In the Heart of the Forest takes the party to Blackwoods Forest in search of the druid Adelle, whose entire Circle has recently gone missing. There they find that the Circle has decided to turn themselves into wood woads to thwart an evil sorceress' plans to gain dominion over the forest and neighboring village. If the party decides to help Adelle, they might be able to stop the sorceress. If not, Adelle will have to join her fellow Circle members in giving up her life to save the area.

This is a really interesting, atmospheric adventure. Parties get to learn rumors, gather information, and explore the surrounding area. There are a ton of things they can encounter in the woods, including benign or neutral creatures like dryads and giant elk, and battling Erayna can involve bartering or persuasion instead of just battle.

However, I often found it difficult to focus on the story. The organization was a little off, and sometimes stat blocks or character descriptions were in the middle of the action. There are a lot of pictures and lore, which also made searching through the adventure diffcult. Finally, while the module does include sidekicks, it doesn't actually explain the sidekick mechanic or tell you where to learn it, which, at least for me, meant that I couldn't use them.

Overall, I think this is a good adventure, but it just didn't quite hit everything for me. A little more organization and a little less copy would have really increased my enjoyment and made it easier to run.

i've been is a truly unique adventure that encourages roleplay, alternative game interactions, and honest discussions of feelings and motivations. Often in DnD, we play things aggressively and black-and-white, but i've been challenges people to understand mental duress and illness in a thoughtful, visual way.

In i've been, the party is tasked with tracking down Kieran, a performer who has suddenly gone missing. Kieran's friends, colleagues, and clients are concerned about them and direct the party to their house. However, they find that the house is guarded by Static and ripples and within they find echoes of Kieran's self-loathing and sadness. Although they can push through with combat, only by talking frankly about what they're feeling and experiencing can they help shake off the effect of the Static.

i've been is a really clever module that attempts to visualize mental illness and make it something others can interact with. It doesn't pretend to encompass all mental illness or even all forms of depression, but it does try to make mental illness a bit more understandable. From a player/GM perspective, I would have liked maps since Kieran's house was so important. I also found this module a bit difficult to GM and a bit difficult for my players to grasp -- it took some prodding to get them to understand how to rid themselves of the echoes or what the Static really was. However, I'm not entirely sure how to change the module to improve that right now.

I definitely recommend people give this module a look. It represents a new facet of TTRPGs, and more players and feedback could only make it better and encourage others to create similar modules. Giving voice to mental illness and acknowledging how roleplay and communication can positively affect it are important!

If you'd like a fast-paced, challenging adventure that lets your party do a true Ocean's 11-style heist, you must grab Diamond Heist!

In Diamond Heist, the PCs are asked to procure a special diamond for a djinni desperate to get home. If they do, she'll reward them greatly, but the museum they need to case is well-guarded by magical statues, wizards, brutes, and spells. PCs will have to be strategic and crafty to actually pull off the heist and, even then, success is not guaranteed.

I really love this module! There are a lot of different things to investigate and a lot of different ways in and out of the adventure. While you're fairly locked into the end goal, how you accomplish it is up to you and even whether or not you do what the quest-giver wants is up to you. The elements within the adventure -- the foo dogs, spells, and clues -- are also really cool, and there are enough NPCs to keep things interesting. I also really love the alarm levels mechanic because it lets PCs mess up or roll poorly and still accomplish their goals.

Overall, I think this is a fantastic adventure that I absolutely loved editing and playing. It can be difficult to find a good heist module, but this one hits all the right notes. It's also fairly easy to drop into a large, urban area and could lead to ramifications that follow the party afterwards. I highly recommend it!

If you'd like a creepy tale of death, lost loves, and necromancy, then this is the perfect adventure for you!

Raising a Family takes place in Eastvein, a once-prosperous town now beset by disease and the undead. Various townspeople ask the party to help them end the scourge that has beset their town, but in doing so, they will meet a young woman driven mad with grief. Depending on how the party acts, there may be no happy ending here.

I really enjoyed Raising a Family. It has a great creepy vibe that is perfect for the coming fall, and, while short, nonetheless gives enough life and nuance to make the village and its people seem alive. I especially liked how the conclusion is likely not to have a strongly positive end and that players will have to deal with a potential no-win situation. While too many of these scenarios can make people feel disheartened, I think it adds extra complexity to try them every once in a while.

My only real criticism is that the cover promises this is a Tier 3 adventure but the interior says it's for 6th level characters and the action within would likely indicate that Tier 3 would be too easy. But that is a simple change and should not keep anyone from enjoying this well-written, complex adventure!

