Well, first off, I've to admit that I'm a bit biased when it comes down to backdrops like this. I loved the town
descriptions Paizo did back then in the old Dungeon days (and their newer ones in their Pathfinder product line), and
that's the standard I compare similar products with. Which naturally is a bar raised too high for Chubby Monster Games'
first product (and a bar they probably didn't even try to reach).
This said, the Village of Cowfold still seems like a highly useful product to me. You can put it in nearly any campaign
setting (even non-fantasy ones), it contains several interesting locations and NPCs. And it's full of little details
you normally miss in such a description (really, anyone putting a price tag for a Mug of Cow's milk in his book gets a
big bonus point from me).
But let's start with the beginning. The product consists of three parts: an entry from Lexx's journal, in which said
Lexx describes his impressions from his visit; it is well written if probably a bit long drawn out. But I could nearly
smell the aromas coming out of Penny's bakery (and I like to see through the eyes of a world's inhabitant).
Second, there was the description of several locations, including the NPCs living and working in them. The description
of the NPCs seemed a bit too repetitive (and sometimes sounded as if rolled on a random table) but apart from that were
full of details (and sometimes hinted at/described secrets which could translate into adventure possibilities)
And thirdly, three direct adventure hooks, some of them referring to those secrets.
So, as said before, even with those little "flaws", the product seems highly usable, if only for mining it for some
ideas/NPCs/locations. It's well layouted, easily readable, and as it's free, I'd recommend it for anyone looking for a
village he can insert in his own campaign world. Could well be the starting point for my next campaign.
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