Murder in Oakbridge - Dungeon #129 [Archive] - Wizards Community

Murder in Oakbridge - Dungeon #129 [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Rechan
02-17-06, 05:10 PM I'd like to get a review of the adventure "Murder in Oakbridge" from those Eberron-fans who've read it/played it. I'm thinking of buying the Dungeon issue #129 off of Ebay for its Eberron adventure.

From the description given, it looks more like a mystery, something I really like (as I think there are far too few adventures of that stripe). But I was wanting to know what folk think of it.

Also I'd like a brief synopsys of the plot, but that's asking a lot. :)
Kanatash
02-17-06, 08:51 PM I haven’t got a chance to run it yet, but I think it’s the best published Eberron adventure in Dungeon or elsewhere. The Antagonist is dangerous and needs to be stopped but is still not evil, she just does evil things. In touches on the moral grey of Eberron. It has a different structure than other adventures. It runs it’s course though events rather than location’s. There is a timeline of things that happen in which the players can interfere with and stop or they can just find out about it later. This really is a “murder mystery” and even includes a gather information chart that shows what people in the neighborhood have to say about individual NPCs. It has great NPCs to, by the way, more real than most adventures. I look forward to seeing more from Uri Kurlianchik, “the useless soldier”.

P.S. There might be a trend in Dungeon Magazine for Eberron adventures to be anti-dungeon crawls, I really do hope it is a trend. Check out the next Eberron adventure in Dungeon #133, here’s the synopsis.

Chimes at Midnight
By Nicolas Logue
The brilliant (if somewhat eccentric) detective Viktor Saint-Demain has put more criminal masterminds behind bars than any three other inqusitives. But when the master sleuth fails to get the recogintion he deserves, he sets out to prove to Sharn that they can’t live without him. A EBERRON adventure for 5th-level characters.
Rechan
02-18-06, 02:44 PM Thanks very much! Appreciated! How stealable is the plot or various aspects to weave into another plot? I'm currently running a big mystery adventure, and things I can steal for it would be excellent.
Kanatash
02-18-06, 05:48 PM I’m not sure how stealable it is, it mostly describes different murders and the reasons (long ago) why they are happing. Unless you plan on adding new characters, the only thing you could probably take out would be the design of the adventure (how to make charts and set up plot events, etc.).
igotsmeakabob!!
02-18-06, 07:34 PM I have The Chimes at Midnight, awesome Eberron adventure, I'm going to run it next session.
TheRollingBunny
02-18-06, 07:40 PM Cool, does it have any new design elements? Murder in Oakbridge was a very different kind of adventure, kind of hard to completley desribe. Is Chimes at Midnight different to, anything new?
igotsmeakabob!!
02-18-06, 09:41 PM Well its alot like a movie. Heres a spoiler for players that think their GM may run it.

Basically a top-notch Master Inquisitive is rejected by House Medani for entrance to their elite inquisitives due to his (deserved.. he kicks ass) arrogance. He gets super p*ssed/slightly insane and constructs a plot to bring down the current leader of Medani (the man who rejected him). It involves a maiden-in-distress, a ticking clock, the PCs barely escaping a fiery explosion and several escaped criminals working for the vengeful inquisitive. Oh and a Lightning Rail crash/explosion. The description of that will be fun to read to players.

I can't wait to run it.
Rechan
02-18-06, 09:52 PM That sounds definitely like an Eberron adventure to me!
Solarious
02-19-06, 02:36 AM I've seen 'Murder in Oakridge' before, and I think it's a great adventure. The villian makes sense (if a little demented), and is more of an 'event' driven adventure, complete with believable villian slipups, clues, and red herrings. I like how they allow search checks to discover clues, although I was mildly disappointed that they didn't put the Investigate feat to better use. Some of the clues are quite vauge, can point in different directions, and Investigate is something that could give the players the edge they need to beat the clock.

Chimes of Midnight sounds awesome! I look forward to explosive encounters, ticking clocks, dramatic Lightning Rail snafus, and more bombastic pulp Eberronian action. ;)
treehouse916
02-19-06, 12:48 PM I'm running Chimes at Midnight starting two Saturdays from now. My gestalt PCs are about to hit fourth level after the conclusion of their first adventure, and I said I wanted to do something in Sharn afterwards, but couldn't figure out what...right until I got Dungeon #133 in the mail. Perfect timing! Nicholas Logue (the author) seems to really understand Eberron, and there are all sorts of nice touches to the adventure. For example, the main villain's cohorts are all convicted criminals, so instead of the standard art depictions, we get mugshots of them. Brilliant!
aelryinth
02-19-06, 02:20 PM Welllll, remember this....he may not think he's doing evil things, but killing innocents is Evil no matter how you look at it.

