Mr. Labyrinthian Goes to GenCon - Part 2: Of Gravestones and the Vampire Strahd

I live in New England, Connecticut to be exact.  Let me tell you something about CT... it is far as hell from Indianapolis. Despite already knowing this we all agreed to get into two automobiles and drive there.  Originally we were all going to pile into the Professor's van, but due to mechanical difficulties we were forced to take two alternate vehicles.

The ride seemed like it would be just fine... for the first six hours.  The rest of the drive really sucked.  We left at 6pm Wednesday and didn't arrive until around around nine or ten AM on Thursday.  I don't actually know which as I was in an exhausted stupor while we were checking into our hotel.  One thing I do remember though the haze of exhaustion, the number of gamers we saw on our way in and at our hotel as we were checking in.  I just remember turing to Bear and pointing out how Gamers stick out like a sore thumb.  I mean think about it, 99 times out of 100 you can spot them a mile away.

So we checked in, moved out stuff in, and did our thing.  Revil, the Professor, and Moox all went right away to the convention.  Professor and Moox had entered a HeroClix tournament and Revil had gotten screwed out of his badge by the USPS (A tip we learned on our first GenCon experience, people.  Pay to have your badge FedExed to you because GENCON WILL NOT SEND YOU A NEW BADGE OR REFUND THE MONEY TO YOU IF THE US POSTAL SERVICE LOSES IT.)  and had to go and get a new one.  Only Revil had gotten any sleep on the way there so Moox and Professor were forging on exhausted.  Myself, Bear, and Trip all went to sleep to try and get as much rest as possible before our first event. 

We got up around 2:30 showered and headed over to the convention.  As this was my first trip to GenCon I did a lot of research including looking for parking lots ahead of time.  A lot of people said parking was a nightmare, but it wasn't a problem at all for us.  We parked in the same 24 hour lot every day for $10.  Good price, not a bad walk, and no chance of our car getting stuck overnight.

On our walk to the convention we spotted more gamers, easily recognizable as always, also making their march toward the Convention Center.  As I spotted more and more of them I got a strange feeling, but wasn't able to fully understand it as we arrived and all other thoughts were pushed from my mind.  As I've said I've done a lot of research, seen plenty of pictures, and heard a ton of stories about the world's largest gaming convention, but nothing could have prepared me for walking through that door for the first time.  The scale of the thing was overwhelming.  I felt like Harry F-ing Potter walking down Diagon Alley for the first time, totally immersed in something I'd only heard about and wanting to look everywhere at once.  I wanted to stop and look at all the interesting things people were doing, playing, or had on display.  I was so distracted that I kept falling behind the group.

Everywhere I looked were Gamers which brought back that feeling I'd had earlier and made me think about it.  Now I'm not sure if others feel this way, but often I feel like Gamers are people on an island.  Each local gaming group is like an island of Gaming culture in the sea of non gamers that make up the world.  Gamers are often social outcast and the hobby to which we belong is looked at as, at best, very strange.  But seeing all these Gamers, which in the downtown area far outnumbered everyone else, I realized that for once, this strange thing that I do is normal.  Now if you are new to this site then you don't know that I am a huge closet gamer.  I don't talk about gaming, pretend that I don't do it, and it took ten years of dating my (now) wife to tell her that I game weekly.  I love RPGs, I love D&D, but there is something about the stigma that I haven't wanted any part of since I was 11.  Which is why the convention evoked such an odd response from me.  I just couldn't get over the knowledge that I was surrounded by people who not only knew about gaming, but wouldn't think I was weird for doing it.

Once I got over my wonderment we went and found the Professor and Moox at their Heroclix tourney which was still going on when we got there.  Though Moox had drawn Red Hulk and was doing well The Professor had gotten a really crappy draw (His best figure being Peter Parker) and was doing as poorly as one might expect.  He withdrew from the tournament so we could make it to our True Dungeon 101 seminar and Moox hung around and kept playing.

True Dunegon 101 was my first GenCon event, sort of anticlimactic as it was just a seminar to show people what to expect from True Dungeon. Sadly it might have been the best seminar we went to, but I'll explain that later.

We left a few minutes early to make sure we made it to our Thursday night event, one we had all be waiting for, Ravenloft. No, not some campaign setting or redone module, I'm talking about the original I6 Ravenloft. This and True Dungeon were the two events I was really looking forward to. As I've said earlier I think Ravenloft is probably the best D&D adventure ever written. There are a number of reasons, but I won't go into them now. Instead I'll tell you about the amazing time we had.



Mike, the gentlemen who ran us through Ravenloft at GenCon has a website that we looked through beforehand, and even got to pick characters  We bought all the tickets to the event so for the first time ever, our group would all be on the same side of the screen, something I was excited about.  Immedietly upon arriving at the table I knew we were in for a real treat.  Mike had set everything up including props and items like rubber bats to set the mood.  We literally didn't need to bring a thing as he provided everything including markers for the characters and poker chips for spells.  It was readily apparent that Mike has been perfecting this game for quite some time and he has streamlined everything from the rules to the phyiscal materials (Dice, character sheets, etc) help speed up the game and maximize the fun.  Mission accomplished!

 This was my Gravestone trophy I got when my character died.  Everyone one and they were all different.

We got off to something of a rough start as far as actually playing the adventure since Moox showed up late to the event (his Heroclix had run over).  But once play got underway we had an absolute blast. I don't want to ruin anything for those of you who have not played Ravenloft before so I'll try to keep things as spoiler free as possible.  We started off at an Inn outside of Barovia as per the module.  We were drawn in with the classic hook and were off and running.  The DM was an excellent roleplayer and though we were all using pregenerated characters we really started to get into them.  Things were going really well for us until we reached the castle.  We had made allies with the townsfolk, were on good terms with the gypsies, and my Paladin Sir Richard Dragonblood had defeated one of Strahd's principal lackeys in a duel.  But as I said, we had a reversal of fortunes upon arriving at Strahd's castle.  Both My character and Revil's died during the one truly brutal random encounter in the adventure.  It was all down hill from there.  One by one, room by room our resources were widdled down to nothing until everyone was dead.  We loved every minute of it!  Bear was the last one to go.  He out in the blazes of glory destroying Strahd's organ out of pure spite.

Though the game was scheduled to only last until 1am we ended up playing until 5am, just missing the 12 hour mark.  Mike was a great sport and was willing to see the whole thing through.  The Professor should also be congratulated.  I consider an act of super human gumption and commitment that he stayed up having had no sleep for almost 48 hours.  Moox didn't have what it took and quit about half way though the game and I ended up taking over his character when mine died.

Ravenloft was without a doubt the best game we played at GenCon and probably spoiled us a bit.  Though we didn't defeat Strahd we did get plenty of Ravenloft Gravestones as a conselation prize.  For those of you making the trip out of GenCon next year check the event guide to see if Mike is running his Ravenloft game again.  If he is make it your number one priority to sign up for this game, you probably won't find a better one anywhere at the Con.

From Left to Right: Bear, Revil, The Professor, Trip, and our DM for the night Mike.

Exhausted we returned to our hotel to preapre for the next day... uh, I mean later that day.

Diary of a Gamer : The End of Pathfinder as we Know it

Last night my group's Pathfinder game came to an end.  The campaign started in October, was relauched in January and has run more or less steady since then.  Perhaps it was the relaunch effect, but it doesn't seem as though we've been playing Pathfinder for about seven months. 

The climactic conclusion of the campaign (or at least this part, there is still hope that we will return to it later) was the party storming the castle of an evil witch to rescue the King... Well, technically he's a general, but he is the game's King Arthur equivilent.  The game got off to a rough start with one of the players (Moox) not being able to make it, and got worse when another (Revil) had to leave.  This left just your faithful narrator and AngryBear to face off against the Big Bad, a CR 15 Green Hag Witch.  Fortunetly we had some NPC backup including a faery who was able to break the Hag's mental hold on the King.  He joined us in the fight and we put a wooping on the Witch, Evard's Black Tenticles be damned! 

