Pros:

• Three adventures that can be run separately or chained together from levels 1 to 3.
• Each adventure includes the perfect length and level of complexity for its intended level.
• Utilizes seldom seen fey creatures from Volo’s Guide to Monsters (statblocks included).
• Professional layout and design.

Cons:

• All three adventures involve missing persons!
• Dyson Logos map art.

THE VERDICT: THE WELL-DESIGNED ANTHOLOGY OF LOW-LEVEL ADVENTURES IN TWILIGHT AT EVENTIDE WOULD MAKE THE PERFECT INTRODUCTION TO A FEY-THEMED CAMPAIGN.

This review was sponsored by the publisher. Full review: https://roguewatson.com/2021/03/11/dms-guild-review-twilight-at-eventide/ Video review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHV-iWUI3XI

Pros:

• Official Adventurers League module.
• Solid dungeon design with a balanced mix of exploration, role-playing, and combat.
• Role-playing a Lich!
• Helpful DM notes and appendices for running the adventure (and DM-ing in general).

Cons:

• Almost no art.
• Full size dungeon map is a separate purchase.

THE VERDICT: “THOSE THAT CAME BEFORE” PROVIDES A SOLID TIER 3 DUNGEON CRAWL, CULMINATING WITH A QUEST-GIVING LICH AND A BOSS BATTLE WITH AN UNDEAD, WORM-INFESTED DRAGON.

Full review: https://roguewatson.com/2019/12/25/dms-guild-review-those-that-came-before-saga-of-the-worm-2/

Video review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNv-WxrYhEs

Pros:

• Official Adventurers League module.
• Full color grid maps.
• Helpful DM notes and appendices for running the adventure (and DM-ing in general).
• Epic final battle.
• Scales up to Tier 4.

Cons:

• Almost no art.
• Dungeon is large but samey and sparse.

THE VERDICT: THE WORM THAT WALKS RETURNS IN AN EPIC AND MEMORABLE SHOWDOWN IN AL ADVENTURE WINDOW TO THE PAST.

Full review: https://roguewatson.com/2019/12/18/dms-guild-review-window-to-the-past-saga-of-the-worm-1/

Video review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rPdZCCZv5A

Pros:

• Nearly 50 one-page adventures, dungeon crawls, and side stories.
• Something for everyone with a huge variety of writing styles, layout designs, maps and art.

Cons:

• No formatting rules leads to lots of issues, including rotating pages for landscape layouts and terribly tiny font size.

THE VERDICT: THE LONELY SCROLLS ADVENTURE CONTEST FEATURES NEARLY 50 ONE-PAGE ADVENTURES FOR SALTMARSH, SHOWCASING MANY VETERAN AND NEW DESIGNERS WITH AN INTERESTING LIMITATION.

Full review: https://roguewatson.com/2019/12/07/dms-guild-review-the-lonely-scroll-adventure-contest-saltmarsh/

Video review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3IF32mlKPQ

Pros:

• Interesting and thematic custom NPC statblocks and new magic items.
• Fantastic artwork with full page handouts.
• Full color, detailed dungeon map.

Cons:

• Frequent grammatical errors and awkward phrasing.
• Awkward dungeon design makes it easy to skip the actual laboratory room, or force an early boss fight.

THE VERDICT: NAMEIA’S LABORATORY LOOKS GORGEOUS, INCLUDING A FULL COLOR MAP, BUT I FOUND THE OVERALL DESIGN LACKING.

Full review: https://roguewatson.com/2019/11/27/dms-guild-review-nameias-laboratory/

Video review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0rktcZOsBs

Pros:

• Insightful chapter on playing (and DM-ing) a party of evil characters.
• Fun, well-written, and appropriately evil-themed character backgrounds.
• Excellent collection of evil-themed spells, feats, and trinkets.

Cons:

• Some neat archetype ideas held back by boring or lame abilities and powers.
• Very little art.

THE VERDICT: THE COMPENDIUM OF TRUE EVIL OFFERS APPROPRIATELY EVIL-THEMED BACKGROUNDS, SPELLS, FEATS, ARCHETYPES, AND, MOST IMPORTANTLY, ADVICE.

Full review: https://roguewatson.com/2019/12/04/dms-guild-review-compendium-of-true-evil/

Video review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=paJ7AUOIx6g

Pros:

• Excellent layout and presentation.
• 16 well-constructed encounters that utilize Skill Challenges
• Multiple degrees of total success, moderate success, and failure.

Cons:

• None!

THE VERDICT: CHALLENGE ACCEPTED! EXPERTLY USHERS SKILL CHALLENGES INTO FIFTH EDITION WITH OVER A DOZEN DETAILED EXAMPLE ENCOUNTERS.

Full review: https://roguewatson.com/2019/11/16/dms-guild-review-challenge-accepted/

Video review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46xg43kA-5I

Pros:

• Huge dungeon with multiple segments and interesting ideas.
• Unique, evocative artwork and maps that fit the dark, satirical theme.
• List of over 50 funny NPC employees.

Cons:

• Lacks an Adventure Overview section.
• Major plot details and story finales are hand-waved or brainstormed in a single page at the end.

THE VERDICT: PETEY’S PORK PIE EMPORIUM FEATURES A DELICIOUSLY TWISTED MEGA-DUNGEON THAT BEGINS IN A BBQ JOINT AND ENDS WITH INTESTINE TUNNELS AND DEPRAVED CORPORATE HOG-DEMONS.

