the second mission; they were unable to burn/steal many stores in mission three before retreating, but managed to triumph in the finale with only one companion lost. The third mission seemed the trickiest, groups being menaced by respectively spectres and a swimming troll when making a forced escape by boat; it seems you can only knock out so many sentries by stealth before an alarm is raised. The extra companions were a real boon in the brutal final combat. The event deck mechanic kept things fresh and different in the replay.

Some may dislike the need for "junior", an inexperienced ranger and retinue. However many of the previous scenarios are enjoyable when replayed, and there are also very good fan adventures (for low experience rangers) such as Evacuation Mission, Black Hart and At Any Price available at BoardGameGeek, so blooding "junior" ready for play should be fun.

There is a welcome list of magical items, mainly weapons but distinctive and well described.

Very enjoyable, highly recommended.

While its nice to have new scenarios to play and the new magic weapons are nice, the format of this expansion is not one that can played directly without creating mutiple warbands which is ok for stand alone games but less desirable for proper campaign play.

A series of four combat/puzzle rooms: enough variation between scenarios to keep things fresh, and replay value as different notes are likely to be triggered in a second attempt. Combat is the focus, but other abilities are tested as well; the talking mirror (and its revelations) are a nice touch. I would like a little more variety in the encounter tables: perhaps a once only escaped prisoner, or summoned demon.

A couple of possible corrections: notes 738 and 739 are out of numerical order; the encounter table on p. 35 makes no reference to shadow knights, yet they are listed in the experience table, perhaps entry 12-14 is in error.

In a double play, the heroes got lucky in the columns room both times with a near immediate repeat of activated numbers; the magical locked door scenario proved the toughest, with exciting combats that were on a knife edge. The Beastman bodyguard (in the finale) nearly killed a Ranger in the second play, but the heroes prevailed both times.

Outside of the adventure there is a welcome expansion of spells, wizardly items, and magic-using companions.

Highly recommended.

Very impressive. I am looking forward to giving it a whack on the table top. Already thinking of crazy things to do with it.

Loses one star for two reasons. The PDF doesn't have links which is frustrating in this day and age. Secondly it has this parchment effect throughout - which isn't printer friendly and could be very easily fixed.

Looking forward to more from this author.