The Inside Scoop on Gaming

Several years ago a theological horror RPG called The End was released. The premise of the game was that when Jesus said, "The meek shall inherit the earth," it was a threat and not a promise. That's exactly how I feel about Necromancer Games' slogan "Third Edition rules, First Edition feel."

Major spoilers follow.

Crucible of Freya is Necromancer's first published d20 System adventure. The adventure is centered on the village of Fairhill, a Podunk town between two major cities. Trouble begins on page 4, with the "Areas of Adventure" section. Right off the bat, there's a wandering monster table. Groan. This is followed up with not one, not two, but FOUR different monster lairs in the area. Each one is a single monster in a lair. That's it. Wow, how exciting.

Finally on page 10 we get to the village of Fairhill itself. I guess the idea here is to provide details on a location the characters might visit frequently in the course of their careers. Too bad Fairhill is about as interesting as the dirt the farmers hoe. Yep, it's generic fantasy village #5, with the old adventurer who runs a tavern, the "stereotypical halfling thief" (that's a direct quote btw), and the convenient PC first aid station, er, temple of healing. There are lots of game stats in this section that you'll likely never need ("I magic missile the old man, does he go down?"), unless your PCs are evil and looking for a town to pillage. There's also excessive referencing of upcoming Necromancer products. Practically every other adventurer in town has either been to the "famous dungeon of Rappan Athuk" or claims to have been there. We also hear much of Bard's Gate, another upcoming product (which I'm sure is only coincidentally close in name to Baldur's Gate)

The temple of note here is dedicated to Freya, a Norse goddess who seems a little out of place in this generic fantasy setting. The Crucible of Freya, the titular artifact of the adventure, is the prize possession of the temple and wouldn't you know it, a bad, bad priest of Orcus wants it. While the PCs are in town, the evil priest sends an orc raiding party to steal the crucible. The PCs can't foil the theft, so of course the priestess of Freya asks them to go and get it back. At last, here's the adventure. Go get the thingy, a classic plot. No doubt a harrowing chase is about to ensue. Well no. The PCs get the crucible back in the very next scene, and don't have to do more than kill a few orcs to get it. Oooh, the tension, oooh the excitement!

The PCs can return to the village with the crucible within hours, mission accomplished. But wait, there's the old mage's keep ™, now inhabited by the evil priest and the filthy orcs. The adventure assumes that the PCs will now want to go assault the castle, and instructs the GM to pressure the PCs into that course of action if they don't take the proffered hook.

The last part of the adventure is the location by location clearing of the keep. Now in theory this is an adventure for 1st or 2nd level characters, but any party of 1st level characters that assaults the keep is going to get its ass kicked. Even 2nd level characters are likely to die. The orcs aren't so tough, but there are quite a lot of them. However, the priest of Orcus is 4th level, and has such specially abilities as death touch and spells like hold person. Now add in some very tough zombies and an ogre, and the capper, the shadow-mage. The shadow-mage is CR5, can't be hit with normal weapons, can turn PCs into shadows, and has spells! The PCs will have one magic weapon and whatever spells they can muster to take him on. Maybe the guys at Necromancer don't understand what Challenge Ratings are or how to use them.

Crucible of Freya shows off some of the worst elements of 1st edition AD&D. While it is cheap at $7.99 for 48-pages, your money is better spent elsewhere. Thanks to the White Wolf connection, the physical presentation is nice enough (except for the maps by "Conan Venus," which don't hold a candle to the WotC maps), but a nice looking adventure isn't necessarily a good adventure. White Wolf seems to have given Necromancer Games a certain amount of instant credibility, but it's worth remembering the Clark Peterson and Bill Webb have never published gaming material professionally before and it shows.

