Curse of Crosskey is a Labyrinth Lord (with the AEC) adventure for character levels 3-4. As with most of the adventures that fall under the general banner of the OSR, you should be able to use this with S&W, C&C, OSRIC or any of the other D&D / OGL based rulesets. Good, that's out of the way.

Take off the cover, OGL and title / contents page and it comes in at 11 pages for $1.99. Not a bad return on your investment, but if you want to get a real return on your cash you will need to invest time and effort. This is a sandbox style adventure that starts with the ::SPOILER ALERT!!!:: players getting shipwrecked on a mysterious and magically infused island. So yes, the plot hook is very specific: your party is forced into survivor / explorer mode. As you need to put them in that situation, how you set things up is very important, thus your investment of time and effort.

There is a lot that is hinted at in this adventure that can be fleshed out by the GM... heck, it probably needs to be fleshed out. Especially the ideas to conclude / continue the adventure. In many ways, I feel this is less a sandbox adventure as it is a sandbox micro-setting.

Three new magic items and two new monsters round things out.

(review originally posted at TenkarsTavern.com)

Sometimes you want to eat gourmet. Sometimes you want fast food. Temple of the Horned Goddess is decent fast food at an excellent price.

What does one get for their 2 bucks? 24 pages (plus front and back covers) of adventure for a Labyrinth Lord party around 4th or 5th level. You get a town map, a surrounding area map and 2 small dungeon locations. You also get some pre-rolled PCs, making this a decent choice for a Game Day or Con game, or just use them to add to your stable of NPCs. Oh, and 2 new monsters for your Monster Catalogue, or whatever the youngsters are calling it these days. Not a bad deal for an evening's entertainment.

(review originally posted at tenkarstavern.com)

Knightvision Game is pretty much known for it's inexpensive adventures for the Labyrinth Lord RPG and Winter's Herald certainly is inexpensive at $1.99. The question then becomes: "Is it good?" The answer isn't so easy to find.

My main problem with the adventure is that it is set in an extremely cold climate. So, it might work well with LotFP's Weird New World setting, but then the adventure includes magic and monsters that Weird New World won't comfortably support.

The hooks to get the party up north would generally have to be planted a session or two earlier, as it will probably be a trek from their normal stomping grounds.

For me, it is worth it for stealing some of the encounters for my own use, 7 new creatures for your OSR style game, rules for dealing with the extreme cold and a handful of new magic items. YMMV.

Into the FarDeep is the third adventure is the Gate series of adventures from Knightvision games. This is a Labyrinth Lord compatible adventure for 1st or 2nd level characters, and sees the culmination of the party's search for a famous explorer now presumed lost deep within the bowels of a dwarven mine. This adventure is best played as part of the trilogy (along with Path of the Delver and Come Hell or High Water), although with a little modification can be used as a stand-alone adventure due to the sandbox nature of parts of this adventure.

Presentation is neatly done, with good editing and writing, and overall the product has a very old school feel and look to it, which is appropriate. Maps are decent, though not spectacular, and a larger map of the FarDeep would've been nicer than the small one provided. Artwork is good, with several fitting images complementing the written text. Organisation of the adventure is good, with no strict path to follow, leaving the adventure journey as much up to the players and the LL. The product includes several new monsters and treasures, all which fit the theme of the adventure neatly. A good presentation overall in the style of old school gaming.

The adventure sees the party delve deeper into the abandoned dwarven mine to a strange world called the FarDeep. Here they will encounters wonders never seen before and face dangers untold. The adventure pits the characters against the last remnants of a cult, the power of an ancient comet fallen within the FarDeep, native tribes around the region and scores of pirates that patrol the inner sea of the FarDeep. In encountering all these sinister and friendly elements, the party will need all their skills to navigate the challenges facing them, including the harsh terrain. There is a good mix of combat and roleplaying, plenty of mystery and puzzles, and a lot going on. On top of that, the LL can have a field day sculpting the surrounding area of the FarDeep as much as they like, to create even more wonder or conflict. Here and there a few more background details wouldn't go amiss, particularly relating to the denizens of the FarDeep and how they got there, but for the most part background is more than enough.

The adventure has a little bit of everything in it, and certainly no two scenarios or encounters are anywhere near alike. The largely non-linear nature of the adventure means characters have the freedom to tackle problems and issues in their own way, though with the limited resources of lower level parties. Having said that, the dangerous terrain and encounter area are often more the domain of higher level parties, so in that sense it can really stretch a lower level party to be creative and innovative. I enjoyed this adventure quite a bit - it's mysterious, has a good balance, and is fun and interesting, but at the same time lacks a little background information and detail to make it truly magical. A solid adventure from Knightvision Games.

CC1 - Curse of Crosskey is a short scenario/adventure for the Labyrinth Lord old-school game system. The adventure takes place on an island, after the characters are marooned there by a freak storm, and the PCs are able to investigate the bizarre nature of their shipwreck and other unsavory happenings on the small island. The product is presented neatly and professionally, with some good art and good additional material such as new monsters and magical items. Maps and other drawings are clear and neatly done, providing clarity on the surroundings and the locations the player characters find themselves in.

One of the things I enjoy most about adventures is the adventure summary. Here you get all the information you need to hook the LL into playing the game, and indeed presenting it to the players. As such, I find that to be an important part of the adventure. Curse of Crosskey has such a good adventure summary - the plot is interesting, has lots of hooks and opportunities going for it, and there are lots of avenues available to explore within the plot scope provided. Having said that, the good summary doesn't feed through very well to the players and indeed throughout the adventure. The exposition is weak in places, the direction doesn't always clearly clarify the options - essentially most of the direction, motivation and objectives of the adventure are largely left to the LL. This in itself is fine, but one would expect the adventure to provide a little more detail and direction than is currently there.

Having said all that, the play options and exploration options while stranded on an island are numerous, and the adventure provides good encounters, roleplaying opportunities with the other survivors and areas to explore in an attempt to get off the island again. The encounters shouldn't be too challenging for the 3rd and 4th level PCs that are specified, but they're variable in the nature of the monsters and the locations. I think this is a good romp of an adventure, but DMs must be prepared to mould a lot of the background story to fit something a little more streamlined. As is, the scenario is really not an adventure, just a side-trek that can be used while the PCs are on their way elsewhere. Overall, though, a fair standard adventure with good backstory, but largely a side-trek where direction before and after the adventure (and even during in places) are largely left to the DM.