It looks pretty, the artwork is just really solid. The maps are cartoonish but many features are not labelled, so you'll have to sift through the vanilla text to find names of forests and mountain ranges, etc. The descriptions of regions are in the style of the old Greyhawk Gazeteer with data points like population and resources to "fire" the GMs imagination. They don't miss a chance at referencing all their other products mentioned in the preview (MOW, MOC, MOD, etc.) so it makes one wonder if that was the only reason this product was made. An added bonus for those who love to flip pages is the organization. A continent (e.g. Zogg) lists the kingdoms one by one, but rather than list the geographical features, citys and towns in a given kingdom (the sort of thing that would be useful to a GM), it puts each in a continent sized section (e.g. Geographical features of Zogg rather than the Archclericy of Vaux). So if you are starting a group in the County of Meloryn (it's in the crease of the book, all continent maps are split down the middle into 2 pieces), the government census data is on p38, data points on its capital, Point Grey, is on p65, but the story stuff you might actually turn into an adventure is in the entry on Wyld Bay on p35. There are hills in the middle, no idea what they're called or where to find information on them.

I don't know what products other reviewers were looking at, but as a forever GM since 1982, this product will make my job harder, not easier. The writing is empty, the organization is awful. It's a lot of words on a lot of pages with very little in the way of actionable, imaginative details a GM can use. I do love the artwork though.

It’s a lot like reading a novel to get a working session story line. That is, it’s a massive wall of text the GM has to sift through in order to assemble the parts that are going to be seen at the table. It’s not a bad little adventure, it’s just presented in a “paid by the word” style that doesn’t fit the function.

It’s a four page adventure that drones on for 44 pages in a 1980s, wall of text style. One would think with that many words there would be some original finds, but that’s not the case. A simple plot that serves its purpose, but we’ve seen it before. Even the treasure is dumped in the GMs lap to roll up. Complete with page references to the treasure tables from the Shadowdark core book.

I really wanted to like this one, but the sheer volume of pointless prose makes it a waste of time for a busy GM.

An eight room generic dungeon drawn up with the free version of Dungeonscrawl. The map has numbers in the rooms, so you’ll have to edit it to use it for a player map. There’s no mystery to solve, no puzzles to figure out, no beings to roleplay with, and no reasons given for who Komarag is or why the location is referred to as a grotto. There is a backstory, but no way given for the players to discover it. The whole thing simply feels like a cleaned up, randomly generated dungeon, that has almost nothing to engage the players with in rooms connected by nothing beyond location.

A literal waste of time since it is written to be read, not run. Plan on a ton of prep just finding and keeping straight all the key pieces of information that are buried in walls of pretty prose. There’s a fun campaign in there somewhere, but you’ll have to be a forensic archaeologist to dig it out and separate it from the surrounding material. Even then, key pieces (like art and maps of core items, people and locations) will have to be guessed at.

Generic 30 room crawl with Hobgoblins, undead, traps and treasure. There’s no story to unfold or roleplaying interactions to dance with. It uses Shadowdark format, but does have non Shadowdark elements (eg wand with charges, a clerical scroll, a gem of continuous light). Beware GMs, the format does not call out in bold, or put first in a room description, the occupants of a room. It is a time saver, and at a good price.

I have not run this, but I look forward to doing so!

It is filled with interesting things to interact with and interesting ways to die. It does an exemplary job providing motivation for a group of 0 level peasants to enter this Gauntlet. It is clear in the way information is called out: Bullet points, mini maps, and no textwalls. However, minor inconsistencies occur (e.g. p6 uses "Hard STR roll" in the text, while the sidebar correctly removes the mental step of translating "Hard", but then uses the the number for Normal "DC12 STR roll".) Thankfully it comes with a PF version, because the default is a frankly awful grey background with black "read aloud" boxes and various colored fonts.

Rant: To a GM, a textwall is a hurdle, so are dark backgrounds with colored fonts. Stop it. Arcane Library doesnt do it for Shadowdark and neither should anyone else. End rant.

The bare bones map is clear and easy to read, but a missed opportunity to provide information, it works but looks incomplete (Details provided in one room, but not the rest of the rooms.)

Minor quibbles aside, this is a great adventure and worth every penny.