This is the first in a series of d20 System reviews I'll be running over the next month or two. We'll see how the competition stacks up. Ian Gordon

Crucible of Freya
Item type: RPG Product Name: Crucible of Freya Author: Clark Peterson and Bill Webb Company/Publisher: Necromancer Games Line: d20 System SKU: WW8350 Cost: $7.99 Page count: 48 ISBN: 1-56504-485-1 Genres: Ratings: Style: 3 (Average) Substance: 1 (I Wasted My Money) Review type: Capsule Review Genre tags:	Several years ago a theological horror RPG called The End was released. The premise of the game was that when Jesus said, "The meek shall inherit the earth," it was a threat and not a promise. That's exactly how I feel about Necromancer Games' slogan "Third Edition rules, First Edition feel." Major spoilers follow. Crucible of Freya is Necromancer's first published d20 System adventure. The adventure is centered on the village of Fairhill, a Podunk town between two major cities. Trouble begins on page 4, with the "Areas of Adventure" section. Right off the bat, there's a wandering monster table. Groan. This is followed up with not one, not two, but FOUR different monster lairs in the area. Each one is a single monster in a lair. That's it. Wow, how exciting. Finally on page 10 we get to the village of Fairhill itself. I guess the idea here is to provide details on a location the characters might visit frequently in the course of their careers. Too bad Fairhill is about as interesting as the dirt the farmers hoe. Yep, it's generic fantasy village #5, with the old adventurer who runs a tavern, the "stereotypical halfling thief" (that's a direct quote btw), and the convenient PC first aid station, er, temple of healing. There are lots of game stats in this section that you'll likely never need ("I magic missile the old man, does he go down?"), unless your PCs are evil and looking for a town to pillage. There's also excessive referencing of upcoming Necromancer products. Practically every other adventurer in town has either been to the "famous dungeon of Rappan Athuk" or claims to have been there. We also hear much of Bard's Gate, another upcoming product (which I'm sure is only coincidentally close in name to Baldur's Gate) The temple of note here is dedicated to Freya, a Norse goddess who seems a little out of place in this generic fantasy setting. The Crucible of Freya, the titular artifact of the adventure, is the prize possession of the temple and wouldn't you know it, a bad, bad priest of Orcus wants it. While the PCs are in town, the evil priest sends an orc raiding party to steal the crucible. The PCs can't foil the theft, so of course the priestess of Freya asks them to go and get it back. At last, here's the adventure. Go get the thingy, a classic plot. No doubt a harrowing chase is about to ensue. Well no. The PCs get the crucible back in the very next scene, and don't have to do more than kill a few orcs to get it. Oooh, the tension, oooh the excitement! The PCs can return to the village with the crucible within hours, mission accomplished. But wait, there's the old mage's keep ™, now inhabited by the evil priest and the filthy orcs. The adventure assumes that the PCs will now want to go assault the castle, and instructs the GM to pressure the PCs into that course of action if they don't take the proffered hook. The last part of the adventure is the location by location clearing of the keep. Now in theory this is an adventure for 1st or 2nd level characters, but any party of 1st level characters that assaults the keep is going to get its ass kicked. Even 2nd level characters are likely to die. The orcs aren't so tough, but there are quite a lot of them. However, the priest of Orcus is 4th level, and has such specially abilities as death touch and spells like hold person. Now add in some very tough zombies and an ogre, and the capper, the shadow-mage. The shadow-mage is CR5, can't be hit with normal weapons, can turn PCs into shadows, and has spells! The PCs will have one magic weapon and whatever spells they can muster to take him on. Maybe the guys at Necromancer don't understand what Challenge Ratings are or how to use them. Crucible of Freya shows off some of the worst elements of 1st edition AD&D. While it is cheap at $7.99 for 48-pages, your money is better spent elsewhere. Thanks to the White Wolf connection, the physical presentation is nice enough (except for the maps by "Conan Venus," which don't hold a candle to the WotC maps), but a nice looking adventure isn't necessarily a good adventure. White Wolf seems to have given Necromancer Games a certain amount of instant credibility, but it's worth remembering the Clark Peterson and Bill Webb have never published gaming material professionally before and it shows. This is the first in a series of d20 System reviews I'll be running over the next month or two. We'll see how the competition stacks up. Ian Gordon