Bloodlines

The best way to sum it up is it is a masterful modern mystical mystery, but that might a bit too much alliteration. I am not a big fan of modern games, I prefer my fantasy. But Bloodlines is a nice adventure. It reminds me of a X-Files episode or a good Call of Cthulhu story. It is not as deadly as normal Call of Cthulhu games can be, but it has the same atmosphere of modern horror, mystery, and paranormal activities.

Bloodlines is an adventure for d20 Modern. It comes in a pdf that arrives in a eight and a half meg zip file. Inside there are two versions of the module, the friendly print out version and the nice colorful read on screen version. The pdfs are well put together with good two column layout, nicely sectioned off sidebars, and art placed in and not detracting from the writing. The one screen version is very thoroughly book marked and also has a very complete table of contents.

The cover is a female ghost holding a finger to her mouth in the universal gesture for silence. She stands over the grave of John Blackwell, an important and corner stone NPC in the module. The art through out the book is good, but I am not a fan of this particular style. There are handouts galore in this module. If you or your DM is a fan of player handouts, and I am such a DM, this module has them. There are almost thirty pages of player handouts and DM maps.

The pdf is written by Preston P DuBose. It is put out by a company called 12 to Midnight. It is there third product. There first two are Last Rites of the Black Guard, a Nazi supernatural adventure in the modern day, and Weekend Warriors, a military zombie fest adventure. The company?s tag line is ?Tell yourself it?s just a game?. They seem to have a good knack for modern horror and I hope to see more from them.

Okay, on to the good stuff of this module. This is a mystery and investigation module, not a fighting one. I think it is also a tough module. Players will have to think to get through it and understand what is going on. Some of the NPCs seem a bit obvious, but that is not a bad thing. It is a bit railroaded as a module and Preston, the author, says this upfront and makes no apologies for it. He says a good DM can stay on his toes and make the PCs not realize they are being led, but I am not sure how easily that would be. It is a good module for Role Playing and thinking. I like that but it might be a bit too linear for some people?s tastes.

The module is for fifth level characters. However, while it is for d20 modern it does not have many of the strange things that are presented in that book. For instance it assumes or seems to that the players are going to be all human. It assumes that the world the players play in is very similar to our own. Not every campaign that uses d20 modern will live up to those parts. It would be easy to allow for them, but obviously in a more magical world the mystery and supernatural effects here will seem less scary and puzzling.

The module can also work well for Spycraft, Call of Cthulhu, or other modern game. The meat of the module is the mystery and while it would take a little work there is no reason this cannot work for other modern games. Now, a Mutants and Mastermind game might actually need a lot of work, but for some lower powered superheroes and a clever DM; this could be a really fun and different adventure. It can even work for non d20 games although it would take a little more work for that.

Bloodlines will offer a good mystery and investigation for any modern game. It is a bit linear and that may be a problem for some people, but it does work well here. The module doe not seem to deadly and does leave a nice opening for a creative DM to have fun with.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>

An RPG Resource review:

This is an adventure that will repay the GM taking the time to prepare thoroughly before the game begins, it's not something to pick up and run. The effort, however, will be repaid and in great measure: it is a well thought out, coherent and fascinating tale of horror to keep your players on the edge of their seats and their characters in mortal terror.

The characters are enticed into the adventure by being invited to take part in a 'geocaching' competition. Geocaching is a sort of treasure hunt with the clues being GPS locations. Don't ignore the 'hook' provided, it isn't just there as a means to get the characters into the adventure, it is itself a part of the adventure... an unusual and welcome touch many adventures ignore.

Once hooked, the characters are led a merry chase through the area, meeting many interesting people who - although all a bit on the odd side - do give the impression of having a life away from the adventure itself. Although there are moments when violence (or running like mad!) are the only ways for the characters to save their skins - even their very souls - most of the adventure involves investigation and exploration, so it may not be the most suitable for groups who like combat-heavy games. Everything is well-supported, with good handouts and frequent checklists to aid the GM to ensure that all the evidence that ought to be available to the characters has been presented - or at least, they've been given the chance to find it!

The whole thing has a compelling underlying logic to it, that you end up wondering if it just might have happened, somewhere, in some alternate reality. The potential is here for an epic horror adventure.

WOW! I loved this well thought out and chilling adventure. There are lots of player handouts which I and my players love. Even with over 120 pages there is no wasted space. Buy this even if you're not into d20 modern horror (yet). This adventure got me out of the regular D&D grind. Its written in a very helpful way that makes it easy to run. If you're looking at this page then stop here and just buy it. You'll be happy you did. I just wish it were possible for small publishers like this to make more of these quality adventures faster.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>

First off let me say thea this is a very structured moduel and I'm an "on the fly" GM. I found the structure a bit more restricting than I like but the ammount of detail left NOTHING out! This is a well written story very much along the lines of Call of Cthulhu RPG. The background is detailed, the characters well thought out. and best of all it is creepy!<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>

Very nice module f?r D20 Modern. Worked really nice and a joy to DM with all the great content. Story is nice and creepy, if a bit toned down for an Urban Arcana campaign.And the magic from OGL Horror is just not my cup of tea. 7 points of permanent WIS drain for a spell necessary for the plot is a bit much!<br><br><b>LIKED</b>: Handouts and DM-friendly things like checklist after each chapter.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: magic form OGL Horror<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>

Huge adventure for d20 Modern. This one should keep any group occupied for quite a long time. Check the 12 to Midnight website for more extras, like handouts, maps and audio files.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>

This one blew my group away!! Easily one of the most captivating adventures we have played -- and when you consider each of us has been gaming for 20+ years that is a lot of adventures!

The story is filled with twists and turns, has excellent pacing, and never felt railroaded. With such an ambitious story, I consider that an incredible feat.

Logistically, the PDF was very user friendly, well bookmarked, and came with a standard and printer friendly version. It helped me easily track leads, potential directions the PCs may go, and what important NPCs they may encounter, which left me more time to play up the atmosphere.

I heartily recommend this to anyone interested in modern horror. I will definately be picking up more things from 12 to Midnight.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>

I hate reviews that are just gushing with praise and adoration. That's why I have a hard time writing this one because that's exactly what I want to do.

A gripping story, a cool twist, handouts for the players, aides for the GM... I could go on. Bloodlines has it all.

Bottom line: 12 to Midnight continually provides an excellent product and superior support. The best example is just to go to their website, look over all the free web info, and get all the free downloads. Personally, I've paid money for stuff of a lower quality than what they give you for free.

Ignore my gushing praise and check it out for yourself. You won't be sorry.

Lovely product. Nice artwork, spooky atmosphere and lots and lots of details to make a great adventure work well for a novice or an experienced gamer. One niggle: with adult content, maybe it would be an idea just to note that somewhere where a parent or kid shopper can get a heads up early enough to decide if it's what they want or not. Having said that, this adventure is very much... in the spirit... of old Call of Cthulhu adventures so perhaps the type of gamer attracted to 12 to Midnight's excellent products will be aware of the premise and not worry too much about a welcome element of grown up gaming. Since I am not a netd20geek I could care less about "game crunch" and the rest of the fanwank. Suffice to say that for a normal social gamer this is a product not to miss.

-Jonathan Nolan