Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 Zardnaar Mar 02, 2015 11:27:46	The 5E product release seems to be AFK so I have started to look at other options. One of these options was Quests of Doom made by Necromancer Games/Frog God Games. I usually avoid 3PP stuff but I relented and bought the PDF of this adventure for $20. Frog God Games seems to have a good reputation on the Paizo forums and I have heard a lot of favourable things about them so I took a punt and bought Quests of Doom.    So what is Quests of Doom? It is a 193 page book of 12 adventures so or $20 each adventures is around $1.50 each and averages 16 pages. The book is billed as 5E Rules 1E Style. To me this is code word for black and white art and the presentation rather than an effort to try and replicate 1E itself. The adventures however do seem to  echo 1E a lot due to the way they are presented as these are not modern adventure paths but more drop into a game and get 1-3 sessions of gaming out of the.. Some of the adventures also has things in it like fungal infections and rot grubs which have a bit of a 1E vibe where the world was dangerous and gritty. The 1E feel is also helped by some of the contributing authors   Steven Winter   Skip Williams   Ed Greenwood   James M Ward   Ex TSR alumni. As it turns out I have recently bought another book written by James Ward called Of Gods and Monsters for Castles and Crusades. He also wrote the original 1E Deities and Demigods. A quick glance through the book also gave me the impression the adventures were comparable to the old (pre 2000) Dungeon magazine. The adventures are also grouped by a theme. The 12 adventures and theme are. Bugs & Blobs Noble Rot by J. Collura Hidden Oasis by Matt Finch & Bill Webb   Demons & Devils   Ra’s Evil Grin by Casey W. Christofferson & Bill Webb Sorcerer’s Citadel by Casey W. Christofferson & Bill Webb   Giants & Dragons The Dead From Above by Michael Curtis Emeralds of Highfang by Ed Greenwood Lycanthropes & Elementals Bad Moon Rising by Steven Winter Death in Dyrgalas by Skip Williams Men & Monstrosities Deep in the Vale by James M. Ward Irtep’s Dish by Casey W. Christofferson Vampires & Liches Pyramid of Amra by Bill Webb & Clark Peterson Sewers of the Underguild by Bill Webb & Clark Peterson   Three of the adventures have an Egyptian vibe (Hidden Oasis, Ra’s Evil Grin, Pyramid of Amra). So far 3 of them in particular have caught my eye and I have prepped one for my group. Without giving to much away.   Noble Rot. This adventure is set in a faux French chateau/winery and the treasure is expensive bottles of wine. I plan on using this adventure after Bad Moon Rising as it is for level 5-8 PCs. Has a slime demon in it and the demon cult could easily be converted to Jubilex or Ghaunadaur.   Bad Moon Rising  The town the PCs save has a wolf problem. Without giving to much away you get a discount for paying your taxes in silver. This will be the 1st adventure I run for my group as it is for 5th level PCs. Has the potential for a bit of roleplaying and investigation as well.   Emeralds of Highfang. A high level adventure the problem being they seemed to forget a level guide along the lines of “this adventure is for PC of level 15+” or whatever. It has an ancient red Dragon in it though and a tactical battle spread over several rooms where she can make full use of her abilities.    The adventures seem to be from level 1 through to level 15 or so with most being in the 5-11 range which is nice as you level up fast in 5E and you may want something to do after Lost Mines of Phandelver.  The adventures are generic and easily adaptable although a small amount of work may be required as to why you want to do them as some of the hooks are a little weak. At least it is better than some of the old TSR adventures which had you starting them in front of the dungeon door.    As an example of generic The Lost Oasis takes you to the shadow plane which could easily be the Shadowfell and several Egyptian gods are mentioned by name. You could easily sub in the names of a pantheon of your choice. Several adventures also have new monster in them as well. Thoth is replaceable with any god of magic, Sekhmet could be replaced with Anthraxus, Set, Zehir, Talona, a Yuan Ti deity etc.   So is this worth buying? Overall I am getting a lot of positive feelings about this book and at $20 for the PDF it is a steal. I do not live in America so getting the real book was not much of an option. I will have to play some of these adventures. I think I would happily pay the $40 for the actual book as I want to play multiple adventures form this book and suspect I will eventually end up running most of them over the next year or so. Despite its lower production values in terms of art I already like QoD more than Hoard of the Dragon Queen.Lost Mines of Phandelver is the current reigning best 5E adventure IMHO, QoD may give it a run for its money although to be fair it is twice the price and around 3 times the size of LMoP.    The quests also successfully tug at the emotional heart strings and the attachment I have to TSR era D&D much like Castles and Crusades does as well. The authors, presentation and the adventures themselves evoke the old Dungeon Magazine at least to me. If you are after some generic plug and play adventures for 5E buy this book especially if you are starving for 5E gaming material and have exhausted or did not like HotDQ/RoT. If I had to put a number on it 8/10.   Other 5E ratings IMHO   LMoP 8.5 QoD 8.0 HotDQ 5/10 RoT 7/10 Reclaiming the Caves on the Borderland 5/10 (it cost $1 though)
#2 Devilbass Mar 02, 2015 11:55:00	Thanks for the review Zard. I've been contemplating getting this as well. I think you've convinced me.
#3 Zardnaar Mar 02, 2015 15:07:33	Devilbass wrote:
#4 manduck Mar 03, 2015 8:26:58	This sounds really interesting.  I always liked books that had a series of adventures or places you can add to your campaign.  Back in the days when I was running AD&D for my group, I used a book called Country Sites to add some adventure or interesting places to my campaign.  It had several larger full adventures and a few small places of interest that were generic enough to work into any campaign.  One adventure I used from there turned out to be a favorite in my group.     Sounds like Quests of Doom would be a fun addition to any campaign.  I'd be tempted to pick it up, but I'm a player in my group at the moment and not the DM.  We take turns running games so everyone has a chance to play or run as they want to.  I think I'll point my DM in the direction of this one though, as he will probably find it pretty useful.  I don't want to ruin any of the surprises for myself.     Thanks for brining this up.  I'm not up on a lot of 3PP work, so I'm glad to see someone find this and point it out.
#5 Phobos Mar 03, 2015 19:24:10	Zardnaar wrote:
(Reply to #3) Devilbass	Zardnaar wrote:
#7 Zardnaar Mar 03, 2015 22:48:36	Devilbass wrote:
#8 Zardnaar Mar 03, 2015 22:53:27	Phobos wrote:
#9 Phobos Mar 04, 2015 6:36:03	Thanks for the link Zardnaar.  I'm a huge fan of "good" premade adventures.  I just don't have the time to build my own world anymore, so I often take what's out there, link them together and icing it with my own story line, or adaptations.
#10 Zardnaar Mar 04, 2015 9:53:09	No problem, 5 5E products.   http://froggodgames.org/5th-edition     Turns out I lied. I do have a FGG product as I have the Freebooters Guide to the Razor Coast that I got in a bundle for $8.
#11 Shasarak Mar 04, 2015 11:52:29	Ah, the OGL is like a gift that just keeps on giving.
#12 Gunthar Mar 04, 2015 12:18:37	How many different message boards do people take the time to frequent?
(Reply to #12) AaronOfBarbaria	Gunthar wrote:
#14 Zardnaar Mar 05, 2015 1:47:25	Gunthar wrote:
#15 Zardnaar Mar 05, 2015 1:47:31	Gunthar wrote: