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NPC Portraits Deck: Fantasy
Publisher: Inkwell Ideas
by Gaetan V. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 06/08/2020 22:59:59

This whole thing is basically stock art + name + backstory.

There are 3 or 4 different art sources. The Andres Canals stuff really stands out. A bunch of them look like Cosplayers with a photoshop brush applied The copy is reasonable, though the layout is a little jarring

All in all, the deck is a reasonable "well of ideas" and at $4 it's pretty useful.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
NPC Portraits Deck: Fantasy
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5e Spell Card Form
Publisher: Patrick Mitchell Johnston
by Gaetan V. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 02/24/2019 03:20:46

Lots of basic design problems.

Let's start with the file contents

  • 5e OGL doc (no idea why, there's no SRD content)
  • 4 small PNG files
  • 10-page PDF with 6 different versions of the card template, each with different colors for the ribbons at the top and bottom. It also has a few pages that look like they're intended to be card backs.

So the good news is that I basically got it working. The PDF has some javascript on it that's required to activate the little boxes with the icons. I got it working in FoxIt reader, but your PDF reader may not work.

Of course, once you get it working and you paste in your spell details, what's next? Well, it's not clear because there are no instructions. The PDF pages are each 2.5" by 3.5", but if you just hit the print button you end up with one card in the center of a page. The page should be able to fit 9, I've done this before, but there are no instructions. So if you haven't done this before you have to figure out that process.

Once you've figured out the process, you'll notice some other design problems.

  • The text isn't quite right, my "g" in Magic Missile is cut off at the bottom. In fact, you can see this in the preview image, there isn't enough space for descenders. My material components at the bottom have the same problem, they're being cut off by the Author's name?
  • The small PNGs do not include a symbol for "Material", so you get "Verbal" and "Symatic" (sp?), I guess you just have to type in the Material piece.
  • The 4 icons you do get are very simple. They look like they were pulled from a font or some online library. They're very plain, they don't scream D&D in any way.
  • The white space is all wrong. Text is colliding, lines are cutting through descenders.
  • The font for things like casting time and duration is tiny. But the font for the very wordy descriptions is huge. And the alignments are weird, the net result is not fun to look at.

The last big issue is that there are no "borders". There's a fancy "ribbon" at the top and bottom of the card, but the card itself if exactly 2.5" by 3.5". So when you do print these things, you have to cut them exactly. If you cut them too big there's a white edge. If you cut them too small, the ribbons at the top and bottom look very different. I think the borders need to be done differently.

.



Rating:
[2 of 5 Stars!]
5e Spell Card Form
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Creator Reply:
A lot of your issues seem to come from the fact that this form is meant to be used in conjunction with the Spell Cards that I also have for sale. Everything about the style, border, and icons tie in with my other products. For your issues with "descenders", they should all still print just fine. I had another customer have an issue with them not showing in Adobe, but they printed just fine. All that being said, PDF forms are not a perfect system, and I really wish I could find a better one. Finally, if you are completely unsatisfied with your purchase, I am new to DTRPG, but I can see what we can do about getting you a refund. Feel free to reach out to me with any questions, or if you would like a return.
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DDAL07-04 A Walk in the Park (5e)
Publisher: Wizards of the Coast
by Gaetan V. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 02/05/2018 23:55:37

This is an interesting idea, but it has some awkward moments. The early part of the adventure can just stop if PCs don't talk to the right person.

Once they do, you get a quick travel encounter and then a final battle that involves PCs kind of just walking up to the big bads and attacking them in the middle of their village.

It's all thematically correct, but it's just not terribly interesting.



Rating:
[3 of 5 Stars!]
DDAL07-04 A Walk in the Park (5e)
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DDAL07-05 Whispers in the Dark (5e)
Publisher: Wizards of the Coast
by Gaetan V. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 01/18/2018 14:05:46

I first played this as a PC and it is enjoyable. There's a fun puzzle, some "in the jungle" elements and some challenging combats. The Story Award is going to have a lasting impact on the full ToA campaign that I am running.

However, as a DM, I really didn't like the way this module was organized or explained. The "betrayal" at the end is not very well set up in either this module or the predecessor.

It does have some of Travis's nice maps and a few handouts. It also has two different faction hooks, which is nice.

General issues:

  • Continuity problems with Wadumu, he changed colors between adventures.
  • There are riddles, but no associated player handouts.
  • The whole process / mechanism for solving the puzzle really needs some pictures of some type of "overview". Understanding the trap requires a bunch of back and forth reading across the page.
  • The puzzle also has some timing requirements that are basically explained on the page following the puzzle.
  • It's not clear if there's a "short rest" opportunity between part 1 and part 2.
  • Part 3 is really confusing. Again, could really benefit from a drawing of the specific challenge faced by the PCs. It doesn't seem to have any XP associated.

