Crucible of Freya (Sword and Sorcery) [ペーパーバック]

There have been several good d20 modules released so far. "The Crucible of Freya" represents the first great one. It has all the right ingredients: an interesting story, well-developed characters, a detailed location, strong writing, challenging opponents and clear direction for the DM. At 48 pages, it's packed with more content than any of the other 3rd edition adventures currently available. The high production value stands out, as well, with excellent maps and black ink illustrations throughout.

I really can't say enough about this release. You've got to see it for yourself. If "Crucible of Freya" is any indication, Necromancer Games will be a serious player in the d20 market for years to come. They're certainly off to a fast start.

The production quality is uneven. Nice glossy, colorful cover and back which you can see above. The maps are amateurish in look, and the text is easy to read with good use of whitespace.

There's a lot of fleshing out the adventure and the area surrounding the adventure. What I really like is that there are areas that will likely [terminate] a low level party if they go exploring, but most of those offer a way out or a way to solve the problem (even if it's just to run, a healthy thing to learn to do for players). No coddling of the players here.. I like it. Though there is one way for the DM to help out the players, but it's through a natural part of the module, not fudging a die roll because the players are in over their heads. The village and NPCs are well fleshed out, with good characters having some not so good qualities at times, and at times the PCs and the NPCs will conflict even if on the same side. Because the players can give in to the NPC wishes or do what they think is best, it gives the illusion of choice to the players in an otherwise simple adventure. The actual encounters mostly involve one monster (humanoid actually) race, unless the party explores where it shouldn't, and as such it can be fairly repetitive. There's a secret area in the module that they can find, with a surprising twist if a fight doesn't actually occur, which shows that there isn't always a happy ending. There's little in the way of puzzles, and no 'usual' dungeon. The players can greatly affect the difficulty of one of the main battle depending on what they do...

>Overall, this is a good first adventure with plenty of opportunity for roleplay, conflict and battle. Almost every possibility is spelled out for the DM, and there are numerous ways to continue on from the end of the adventure. Recommended.