Welcome to Badhollow is a straightforward one-shot that introduces players to the forthcoming Vorrow’s Collection, a group of adventures centered on the eccentric mage Vorrow. In this adventure, the party finds their way to Badhollow, a decrepit trading town in the middle of the forest. Most people there have attempted to work for Vorrow, journeying out into the world to procure pieces of magical animals for a monetary reward. However, the work is often incredibly dangerous and many either die or, having come too close to death, choose to stop working for him. The party continues forward to Vorrow and sign a contract with him to go get pieces of a manticore. They are then transported to a far off jungle where they encounter several kinds of monsters and ultimately the manticores.

The adventure is straightforward and doesn’t allow for any deviations from the storyline. If the PCs don’t agree to Vorrow’s terms or don’t want to get into a contract with him, the adventure is essentially over. I have players that like to make my life difficult, and it was trying to steer them towards Vorrow. They would have rather explored the town or the jungle and didn’t seem to like Vorrow that much.

The center action also lagged a bit because, while PCs could have random encounters, some of those weren’t interactive and so it was just my players waiting for me to narrate something. It would have been good if the players had to use the compass, if they could have been drawn elsewhere by failing to use it correctly or had it stolen by someone/something else, or if something stalked and ambushed them.

Ultimately, this adventure felt like a small side quest that you could insert into a game if PCs desperately needed money. Otherwise, it wasn’t especially compelling or exciting. Allowing the players more agency and inducement would help make them want to interact with Vorrow and do things for him. Otherwise, it’s just a simple “Kill monsters, get money” game. That in itself isn’t bad, and the adventure was fairly easy to understand and implement, but it did require quite a bit of waiting and railroading, which my players didn’t always like. I’d be interested in seeing what the rest of the collection is like and if there’s going to be an underlying conflict or plotline. I think that could help make the whole series more compelling.