I was glad to see the game (or at least this chapter) get a good end to it.  The game started off great and had a lot of really fun moments, but started to get bogged down after the Witch kidnapped the King.  We found outselves battles Derro left and right with no way of knowing we were going the wrong way.  What should have taken a few weeks instead took us months, and that sapped a lot of ethusiasm and energy from the game. 

So after months of playing Pathfinder what do I think of it?  Well first off I find it damn confusing! The rules are so close the 3.5 rules that I often find myself almost shocked when they made a rule change.  For example, they changed DR a bit, making it so that you consider your total weapon bonus in the case of a magic weapon when determining if it passes a certain DR type (this is a great change in my opinion).  For example, my weapon was a total of +4 so that passes the Cold Iron DR (which came up as we were fighting this strange Nyph creatures).  I didn't know that, nor did anyone else realize it until the fight was pretty much over.  These types of mistakes were common during the campaign, and I'm sure happen all the time to people who have a lot of experience playing 3rd edition. 

Overall the Pathfinder rules are good.  They fixed some really big problems that 3.5 had and added some more flavor to some of the classes, like the Sorcerer.  Upgrading the DR system and introducing CMB and CMD for Combat manuevers was also a welcome change.  That having been said not all the changes were for the better.  Pathfinder knocked the Ranger back down to suck-town, did nothing to address the fact that the Monk is a crap class, and left several broken spells in place.  So between 3.5 and Pathfinder you can find things that are better about each. 

But at least for now, Pathfinder is the past.  The future is Hackmaster, Advanced Hackmater (the playtest).  I'll be making what I hope to be a triumphant return to GMing... If not at least I'll have a screen to hide behind.  I'm really excited about this playtest, but nervous as well.  It's been a while since a I ran a game, and a while since I played HM so I'm concerned about getting the kinks out.  I'm plan on taking time this week to review the rules and brush up on the setting we'll be playing in, Frandor's Keep.  With a great setting and a great Rulesystem if this game fails no one will have to look far for who to blame. 

Because I wanted the players to have some time to consider their options I let them roll their stats ahead of time to mull over their options.  One player (ManOnFunTrip) is rejoining the game and wasn't there so he'll be doing all of his character creation next week.  Those who have already rolled had some mixed results.  Both Revil and the Professor did well, but AngryBear barely qualified as a PC. 

I promise to try to do better with this damn diary.  I may have epicly failed for Pathfinder, but its a new campaign and a fresh start.  Plus, ever GM wants an audience to complain to, right?   Obviously I'll be limited what I can discuss rules-wise, but the general narative will be fair game.

Return to Hackmaster

My group and I are now officially playtesting Advanced Hackmaster!  I'm not sure I can put into words how excited I am.  Obviously none of us can speak about the rules, but we can still give tales of the group's adventure, which I plan to do weekly. 

I'll be running the game, Revil and the Profressor will be players along with AngryBear and Moonxine.  We are starting out with Frandor's Keep, which only adds to the excitement. 

Unfortunately we won't be starting until May 11th (AngryBear has finals coming up), at which time we will commence a 2 game a week schedule.  Tuesday will be Hackmaster, and Pathfinder will continue on Thursdays. 

Overall this is an amazing opportunity and I can't wait to dive in.

Professor Obsecure Saves GenCon

Yesterday event registration opened for GenCon.  This posed a problem as I was quite busy.  Sundays are sports days for me and I leave early in the morning for football, continue right on to softball, basketball, and then ultimate frisbee.  This means that I usually don't get home until about 9pm, well after most of the tickets for great events are all taken up.  Other members of my group were similarly engaged, Revil was with me playing sports, ManOnFunTrip is in the air national guard and had drill this weekend, and AngryBear had to work. 

All this could have spelled disaster but the Professor stepped up and saved GenCon for our group, for which we are all grateful.  Perhaps we are doubly so as this is, for all of us, our first GenCon experience and, for all but one of us, our first gaming convention ever.  In short, this is a very important event for all of us.  We are very excited and didn't want anything to ruin it.  Thankfully nothing did.

Though we didn't get into the Convention's only Aces & Eights game (that's right, as of right now there is only ONE) we did get into some other great events including the two we were most excited about.