Like the prior Eberron adventure with the Freedom Brigade and the Changeling murdering them...no way that woman is CN. She has personally murdered over 40 people (most of them innocent of any crime), mutilated the bodies, and is aiming for more. She might be insane, but her soul has been stained. She might think she's completely justified in her actions, but it doesn't excuse them except in her mind.

CN? I don't think so.

==Aelryinth
Kid SixXx
02-19-06, 07:24 PM I like the adventure myself & will probably run it at some point since one of the PC's that I DM for is leaning towards Inquisitive as her PrC.

I'm also bummed by the lack of sidebars accounting for the use of the Investigate feat, so I'll have to tinker with the information a bit to give an ever so slight advantage to PC's using the Investigate feat.
treehouse916
02-19-06, 08:30 PM Actually, I just read through Murder in Oakbridge this evening, and I think I may use it as a prologue adventure to Chimes at Midnight. One of my PCs is an apprentice Shadowbane Inquisitor for the Church of the Silver Flame, and his superior in Flamekeep is sending him to Sharn to get a few investigations under his belt before he is raised to the rank of full Inquisitor. When he arrives in Sharn in the middle of summer and hooks up with the other two PCs (who he hasn't seen in several months), it won't be long until he is called to Oakbridge by Loffer Magnulin, the local Silver Flame priest, who has a dead body in his church awaiting cremation.

And of course, at some point in the adventure when the body count starts rising, who else should show up to solve the case but the famed inquisitive, Victor Saint-Demain? It's perfect. :D
gensuke626
02-21-06, 07:04 PM I haven't read murder in oakbridge yet, but I've skimmed through Chimes. I think it's wonderfully written and I enjoy that the villians of the game all have more personality than what I'm used to in D&D adventures.

Does anyone of any other adventures that Nicholas Logue has written? I want to know if they compare to Chimes.
Tom McCarthy
02-22-06, 12:01 PM Does anyone of any other adventures that Nicholas Logue has written? I want to know if they compare to Chimes.

I see his name credited to Library of Last Resort in Dungeon 132 (possibly still on stands where you are).
treehouse916
02-22-06, 12:40 PM Does anyone of any other adventures that Nicholas Logue has written? I want to know if they compare to Chimes.

According to the blurb at the end of 'Chimes at Midnight', Nicholas Logue is the author of the upcoming official Eberron module Voyage of the Golden Dragon. But in the D&D Products page, it lists Ed Stark at the helm of that project. I suppose both could be working on it, but neither makes mention of the other. :confused:
Nlogue
02-22-06, 01:17 PM According to the blurb at the end of 'Chimes at Midnight', Nicholas Logue is the author of the upcoming official Eberron module Voyage of the Golden Dragon. But in the D&D Products page, it lists Ed Stark at the helm of that project. I suppose both could be working on it, but neither makes mention of the other. :confused:

I wrote "Voyage." The publicity is just totally out of date. Originally Ed Stark was supposed to do it in house, but then they shopped it out to me instead. Can't wait to see the book. Me first WotC adventure...I am excited.

I also have a few Dungeon adventures out there...

#102 "Cry Wolf"
#117 "Winding Way"
#120 "Obsidian Eye"
#132 "Library of Last Resort"

and of course "Chimes."

Good gaming everyone! :)
treehouse916
02-22-06, 01:31 PM Good show then, Nick :D If your writing style in 'Chimes' is any indication of what we can look forward to in 'Voyage', then I'm looking forward to picking it up.
Nlogue
02-22-06, 03:47 PM Good show then, Nick :D If your writing style in 'Chimes' is any indication of what we can look forward to in 'Voyage', then I'm looking forward to picking it up.

