Once I assessment completely different titles in the identical line, I attempt to unfold them out. It retains me from burning out and in addition provides you, the reader, a little bit little bit of selection. Nevertheless, Bundle of Holding is presently internet hosting a deal that features each Previous Faculty Journey Anthology titles, so I made a decision to bump this assessment of Previous Faculty Necessities Journey Anthology 2 to speak in regards to the adventures included on this e book earlier than that deal disappeared. It additionally has plenty of the seminal titles with longer dungeons included. Is that this a case the place two is best than one? Let’s play to seek out out.
The 4 adventures on this anthology observe the identical format as earlier than. They’re meant to be drop-in dungeons in any recreation, whether or not it’s a one shot evening or as a location found throughout a much bigger hex crawl. Each options numbered rooms and brief, punchy bullet level shows. Slightly than the final dungeon as hexcrawl, the ultimate entry right here opts for a extra unique location and villain to make it really feel like a worthy problem for larger degree characters.
The remaining a part of the assessment incorporates SPOILERS for the adventures. Backside line: Previous Faculty Necessities Journey Anthology 2 affords 4 extra improbable adventures that spotlight the fun of the old fashioned dungeon crawling expertise.
Whereas I loved all of the dungeons on this quantity, Probability Duinack’s “Barrow Of The Bone Blaggards” was the standout one on this quantity. It takes a fairly commonplace premise, a barrow stuffed with undead bandits and brings it to life (sorry) with some nice character work. The zombie bandits are extra just like the skeletons in Military of Darkness than spooky shadows. They need to do all of the stuff they used to do once they had been alive like eat, drink and be merry. The twist comes when the gamers run into the necromancer that raised these creatures. Seems he’s a crappy necromancer and has been mendacity to the undead legion about engaged on a ritual to finish their resurrection. If the gamers determine a manner to assist him escape, he’ll give them a really costly treasure as soon as he’s free and clear. Whose aspect, if any, will the gamers take? I’m curious to listen to how teams answered this query within the feedback.
“Shrine of the Oozing Serpent” from Nate Treme leans into the gnome as tinkers facet of their latest portrayals to ship a dungeon with a steampunk really feel. There’s a rival with an lovely clockwork searching canine, a gross grease dragon that’s terrifying and disgusting and a rival crew of frogmen about to provide this one a novel taste. It’s vital to notice that this has plenty of treasure between the dragon’s hoard and the clockwork artifacts, so this could be an excellent one to run when the gamers are strapped for money.
Diogo Nogueira adjustments the tempo with “Cathedral of the Crimson Demise” and its fortress of demon corrupted knights. A lot of the adventures in these books have caught fairly intently to the old fashioned model of sneaking round and solely combating when it’s a must to, however this dungeon feels prefer it’s extra of an motion setup the place the gamers are itching to kick the asses of some unhealthy, unhealthy guys. That doesn’t make the creatures right here pushovers, nor does it imply there aren’t innocents to be rescued, but it surely makes this a good selection for when the gamers come to the desk able to throw down.
The primary villain of Brian Yaksha’s “The Ravener’s Ghat” is a rakshasa. That give this dungeon a novel taste stuffed with rival treasure hunters, clever animals, corrupted monk spirits and the rakshasa itself all transferring round a haunted temple to a moon god. This excessive degree dungeon can stand out by itself, however I feel it could perform finest as a remaining battle towards The Ravener as an extended standing marketing campaign antagonist. It might take a little bit phrase to seed this storyline by way of a marketing campaign however utilizing this journey to pay it off can be price it.
For those who discovered this assessment helpful, please think about buying the title utilizing the affiliate hyperlink within the assessment. Thanks for supporting your pleasant native recreation reviewer.
