I will start off with saying that this is quite possibly one of my favorite adventures to run with a group as a reward after playing with them for a while. The atmosphere of the adventure is true to Ravenloft with the gothic horror vibes and the final battle really uses the "futility of struggle" concept from its gothic horror roots. This makes it work well as a one shot if you and your players are okay with characters dying, but the unmodified endings are likely a dead end for any ongoing campaign.

The Good:

• The Twistings are far and away my favorite feature of the module, allowing me the opportunity to give customized modifications to each PC.
• The Carnival is a great place for players to spend time relaxing and enjoying the shows (and possibly participating in them!), and the Pickled Punks make for a superb gold sink for your richer players.
• Several locations such as the Grey Gardens and Barrow Downs have a fascinating history, although this is unfortunately often unavailable to players. Grey Gardens' wild magic zone with custom table is always a group favorite for the extra chaos it brings.
• The Corruption mechanic is a wonderful way of quantifying player deeds and misdeeds, and can provide an in-game opportunity to teach players the problems with the murderhobo lifestyle.

The Bad:

• Monsters are named without giving a reference for where they're from. The adventure pulls from the Monster Manual, Volo's Guide to Monsters, and Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes, for starters. There are some creatures in there that I am still not sure where they are from, which is highly inconvenient for ease of play.
• Many magic items are missing descriptions. The magic items found in the vampire's tomb appear to be from AD&D, with no easily accessible 5e versions that I could find.
• As mentioned above, the multiple "bad" endings make the adventure unsuitable for an ongoing campaign.
• The banshee in the mountain feels like a dead end for players except to get a corruption point. Unlike most other chapters, there does not appear to be any sort of "win" condition for this.

Personal Fixes:

• The sandbox aspects may be daunting for some newer DMs, but I found that setting everything on a timer based on the time since the last ritual makes things easier for progression.

Conclusion: Despite the flaws mentioned, this adventure is still a great one to run as it can easily have wildly different memorable outcomes throughout it for different parties. While the module seems to indicate a need to address each chapter sequentially, don't be afraid to add or remove stuff to suit your needs.

Just finished running as DM. Excellent work. Hilariously fun and creepy. My players said it was some of the most entertaining adventures and encounters they have played in a long time. Player base is 4 players with 30 years each of RPing and 3 newbies with less than 2 years. I as DM have 35 yrs of exp. in RP. A few notes however. First: a clearer path for the players. While the open sandbox did lead to some great times, there was at times a sense of confusion amongst the PCs as to what/where/why they were doing next. I think just a tad bit more structure would smooth that out. Second: The ending. TBH it needs an out for the PCs. Simply killing them or having them wink out of existence is a clean way it is not a good way to end such an otherwise superb adventure. Please correct that one flaw. Thank you for your wonderful work and keep the stories coming.

A well written and thought out adventure that I'm excited to run. My only recommendation to DMs planning on running it is to make sure you read the entire thing, twice.

This adventure is quite nuanced and you want to maintain the emotional theme while running it.

This campaign is not for the faint of heart. Widows Peak is a memorable experience for both the DM and the players. Many experiences will be remembered and looked back on by everyone. For example, laughing at how a character was tragically thrown off a mountain by a seagull? Definetely something that stays in your mind. Widows Peak is a horrifying place, and the backstory and worldbuilding that was put into making Widow's Peak is incredible. You can tell thought was taken at every point in the story. There is death, dread and something lurking after every corner. Nowhere is safe, The players will realise this early on, and leave them talking to every character they can find that doesnt intend on disfiguring and transforming into a giant monstrosity. It just so happens that every character has been carefully thought out. It surprised me that every character in widows peak, everything was put there for a reason. Theres a peculiar man lurking behind a carnival tent staring at you. Theres a reason for that, theres a reason he's there. Theres a strange singing sound coming from the shores, theres a reason for that. The characters are carefully thought out and abolutely amazing. In conclusion, Widows Peak is amazing, memorable and horrifying. I have to give this a 5-star as there were absolutely no faults that I could find with it, and my players found no faults when i asked them either.

Pros:

• The writing throughout the adventure is evocative and immersive.
• Richly thematic random encounters that are more than just monster attacks.
• World map and isometric dungeon maps look fantastic.
• Several unique, interesting monster stat blocks, magic items, and new tables for more thematic trinkets and wild magic.
• A selection of suitably epic ending climaxes to choose from.

Cons:

• No separate grid-based battle maps.
• More a series of locations and events than an overarching narrative.

THE VERDICT: WHILE IT USES ITS FAIR SHARE OF CLASSIC HORROR TROPES, “WIDOW’S PEAK” BREATHES FRESH SALTY SEA AIR INTO THE GENRE BY PROVIDING A MINI-WORLD OF HORROR TO EXPLORE.

Full Review: https://roguewatson.com/2018/09/26/dms-guild-review-widows-peak/ Video Review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBte5pMvU78

A Ravenloft adventure that will keep your player's to their sit's edge! A really atmospheric with great discriptions horror module!