Right on! Thanks for the kind words. I hope you dig "Voyage" too. :)
lordmolay
02-27-06, 03:11 PM 'Chimes' is so a perfic Eberron peace... it could work in any setting but if donewell this is an adventure that screams Eberron... Love it
Planesdancer
08-20-06, 05:11 AM I have to say Murder In Oakbridge has been one of my favorite, and Chimes at Midnight a second big favorite, my gm linked the events. ^_~

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Rechan 02-17-06, 05:10 PM	I'd like to get a review of the adventure "Murder in Oakbridge" from those Eberron-fans who've read it/played it. I'm thinking of buying the Dungeon issue #129 off of Ebay for its Eberron adventure. From the description given, it looks more like a mystery, something I really like (as I think there are far too few adventures of that stripe). But I was wanting to know what folk think of it. Also I'd like a brief synopsys of the plot, but that's asking a lot. :)
Kanatash 02-17-06, 08:51 PM	I haven’t got a chance to run it yet, but I think it’s the best published Eberron adventure in Dungeon or elsewhere. The Antagonist is dangerous and needs to be stopped but is still not evil, she just does evil things. In touches on the moral grey of Eberron. It has a different structure than other adventures. It runs it’s course though events rather than location’s. There is a timeline of things that happen in which the players can interfere with and stop or they can just find out about it later. This really is a “murder mystery” and even includes a gather information chart that shows what people in the neighborhood have to say about individual NPCs. It has great NPCs to, by the way, more real than most adventures. I look forward to seeing more from Uri Kurlianchik, “the useless soldier”. P.S. There might be a trend in Dungeon Magazine for Eberron adventures to be anti-dungeon crawls, I really do hope it is a trend. Check out the next Eberron adventure in Dungeon #133, here’s the synopsis. Chimes at Midnight By Nicolas Logue The brilliant (if somewhat eccentric) detective Viktor Saint-Demain has put more criminal masterminds behind bars than any three other inqusitives. But when the master sleuth fails to get the recogintion he deserves, he sets out to prove to Sharn that they can’t live without him. A EBERRON adventure for 5th-level characters.
Rechan 02-18-06, 02:44 PM	Thanks very much! Appreciated! How stealable is the plot or various aspects to weave into another plot? I'm currently running a big mystery adventure, and things I can steal for it would be excellent.
Kanatash 02-18-06, 05:48 PM	I’m not sure how stealable it is, it mostly describes different murders and the reasons (long ago) why they are happing. Unless you plan on adding new characters, the only thing you could probably take out would be the design of the adventure (how to make charts and set up plot events, etc.).
igotsmeakabob!! 02-18-06, 07:34 PM	I have The Chimes at Midnight, awesome Eberron adventure, I'm going to run it next session.
TheRollingBunny 02-18-06, 07:40 PM	Cool, does it have any new design elements? Murder in Oakbridge was a very different kind of adventure, kind of hard to completley desribe. Is Chimes at Midnight different to, anything new?
igotsmeakabob!! 02-18-06, 09:41 PM	Well its alot like a movie. Heres a spoiler for players that think their GM may run it. Basically a top-notch Master Inquisitive is rejected by House Medani for entrance to their elite inquisitives due to his (deserved.. he kicks ass) arrogance. He gets super p*ssed/slightly insane and constructs a plot to bring down the current leader of Medani (the man who rejected him). It involves a maiden-in-distress, a ticking clock, the PCs barely escaping a fiery explosion and several escaped criminals working for the vengeful inquisitive. Oh and a Lightning Rail crash/explosion. The description of that will be fun to read to players. I can't wait to run it.
Rechan 02-18-06, 09:52 PM	That sounds definitely like an Eberron adventure to me!
Solarious 02-19-06, 02:36 AM	I've seen 'Murder in Oakridge' before, and I think it's a great adventure. The villian makes sense (if a little demented), and is more of an 'event' driven adventure, complete with believable villian slipups, clues, and red herrings. I like how they allow search checks to discover clues, although I was mildly disappointed that they didn't put the Investigate feat to better use. Some of the clues are quite vauge, can point in different directions, and Investigate is something that could give the players the edge they need to beat the clock. Chimes of Midnight sounds awesome! I look forward to explosive encounters, ticking clocks, dramatic Lightning Rail snafus, and more bombastic pulp Eberronian action. ;)
