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Fading Suns - Kraken's Loom: A Fading Suns Shard $3.99
Average Rating:4.1 / 5
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Fading Suns - Kraken\'s Loom: A Fading Suns Shard
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Fading Suns - Kraken's Loom: A Fading Suns Shard
Publisher: Ulisses Spiele
by Ron M. [Featured Reviewer]
Date Added: 06/04/2009 14:51:30

Kraken's Loom From: Redbrick Limited Reviewed by:  Ron McClung

Kraken's Loom is a new Short Adventure (PDF Format) for 2nd Edition Fading Suns from Redbrick Limited.

Fading Suns is the best game you have never heard about, in my opinion, at least in the game material and background arena. The system leaves a lot to be desired and that is maybe why it did not hit as big as it should have. It has been resurrected by a company in New Zealand, Redbrick Limited, as part of a new licensing deal with the creators, Holistic Designs Inc. Kraken's Loom is one of the first products to be released by Redbrick as part of their online Fading Suns Shards series.

Kraken's Loom is a short adventure designed for a group of 3 to 6 Fading Suns player characters (PCs). It can be used as part of an existing campaign or as the start of a new epic. In this adventure, the characters search for a missing Hawkwood Count, lost a few years ago when a ship disappeared leaving Leminkainen space. This adventure seeps in Fading Suns lore and myth, as the players investigate whether the reports are true - that the ship was attacked by a dreaded Void Kraken. It takes them into the Known Worlds and beyond into barbarian Vuldrok space to a world known as Hargard.

From the website : “It is the dawn of the sixth millennium and the skies are darkening, for the suns themselves are fading.”

As the adventure mentioned, it would serve the GM well to have a copy of Hawkwood Fiefs: Imperial Survey 1 for the information on Leminkainen as well as Star Crusade for the information on Hargard, but they are not required. There is a section in the intro that gives you a short rundown of each world. 

NOTE: This review should only be read by someone who wants to run this adventure. While I do not give away the ending, I do give a way some of the flow of the adventure. The adventure background spins a tale of lost ships and legends of space krakens. Ships disappeared all the time, from pirate raids or barbarian attacks, but sometimes it is something else. One ship, the Lexington Script, disappeared a few years ago and someone of interest was on it - Count Anderton Blake Hawkwood. Recently, an item thought lost on the Lexington Script has turned up, making people wonder what else or who else might have survived. There are two conflicting parties interested in this item, which creates an interesting intrigue. The first is the sincere relative who has lost her cousin. The other is a noble who stands much to lose if this cousin was to return to claim his holdings.

Plot Summary: The adventure is basically an investigation into the disappearance of the ship by interviewing several key characters. They travel from Leminkarinen after interviewing a few survivors and the ship captain that found the survivors in their life pods, to Hargard in Vuldrok barbarian space following the trail of the item thought lost - an heirloom owned by the lost count. There is a lot of background and atmosphere setting text in it. There are also several very three-dimensional characters with good backgrounds and believable motivations. There is good intrigue and role-play opportunities. However, there is not a lot of action set up in the adventure, although there is potential for it for a creative GM that can come up with encounters on the fly. 

Locales: The focus of the adventure takes place on two very different worlds. The adventure expresses many times about the culture shock inexperienced characters might have between the comforts of the Known Worlds and barbarian space. The party gets to interact with House Ramakrishna of Hargard, the Vuldrok people of Thane Eldrid the Wise, and a heretical cult with dark intentions. 

From the website: "A New Dark Age has descended upon humanity, for the greatest of civilizations has fallen and now even the stars are dying.”

Antagonist: The bad guys vary throughout the adventure. The first opposition depends on which proposal they take when they are approached by both sides of the plot-line. Assuming they take the more honorable approach, the opposition would be the noble that stands to lose something if the group finds the missing count. This, I have to admit, is not explored deeply enough but it can be with an imaginative GM. Beyond that, the enemies range from the regular thug on the street that wants to steal their shiny things to the cultists in the end.

The other NPCs, in particular the survivors of the Lexington Script and some of the House Ramakrishna characters, are very interesting and present great roleplay opportunities for the GM and the players. This adds to the appeal of the adventure a lot. Overall, each NPC has appropriate depth for the adventure but there is room for more.

In conclusion, it is no secret that I am huge fan of this game universe, although not a big fan of the system. This is the second in the Shard series of adventures. This one is full of intrigue potential and story. It definitely has the Fading-Suns-feel. It has a good grasp of what a Fading Suns intrigue investigation needs with a lot of good background deeply entrenched in all that is Fading Suns. However, it does pace a little slow without some GM-inserted encounters or personal story hooks. The intrigue and the essential parts of the investigation are there and are good, but there is not a lot to wake the characters up between these essential acts. It has depth and richness but maybe too much. By far the best part is the ending, which is sort of a surprise. However, the ending also opened up other possibilities for intrigue and action in past acts, so the GM should read all the way through and see how they want to integrate what he learns into the earlier acts.

The PDF ends with a few sections on changing the plot slightly and spinning off other adventures from this one. There is a lot of potential for more adventure with this PDF and it is easy to see this as a starting adventure for an interesting campaign.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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Fading Suns - Kraken's Loom: A Fading Suns Shard
Publisher: Ulisses Spiele
by Marcin S. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 12/01/2007 06:57:33

I must say that I find "Kraken's Loom" inferior to "A Road So Dark" shard. It seems less detailed and a bit too sketchy. My thought is that "KL" misses some outlines of the plot, it's rather a set of characters and events but with too little background infromation.

Nontheless I like that shard even if it requires some work to tie everything together and fill in the gaps (more work than with "ARSD"). Thumbs up! :)



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
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