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The Crucible of Freya is the first adventure published by Necromancer Games. It details a local village and its nearby area, including a ruined fort. Writing 1st level adventures is hard, so let's see how Necromancer has done. The following review will contain spoilers, so proceed at your own risk.

Summary

The adventure takes place in the village of Fairhill and the surrounding countryside. The standard plot (though this can be easily changed) has the PCs attacked by a small band of orcs as they approach the town. Once in the town, they interact with the guard patrols and learn of increased orc raids and a possible vampire in an old ruined keep near town. Depending on the hook used to get them into the adventure, they have various hijinks in town until an orc assault burns the temple of Freya and steals a holy item, the Crucible of Freya. The adventurers must track the orc raiders back to their lair in the old keep and regain the item, defeating them and their eveil cleric leader, Tavik. There is more than orcs in the old keep, however. The twisted shadow of Eralion, a failed lich, lurks deep in the earth beneath the keep. The PCs can either defeat or save Eralion and gain his treasure, assuming they discover his presence. There are also four monster lairs in the area that provide additional hooks for the adventurers to explore.

Physical Appearance

The cover is reminiscent of the old D&D and AD&D modules, with a picture in the center, a title above, and a letter and number designation in the upper left cover. Production values have improved since the old days, and the cover is in full-color with a satiny green background.

The inside text has a sidebar running along the edge of pages, which has what looks like a standard sidebar that has been smudged out with ghostly skulls appearing in the smudge. This looks cool for about five minutes, and then you stop noticing it. I prefer the WOTC sidebars in The Sunless Citadel, but these are largely unobjectionable.

Boxed text is set off from standard text very clearly. It's on a faux parchment background and is in a sort of fantasy italic script. This was a bad decision typographically, because there are contingent sections that are supposed to be italicized or bolded. In excellent light, it is reasonably easy to tell the difference between the two types of script. However, if the light is dimmer, it's much harder to tell the difference. The well-prepared DM is not going to screw this up regardless, but if Necromancer wants this text to be easily distinguished, they should go in for a different script or something to more obviously distinguish the two types of boxed text.

The art is all by John Masse. The cover art is decent, though the flames don't mesh well with the rest of the art. His drawings are generally good, and the drawing of Eralion in his crypt is excellent, as are the zombies. As in The Wizard's Amulet, the art is targeted to show real antagonists and events the PCs are likely to encounter and is useful to show to players. The artwork is plentiful and definitely a cut above the interior art seen in Death in Freeport or Three Days to Kill. It is about on par with the interior art in WOTC products. It is also mostly lacking in chain-mail babes, though unfortunately Necromancer couldn't resist giving poor Shandril a chill on page 35.

Bang for your Buck

The module has 48 pages, of which 46 is real adventure content. This is the longest introductory adventure for d20 by a fair amount. In addition, it only costs $8, comparable or less than Three Days to Kill, Death in Freeport, or The Sunless Citadel. This is the best value for your money out there for a d20 intro module by far.

Organization

The adventure is split into two main parts, with a number of subdivisions. The first part describes all the locations of the module, including the area around Fairhill (including monster lairs), the village of Fairhill itself, and the ruined keep and its dungeons. The second part lays out the module as a series of Acts and Scenes, with copious notes about changes to the action that the PCs can make. There is a section on changing and extending the adventure. In addition, there are two appendices, one covering wandering monsters, and another page listing the OGL and d20 game licenses. The last page is an ad for upcoming Necromancer game products.

Thankfully, they did not include a table of CRs for the monsters. I don't find this kind of table that useful.

This organization has its good and bad points, though overall I think it is a success. The bad points of this organization are that it is a little hard to understand the module until one has read through all of it. If one wanted to just read the first half and run it quickly, one would be stymied. It's a good idea to read the module through at least twice before running it to make sure that all of the ramifications and plot lines are handled appropriately, because the information is split between the descriptive section and the plot section.

The good thing about this organization is that the module is very easy to modify to suit the taste of the DM. If you want to change the plot, the only place you have to make changes is in Part Two, because all the information in Part One is plot-independent. In addition, the PCs can radically change the plot depending on their actions. This is all handled in one place in Part Two, instead of scattering it through all the room descriptions in Part One. It makes it much more cohesive and clear and easy to modify. The module even suggests ways to modify the plot itself.

The only place where this gets a little confusing is whether the group has played the Wizard's Amulet yet or not. There are numerous notes in the text to deal with the problem of whether Vortigern is present or not. The DM has to decide this ahead of time, and if he is present, the Wizard's Amulet is a necessary product, because his stats are not reprinted.

In addition, there is one strange note in the organization. The authors have an appendix listing monster statistics, and they have monster statistics in the text. Because of this, there is some duplication, so that common orcs appear a few times. They should have gone all one way or all another.

