This was an excellent supply of inspiration for sidequests, and it was interesting enough that one quest became the basis for a recurring villain. Fantastic to work into any game.

Tier 1 Monster Hunts by Vall Syrene (@Valldoesdnd) and Ayla Finnegan (@Aylathewriter)

I absolutely love Syrene’s work with their Hunt series ever since I came across Monster Hunts: Avernus (See my full review here: https://www.dmsguild.com/product_reviews_info.php?&reviews_id=357458&products_id=290158, and this instalment only improves on the already fantastic recipe and flavour for fantastic, fun side treks, one shots and adventures with more than enough sizzle to inspire all manner of awesomeness!

I thoroughly recommend the whole series as a wonderful toolbox of easy to use and run hunts, which can bring something new, inspired or simply different to break up or add to whatever you have going on in your games, as well as being a great place to begin a game or even a last minute side quest because you’re down a player, which happened to me tonight. I had 20 minutes before the session started and I had one of my three players out when we were about to get into some pertinent stuff, so I went straight to this read through the encounter and stages of the hunt, took a quick look at the creature and I was ready to go! We had one of the most fun sessions of our campaign with a miniature ancient black dragon I had terrorising the Ashen Woods (in the Shadowfell, it is that easy to just drop these hunts anywhere!). There was a great interaction with a scared witness with all manner of wild details to build suspense, a quick bit of tracking and then an epic and wholly original encounter. Threats and weapons flew, but in the end their was so much character to the diminutive drake that they made a strange and wondrous truce, so now they have a new, bizarre character in their world. (Playing through Chris Valentine’s (@cryptwright) spectacular Lost In Shadow: https://www.dmsguild.com/product/301770/Lost-in-Shadow?affiliate_id=1507682, which I’ve been gagging to run and review. It’s brilliant! But that’s for another day).

Syrene knows exactly what to do to make bloody good content that is so simple and effective to implement, but makes the world of difference to DMs and players alike, and clearly Finnegen does too! I truly wish Syrene and Finnegen could have seen the looks on my player’s faces tonight. That and the fun we had compelled me to sit and write this as soon as the session ended. Thank you both for all the fun.

You just have to get into this, as I’ve barely scratched the surface of what’s in here and how they innovatively approach encounter building and packing in as much awesome in such accessible, digestible chunks!

Credits Authors Ayla Finnegan Vall Syrene Artists Interior Creature Art by Bob Greyvenstein Border Art by Sqeezi Games Publisher’s Choice Quality Stock ©Art Rick Hershey/Fat Goblin Games InDesign Template by Nathanaël Roux On the cover: A terrified, toothy beholder stares out towards an unseen threat in this painting by Rick Hershey.

https://www.dmsguild.com/product/311853/Tier-1-Monster-Hunts?affiliate_id=1507682

I had an amazing time reviewing this product. All the monsters were new and had fresh, interesting stories accompanying them and one really pulled at my heart strings. These hunts are perfect for a DM to drop into their world for something quick AND provide some good lore.

Check out my full review here: https://bit.ly/Tier1MonsterHunts