Why Review a Free Product? It will still cost you some time to read and some ink to print if you choose. I'd like to know if it's worth it and I thought someone else might as well. I will not hesitate to spoil the adventure (SPOILER ALERT).

Physical Product This is an 18 page PDF in a two-column format with an easy to read font and a format that mimics the early TSR modules. I read it easily on my phone.

Pros The cover and interior illustrations are exceptionally well done and very evocative of the 'good old days' of roleplaying. The adventure is given some slight backstory which is interesting enough and generic enough to fit into pretty much any campaign. You're hired to go to a deep hole filled with monsters and given a pretty sizable pile of gold up front to do so. "Promise to return with the thing that I want and you can keep all the rest!" Prices better be pretty high in this kingdom to keep players from just leaving town!

I especially like the atmosphere of the cave and some 'house-ruled' stipulation that certain dungeon-destroying spells can't be used. That this is more or less by 'GM-fiat' that any 'narrative' reason may or may not bother you. It didn't particularly bother me. The atmosphere is different and can easily be explained by a 'curse' and the spells should never have been allowed in ANY game in the first place.

The map is very well done and I appreciate it being in the easier to read black, rather that the blue typical of that error.

Of course one of the things we get to in the dungeon is a 20 foot tall animated statue in a 10' x 10' corridor. But you can't say that's not old school. You're players tolerance for those kinds of details may vary. Of course, inside the statue is a priceless gem. Why? Cause that's the way it was done in the old days. No other reason given.

The system is 'old-school-generic' which plenty of products were back in the day.

I like the fact that some valuable books are given titles which always adds to the flavor of treasure.

There is a wilderness map that is of the hex-and-symbol variety. Not pretty but functional, easy to place in a campaign and very period-appropriate (1980). For authenticity I suppose it is placed (along with the dungeon map) in what appears to be the middle of the book as if it were pull-outs.

The dungeon has several different alternative paths the players could take, so I appreciate that you have at least the choice of which direction to go in.

I like the secret doors being described by their mechanism which makes it more fun to describe.

A "safe haven" room is provided which is a thoughtful touch.

Cons The Size (SZ) characteristic is not explained under the Introduction, but is used for many of the monsters. It's pretty easy to figure out though.

In room number #4 an item is referred to as valuable, but it's worth it not given. The text says it's too heavy to move, but that's never stopped players from trying. There is also a tapestry that has historical information on it and is probably valuable, but no value is given.

The books are given no monetary value however. The spell book found has got a lot of very high level spells in it however, including ALL 0-level spells.

At one point "the chill is noticeably different". No further details.

While the dungeon is described as a 'tomb' it is outfitted as if it were some sort of military fort. Nothing that can't be hand-waved away, but not very consistent either. Again, you can't say it’s different that the old school model.

I would have liked the doors to be marked on the map as to which ones are open and which ones are locked.

There is a very well described piece of treasure given that "compels" whoever holds it to "remove it from this place" but the details are left purposefully vague so the GM can decide it's significance. Personally I consider this lazy writing. The writer should go ahead and tell me what HE decided and if I want to change it I will. But don't just leave it 'unknown' and make me do all the work - after all, that's what I'm paying you to do! Even if I'm not really paying.... But what it does do is impressive enough as written. Though it is described as 'cursed' I can't really see much downside to keeping the thing. There is an excellent illustration of it however.

Overall This is a bit of a "monty-haul" dungeon. The dangers seen rather low and the money found seems rather high. There are at least five 'masterwork' weapons and a 'Defender' sword. As an adventure for 4-6th level characters it seems fairly easy and they certainly won't be that when they leave! That's not to say there is no danger, but I can't see more than one player getting killed here. Curiously absent was at least a Wandering Monster table which I think could have upped the stakes in this adventure and given it much more tension than it has. Since all the monsters seem pretty much locked in their own rooms, it seems like EVERY room could be safe once it's cleared.

Should I Check Out Their Other Products? For me personally, no. This is a pretty mediocre dungeon with nothing particularly special about it that makes me think I MUST have it in my campaign.

However, it is at least the equal of TSR/Judges Guild and better illustrated than most so if you need a generic old school dungeon that's good for a night of play or a side-trip while visiting a city or hiking in the mountains, this will definitely do the job.

Certainly better that most 'free' products.

This introductory product has definitely told me what they are going for (TSR lives) and they have done it very well.

It's just that for me personally I already have plenty of those old-timey dungeons and can't see any particular reason for more of the same.

Good but not special.

Why Review a Free Product? It will still cost you some time to read and some ink to print if you choose. I'd like to know if it's worth it and I thought someone else might as well.

Physical Product This is a 7 page PDF in a two-column format that makes it easy to read on a phone. I appreciate that.

Pros Excellent illustrations of the exterior of the inn and the interior map/floor plans. 5 staff members are described, but only the proprietor is stated. Nice little slice of life Adventure Hook.

Cons No other character statistics. No statistics for doors, locks, etc. No menu. No operating hours. No description of typical patrons.

Overall A good product. You'll have to do a little more work to use it, but the map and illustrations definitely make it worth it, and the lack of anything particularly 'gonzo' means it fits a wider variety of game/campaign types. This would make me look at their other products.

REVIEWS OF FREE PRODUCTS

Why Review a Free Product? Physical Product Pros Cons Overall

The Broken Coin Inn.

Why Review a Free Product? It will still cost you some time to read and some ink to print if you choose. I'd like to know if it's worth it and I thought someone else might as well.

Physical Product This is a 10 page PDF in a two-column format with an easy to read font that makes it easy to read on a phone. I appreciate that.