The first, probably to no one's surprise, is True Dungeon.  We have heard about it, seen pictures, and videos for years and always dreamed of going, and now that dreams will be coming to fruition in August.  We were fortunate enough to all get into the same dungeon run, despite a number of problems with the checkout system.  The other event we are all very excited about is an original I6 Ravenloft game.  Regulars on this site know how much I love the original Ravenloft, it is probably the greatest adventure of all time.  Though I have run it, I have never gotten a chance to play it.  Now I finally get to do so along with all the other members of my group.  I can't wait.

Aside from those we are playing the Castle of the Mad Archmage, and a Pathfinder game called Shadows Fall on Absalom.  Aside from those we signed up for a few seminars, including the one held by the fellas over at Gnom Stew.  We had been warned from a number of sources not to sign up for too many events so we left plenty of time to walk around and check things out.  Additionally we are still hopeful that there will be come Hackmaster events (that's right, as of right now there are ZERO Hackmaster games) so we are leaving time open in the hopes that there will be some.

I have great hopes for this trip, and my excitement is only likely to build in the coming months.  August can't get here fast enough! 

Frandor's Keep Review

I've finished reading Kenzerco's most recent Hackmaster release Frandor's Keep, and as promised here is the review.  I'll try to walk the fine line of keeping things spoiler free while giving in depth information to those of you on the fence about buying this product.

Chapter One: Introduction

Not much to say about this.  It includes a quick little narrative, has an introduction, explains how the book is to be used, etc.  They also mention the downloadable content and introduce the little icon that denotes when DLC is available on a topic or graphic.   

Chapter Two: The History of Frandor's Keep

As the tittle indicates this chapter deals principally with the history of the Keep.  It includes information on why the keep was built and the various events that have surrounded its bloody history.  The history is interesting and well thought out, but is closely tied to Hackmaster's Official setting of Kalamar.  That having been said, it wouldn't be too difficult to move the Keep and the surrounding area to your own setting while keeping most if not all of the history intact.     

Chapter Three: The Earldom of Reyifor

This chapter deals with the Earldom that the keep is found in.  Details on local towers, geographical information, rivers, and roads are all available here.  Areas later featured in adventures are given a brief overview here.  A quality map of the Earldom is included in this chapter. 

Chapter Four: In The Vicinity

Chapter four presents the area immediately around the Keep.  Another great map in this chapter provides a more detailed view of the few miles around the keep.  This chapter introduces both major geographic features, such as The Shelf, as well as important man made sites, like the nearby Quarrytown. 

Chapter Five: Quarrytown

Quarrytown is a rock quarry turned seedy town.  Those unable or unwilling to reside in Frandor's Keep live here.   The map of Quarrytown is a bit different from the others presented in the book, but no less useful.  A vast number of rumors and NPC knowledge information is presented in this chapter.  Each important building and person is gone into with a good deal of depth.  One of FK's more interesting antagonists is intorduced here.  His group, the Ravens, make excellent and cunning adversaries for the PCs.  Quarrytown is an excellent addition that provides an alternative to the orderly environment of the Keep. I love the detail in this chapter, though unwary PCs will most certainly not.  

Chapter Six: The Palisade

Chapter six is short and deals with the Palisade just outside the Keep where the Smithy and Stables are found.  There is a map of the interior of the Palisade, but there isn't much to it.  Info on guards stationed in the Palisade can be found in this chapter as well as information on the Stable Master, Markin Binsaro.

Chapter Seven: Frandor's Keep

By far the largest chapter in the book, Chapter Seven deals with Frador's Keep itself.  The detail here is exquisite.    It breaks down each section of the keep and offers in depth information of people, buildings, and even the history of the section.  The map gives you an idea how much larger and detailed FK is than the old Keep on the Borderlands.  A number of smaller maps of each section offer a three dimensional view of the Keep's various sections.  One of my favorite maps is called "Elevations at the Keep" which is on page 45.  It really gives you a three dimension picture of the keep and shows you just how high those towers are compared to things in the middle bailey.  Like this map the whole chapter just flat out rocks.  This is the reason I bought the book, and believe me I was not disappointed. 

