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Independence Day includes an adventure and a fiction piece, now standard for the Dime novel format.

The fiction piece is by Matt Forbeck, who has captured the feel of pulp westerns very well. This isn't "Lonesome Dove", but you get a sense of grit from the work. The story was helpful in giving hints about pacing the adventure, and also how to play some of the NPCs involved. The character of Ronan Lynch is somewhat derivative of a number of Clint Eastwood characters, but since Lynch is dead, I suppose it can be forgiven.

WARNING -- from this point on, I delve into mild spoiler territory. I'm assuming anyone intending to play in the scenario isn't going to be too interested in the review past the summary. What follows is for GMs.

The scenario proper is a decent murder mystery. Someone is brutally murdering citizens of Dodge on the eve of a Fourth of July celebration. Given the political situation in Dodge (both North and South claim it) the tension runs high. The PCs are tasked with keeping the peace as the situation gets closer to outright violence.

Depending on the familiarity of your players with the Deadlands world, the murders will either be a real mystery, or turn into a "bughunt". There are enough red herrings that it should be a while before the PCs make the deductive leap to the real culprit, but particularly astute PCs may peg the villain before the crimes even get started.

The NPCs are fairly interesting as cardboard cut outs, but with a bit of thought, the GM should be able to give them depth (something that will add to the richness of the mystery). The main villain is, I note, quite powerful and could cause a high number of PC deaths. He is immune to bullets, and has an awful lot of d12s on his sheet. Keep this in mind when running him, if you are the kind of GM that prefers not to kill the PCs.

I was able to run the whole adventure in a single session, but I can easily see a GM expanding it out to two sessions, by including additional scenes unrelated to the main plot, but tied the the PCs positions as Deputies.

My first impression was that the scenario seemed better suited for stand-alone play, since the villain is likely to kill one or more PCs in the final confrontation. On reflection, it is possible that a group of experienced PCs could finish him off with less casualties. If so, then this a good adventure to set up the PCs in Dodge City.

Independence Day is a better adventure than "Peridition's Daughter", presenting a credible murder mystery. My player's enjoyed it a great deal, particularly the political sub-plot that gives the adventure its tension. Handled right, this can be more than just a "bug hunt" for a monster.

Style: 4 (Classy and well done)
Substance: 3 (Average)

Independence Day - Dime Novel #2
Author: Chris Snyder & Matt Forbeck Category: game Company/Publisher: Pinnacle Games Playtest Review by Jason Langlois on 09/09/97. Genre tags: none	Independence Day includes an adventure and a fiction piece, now standard for the Dime novel format. The fiction piece is by Matt Forbeck, who has captured the feel of pulp westerns very well. This isn't "Lonesome Dove", but you get a sense of grit from the work. The story was helpful in giving hints about pacing the adventure, and also how to play some of the NPCs involved. The character of Ronan Lynch is somewhat derivative of a number of Clint Eastwood characters, but since Lynch is dead, I suppose it can be forgiven. WARNING -- from this point on, I delve into mild spoiler territory. I'm assuming anyone intending to play in the scenario isn't going to be too interested in the review past the summary. What follows is for GMs. The scenario proper is a decent murder mystery. Someone is brutally murdering citizens of Dodge on the eve of a Fourth of July celebration. Given the political situation in Dodge (both North and South claim it) the tension runs high. The PCs are tasked with keeping the peace as the situation gets closer to outright violence. Depending on the familiarity of your players with the Deadlands world, the murders will either be a real mystery, or turn into a "bughunt". There are enough red herrings that it should be a while before the PCs make the deductive leap to the real culprit, but particularly astute PCs may peg the villain before the crimes even get started. The NPCs are fairly interesting as cardboard cut outs, but with a bit of thought, the GM should be able to give them depth (something that will add to the richness of the mystery). The main villain is, I note, quite powerful and could cause a high number of PC deaths. He is immune to bullets, and has an awful lot of d12s on his sheet. Keep this in mind when running him, if you are the kind of GM that prefers not to kill the PCs. I was able to run the whole adventure in a single session, but I can easily see a GM expanding it out to two sessions, by including additional scenes unrelated to the main plot, but tied the the PCs positions as Deputies. My first impression was that the scenario seemed better suited for stand-alone play, since the villain is likely to kill one or more PCs in the final confrontation. On reflection, it is possible that a group of experienced PCs could finish him off with less casualties. If so, then this a good adventure to set up the PCs in Dodge City. Independence Day is a better adventure than "Peridition's Daughter", presenting a credible murder mystery. My player's enjoyed it a great deal, particularly the political sub-plot that gives the adventure its tension. Handled right, this can be more than just a "bug hunt" for a monster. Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 3 (Average)

Independence Day - Dime Novel #2