Just ran this today as my first adventure as a GM since the 90's. We were at a game store without a time limit, and it was good because it took us 6.5 hours (and I shortened the final fight a bit). Mostly I think that the extra time was really because of the party makeup. We had 3 4th level characters, and 3 1st level characters. — Unfortunately no-one really had good AOE effects for who they were. So all the battles with (LOTS) of goblins became very time consuming as lots of single goblins going down (and not in 1 hit). Also the characters split up a lot, meaning that 1st level characters got swarmed.

In the last chapter, the characters not only didn't take a stealth approach, but went right for stirring the nest (as it were) immediately. Causing that to become a very big event as well.

I'd definitely keep an eye on the time better in the future, and modify the event better. If you have a team without decent AOE effects, you might want to replace some packs of gobbos with single stronger ones, just to make the combat go quicker. And perhaps skip a few of the less important pieces.

Overall, a really great adventure that is well balanced between some story-telling, and epic combat.

ONE NOTE: I saw that a previous reviewer mentioned the 'odd scale' on the maps. I saw that as well, that everything was basically smurf-sized. I reached out to one of the authors, and found out that this was a last minute change. Basically in playtesting people complained that it took too long to get around during the large battles. So at the last minute, the map was shrunk, but not redrawn. He suggested that either you double the scale to make it what was originally intended. Or redraw the maps to essentially have less buildings, so that they are still to scale, while the town & camps are overall smaller. I did the latter, and it seemed to work well. Less buildings, proper size. Though I might consider next time ensuring that the river is wider at the end. Having it too narrow allowed some 'interesting' tactics that actually made the game go longer.

Ran this at a local convention (Kublacon 2019) and everyone at the table had a blast. Great roleplaying and lots of combat the players coud plan out. The defense of the village of Westfir were masterfully done, the players really enjoyed it. I woukd run this adventure again at a con or home!

A nicely written adventure, with a different take on goblins. Found it useful to study as a template for how to do a short adventure.

Ran this twice back to back in a night with two different tables. two sides of the coin in how they handled the main combat and the final combat. It has potential for a tpk with some punishing traps (Party of 8 DEX fighters aint all fun) plus the ending point which ruined the non-wizard having parties.

Fun and totally worth a play if you like goblins and their general rad culture

I loved this adventure not only for the well thought out storyline but I also because it is for the characters who are still cutting their teeth in the game. A very good adventure for low level adventurers, three thumbs up!

I gave 4 out of 5 stars MAINLY because of the maps. It seems like the maps were created in hi-res, but then then rescaled and shrunk to low res to keep the package small. The rescaling of the maps is wrong. Squares on Westfir map say 10ft when they look to be scaled at 30ft. The Enemy camp says the squares are 5ft when they really seem to be 10x10ft. On top of it all, the maps were generated at low-res, then saved at hi-res in the package. The means you get a hi-res map of a low-res image. If you print the maps to scale, they are pixilated to the point it is hard to utilize the obvious detail put into drawing them. The scaling confuses everything.

Well designed Seige Adventure.

If you compare this to Seasons 5's "Parnast Under Seige," this adventure is the better of the two (if played as a stand-alone). Why? The Seige mechanics are focused and straightforward. Where in Parnast you had to accumulate Seige Points to effect the seige of the town, then spend those points during the combat waves, here you simply roll attribute check that have very direct ramifications for the town of Westfir.

Example: Want to make sure the enemy does not burn town buildings? During Seige Prep, roll an attribute check. Either you succeed or fail during that time and work. Success means enemy wastes a turn trying to set buildings on fire that are quickly put out (because your prep), or enemies DO set building on fire and players must waste turns putting them out while in the mist of combat.

The simplification allows players to clearly digest the ramifications of their actions (good or bad) and respond. In Parnast, decision paralysis has a high rate of occuring because you have to decided what to do, roll multiple checks through out the days to do it, then spend points in combat. The compleication bogs down the session and kills tension.

The Cornflower Hive gets the same results with less mechanics, making this adventure possible to finish in 4 hours while keeping tension and excitement. Players loved the town fight and having to decide what centers of action to fight in and how to approach the fight.

The second act of the adventure is a bit less polished ... but for difference reasons. Attacking the enemy camp in the swamp can go wrong very fast for players because of encounter "set-up". If things go wrong, the players are swamped with enemies that are weak, but their sheer numbers can take the brisk pace of the adventure to a snail pace. Attacking the enemy camp is fun at first, but if you don't find some way to sneak in and complete your objective, your combat can quickly turn into a hour long slugfest ... or your players just straight up get murked. I feel like my players would have appreciated more indication that sneaking and completing the objective was an option. The Adventure DOES state that it is ... but the way that the enviornment and set up is designed, it begs players to underestimate the danger. Plus, the adventure doesn't present really any information on how to treat sneaking into the camp and eliminating the threat ... but a lot of thought seems to be put into what happens if you confront the enemy head on.

The third act was ok. The battle is fair considerig a short rest is given. BUT ... the disabling of the alchemist set up can TPK if players are not careful and don't really make sure they understand the order of disabling the planar devices. The Adventure is a bit muddy in what is required, but a DM reading it a few time before play will be able to over come this. Just expect players to give you confused looks on a first explaination.

Overall, good Adventure ... players enjoyed it ... maps need to be repackaged at a higher res ... can be completed in 4 hours if a DM skips some unessential segways and makes sure the party knows what to expect in the second act.

I enjoyed running this adventure at my local game store. The encounters are varied and challenging, and the backstory is packed with detail (maybe even too much at times).

For the level 1 characters playing at Average difficulty, parts of this adventure can be deadly. Our group had six players, a mix of level 1 and level 4, and the two level 1's died. Not a criticism ... just a heads up!

The only reason I didn't give this adventure 5 stars is because I found several of the maps confusing. Locations and features that were described in detail in the text weren't represented on a maps at all, even though the maps had quite a lot of detail.

But I would buy from this author again. Fun adventure!

I am incredibly happy with "The Cornflower Hive"! The backstory is awesome, the NPCs have just enough bones to them for the players to feel connected, but not so much that their eyes glaze over, the DCs for knowledge checks are fair and provide some excellent additional information, and the Tower Defense, Fortification battle at the beginning is SO MUCH FUN!! The players felt so much owndership and satisfaction over the ramifications of their decisions, and the narrative to explain what happens during the various waves of battle, and why, was truly a fantastic experience for all of us!! I can't wait until our next session!

Thank you! I look forward to more of your work in the future.

I real appreciated the detail the author puts into this adventure. There is a good balance of RP and combat and the encounters have enough description that the DM has options on how things can happen. The NPCs have personalities and motivations, which are not common in short AL mods. Overall this is a great adventure for beginner and vet a like.

This module has it all - fun roleplaying opportunities, exciting combat, problem solving and a mystery to solve. The Cornflower Hive is NOT a monotonous one-dimensional adventure as your party will be doing something different every 30-45 minutes. No matter what your favorite style of play is, you'll find it here at some point. This is the third module I've run and/or played from these authors and they have consistently created fun adventures. (Check out The White Well and The Dark Hunt for their other fun modules). Highly recommended.

A great set up for a story, and an important tie in to the happenings in Mulmaster. A romp into the after effects of the cities damage leads you to a remote village which is dealing with a partial incursion from season 3 as well and a particular two headed prince of of the Abyss.

There are some fun NPCs here, and the players, if they win, will have earned the title of Hero. A siege, a trek and a task, with a chance for every build to shine.

I especially enjoyed the interior art, some of which could have been on the cover, and the layout of the maps.