Chapters Eight though Eleven

These chapters provide the various adventure opportunities in and around the Keep.  I don't want to say too much here because it would spoil things for players and GMs alike.  The adventures range in length from very short single encounter opportunities to much longer multi-encounter full dungeon adventures.  Some adventures are straight forward requiring the PCs to go and deal with the problem in a typical violent fashion, while others are far more complex giving the players multiple options for success and/or involving moral or political choice.  There is a very good mix to ensure that things don't get monotonous and your players will be able to focus on the types of adventures that they enjoy.  These adventures provide the PCs with more than enough experience to reach level five, as promised. 

Appendix: New Rules 

This section includes rules for a new monster.  I won't say which one for spoiler reasons, but I will say that it comes with a good bit of info on the creature, a picture, and a stat block.  The rest of the information provided in this section is a compilation of the various rules and info presented in Knights of the Dinner Table and the various Hackjournals.  Rules provided cover Mounts, and expanded equipment list that includes trade goods, a new skill (Jewelery Making), Proficiencies, New Quirks and Flaws, and details on both Poison and Disease.  I love the decision to put this info in the book as there is no guarantee that anyone who purchases FK would subscribe to either KoDT or HJ.   Even those that do will likely find it useful to have all of the information compiled in once place for easy reference. 

NPC Quick Reference Chart

I love this chart.  With so many NPCs it can be difficult to keep track of them.  This chart makes it infinitely easier to do so.  It lists the NPC by location in the keep, and it also lists their Sex/Race, Location, Position, Information Known, Places Frequently visited, Associates, and the faction to which they belong.  Did I mention I love this chart?

The Good

Just about everything.  Frandor's Keep offers a lot for a reasonable price.  At $24.99 it provides you and your group with an entire HMB campaign and leaves the GM with very little work to do.  This is the best suppliment I have bought in a very long time.   

The Negative

This book has very little down side to it.  If I had to levy some complaints against it I guess I would start with page 95.  Now, there isn't anything wrong with the content on page 95, my problem is with the lack of it.  The entire right hand column is completely blank for some reason.   Normally if there isn't enough text at the end of a chapter it would be filled up with pictures, but here there is absolutely nothing but empty space.  Page 130 features the same problem, with the right hand column being empty for lack of content. 

Some of you may wonder why I don't list among the negative elements the fact that Frandor's Keep is a softcover book, as I have been critical of many soft cover publications, especially Hackmaster 4th edition's core rulebooks, in the past.  My answer is that this book costs $24.99, if it were hardcover that would have increased the cost around 10 dollars.  Though there is a lot of content in the book, certainly enough to get characters from level 1 to level 5, it will not be used nearly as much as a core rulebook.  Thus, I usually prefer softcover modules and supplements as it keeps the cost down.  I would always prefer core rulebooks be in Hardcover.  Now I may grumble about Hackmaster Basic being softcover because mine is already falling apart, but with a price tag of $20 it's hard to grumble too loudly. 

Overview

Frandor's Keep is an extremely strong product, with a wealth of content and a reasonable price tag.  Kenzerco already has some of the promised online content available.  With more on the way it's safe to say that this product will only increase in quality and support in the coming months.

Kenzer and Company could have just created a nice little homage to the original Keep on the Borderlands, more in the vein of their 4th edition parody, but they chose a higher path.  They chose to stay true to the feel of the original while creating something new and innovative.  This product doesn't rest on its laurels, it get's up and charges forward down the path of progress.  This is the kind of product that sparks the imagination and sends out a siren's song to those who's hearts crave adventure.  In short, it is a product that original Keep on the Borderland's author, Gary Gygax, would have loved.

Keep on the Borderlands: Great Module, or the Greatest Module?

The release of Frandor's Keep prompted a question from a fellow site owner on the RPG Bloggers Network, "Keep on the Borderlands: Great Module, or the Greatest Module?"  Those of you who watch the Colbert Report will understand the intended humor of the question, and those of you who have played the very best published Dungeons and Dragons modules understand how difficult this question is. 

