Keep on the Shadowfell (Dungeons & Dragons, Adventure H1) by Bruce Cordell, Mike Mearls Summary and Reviews
|
List Price: Our Price: $15.90 You Save: $14.05 (47%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: Book See more book details and other editions |
|---|
Book Reviews of Keep on the Shadowfell (Dungeons & Dragons, Adventure H1)
Book Review: Good introduction for new players
Summary: 4 Stars
This is a great product to get if you've never role-played before. It gives a nice if brief summary of the game mechanics, and takes you step by step through a simple but well thought out game.
It looses a star because its a bit to simple if you've been rpg for some time, that said it's worth getting as the way encounters are put together is very different to 3rd edition. Also there are a small number of mistakes to be found. The paper smudges easily as well so handle with care.
Over all I recon that this is great for new players and good for experienced ones. A good start to the new edition.
Book Review: OMG its rather good!
Summary: 4 Stars
As a player of D&D for twenty years I, like many other players, took the news of a 4th Edition with a great sense of trepidation. However much I liked 3.5 it was a beast to run as DM especially at High level.
With the release of this module I find that my fears have on the whole been quashed. It is well laid out and is a dream to run, encounters are fast, furious and decisive. I agree that more could have been put into the production. The paper quality isnt great, but the art and imagery are first class. If you have never played D&D or like me were unsure if you were going to pick up 4th Ed, I would advise a look as it may just change your mind, and as it contains a (brief) summary of the rules you can try before your consider the core rulebooks.
Book Review: Do not judge this book, or 4th edition in general, by first impressions
Summary: 4 Stars
Physical Aspects:
When you extract H1 from its wrapping, you get a card folder containing a thick book, 3 double-sided poster-sized miniature scale maps and a thin book. The books are a little flimsy, not having card covers, and in my copy the ink tends to smudge a bit. This is not true of all copies of H1, apparently, and may be down to a particular print run. The maps are a bit lower in quality than some I've seen, but that's not a major complaint. Also, you should know that some of them duplicate maps that have appeared in previous products.
The thick book contains several pages of fast-play rules, but mostly the adventure itself. Encounters are laid out very well in a format which means you never have to turn the page during combat. This is a great advance in DMing from the days where stats were at the back of the book and you had to continually flip pages!
The thin book contains some fast-play rules aimed at the players and some pregenerated characters.
First impressions, then, are: why have they wasted a fair bit of space on rules when there was only a couple of weeks between publishing this and the rule books? I will never look at the thin book again. Also, why are the pregenerated characters in a book at all, rather than on individual sheets? I don't fancy cutting up my book. This could have been thought through better.
First impressions, however, are a little deceptive, and once you're past these things it starts to get a lot better.
There is a lot of play potential in this book. My group has played it now for three weeks and we've only just got to the main section. My estimate would be that there's something like thirty hours play here. It's heavily combat-oriented and could have highlighted D&D 4th edition's non-combat stuff a little more, but that's understandable considering its introductory nature. It does at least have some sort of developing plot! The encounters are mostly very varied and interesting, making good use of environment. For example, there's one room where the adventurers will need to be moving up and down ladders and crossing planks during the fight.
It's when you start playing that you realise how good 4th edition is. It plays absolutely wonderfully. To some extent, then, this is a review of 4th edition as much as Keep on the Shadowfell. But the adventure is written to take advantage of the new rules, and it does so very well. Simply put: this is really, really fun! Last Tuesday my group ran through one of the early encounters. It took two and a half hours, but during that time everyone was engaged with the play and everyone had a blast.
On that encounter, one thing to be aware of is that although it looks like in 4th edition adventurers are going to have an easier time, there is still a risk of a party wipeout. Players who play as individuals rather than as a team are going to find it very difficult. 4th edition strongly encourages team play.
I compare H1 with the Sunless Citadel, the first 3rd edition adventure from Wizards. H1 is in my opinion considerably superior. It contains more role-playing elements; it contains more variation and interest in encounters; it contains a much more engaging story; it's much easier to run, and most importantly, it's more fun.
To summarise: physically, it could have been a little better and I think Wizards should note some of the comments that have been made. Including the fast-play rules was plain daft. However, the adventure itself, and 4th edition, are great fun, and I would not hesitate to recommend this product.
Book Review: Playtest
Summary: 3 Stars
I'm somewhat in the 'Gojira' camp as regards this 4th ed. Having reviewed the material there appears to be significant work still to do to harmonise the various power levels within the game. Currently a rogue character can kill just about anything, and some of the monsters have ridiculously tough encounter levels.
The game itself is based on a slightly different mechanic than 3rd edition and many purests - myself included - may feel it steps away from the game we know and love. Freinds who have got more into it than I report that one you get past the changes the game itself is good and roleplaying soon follows. The only irritating bits are the issues around game balance, Wizards will obviiously address this in due course.
Overall the game is probably going to be popular and sucessful. Those of us die hards will probably stick to 3.5 ed for the time being but eventually I'm sure we'll be convinced. if you are new to roleplaying this system should make life nice and simple...
Book Review: A sound introductory scenario
Summary: 3 Stars
Having ran this scenario from begining to end it did what it needed to which was provide the players with fun. What was best about this product is the very nicely detailed location maps and the battle maps provided make life for a DM soo much easier. If you are pressed for time as a DM it makes for a good fast read for a scenario. Also nice is the presentation of relevant data in a concise manner. I thought some of the puzzles were a bit cheesey (the one before Sir Keegan's tomb for example) but the players did not seem to notice or care for this. The print quality is good but the paper it comes on ,although in full colour, is not exactly the most durable of materials. There are some typographical errors too. It is a good entry level scenario due to the ease of use and will be a good aid for first time DM's but I still feel it is missing something. To be fair this is by no means a terrible product but maybe a little bit too much cheese in it for my taste. I rate it 3 stars after careful consideration due in part to print quality and cheese factor.