What a marvelous adventure! Dashing characters, love and intrigue, and a chase across the city at night -- this is an exceptional adventure and a lovely whodunnit.

In Hair of the Dog, the party is charged with protecting the Zulpair locket from the infamous thief Hair of the Dog. However, HotD is as dramatic as they are cunning and have warned the Zulpairs beforehand, giving them a sporting chance at stopping them. If the party attends the Zulpair birthday, they might be able to stop HotD, but, if they fail, they will chase them into the streets and perhaps to Waterdeep's largest public park for a final, climactic encounter.

As I said, this is an exceptional adventure with loads of interesting characters and twists and turns. Although it's a one-shot, it's well-formed and invites the player to learn more about Waterdeep/Dragon Heist, chase rules, rakhshasa, and more. There are so many cool elements that it's hard to choose my favorite, but I really like all the alternative game mechanics. While combat could happen in several instances, it doesn't have to depending on how clever and strategic the party is, and adding in the chase mechanics and complications is a really cool aside. Often, when chasing an opponent it's just about speed and distance, so this was a great addition.

If you like a little bit of mystery and roleplay, I think you'll love this adventure. It's beautifully made, interesting, and just fun!

If you would like a straight-forward one-shot with good exploration and role-play opportunities, then you should check out Then Came the Rain!

In this adventure, the party arrives at the town of Farmhurst while they're in a crisis: a terrible rainstorm has befallen them, and their greatest fighter has wandered off into the forest and disappeared. If the party can track him down and bring him back, they'll be rewarded, but why did he leave in the first place and is there something darker afoot?

This adventure has some great monsters (I love aboleths!) and is fairly straight-forward and will allow players to feel a sense of accomplishment as they trek through a cave system and bring back the lost paladin. DMs could also weave some of the lore of Viridis and the rainstorm into their own campaigns, using this one-shot to kick-start other quests.

Although it is well-organized and well-written, what kept me from giving it 5 stars was lack of complexity. I don't need things to be excessively convoluted, but I would have liked a little more from the cave system and the adventure. More inducements to go down the different tunnels would have been nice as would other motivations and options for endings. Perhaps Rhodaar had been fully corrupted unless the players found another item? Perhaps Agouigia could have offered the party some inducement to help him -- or they could have done or stolen something that would have accidentally set him free. I think this is a good adventure for newer players, but for me I would have liked just a bit more nuance.

If you're looking for an extensive one-shot that gives you access to a unique cast of characters, several sideplots, and a fun mystery, I think you'll like this.

Basically, the party finds itself embroiled in a local drama and have to learn more about the townspeople and the threatening events to solve it. You get to do shorter sidequests that would be especially good for new and inexperienced players and build up to a dungeon crawl and boss battle, potentially earning a lot of cool loot.

However, this module does require a bit of work from the DM to prevent it from getting too railroad-y. The module assumes that the party will take specific actions in specific orders, so the DM will have to be prepared for when they don't. It's also a bit wordy and repetitive, especially regarding overviews. This isn't necessarily bad as DMs can often use reminders and overviews, but it did get distracting from time to time. Finally, the monsters have been oddly named. For example, you have "Calcified Biped" instead of "Skeleton" and "Shadowy Visage" instead of "Shadow;" that was a bit distracting at first. I would recommend the DM thoroughly read through the module before jumping into play.

Nevertheless, this is an engaing and fun adventure with a lot of cool options. A good pick!

*Edit: Chris, to my knowledge it is perfectly fine to use stats from the Monster Manual, etc. Most creators just reference them without putting their stats into the adventure; you could do that and save space and also not worry about putting too much of WotC proprietary info into your adventure.

Beneath the Waves is a fantastic game. It's original, complicated and immersive with a high difficulty level and plenty of options to explore.

The basic premise is that the party has been drawn to Wardcrest Isle to resolve some strange events happening there. Magical energy arising from a long-closed rift have begun to warp the plants and animals nearby as well as attract a mysterious cult. By investigating the island, cave system, and nearby wrecks and monuments, the party will meet members of the cult and -- with a bit of luck and ingenuity -- stop an elemental being of immense power from coming into our world.

I loved how detailed this adventure was and all the little elements and characters involved. I also loved the maritime setting and the chance to use water-based creatures (vastly under-represented, if you ask me). My big complaint comes as a GM because, while all the elements of the story were there, they weren't always easy to find off-the-cuff. I had to do some fairly extensive plotting while playing and draw up some of the maps myself, especially for the ones involving the cave system and cathedral. I would have preferred a slightly more organized set-up, but given all the information James included, it was fairly easy to do these things myself. Additionally, I would caution people that this is a pretty difficult game for 5th level players, especially if they are aggressive and don't have a lot of healing abilities, but I like difficult campaigns, so I really like that.