Inconsistent details. Here's a simple one:

Once the characters activate the panels in the correct order, the flagstones surrounding the obelisk lower into the ground in the fashion of a staircase winding around a central column.*

This would make it seem like the "flagstones" are significant, but they're not actually in the original description at all.



Rating:
[3 of 5 Stars!]
DDAL07-05 Whispers in the Dark (5e)
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DDAL05-16 Parnast Under Siege (5e)
Publisher: Wizards of the Coast
by Gaetan V. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 07/14/2017 02:28:56

This is a finale to the season and needs to be treated that way. You really want to run this with a party at level 3 or 4. This is a very dangerous adventure, TPKs are very possible.

Pros:

  • Relevant hooks connecting back to the whole season. My PCs had only played some of the season adventures, but they really appreciated that their actions had meaning.
  • Varied and interesting combat. Later waves of enemies are well-organized and intelligent. There's a lot of flexibility in how these encounters play out.
  • Good sub-plots and meaningful character interactions with the NPCs.
  • Flavorful story awards.

Cons:

  • It's long, 4 hours is tough. We took 8, doing it in 4 requires a very disciplined, experienced table.
  • What the heck happened with the font? The printout of this adventure is really hard to read. But there seems to be no author interest in fixing it.

Note that the adventure is at least 4 combats. If the do the Night Raid and Spine Rippers encounters, you're talking about 6-8 combat encounters. That's on top of the significant NPC interactions. This is a lot of adventure for your dollar.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
DDAL05-16 Parnast Under Siege (5e)
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Deluxe Digital Map Pack: DDAL05-16 Siege of Parnast
Publisher: Dungeon Masters Guild
by Gaetan V. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 07/14/2017 02:10:53

I ran this adventure with printouts from these files. It worked out well. They're quite practical and well-priced.

There are 3 maps:

  • Parnast Environs (used for setting up the Siege)
  • Parnast centered on the Temple
  • Spine Rippers Den

The Parnast Environs map is just really useful in general. If you have the map from DDAL0503, they make useful handouts for the various adventures of the season.

The Temple map is very sensible.

The Spine Rippers map is really nice. Dyson-esque walls with a some simple color touches. The whole thing definitely feels like it is lived in. That stated, there's one sneaky problem with the map, it has the secret door "S" symbols on it. Now the text of the adventure doesn't actually reference the secret doors, so it may not be relevant, but it is a little confusing.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
Deluxe Digital Map Pack: DDAL05-16 Siege of Parnast
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Deluxe Digital Map Pack: DDAL05-12 Bad Business in Parnast
Publisher: Dungeon Masters Guild
by Gaetan V. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 07/14/2017 01:56:49

I ran this adventure with full-size printouts from these files. It worked out well. They are definitely not Mike Schley or Jared Blando, but they're very practical and well-priced.

There are 2 maps:

  • The Cabin
  • The Golden Tankard

The Golden Tankard map is quite nice. It looks like an actual inn, give or take some rest rooms. You could definitely use this map for any inn you required. That stated, for printing, you probably want to chop off the right 4 inches or so.

The Cabin map is really big which matches the adventure. However, it's kind of sparse and lacks some of the detail. There's a cage indicated by a square of dots, but it has no indication of a door. The fire is supposed to be lit, but that's not painted. The PCs are supposed to approach from cover within the forest, but there's no clear delineation between the bushy forest and the clearing on which the cabin stands.



Rating:
[3 of 5 Stars!]
Deluxe Digital Map Pack: DDAL05-12 Bad Business in Parnast
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Deluxe Digital Map Pack: DDAL05-03 Uninvited Guests
Publisher: Dungeon Masters Guild
by Gaetan V. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 07/14/2017 01:42:30

I ran this adventure with printouts from these files. It worked out well. They are definitely not Mike Schley or Jared Blando, but they're quite practical and significantly less expensive.

There are 3 maps:

  • Parnast Town Map
  • Parnast town center during a feast
  • Moors battle map

The Town Map was useful for several other sessions. In particular I ran most of the Tier 1 modules for this season and the map came in handy for various adventures. DDAL05-16 has the Parnast Environs map zoomed out a little.

The only annoyance is the Moors map which seems to be splayed across the paper diagonally. When I get these prints from the Kinko's, they charge by the square foot, so probably 30% of the surface area is unused.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
Deluxe Digital Map Pack: DDAL05-03 Uninvited Guests
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DDAL05-02 The Black Road (5e)
Publisher: Wizards of the Coast
by Gaetan V. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 03/27/2017 01:27:23

Good content, nice setup for the future.

