DM Experience: Competent Player Experience: Advanced Beginner

Review: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Ramayana Tales: Search for the Sanjivni from Rajib Kalita is an ambitious entry for a new designer, thoughtfully crafted to share an adventure from his own culture. Set in the kingdom of Viraat, this war-torn D&D 5E adventure is robust enough to last for many sessions.

This module includes a player primer, which is a brilliant way to separate character options from the main adventure. Ramayana Tales: Search for the Sanjivni introduces playable races rakshasa — based on their mythology instead of their fiendish Monster Manual counterparts — plus vaanar, character hooks, and background on the setting.

Plenty of opportunities for roleplay are available even with the pressure of time added to this adventure. The stylized layout makes it easy to quickly find information and the art beautifully highlights the setting and Indian influence.

Rajib grew up with Ramayana stories and wanted to share them with the greater D&D community, and add to the representation of Indian cultures. Rajib says that he added several encounters aimed specifically to immerse the players in the “Indian-ness” of the setting.

My selfish wish is to have a character sheet in the same style as this lovely module, which of course isn’t necessary! I highly recommend it for any table.

M.T. Black is a veteran D&D writer with many successful adventures and supplements — and for good reason. M.T. consistently produces quality content and The Tomb of the Twilight Queen doesn’t disappoint.

This treasure-filled adventure is for an average party level of 3. The hook opens with a wealthy benefactor hiring the party to accompany him to find the Book of the New Sky that is buried with an ancient queen in a desert tomb. He promises a hefty payment for the party once the rare book is retrieved.

The world setting is within M.T.’s “World of Iskandar” campaign, but can be easily placed in any setting. The adventure is a pure dungeon crawl, designed to get your party to the tomb quickly and start exploring. “I've emphasized tricks and traps when populating the dungeon, but there are plenty of opportunities for characters to draw their swords,” writes M.T. in his design notes.

The most notable feature of this adventure for me is the design and layout. First, M.T. has clearly designed for tablet or phone reading, with a single column format with large, readable fonts. He also provides excerpts from the rules to help a new DM, such as calculating falling damage or jumping distance, to keep the adventure moving. The readability of this adventure sets it apart from standard D&D 5E design and requires little preparation to run. My only request would be a two-column format for folks like me who print adventures!

There’s also room to improvise encounters and fights, depending on what the DM and the party wants to focus on. “For the more significant battles, I've supplied round-by-round guidance to make the combat experience fluid and exciting,” M.T. notes. This makes the adventure customizable to the DM’s preferences.

The Brewski Jubilee is a fun downtime adventure written during the RPG Writer Workshop that works well as a one-shot or as a break from your regular campaign. It’s written for a level 5 party but can easily be scaled up to your preferred level.

Your party has arrived at just the right time to a small town that celebrates tapping the first keg of the season. The featured event is the Brewski Hopstacle Course, where inebriated contestants test their skills. The title of honor has been won eight times in a row, and several folks are interested in hiring adventurers to win this year.

The approach to the course has fantastic roleplaying moments where the players have several options on which NPC sponsors them with different rewards and outcomes. It all culminates into running the obstacle course which has some surprises (and lots of ale).

The well-designed adventure layout is incredibly easy for a new DM to follow, giving lots of options and directions on roleplaying.

I was lucky to play this adventure with Kage and it was great, I laughed the whole time. If you have enough players, you really don’t need the NPCs on the course as your players will cause all the mayhem.

I suggest this adventure as an entry to DMing, especially if you want to give your DM a chance to play!

The deck of many things is infamous in D&D and can derail an entire campaign — usually to the delight of the DM. If you’re looking for a slightly softer, but just as challenging, shake up for your campaign, "The Deck of Multitudinous Things" is a new and refreshing alternative.

The cards in "Multitudinous" are nicely balanced between beneficial and detrimental, giving plenty of options for a DM to create a side story or choose to completely redirect the campaign to surprise their players. Tables give plenty of detailed options for the outcome of the cards drawn, some of which are fantastic roleplaying opportunities. (Personally, I’d love to draw the Erudition card.)

If you are an experienced DM that can pivot your game quickly, “Multitudinous” is the right tool for you. Each card is an idea for you to expand and make your own, which makes this an excellent choice for DMs that enjoy improvising. I don’t recommend it for beginner DMs who may find that intimidating.

"The Deck of Multitudinous Things" is well-designed with fantastic artwork and includes a printable, gorgeous deck.

A review copy of this product was provided.

The Blood Hunter by Anthony Joyce is a fantastic adventure for two people – one DM, and one player. This format is wonderful for couples, folks who can’t find local players, and aspiring DMs who want to practice their skills. This format is a new D&D experience that could be more memorable than a regular party!

The length of this adventure is refreshing as many players struggle to find any amount of time to play, and keeps the story moving. The class and driver of the story is the blood hunter class, which gives a unique opportunity to try out the class without much commitment.

Full review: https://www.tribality.com/2020/02/19/dms-guild-review-the-blood-hunter/

Loved running this game for my players, six folks at level 3. There are lots of cues in the module to keep the game moving, and with so many options during the party there wasn't a lull. The lore is well developed -- and bonus, easy to remember -- so that the improv conversations are easy to have. I had to make the big bad fight a little easy because we'd run over time, but I'd say the encounters were well balanced for the level. I hope to run again for another group soon!

My nine year old niece really enjoyed this module! As a new DM, it would be helpful to have suggested experience rewards at the end for not fighting the fey. Nicely done!