If you enjoy maritime-based adventures with a high difficulty level and lots to explore, I would deifnitely recommend Beneath the Waves!

*Edit: James, yes, feel from to contact me about additional questions and updates. I'd be happy to talk to you.

What a great little one-shot! It has a nice, spooky feel and, while requiring insight, investigation, and thought, is nonetheless quite straightforward. I could see this being a fun adventure for any group, whether amateur or experienced.

In The Bedtime Man, the party is brought to the town of Schlaflos, which over the last year has suffered the devastating loss of several of their children at the hands of a mysterious and changeable "Bedtime Man." However, this monster openly hides within the town, laughing at the terrified people and planning his next victim. If the party can find him and take him down, the children will be saved, but, if not, they might find themselves to be his next victim.

The atmosphere of this adventure is really nice and would definitely intrigue younger players (teens) but offers a lot for older players as well. The red herring the party will face early on helps players feel accomplished but ultimately serves to increase the tension in the story. I thoroughly enjoyed this adventure and thought it was a great side-quest to a larger campaign.

What a FANTASTIC adventure! Intrigue, exciting details, exploration, and combat -- there was a little something for everyone!

Betrayal's Rondo invites the party to a masquerade ball that suddenly goes awry: a vengeful forest spirit interrupts the party, transforming and killing some of the guests, and promises to return by dawn to finish the job. If the players can determine why she's attacked them and learn her heartbreaking history, they can save the remaining guests. But, if not, they might very well meet their end.

I loved everything about this adventure. It was beautifully laid out, which is really important to me as a GM, and had distinct but interesting acts. The mechanics of the masquerade and the different masks was really cool, and there was a lot to learn and investigate. I really can't find anything to criticize -- it was so fun!

This creative and detailed adventure is sure to delight anyone who wants to explore the Feywild, likes a layered adventure, or just wants to play some good old court intrigue.

The basic premise of the adventure is that our merry band is led into the Feywild and encounters a creature with a tragic backstory that needs their help. He entices the party with promises of high-level spells, magical items, and sob stories and shows them how to find the item he seeks -- in the depths of a heavily-guarded dungeon. However, what truly makes The Fox & the Fey unique are the layers within the story. DMs and players will have to plan and pay attention to catch all the twists and turns.

What I especially liked was the complexity of the adventure. Dungeon crawls can seem repetitive, but given the difficulty of this adventure and the layers of everyone's motivation, this kept me on my toes. Sometimes, I did wish there was a little more wiggle room (with slightly lower checks), but difficulty just makes you get creative.

One thing I would caution is to not let the initial exposition put you off. This is a long, complicated adventure, made more so by the pages of exposition up front. I know that some players and DMs like a full description of the adventure and all of its sections, but I personally found it a bit off-putting: I would have rather dived right in. Likewise, I didn't need or especially want the full length of all the descriptions and found myself skipping or summarizing when my players got fidgety.

However, I did find this adventure enjoyable and think others will too. My favorite adventures always involve a challenge, and this definitely fit the bill.

I greatly anticipated this module coming out and, when I told my group that we were going to play it, they were extremely excited too. Who doesn't want to build and fight killer robots in a fun, prank-filled environment?

In my opinion, the best part of the module is the bot combat, and you can easily lift that part and put it in any other campaign. There are a lot of options, and you can be creative. Setting up the arena is also a lot of fun, and, since the DM has a lot of freedom, you can easily increase or decrease the difficulty.

I overall liked the setting of the Communion of Laughter and how it tied into Garl Glittergold, but I think it would have been best to develop that a little further -- maybe have a table of pranks or different machines the party could interact with. However, keeping it deliberately vague gave me as a DM and my players the freedom to explore our own humor and be creative; my personal preference is just having more guidance.

This module is 150% worth purchasing and playing, not least because the proceeds go towards Extra Life. Give it a shot -- you'll love it!

I really loved this adventure! There was a good bit of intrigue and some nice characters and exploring. The maps were very good, and the mechanics were sound and easy to understand. My group had a great time playing it.

This is a great little collection. The images are really high quality, there are a lot of the, and they're free. A wonderful pack for content creators.

This could be a good adventure, but it's really poorly edited. It's difficult to read and understand, and I had to do a lot of editing and re-writing to make it work. The premise is good, but for the user's ease, there really should have been more editing.