Good Points

The module is well-organized, and although information is split into two parts, it is pretty easy to find the relevant information. Everything largely makes sense.

The NPCs are well-fleshed out. All of the major NPCs of the town have real personalities that are designed to come out while playing. Shandril's generosity and otherworldliness are presented well, and Lauriel's jealousy of the PCs appears in all the right moments.

The creators took pains to account for common occurances. There are NPCs in the town that can join the PCs easily to provide additional firepower or replace fallen PCs: Kath, Lannet, Lasha, Durgis and his crew, and even Fendrin. Shandril is equipped with a raise dead scroll to save at least one PC taken down by an orc greataxe. If the PCs finish off the orcs quickly and want additional adventure, the monster lairs are always there to tempt foolhardy adventurers.

The adventure is hard. The creators explain that they made it that way to give players bragging rights and a sense that they overcame great adversity. I agree with this approach. Many adventures, especially before 3rd edition came out, seemed to assume that the PCs would win without even a single death even if they had minimal strategy and tactics. If PCs try frontal assaults in this adventure, they are going to be in serious trouble and may all perish.

There are little tips and tricks scattered throughout this adventure in much the same way as TWA, though not to as great an extent. These tips both give the DM useful information and explain why the creators set up their adventure in this way. A good example is the PCs' first encounter on the road. The creators explain that combat is a good way to set the mood and get the juices flowing, and then have the orcs fire a few arrows and then take off because they are outnumbered. It's refreshing to have reasonable orc tactics appear from the get-go.

In addition, the main event, an assault on the ruined keep, is described in great detail. All of the most common tactics that players could use, and Tavik and the orcs' responses are laid out. There is more than a page describing the various levels of alertness the orcs may have and the repercussions of this. The means of entering the keep are laid out, and even the orc tactics after a failed assault are given. This shows a commendable attention to detail on Necromancer's part.

Finally, there is also most of a page on Supplemental Information, which gives additional story ideas. The creators want the PCs to interact with the town before they run off to the keep, so they present a few story ideas that are distinct from the assault on the keep and mesh well with the material provided. There are also three ways to extend the adventure, that also fit well with the background of the NPCs provided. One option is even to restore Eralion the failed lich to mortality. I first saw this done well in Dungeon magazine, and this information here is much more developed than the standard two paragraphs in Dungeon.

Problems

Unfortunately, there are a few problems and logical inconsistencies in the adventure. In general, these are easily fixed.

The trapdoor to Eralion's lair is not handled consistently. As the module is written, Tavik and Vortigern (if present) do not know how to use the amulet. Yet the orcs seem to have found the trapdoor, found the wizard-locked portal, and then concealed it again. They seem to have just forgotten about the amulet's sigil on the trapdoor, even though as written, they have found it. This isn't credible - neither Tavik nor Vortigern is that stupid.

The way to fix this is to have Tavik not know about the trapdoor in the orc's den. When (and if) the characters find the trapdoor, they can go to Lower Tower Level 1. This room doesn't smell of orc, though the trapdoor is cleared away. Bandits who occupied the tower previously found the trapdoor, got past the arcane lock, and found the zombies. The zombies scared the bejeesus out of them, so they sealed up the trapdoor with silver and let it be. The arcane lock closed behind them when they left.

The other problem here is that Eralion can easily get out of his crypt by passing through the ceiling in his incorporeal state, avoiding the portal entirely. In fact, Eralion should be able to go through the portal anyway because he cast the hold portal himself! He simply isn't trapped in any meaningful sense.

A suggested fix is to have Orcus trap Eralion in his crypt as a byproduct of the failed lich process. Orcus changed the hold portal so that Eralion cannot pass outside his lair. Breaking the hold portal (by leaving the trapdoor open) frees Eralion to escape.

Another problem is the canonical problem: what do the orcs eat and drink? There should be a well somewhere in the fort to provide drinking water, since the river is a ways away and without it the fort is indefensible to a siege. In addition, the orcs must hunt in the surrounding area for game, so there should be a chance to find orc hunting parties with say 3 or 4 orcs. Clever PCs might lay siege to the orcs and nab hunting and search parties when they leave the fort, forcing Tavik to abandon it.

Making it Harder

The creators give a lot of possible scenarios and caution against making the adventure easier for the PCs. If your players are higher level, there are some simple ways to make it harder.

The first thing is to make the orcs have even tighter security. They might have someone keep an eye on the back door through a slit in the wall of the fort. In addition, they might not be lazy about letting the watch fires go out. Finally, if Vortigern is present, he might actually cast a number of magic missiles and send Talon out to attack the PCs from the rear.