In 2004 when Dungeon magazine was still around they set out to make a list of the thirty greatest Dungeons and Dragons adventures of all time.  I had fully expected Keep to be in the top three, but it actually came in at number seven.  As we are only interested for the moment as to whether Keep is the Greatest let's look at its competition in the top 10.

1. Queen of the Spiders, 1986 (G1-3, D1-3, Q1)

2. Ravenloft, 1983 (I6)

3. Tomb of Horrors, 1978 (S1)

4. The Temple of Elemental Evil, 1985 (T1-4)

5. Expedition to the Barrier Peaks, 1980 (S3)

6. The Desert of Desolation, 1987 (I3-5)

7. The Keep on the Borderlands, 1979 (B1)

8. Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil, 2001

9. White Plume Mountain, 1979 (S2)

10. Return to the Tomb of Horrors, 1998        

All right, let's begin at the top.  Number one is a complete and utter cop out by the people who assembled this list (Bruce Cordell, Monte Cook, Ed Greenwood, and Christopher Perkins).  Queen of the Spiders isn't a module but rather seven modules all strung together.  It has often been called a "supermodule" based on its length and not its quality.  A lot of people lament the fact that QotS relies almost exclusively on combat leaving very little room for role playing.  Peter Green in White Dwarf #85 said, "What Queen of the Spiders gives you is slaughter on a grand scale. There are supposed to be various power struggles in progress in the depths, but the players never really get to see any of this."  Now I'm not saying that QotS isn't a good module, it is.  But really this should have been broken up rather than being presented as a whole.  I would have listed the Giants series and the Drow series separately, but hey either way I don't think it is better than Keep.  

I'm sure right now you think this is going to be a list of me going through each adventure by pointing out that Keep on the Borderlands is Better.  Nope.  Because number two is Ravenloft.  I'm not sure I can say any module is better than the original I6.  At only 32 pages it delivers more than most adventures could in ten times that number.  This adventure spawned an entire setting, and though I didn't like much other than the original module, still stands testament to how much Ravenloft ignited the imagination of Gamers everywhere.  So which is better Keep of Ravenloft?  Well they are good for very different reasons.  Ravenloft is a streamlined module that encapsulates the Gothic Horror genre seamlessly into the Dungeons and Dragons.  It is amazingly replayable because its classic villain, Strahd von Zarovich, has goals that change with each playing.  Where Ravenloft is linear Keep is anything but.  It is more of a setting that allows the players to explore the nearby Caves of Chaos at their own pace and for their own reasons.  Both approaches have their merits and neither is better than the other. 

I don't think the Tomb of Horrors is a really great module and coming in at number three is certainly too high on this list.  I realize that some people love this module based mainly on nostalgia, but if you look at it with a cold eye it isn't good enough to rank in the top three. 

Number four is the Temple of Elemental Evil is a good module, though it spawned a truly awful computer game.  Its demon spawn aside I still like Keep better.  Expedition to Barrier Peaks was a module I never really liked.  I just couldn't get past the whole crashed spaceship thing.  I don't like technology in D&D.  Number seven the DoD which I have never played so I can't comment too much on it.  I've read through some of it and it did have some interesting elements to it, but I'm not sure I would ever run it.  Eight is Return to the the Temple of Elemental Evil which I wouldn't have in the top 10.  Maybe they felt they needed to have a certain number of 3rd edition modules near the top, that's about the only explanation I have for its presences here.  Number ten, return to the Tomb of Horrors, is another sequel that somehow made its way into the top 10.  The very fact this Return presents the original Tomb of Horrors as a mere antechamber to the real Tomb pisses me off to no end.  Needless to say I don't think it belongs in the top 10 or anywhere within 20 slots of Keep.

Right about now some of you are saying, "Hey you skipped number nine!"  Which is obviously true.  That is because I think White Plume Mountain deserved some special attention.  It is a great module that is extremely linear with a very straightforward plot.  It doesn't try to do anything complex or overly complicated, but it is immensely fun to play.  Do I think that it is better than Keep?  No, but I certainly have no problem with it being in the top 10 and would recommend it to those of you who haven't played it before.