Would have been 5 stars, but ...

I love Shadowdark and I want to love this product, because the content is solid. However, the presentation is not for me. A white font on a black background with red subtitles and dull yellow for the room details? It couldn't be much more different than the crisp, black and white user friendly appearance of Shadowdark.

The map has similar issues - looks kewl, but the font of the room numbers is not the easiest to read, the art clutters it up, and the grid lines don't match the walls much at all. Kewl to look at? Yes. Easy for a busy GM to run a session with? Not, at all.

For the amount of work that went into this, the price is ridiculously low. It really has great elements. I would happily pay more though, for a printer friendly version.

It's all right there in the description:

"And of course, if they never steal anything, nothing will happen." That's not a cute figure of speech, that's the literal truth. Emphasis on the nothing. It's a tower of empty rooms with nothing to figure out or even interact with until you take the treasure at the end.

"This first room is about setting the tone of the entire tomb. There is no treasure here and nothing to really tinker with or break. Use this first room to get the PCs ready for a truly eerie adventure."

That's true, all 5 rooms of the tomb are as boring as the last. How many suggestions does the GM get to help make this "eerie" rather than a snooze fest? Nothing. Nada.

Here's the big, oh so clever twist at the end: when the PCs take the treasure in the last room....all the statues they passed on the way to the top of the tower come to life and attack them. Shocker huh? It's the kind of thing a vindictive middle school DM would inflict on their players. This is easily a TPK except it's really up to the GM because this "Tiny Dungeon" is presented as a systemless adventure so it has no stats for any of the bad guys.

Do yourself a favor and spend one whole dollar for Falkrest Abbey and use Tiny D6 to run it. You'll get a lot more gaming and a lot more fun I guarantee.

Everyone else has covered the highlights of this excellent product, but I have to mention that you will be hard pressed to find any Savage Worlds product more polished than this one. Only Pinnacle products come close. Other Savage Worlds Licensees should pick this up just to see how it's done. Editing, layout, artwork, and writing - all set the standard by which others will be judged. It really is that good!

I have only two very minor nitpicks:

1. No index. It does have an excellent Table of Contents, but I would rather have an Index than a world map on that last page. A map could be offered as a free download. Not a fault at all, just a choice made by the designers, but I do love a good index.
2. The pdf is awkward to read through due to the "2 pages in landscape" format. As an example of what I mean, the SWADE pdf is not this way and is very easy to navigate and read through, while Gold & Glory is this way. Again, not a big deal, so five stars all the way!

Extraordinarily concise at only 101 pages (the players section is a mere 31 pages), this is brimming with ideas, history and fleshed out NPCs. A lengthy Plot Point Campaign, ten Savage Tales and an Adventure Generator will provide 20+ sessions of gaming. Be prepared for plenty of Chases and Mass Battles and although I would have liked more maps, it's an extraordinary product!

Be warned, this is a labor intensive adventure for the GM. Not because its missing anything, but because it contains everything.

A good adventure, but it will likely be completed in a single session and its an 82 page pdf. Think about that for a minute. Eighty two pages.

On the other hand, the quality of the work is 5 star, from maps to art work to writing. You couldn't ask for more value for the price.

This package has everything a busy GM needs to run a session of Wraith Recon at an unbeatable price. It consistently captures the feel of what a group of special operators would look like in a fantasy setting. If you like the idea of an elven ranger in a ghillie suit calling in an airstrike on an orc encampment, this is the setting for you. It needs a strong editor to clean up grammatical errors and trim system fat, but overall this is a solid product and I'm eager to see what comes next.

Solid work with a good variety of wierd vs wild and historical, as everyone else has mentioned. My only gripe is that rather than one of the outstanding pieces of artwork, if they could have included a player friendly route map. It would have helped focus the group on the progress they are making. A helpful addition when running a "traveling" style adventure in any genre.

Just to be clear, these characters are all Seasoned (20xp). Ron is mistaken though: " Arcane Background(Hex-slinger), which in the current rules has been rolled into Arcane Background(Magic), aka the Huckster." is not true anymore since the official DL:R Hexslinger was released with the Stone and a Hard Place Plot Point campaign that these are designed for.

I would have given 5 stars if these had come with the figure flats to match the pregens, but they're well done just the same.