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Shadowed Keep on the Borderlands (5e) |
$15.95 |
Average Rating:4.9 / 5 |
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This was an already great title before it got updated.
Once the PoD of this updated version goes live it will be my first purchase. I am greatly looking forward to it.
Tight writing, good plot hooks, great npcs, well ordered, beautiful hand drawn maps. This module has it all.
Some noticable nice thing about this module missing in many others are the summaries up front, like the notable streets, the timeline it gives, the reward posters it provides.
Here is an example event from the rollable table for the town Dulwich.
The town guard attempts to disperse an angry group of workers upset with a tax rise. A few of the workers begin to throw stones.
Example Npc
Zado (location 11; CN male human unknown) plies his trade in the marketplace as a street performer or, perhaps, street performers. However, this enigmatic performer’s real trade is in secrets and information
Example street
Briar Park Row: A small park rests along the street. Believed to be the remains of a former druid’s grove, the park features a large oak tree with a life-like face etched into its trunk. Badgers’ (location 15) stands on Briar Park Row, and the presence of its watchful, armed mercenaries makes this a particularly safe, crimefree street
As you can see its not just a one word monster or event but rather a fleshed out encounter with some real meat to it either to inspire you on or drop in as is to your game. There has been some real love and thought gone into this product.
Its a delight to read!
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Creator Reply: |
Thank you, Badger! I'm delighted you've enjoyed Shadowed Keep. Also, thank you for taking the time to write this review. It's jolly decent of you. |
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Wonderfully richly detailed module, a joy to run and play! The two sets of 2024 updates have been fantastic. My party is eager to try the new DND2024 bastion rules as a followup to this module!
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Creator Reply: |
Thank you, Lee! I much appreciate you leaving a review. I'm jolly glad you had fun in the Shadowed Keep. |
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In the final sessions of running this book, and it has been an absolute delight to run.
THe formating of the book, the way it lays out information is tailormade for DMs to run games at the table. For example, the town has a one pager of locations and npcs matching the map key. Whilst the dungeon has the same for each floor, with a one pager of the characteristics of the floor & one liner on each room.
This has recently been updated with player friendly versions of the extended information on the town locations which is incredibly helpful to make it even more table ready.
I suspect my party will continue with their characters in the woods, and venture out to Vongyth next.
Can't recommend this book more highly to DMs of all abilites.
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Amazing! Easy to run at the table. Classic style adventure with lots of room for player and DM creativity. Latest updates are great!
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This is a fantastic adventure; absolutely top notch. As a DM I need fast, evocative information that I can use to build a story and Shadowed Keep is PERFECTLY FORMATTED. Honesty, I wish every adventure were formatted like this one.
The book includes, Lore (just enough, but not too much), loads of interesting NPCs (briefly described with only useful informaiton), rumors, several factions, DC 10, 15, and 20 information characters might know, town events, brief lists of notable locations and NPCs (and where they are normally found) so that you can rapidly look things up, very nice maps, notes on downtime activities, a full town, a full multi level dungeon.
One of my favourite things is that there are story hooks everywhere. There are hooks for building characters with scenario relevant motivations, but also hooks with literally every location in town. Every single one. This thing has more hooks than a dwarven baitshop. The adventure is very sandbox friendly, with a great, well fleshed out town, and rich detailed dungeon to explore, as well as lots of pointers to other areas of interest.
The thing that surprized me the most was how much fun it was to read as the DM. Sometimes it seems that 'official' adventures are written to be read like a story, often at the expense of organizing things in a functional way for the DM to run. Shadowed Keep does not compromise at all on functional organization, but was actually MORE fun to read because there are so many story ideas; it all just set my imagination on fire.
In summary, this is, hands down, the most functional, most rich, most enervating adventure I've ever bought. (I've since purchased many more Raging Swan products, and have been very, very happy with them all). Thanks for making great stuff!
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Creator Reply: |
Thank you, Mark, for these tremendously kind words. I am (unsurprisingly) delighted you found Shadowed Keep so enjoyable. You made my morning!
