This is a really nice little adventure. The puzzles are interesting, the story is compelling and the players’ choices can make a real impact in their world. The module is presented clearly and has clearly been thought through to make DM prep as easy as possible. Excellent!

All 5 booklets in this set are very nice. All together they make a fairly complete rewrite of B/X rules for 5e sensibilities, and can be easily used to run whole campaigns. But book 4 is my favorite, because it's clearly a summary of a GM's experience and it successfully combines insights and techniques from both the older origins of the hobby and newer indie approaches - making players feel challenged while preserving their agency, using rules as a light framework that let complexity and fun emerge from the roleplaying instead of mechanical gimmicks, etc. It takes time to discuss some of the most common approaches in adventure building - like using dungeon world-style fronts for narrative-driven adventures, for example. In general, this book should be recommended reading for any GMs ready to lose the raining wheels.

This is minimalist old school gaming masking as 5e houserules. That is an excellent thing. The one-sheet class pages basically contain 99% of what a character needs, and are second only to Dungeon World playbooks in standalone niftiness. I love how 5TD repurposes every part of the traditional D&D concept, making both scores and modifiers actually important again.

This is a nifty little book that really makes me want to get my group to start their own for-profit adventuring guild. As the author states, it clearly harvests inspiration from some of the best indie stuff around, as well as the more old school games, and comes out with something completely its own: abilities trimmed down to their core, classes made for fast play, and an expertise/background/culture system that doesn't hold your hand but really hits the spot. Very nice!

4 stars because pages aren't numbered. I mean, come on guys! Otherwise, there's something incredibly satisfying about this book, both in the utilitarian but still elegant and legible layout, and the simplicity of the rules. Sure, there's a severe case of table addiction, and sure, the book continues the puzzling mathematical gymnastics that would haunt D&D until 3e. Sure, if someone had thought of turning the descending AC system around (just subtract from 20), there are several to-hit tables and lengthy explanations of THAC0 that can just be replaced with a short list of attack bonuses per class. But there are some things here to love: classes are simple but flavorful (the cleric casts spells and turns undead - what do you mean is that all?), the importance of abilities is decreased (modifiers vary from -3 to +3, and saving throws are purely class dependent), and the skill system, while in need of pruning, does the job of fleshing out characters and filling in for non-combat feats. When I bought this book I thought it was more of a wish to read some D&D history, but this actually brings some new ideas to the table!