Major Pros:

  • Multiple points in the adventure with good player decisions.
  • Memorable NPCs.
  • Some difficult fights with reasonable rewards.
  • Extensive handouts. For those wondering why it's 45 pages, that's because of the handouts.

The handouts are worthy of extra mention here. There is

  • Adventure Flowchart
  • Maps for each of the three combats. Two of those combats have a real vertical component with a separate "side-view".
  • 6 "Adventure Hook" player handouts. One for each faction + a generic one.
  • A rough map from the Moonsea to Parnast.
  • A banner of a Major NPC for these side adventures.
  • A possible message the PCs can intercept.

For $3, this is solid AL content.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
DDAL05-02 The Black Road (5e)
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Tintagel's D&D Card Template (CORE)
Publisher: Creative Gremlins
by Gaetan V. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 10/30/2016 03:15:44

I have used this product and successfully printed a 100 cards or so, but I have a few dissapointments about the overall product.

  • The bleed on the cards is bad. There are no side borders and very limited top/bottom borders. So when you actually want to print and cut the cards, you either end up leaving white paper around the outside or you start cutting into the main box which is uncomfortably close to the text. Trying to round the corners may cut off key pieces of text.
  • This product was created before the OGL, but it has not been updated since. So the product explicitly states that it doesn't include spell & item descriptions, but it actually could if it wanted to.
  • The default card fonts are not easy to read. I ended up customizing the templates for legibility.
  • The template backgrounds include a "(C) Rivera 2014" mark on the bottom right-hand corner. Given that I paid for these and I'm going to spend a bunch of time hand-entering the cards and sourcing graphics, I'd like to keep the credit thank you.
  • There are no "back" templates.

At the end of the day, it's probably worth the new $5 price, but you'll have to expect a lot of effort to bring this all together.



Rating:
[3 of 5 Stars!]
Tintagel's D&D Card Template (CORE)
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Creator Reply:
Hello Gaetan, Sorry I overlooked your feedback. Let me address a few things for you: * You shouldn't need to worry about bleed. I would Export the cards to PNG files, then insert them into the Word template that comes with the cards. That will give you a nice sheet with just a little white between the cards, and perfectly sized for sleeves. * Since your review, I've updated the sample card sets to include all of the OGL content. See the Readme file. Thanks for your feedback! * Sorry about the fonts. :-/ * Copyright info has been removed! * Sorry about the lack of back templates. I usually sleeve them so those are unnecessary. I'll consider creating some for future updates. :-) Thank you for your constructive feedback. Yours and others have allowed me to improve the product. I can't make a perfect product for everyone, but with your help I'm getting closer. I hope you reconsider your rating. Cheers!
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Ritual Magic Expanded for 5th Edition Fantasy
Publisher: Fat Goblin Games
by Gaetan V. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 10/30/2016 02:55:21

This is a nice set of ideas and a good basis for expanding the otherwise limited set of Rituals that are available to PCs. They have smart, non-adventuring rituals like "Union of Two Souls" for marriage or "Assuming the Mantle" for crowning royalty. They have rituals for things like putting people into stasis or sanctifying ground or exorcising demons. They even provide some ideas of rituals as plot hooks, such as keeping a flying castle afloat.

There's also a section on rituals for non-spellcasters.

Overall I like the ideas and will likely be using a few of these in modified form for my own campaign.

If this book comes up short of 5 stars it's because it lacks professional polish.

  • The layout is really poor. The Merry Respite spell splits across two pages with two lines on the first page.
  • The Assume the Mantle spell splits across three pages even though it's less than a page of text because someone decided to put a picture of thief picking a lock in the middle of the paragraph. Yes, this significant 9th-level spell is split across multiple pages and highlighted by artwork that has nothing to do with the spell.
  • The text includes 4 pieces of art and maybe one of them seems thematically relevant.
  • The text is painfully difficult on the eyes. Some of the header fonts render with zero kerning, the spell titles are white on black with insufficient border, the header is really wide and completely empty.
  • There are definitely pieces of the text that need another round of editing. For example, Magic Seal says that the imprisoned creature can attempt to break free, but then fails to describe how this happens. Instead it details that the caster has to re-cast the spell or the imprisoned creature automatically breaks free, which kind of negates the "attempt" because there is no such thing.


Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
Ritual Magic Expanded for 5th Edition Fantasy
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(5e) Expanded Options #01 - Occult Ritual Magic for 5th Edition Fantasy
Publisher: Fat Goblin Games
by Gaetan V. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 10/30/2016 02:30:18

This is a shortened version of a much more worthwhile larger product here. Just get the full thing, far more valuable http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/170570/Ritual-Magic-Expanded-for-5th-Edition-Fantasy.