(Also, I've never been to a dwarven baitshop, but I will take your word for it!) |
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Thank you, Mark, for these tremendously kind words. I am (unsurprisingly) delighted you found Shadowed Keep so enjoyable. You made my morning!
(Also, I've never been to a dwarven baitshop, but I will take your word for it!) |
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Disclaimer 1: I received this product for free in return for a review.
Disclaimer 2: I have only read through the adventure; I haven't run it. I say this because reviewers often praise an adventure that reads good on paper but is totally DM-unfriendly to run.
There is a lot of great content here! It's not just the Keep of the title; there's also a detailed town and a surrounding wilderness. The town of Dulwich has so much happening that you might never bother to go to the dungeon at all. It feels like a real place. The wilderness is less thoroughly described but full of good ideas that could be fleshed out, and they tie in well to the Keep's backstory. Also, the Keep itself contains several different zones each with their own flavour, so different characters and different playing styles each get a turn to do their thing. The basic concept is generic enough to find a home in any typical fantasy campaign, but the backstory is sufficiently well worked out to make the place interesting to explore.
There's good interface between story and mechanics in things like the lists of specialty foods and drinks at different hostelries, the graded DCs for remembering lore about a location (the higher you roll, the more info you get), and especially the location descriptions. Things like walls, floors, lighting, even staircases do come into play mechanically and the succinct but creative descriptions give the DM plenty of fuel for bringing the world to life as a realistic place that can be interacted with. Another interesting mechanic is the timeline of potential events at the Keep. The author specifically says that you can use as much or as little of this as you like, but it helps to locate the Keep in time as well as space (the other actors don't wait passively for the PCs to act; they have their own agendas).
Above all, what I really liked was the presentation. The layout is aesthetically pleasing but also very fit-for-purpose: typography that actually fulfils its primary task of helping you navigate the material. Unlike what a lot of writers think, RPG adventures aren't a subgenre of fiction, they're an instructional genre. Raging Swan actually gets this. Rather than swathes of descriptive text that swamps the important game details and makes adaptation/improvisation very difficult, the information about each location is presented in more tabular or point form. It informs the DM but allows them creative space.
The maps and B&W illustrations, too, are helpful for explicating the content but also engage you with it emotionally. (There's some nice player handouts too.)
Child-friendliness: there are a few unimportant details you'd want to skip and a major encounter that would probably be too disturbing for anyone under 16. Otherwise, I think this would play pretty well with kids aged 10+.
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Creator Reply: |
Thanks very much for this detailed, thoughtful review, Ruth. I much appreciate the time you spent on it. |
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Up front I have to say that I have not yet run this, but I had to come & give a review just based on the design & layout. The way that the various pieces all interconnect, the suggested hooks into the adventure from every location in the town, the way the rumors are designed to lead in further the story are all so well thought out that it seems amazing to me that this isn't the standard in how cities & adventures are designed for TTRPGs.
Then, the actual dungeon bit. There's a key with a brief outline telling you what is in each room right at the begining so I have an overview of the whole place in one location easily available for reference. Under each room clear descriptions, with various options well deliniated and highlighted so I don't have to dig through a wall of text to figure out what is going on.
Click the 'full preview' above and you will get a better idea of just how well done this is than any review I could write will give you.
I am honestly blown away by this with the only downside being that it makes the design & layout of everything else I own look worse by comparison.
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Creator Reply: |
Wow. Thank you. You made my morning. |
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This adventure is one of the best possible ways to start your campaign. Contains a city that’s not too small, not too big, and full of intrigue; a keep that begs exploration and has secrets on every level; and tons of adventure hooks that can be meshed in with nearly anything a GM can think of. Highest recommendation – get this adventure and have it handy at all times.
In depth:
https://busywyvern.com/2021/05/01/review-shadowed-keep-on-the-borderlands-5e/
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Creator Reply: |
Thank you for this review, Kevin. I'm delighted your enjoyed the adventure so much. I hope it gives you many more happy gaming memories. |
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