treehouse916 02-19-06, 12:48 PM	I'm running Chimes at Midnight starting two Saturdays from now. My gestalt PCs are about to hit fourth level after the conclusion of their first adventure, and I said I wanted to do something in Sharn afterwards, but couldn't figure out what...right until I got Dungeon #133 in the mail. Perfect timing! Nicholas Logue (the author) seems to really understand Eberron, and there are all sorts of nice touches to the adventure. For example, the main villain's cohorts are all convicted criminals, so instead of the standard art depictions, we get mugshots of them. Brilliant!
aelryinth 02-19-06, 02:20 PM	Welllll, remember this....he may not think he's doing evil things, but killing innocents is Evil no matter how you look at it. Like the prior Eberron adventure with the Freedom Brigade and the Changeling murdering them...no way that woman is CN. She has personally murdered over 40 people (most of them innocent of any crime), mutilated the bodies, and is aiming for more. She might be insane, but her soul has been stained. She might think she's completely justified in her actions, but it doesn't excuse them except in her mind. CN? I don't think so. ==Aelryinth
Kid SixXx 02-19-06, 07:24 PM	I like the adventure myself & will probably run it at some point since one of the PC's that I DM for is leaning towards Inquisitive as her PrC. I'm also bummed by the lack of sidebars accounting for the use of the Investigate feat, so I'll have to tinker with the information a bit to give an ever so slight advantage to PC's using the Investigate feat.
treehouse916 02-19-06, 08:30 PM	Actually, I just read through Murder in Oakbridge this evening, and I think I may use it as a prologue adventure to Chimes at Midnight. One of my PCs is an apprentice Shadowbane Inquisitor for the Church of the Silver Flame, and his superior in Flamekeep is sending him to Sharn to get a few investigations under his belt before he is raised to the rank of full Inquisitor. When he arrives in Sharn in the middle of summer and hooks up with the other two PCs (who he hasn't seen in several months), it won't be long until he is called to Oakbridge by Loffer Magnulin, the local Silver Flame priest, who has a dead body in his church awaiting cremation. And of course, at some point in the adventure when the body count starts rising, who else should show up to solve the case but the famed inquisitive, Victor Saint-Demain? It's perfect. :D
gensuke626 02-21-06, 07:04 PM	I haven't read murder in oakbridge yet, but I've skimmed through Chimes. I think it's wonderfully written and I enjoy that the villians of the game all have more personality than what I'm used to in D&D adventures. Does anyone of any other adventures that Nicholas Logue has written? I want to know if they compare to Chimes.
Tom McCarthy 02-22-06, 12:01 PM	Does anyone of any other adventures that Nicholas Logue has written? I want to know if they compare to Chimes. I see his name credited to Library of Last Resort in Dungeon 132 (possibly still on stands where you are).
treehouse916 02-22-06, 12:40 PM	Does anyone of any other adventures that Nicholas Logue has written? I want to know if they compare to Chimes. According to the blurb at the end of 'Chimes at Midnight', Nicholas Logue is the author of the upcoming official Eberron module Voyage of the Golden Dragon. But in the D&D Products page, it lists Ed Stark at the helm of that project. I suppose both could be working on it, but neither makes mention of the other. :confused:
Nlogue 02-22-06, 01:17 PM	According to the blurb at the end of 'Chimes at Midnight', Nicholas Logue is the author of the upcoming official Eberron module Voyage of the Golden Dragon. But in the D&D Products page, it lists Ed Stark at the helm of that project. I suppose both could be working on it, but neither makes mention of the other. :confused: I wrote "Voyage." The publicity is just totally out of date. Originally Ed Stark was supposed to do it in house, but then they shopped it out to me instead. Can't wait to see the book. Me first WotC adventure...I am excited. I also have a few Dungeon adventures out there... #102 "Cry Wolf" #117 "Winding Way" #120 "Obsidian Eye" #132 "Library of Last Resort" and of course "Chimes." Good gaming everyone! :)
treehouse916 02-22-06, 01:31 PM	Good show then, Nick :D If your writing style in 'Chimes' is any indication of what we can look forward to in 'Voyage', then I'm looking forward to picking it up.
Nlogue 02-22-06, 03:47 PM	Good show then, Nick :D If your writing style in 'Chimes' is any indication of what we can look forward to in 'Voyage', then I'm looking forward to picking it up. Right on! Thanks for the kind words. I hope you dig "Voyage" too. :)
lordmolay 02-27-06, 03:11 PM	'Chimes' is so a perfic Eberron peace... it could work in any setting but if donewell this is an adventure that screams Eberron... Love it
Planesdancer 08-20-06, 05:11 AM	I have to say Murder In Oakbridge has been one of my favorite, and Chimes at Midnight a second big favorite, my gm linked the events. ^_~