Pros Excellent illustration of the outside of the inn and an excellent map. Statistics are given for the proprietor and his special sword. I appreciate that the sword isn't over-the-top, but still still interesting. The 'fantasy' element is limited to an easily replaced stuffed creature. I appreciate the fact that it not obtrusive and easily replaced. The inn is also loosely connected to training caravan guards which is a unique and interesting bit of business.

Cons No other character statistics. No statistics for doors, locks, etc. No menu. No operating hours. No other staff mentioned except one wench. No description of typical patrons. The inn is connected to the Thieves Guild which makes it a little harder to just 'plop down' this inn anywhere needed.

Overall A good product. You'll have to do a little more work to use it, but the map and illustrations definitely make it worth it, and the lack of anything particularly 'gonzo' means it fits a wider variety of game/campaign types. This would make me look at their other products.

I don't usually do reviews. You'll see why shortly. Basically this product was not worth its cost. It has only a superficial description of any particular game and then a dry list of difficulty numbers. In other words, the easiest thing possible to come up with for a game or tournament. None of the details needed to actually run it in an RPG. Literally a chore to read, it's broad scope is the first clue that nothing is covered in any significant details. Dry, unimaginative and functionally useless. If you really can't come up with a difficulty number for a game, this might be of use to you, but if you want any other flavorful details about how a game is played and how you can use it in a game, you'll have to do all that work yourself.

This is an excellent beer-and-pretzels game of jousting. Highly recommended. I'll definitely be using it for a miniature game. The only thing missing is any particular method of one knight being better than another, but that's easily house-ruled. Feels very authentic without being overly complicated. Each 'run' a player picks one of three cards to determine which tactic they use. This is kind of like rock-scissors-paper in terms of the benefit its provides (and I might be expanding the selection of cards myself, but it looks like it will work pretty well). Each cards can give a benefit depending on the card that opposes it. Very well thought out (something RARELY true of games in this price range!).

Very well done. A few typos and you could consider it not really 'necessary', but it does add some subtlety to some particular powers and has some new rules that are handy.

Despite my reservations I was very happy with it and look forward to future volumes.

Bottom Line: Does it do what it says (give tables that generate interesting natural-not-dungeon caves?) Yes. Was it worth $5? It was to me.

The rest are just nits for the prehistoric purist such as myself.

As most of these products do, there is a subtle D&D bias that assumes these are going to be placed in a bog-standard 'Elf/Dwarf/Hobbit' fantasy world. Doesn’t detract from the product much but it shows its head when "Strange/Rare" results are generated, instead of supplying a table it just says "go look in your D&D books!". I'm paraphrasing. Sigh.

Very good spelling and grammar. Always a surprise in these products.

The tables will not produce a map. Sizes are given as Small, Medium, Large and Huge. It don’t consider this a fatal flaw, but some will and it does seem like it would have been pretty easy to add one page to fix this. Small = 10’x10’, Large = 20’x20’, etc.

My biggest gripe is that the maps appear to be able to appear in ANY terrain. The terrain where the cave is found is never addressed at all. Even Judges Guild back in its Caves & Caverns book did that.

So for example, a Limestone cave could appear anywhere and a “Marl” can has the same chance of appearing as a “Variolite” cave. A Basalt cave (volcanic) could appear deep in the heart of a jungle.

I don’t know geography well enough to know if this is true or not. I was hoping that this type of research was part of what I’m paying for.

Metal/Gem deposits are very good and well thought out. No mention of the quantity or location however.

I appreciated the brief but complete descriptions. Enough to use in play but not so much it looked like a wiki entry was copy-and-pasted.

Cave smells is very cool.

Seems like it would be more convenient to have Cave Entrances in the front of the book. No big deal.

I’m a little disappointed that the Cave Entrances have so much man-made technology in them. For prehistoric role-playing I’ll have to make my own table to get rid of those entries. No big deal.

Hallway and Room features are very nice, though the tables seem to generate a LOT of ‘dead end’ Hallways.

Overall, I nicely done supplement, well priced for what it is and complete enough so that no two caves will ever be exactly the same.

That’s what I was looking for and that’s what I got.

Thanks! I’m definitely going to TableSmith this for my OG games!

I dont usually write reviews but I was pleasantly surprised by this product.

The plot ideas are good and the maps are well done. They picked useful locations but locations that are not often covered by other map products.

The ideas seem pretty creative and I'll have no problems using this 'as is' in future (modern setting) games.

That's what I was looking for and that's what I got.

I'll buy the next one if they do another.

The maps could be a little better keyed, but they work well enough.

Excellent product, wish I'd bought it years ago! Great research, no wasted material. Does what you need, nothing more, nothing less. Great research seems very accurate (wish I hadn't wasted so much time trying to do it myself!). Must have for every campaign. <br><br><b>LIKED</b>: Darn near everything. I will look for others from this vendor. <br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: No illustrations. They aren't necessary, but they would help. No modifiers give to find plants (but modifiers given to identify). Uses scientific names rather than 'common' names. Not much detail given for how to prepare poisons. I'm reaching here I know. <br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>

I was happy with it. Not a d20 fan and didn't need so many new races, gods, classes and feats, but what was there was flavorful and useful. It could use a map and it's much more "Lost World" than "Prehistoric World". It's built for a D&D-style fantasy campaign, but it's good at what it does and there is plenty of it. Worth the money.

For some reason this PDF has had the easiest time printing of all the GOO products I've bought. Highly recommend. I wish all would print this well!

The scan of 'The Template of Elemental Evil' was perfect! Printing quick and cleanly.

Don't let the cover fool you! This is an extremely high quality professional product. It is generic, but it's well-written and easily used. Tough to print, but the illustrations are all well done.