Full review: https://roguewatson.com/2019/11/13/dms-guild-review-peteys-pork-pie-emporium-dwiergus-1/

Video review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=etC7xSEN-cY

Pros:

• Excellent artwork, layout, and presentation.
• Multiple full-color battlemaps with DM and player versions as well as grid and non-gridded.
• The Witches Three Appendix richly expands upon the green hag encounter in the woods.

Cons:

• The bulk of the second chapter is a mini-hex crawl of random encounters.
• Ravenglade Keep is a bit empty, and parts of it are confusingly laid out.

THE VERDICT: THE DRAGON-HUNTING, WEREWOLF-KID RESCUING MINI-ADVENTURE STARTS OFF PROMISING, BUT GETS BOGGED DOWN WITH A HEX CRAWL IN THE WOODS.

Full review: https://roguewatson.com/2019/11/06/dms-guild-review-warriors-of-sehanine/

Video review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7BxEdk72K0

Pros:

• Incredible original character art and professional layout that looks like an official 5e product.
• Five monstrous races, four evil-themed subclasses, and two sinister backgrounds.
• Over 40 new blessings and curses.
• Over 10 NPC statblocks that expand on the new player races and subclasses.

Cons:

• Who is Ishavar?

THE VERDICT: GORGEOUS ARTWORK AND A PROFESSIONAL LAYOUT MAKE THIS EXCELLENT COLLECTION OF MONSTROUS PLAYER RACES AND SUBCLASSES IMPOSSIBLE TO PASS UP.

Full review: https://roguewatson.com/2019/11/02/dms-guild-review-ishavars-guide-to-curses/

Video review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GeFujoNXXk4

Pros:

• Unique setting that combines pirates themes within the Underdark and the Sunless Sea.
• Excellent balance of combat, exploration, and role-playing.
• Liar’s Dice is a fun way to make the PCs work for the adventure hook.
• The monstrous crew is full of fun characters, and there are multiple methods for handling the mutiny.
• Full color battle maps and fun, cartoonish art throughout.

Cons:

• Darklake encounters are limited to simple combat encounters.

THE VERDICT: THE SHANTY OF BOLDBEARD’S PRIDE BEGINS WITH A GAME OF LIAR’S DICE AND ENDS WITH A MUTINY IN THE SUNLESS SEA AND A DUNGEON EXCURSION THAT WOULD MAKE THE GOONIES PROUD.

Full review: https://roguewatson.com/2019/10/30/dms-guild-review-the-shanty-of-boldbeards-pride/

Video review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlGhD0hz8f4

Pros:

• Unique haunted dungeon setting with its own backstory.
• Excellent notes on utilizing all three pillars of D&D play (Combat, Exploration, Social) as well as sensory perceptions for each area.
• Over a dozen NPC and monster statblocks, including two new CR 11 undead bosses.
• Encounter adjustments from very weak to very strong for every encounter.
• Player handouts for magic items, diary notes, and story rewards.

Cons:

• Skips interesting potential social encounters for more combat.
• Black and white maps are poorly annotated.

THE VERDICT: THE LAMENTING LIGHTHOUSE PROVIDES A COMBAT-HEAVY BRAWL IN AND AROUND A UNIQUE, IF TINY, DUNGEON DESIGN.

Full review: https://roguewatson.com/2019/10/26/dms-guild-review-the-lamenting-lighthouse/

Video review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNop7ejbyYg

Pros:

• Nine different adventures that range from dungeon crawls to crime investigations to rescue heists.
• An overarching storyline that optionally connects all adventures into one campaign.
• Seven pre-made player characters, with excellent, well-thought out backstories.
• 14 disease and doctor-related items.

Cons:

• Map quality varies from full color and multiple angles to no maps whatsoever.
• The adventures vary in length and quality, and some don’t focus enough on their chosen disease.

THE VERDICT: BASED ON THE DISEASES FROM THE MALADY CODEX, THE MALADY CHRONICLES BUILDS A SERIES OF INTERESTING ADVENTURES WITH A LARGE FOCUS ON DISCOVERING AND INVESTIGATING THE DEADLY PLAGUES.

Full review: https://roguewatson.com/2019/10/23/dms-guild-review-the-malady-chronicles/

Video review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-eI2fXHNdw

Pros:

• Fun new rules for buying and selling items at auctions, as well as creating dockets.
• Seven sample auction purveyors, each with their own motivations, skills, and character art.
• Seven encounters with multiple events based around different kinds of auctions.
• Player handouts for each of the auction encounter dockets.

Cons:

• Small, plain font; some grammatical errors.
• No maps or artwork for the encounters (besides the dockets).

THE VERDICT: WITH SIMPLE BUT FUN RULES AND A VARIETY OF INTERESTING EVENTS, AUCTION ENCOUNTERS MAKES D&D SHOPPING FUN AGAIN.

Full review: https://roguewatson.com/2019/10/19/dms-guild-review-auction-encounters/

Video review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2hv1R-sWg4

Pros:

• Over 50 new magic items and over a dozen new spells.
• Tons of great item and stock art.
• Excellent layout and organization.

Cons:

• Most magic items simply grant the use of a spell.
• Questionable rarity balance for items.
• Most spells are extremely situational.

THE VERDICT: EXCELLENT ART AND PROFESSIONAL LAYOUT ELEVATE THE OTHERWISE BY-THE-NUMBERS MAGIC ITEMS FOUND IN VAULT OF MAGIC.

Full review: https://roguewatson.com/2019/10/05/dms-guild-review-vault-of-magic/

Video review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJXaGBEJxms