Really great creepy atmospheric adventure but a lot of things went sideways during play. I can't tell if I misunderstood some bits of this module or if my players and I just made a series of bad choices.
The Good:
Really interesting monster concept, delightfully creepy and my players realy enjoyed the original experience. The first encounter was a great tie in for those who had already done Moon 2-1 and the final encounter was great in its own right and a good bridge for 2-3.
There were great details to 'what' was in the town and there was a lot of freedom for players to explore things in any order.
All of the NPCs were well fleshed out.
The player handout items were really great and added a sense that this was a real town where something bad was happening.
The emotional arc of this module for my players was: (1) What happened here? (2) Oh no what is HAPPENING (3) WHY? (4) Is fixing it worth the risk?
Because of the arc, my players wavered between 'this is the right thing to do' and 'but also it might kill us' which led to some meaningful roleplay and character decisions for them.
Where we had issues:
Probably due to my own reading comprehension, I never really got WHY those creatures were there. There's some information toward the end but I would have loved a bit more there there.
I'm not personally familiar with the two main creatures found in this adventure and would have enjoyed more information about them to help with roleplay / description.
Possibly because of those two things, I didn't really understand why the ritual was more helpful than using a sword.
The puzzly bit needs some massaging to make sure item placement makes sense.
Advice to myself for next time:
I need a compelling reason for my players to explore more before holing up and hiding from all the creepiness.
I'm also going to put in reasons why players should look for particular puzzle bits in particular places so everything feels more intentional.
Still - highly recommended!
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