You could also have more orcs and an additional scorpion on one of the fort's towers. The orcs don't seem to have done everything they could to provide defense for the keep.

Another thing that might have been nice is for Eralion to have more of an expanded lair. As it is, there are only two rooms in his lair. Another room with a library or enchanted servants left over from his old days would have been interesting, and would create additional problems for the PCs.

Another crueler thing to do is take away the raise dead scroll from Shandril. One mistake and that's it, folks.

Nice Touches

I like that all the magic items have personality. Valkyria is a very interesting sword and has a number of nice powers and atmosphere. I especially like that it looks like a poor sword and thus creates a chance that the characters might refuse it.

Eralion's staff is also nice. The second command word is unexplained and provides a nice tie-in. Perhaps Gethrame was Eralion's first apprentice or his lover and still lives. He or she might even want the staff back.

Additional nice touches are the ways that the adventure plays up the horror. Having harmless worms crawling out the zombies is excellent and should freak out the players just the right amount. It's also good the way Eralion attacks and just makes the characters weaker without them noticing it at first.

Even the final fate of Eralion is suitably grim, if the characters restore the temple. St. Cuthbert is not the forgiving sort, and this is an excellent way to drive that point home to characters.

Finally, I like the way the module refers seamlessly to other places in the game world. People talk about Rappan Athuk and once lived in Bard's Gate. They seem connected to the world in a nice way. It's easy to change these references to suit your own game world, but they are nice to see.

Suggestions

The authors suggest using The Wizard's Amulet as a lead in to this adventure. After reading this product, I concur. They fit together seamlessly and TWA expands the role-playing possibilities of this adventure. Since TWA is heavily plotted, it's probably a good idea to use your own PCs, but having the sorcerer or mage inherit the amulet and note from his mentor is painless and easy. Another player should be a cleric of St. Cuthbert if possible who receives a vision to journey to Fairhill. It all fits together more nicely, giving additional villians (Vortigern) and motivation to the players.

Extra Goodies

The text notes that three PC maps are available as downloads from www.necromancergames.com. Two of the three were available as of this writing. In addition, there are supposed to be extra material available for those who have the access passwords from The Wizard's Amulet (TWA) and The Crucible of Freya. There is no sign of this yet.

The website does have some extra goodies, like character sheets and extra writeups on some sample PCs for TWA. Unfortunately, the website does not seem like it gets updated that often. I would encourage Necromancer to make more of an effort to update the website more often. I've heard more than one person take Necromancer less than seriously because their website is rarely updated.

Errata

There are some errors in the copy that I noticed on reading through the product.

page 18: no player's map of the ruined keep is available on the website.
Orcs advance in character classes. In addition, as described on page 147 of the MM, common orcs should be first-level warriors. Almost all of the orcs mentioned should get an additional +1 to their attack roles to represent their warrior level. Specific examples are mentioned below.
- page 20: Palisade Orcs should have Atk +4 melee (+1 War1, +2 Str, +1 Weapon Focus) longspear, +3 melee (+1 War1, +2 Str) shortsword, +2 ranged (+1 War1, +1 Dex)
- page 20: Warrior Orcs have Atk +4 with greataxe and +2 with shortbows.
- page 22: Sentry Orc has Atk +2 ranged (+1 War1, +1 Dex) scorpion and +3 melee shortsword. In addition, he should have some kind of cover listed when the PCs try to take shots at him. Assuming he is moderately clever, he should probably have +7 cover or so.
- page 22: Nagrod should be a Bbn 2, with hit dice 2d12+6 and hp 23. A case could be made that he is a War 1/ Bbn 1 with hp 21 as listed. One hit die or less creatures never add their hit dice to their class levels. His attack bonuses are correct, however.
- page 26: Warrior Orc has Atk +4 melee and +2 ranged.
- page 37: Kren should be War2 and have Atk +5 (+2 War2, +3 Str, +1 weapon focus) greataxe.
- page 38: Warrior orc should be War1 and have Atk +4 melee or Atk +2 ranged.
- page 44: Common Orc should have Atk +4 battleaxe, +1 ranged.
- page 44: Leader Orc should be War2.
- page 44: Warrior Orc should have Atk +4 greataxe, +2 ranged.
page 28: Zombies' hit dice do not seem to include Toughness feat. Should probably have HD 2d12+3, hp 15.

Conclusions

As probably should be apparent by now, I liked this product. They took the leap and put together 48 pages instead of the usual 32, providing a lot of additional content. Almost everything was logically consistent, and the creators put a lot of work into getting little details right and creating believable NPCs. This is the best low-level D&D adventure out there right now, and I recommend it highly.

Style: 3 (Average)
Substance: 5 (Excellent!)