In the end White Plume Mountain and some of these other modules are really good, they just can't stand up to what Keep on the Borderlands offers.  It is in some ways a microcosm of the soul of D&D itself.  Some adventurers travel to a small keep on the edge of the wilderness hoping for fame and fortune.  They delve into the unknown facing peril around every corner.  If they survive they will find everything they have ever dreamed, money, power, notoriety, but many will find nothing but death. 

Keep on the Borderlands continues to fascinate us more than thirty years since its original publication.  Aside from the original B2 module itself there has been a sequel, a Hackmaster 4th edition parody, a novelization, and most recently a serious homage to it in the form of Frandor's Keep.

So... Great Module or the Greatest Module?

Put me down for Great. 

Frandor's Keep Has Arrived!

No reason to beware the Ides of March this year!  Frandor's Keep was waiting for me on my doorstep when I arrived home today, two days earlier than its scheduled release date.  I already begun to delve into the book and I am quite impressed with what I've found.  The maps and the details of the Keep and its inner workings are fantastic.  I'll post a longer review when I've had a chance to read through the whole book, but my initial reactions are very positive.

There are a number of previews and bonus downloads available through Kenzerco's website so head on over and take a look for yourself.  The Keep map in particular is great and will really bring back memories for those who loved the original B2: Keep on the Borderlands and the map of the Keep found therein.

Frandor's Keep Encore

I know, I know... I said I was leaving.  But I couldn't take off without showing you this.  It seems Jolly over at Kenzerco took a video of him flipping the soon to be released Frandor's Keep, the Hackmaster version of Keep on the Borderlands.

Just when I thought I couldn't get any more amped for this product...

Review: In the Realm of the Elm King

Reading through the most recent Hackmaster Basic adventure module, In the Realm of the Elm King, was yet another exercise in overinflated expectations.  In some ways it was similar to my first viewing of the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen where my expectations, based on the Comic which is awesome, were far too high to be realistic.

The reality of the situtation is that, though the adventure is the first HMB adventure to cost money (White Palette Ivory Horns was the first published HMB adventure, but is it free.), it was only released in PDF.  If Kenzer had more faith that Elm King was going to be an instant classic I'm sure they would have opted to distribute it traditionally.

Just so we are clear this isn't a review where I slam Elm King, it isn't a bad adventure.  My expectations, probably because this is the first HMB module that I have purchased, was that it would be amazing, which it isn't.  It is nothing more or less than a pretty standard low level adventure.  It won't be the most memorable your group will run, but it appears to be a well balanced that will present your players with a challenge and save you a lot of time.  Whenever running a new system for the first time it is often difficult to gage what will be a challenge for a group vs what will be overwhelming.  If you are new to Hackmaster Basic you could do a lot worse than to run Elm King for your players and use it to get a feel for the system prior to creating your own adventures.

New Hackmaster Basic Adventure

Kenzerco has released a new Hackmaster Basic adventure, In the Realm of the Elm King.  Here is the description straight from the horse's mouth:

"Though decorated for a festival, the village atmosphere seems ominously muted. Vendors relax in the shade but seem preoccupied with inner thoughts, showing little interest in you or the coins you might spend on their wares. You see no dancing and hear no song, and small groups of people only mutter as you pass, staring back at you with sad, deadened or suspicious eyes. You wonder what recent troubles hang heavy over this place..."

 

In the Realm of the Elm King is a new HackMaster Basic adventure featuring a variety of challenges designed for four to six 1st to 2nd level player characters (with options for higher level PCs included).

As well as detailed NPCs, monsters, maps and a battlemat, this adventure also includes a variety of hooks to draw PCs in from the village of Vew (White Palette, Ivory Horns), the mountain stronghold of Frandor's Keep or any other desired location. This allows the GameMaster to use In the Realm of the Elm King by itself or as part of an ongoing campaign.

Like all Kenzer and Company products, In the Realm of the Elm King was designed with you in mind. We prepare all the details so you can spend less time flipping pages and more time gaming. Gaming has never been so easy or so much fun! 

In the Realm of the Elm King is a 23 page full color adventure that is available in PDF for $4.99.  If you are interested head over get your copy here!  I haven't had a chance to read through my copy, but hopefully later tonight or tomorrow I can post a review of the adventure.