Rating:
[3 of 5 Stars!]
(5e) Expanded Options #01 - Occult Ritual Magic for 5th Edition Fantasy
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NPC Adventuring Parties: Friends for CR 2 to 20 and everyone inbetween
Publisher: Dungeon Masters Guild
by Gaetan V. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 10/30/2016 01:48:11

This is a great tool for fleshing out a party of villains or just "other groups of people" in the world.

At its core, the author has basically built some mixed parties according to the PHB rules and then rolled them into monster stat blocks with appropriate CRs. They all have basic backgrounds including Ideals/Flaws/Bonds.

Some Pros:

  • This is a lot of effort I don't have to do!
  • Good mix of races, genders and classes. Even the "Drow" party has a Duergar and a Drider.
  • No one is carrying magic items, so you don't need to account for their possible acquisition by players.
  • Working bookmarks at the front of the book.
  • A really nice appendix listing offensive spells by CR. This is a good tool for "leveling up or down" the various casters.

Some Cons:

  • There's no art, obviously this is due to the free nature of the product, but I'll note it here.
  • There are limited write-ups on each party. You get two paragraphs of brief party description and then a paragaph describing each party member. What you don't get is any background on how they came together, how they work together, how they fight together, etc.
  • No magic items... yes it's on both lists. The downside is that no one's background is connected to "a thing", they are all like PCs that grew to some high level but never acquired any loot that would inform how their character grew.
  • Formatting by Homebrewery is reasonable but kind of plain. There's no good use of headers or footer, it's just kind of one giant document. There's no "print-friendly" version available.

To hit the 5-star level, the product just needs that extra "spit and polish". More meat about the parties, some options with magical items and ideally some art. With all of those pieces, this would be a product worthy of a print run.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
NPC Adventuring Parties: Friends for CR 2 to 20 and everyone inbetween
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Creature Catalogue: Undead Horrors
Publisher: Dungeon Masters Guild
by Gaetan V. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 10/29/2016 03:01:38

This is a solid set of creatures with nice artwork and some quick backgrounds all at a reasonable price.

Very much worth the asking price.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
Creature Catalogue: Undead Horrors
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101 1st Level Spells (5E)
Publisher: Rite Publishing
by Gaetan V. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 10/04/2016 17:38:51

Lacks professional editing and polish. For a $6 PDF book, I expect a lot more.

Polish issues

  • Text Splitting. Text is regularly split across pages. On page 12 the description of Escape Grapple is on the next page, on page 13, the last line of Glamour runs on the next page. This isn't a print book, so I'm not sure why we're trying to conserve space over readability here.
  • There's a "Summary" section at the front, but it's split across two columns in a way that makes it really awkward to read.
  • The Borrow Skill and Glamour spells both have text alignment problems.

Professional Editing

  • Terminolgy layout. In 5e, the wording on things like saves and checks are very standard. The Pass without Trace spell has the following: "...has a +10 bonus to Dexterity (Stealth) checks...". In this book, the spell Keen Senses has the line: "...advantage on Wisdom(perception)..."
  • More Terminology. There's a spell called Gloomlight that is a Light spell that adds color to Darkvision. It's a cool idea, but I would expect the wording to look a lot like the Light spell. Instead it fails to copy the structure and becomes unusable as a result.
  • There are lots and lots of awkward sentences and just outright typos. Here's a sample from Avert Attack: "You're quick spells keep your friends save."
  • There are spells with range touch that say you instead of touched creature/object. This is clearly a spell that cannot be used as written.

Lack of rules knowledge

  • Some spells reference "Low-light vision" or object Hardness or "full-round action". None of these are things in 5e. I would expect a professional editor to catch this stuff on the first pass.
  • Lack of correct terminolgy affects all kinds of things. The spell Guilt not only has some typos, it doesn't really work. It says the target "is denied any action except to protect itself". "Protect Yourself" is not an Action in 5e. This spell should be very specific, something like "cannot take any Actions, Reactions or Bonus Actions". It also has clause to "shake off" the effect, but wording on the clause is completely different from the otherwise similar Hold Person spell.
  • Spells like Energy Weapon and Energy Missile are very powerful and frankly a little bland.

Overall This is a book filled with good ideas. There are lots of ideas here that could become staple spells for a campaign.

But the spells are simply not ready "as written". Most of them need some type of editing to come in line with the 5e style.

For $3 you can get great stuff from Kobold Press that doesn't have this problem.



Rating:
[2 of 5 Stars!]
101 1st Level Spells (5E)
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