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I'd like to first say that "The Tide of Years" is one of the better adventures written for the D20 Fantasy Game System (you know, Dungeons and Dragons, 3rd Edition). It is certainly unusual because it has these qualities: 1. Time Travel is a major theme in the adventure. 2. It includes a horde of creatures from prehistoric times: including a flock of Compsognathus. 3. A new God for your Greyhawk Campaign, and a new Clerical Domain. 4. And best of all, it was written by a Woman.

And this is what makes it unusual. It is an adventure written from a woman's point of view. There is no evil villians to destroy, there is no evil cults, no evil anything. Just a simple, challenging, obstacle course.

***WARNING: SPOILERS FOLLOW*** If you are a player, and are about to play the adventure (although I don't see why any DM wouldn't modify it) of "The Tide of Years" stop reading now or a Hangin' Judge, Doctor Darious Hellstromme, and Bill Gates of Borg will come and eat your shorts, hang you, make you scream in fear, and assimilate you into the Borg Collective and make you stare at Windows 3.1 all day until your brain turns to mush and you will start slobbering "Bill is God" for the rest of your life. .

What's in the Adventure

The Adventure itself is written for those of levels 4-6. It begins when the player characters are lounging around when a Ghost comes around seeking their aid. (After all, they are the first living people he sees). Not the usual Ghost, but a young priest who has, unfortunately for him, entered into a life of undeath.

The Adventure is simple. Recover the temporal shard. But there is a bunch of challenges to meet first.

1. Space-Time is askew. The forest around a lake has become quite Pre-historic as creatures from the Jurassic and Cretaceous has appeared in the forest to give the Adventurers a bad time.

2. The heroes must recover the Shard from a cliff side. That's not all bad, but a hawk's offspring was transformed into baby Archeopteryx from the influence of askew Space-Time. Plus the Hawk protects it's archaic offspring.

3. Next, the characters actually have to go underwater. What, Underwater! Yes, underwater. And there are rules that provide for this in the adventure. After all, the place where you return the Temporal Shard is under water. Note, this provides a problem for some PCs who are very modest and prude. After all, in most Fantasy Campaign worlds, the swimsuit should not exist.

Although certain Sorceresses in a certain setting (where heat energy is produced when one casts an arcane spell) wouldn't have a problem with that.

Finally, in the final scene, you duke it out with a Time Elemental. If the PCs manage to return the temporal shard, the Time Elemental gives up and returns to the Temporal Plane, and Time reasserts itself. The lake disappears, revealing a nation of people no one has heard of before. And those 15 ft or less from the Temporal Shard is transported back in time and are treated as heroes before being returned to their own plane.

New Game Mechanics in the Adventure

In the Adventure, Michelle Nephew introduces some new game mechanics and creatures. One of these is the new God, Ras'Tan the All-Knower, the God of Time. There is a new Clerical Domain known as Time. The new spells in the domain gives players the ability to age or youthen targets. They can also have a spell which detects Temporal disturbances in Space-Time.

The Adventure also gives rules for DMs to handle underwater adventures, making the adventure somewhat needed for adventures dealing with the Sahuagin. The new creatures included are the Compsognathus and the Icthyosaur, although stats for the Archeopteryx was not given, but the creature was implied. And we have stats for the Time Elemental, which is huge. Even an Aquatic Spider (which should not exist, replace it with a Dire Octopus and you have a scarier adventure).

Traps are of the Temporal Side, as well. From tangle kelp to the temporal skid, to a temporal lag trap, you have something from the mundane to the outright bizzare (GMs, get out your copy of Nightmares of Mine and dress the temporal skid traps up!).

Finally, there is a map in the middle of the Adventure which is that of a Pyramid. Like all Penumbra products, the map is produced with CC2, which will allow GMs to modify the map to their Campaign world. The map is downloadable from the Atlas Games Penumbra website.

The Art did convey the feeling of the adventure. After all, where else do you see an adventurer being mobbed by a flock of Compsognathus? Plus the Art sidebars are done in the Eastern Style (without Perspective). However, I thought that the women adventurers wearing swimsuits (and wetsuits) to be a bit to Anacronistic for a psuedo-medieval adventure. But, what the heck, it's fantasy. Maybe Penumbra has a fashion industry that includes swimsuits.

Conclusions

I reccommend that the adventure of "The Tide of Years" to be in any DM's library not just because of the Game Mechanics, but because it provides a break from killing the Vile Villain adventures we see so in so much D20 products these days. If done right, the adventure is much more challenging to complete and has a better plot than the "stomp the Villain of the Week" plot. It shows DMs that you don't have to have a villain in the plot, all you really need is a Beginning, a Middle, an Escalation, a Climax, and resolution.

A note to Gamer Grrls: This Adventure was written from a woman's point of view. Therefore, a gamer grrl GM will find none of the plot elements found in a Man's work: like Villians and cads. They will also find no masculine overtones and pages dripping with Tetosterone. The story has a light overtone with it and is just as challenging, and perhaps even more so, than, say, the adventure of "The Forge of Fury."

The Art isn't too revealing, as everyone wears their loin cloths for the underwater scenes. There is no true nudity, although the picture of the two woman adventures facing off with the Time Elemental along with their male companions are revealing enough.

I give this adventure a 4 for the Art, and a 5 for Substance, and that wasn't because it was a woman's work, but because of the Plot and the D20 Game Mechanics included therein.

Also, Michelle A. Brown Nephew should be lauded and encouraged to produce Adventures for the Penumbra line because the plot of this particular adventure is fresh and new and different from D20 standard fare.

The Tide of Years
The Tide of Years Capsule Review by Elton Robb on 26/03/01 Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 5 (Excellent!) A good adventure with a different plot than the "Trounce the Villain of the Week" plot. Product: The Tide of Years Author: Michelle A. Brown Nephew Category: RPG Company/Publisher: Atlas Games Line: Penumbra Cost: 10.95 Page count: 48 Year published: 2001 ISBN: 1-887801-98-7 SKU: AG3203 Capsule Review by Elton Robb on 26/03/01 Genre tags: Fantasy Science Fiction	I'd like to first say that "The Tide of Years" is one of the better adventures written for the D20 Fantasy Game System (you know, Dungeons and Dragons, 3rd Edition). It is certainly unusual because it has these qualities: 1. Time Travel is a major theme in the adventure. 2. It includes a horde of creatures from prehistoric times: including a flock of Compsognathus. 3. A new God for your Greyhawk Campaign, and a new Clerical Domain. 4. And best of all, it was written by a Woman. And this is what makes it unusual. It is an adventure written from a woman's point of view. There is no evil villians to destroy, there is no evil cults, no evil anything. Just a simple, challenging, obstacle course. *WARNING: SPOILERS FOLLOW* If you are a player, and are about to play the adventure (although I don't see why any DM wouldn't modify it) of "The Tide of Years" stop reading now or a Hangin' Judge, Doctor Darious Hellstromme, and Bill Gates of Borg will come and eat your shorts, hang you, make you scream in fear, and assimilate you into the Borg Collective and make you stare at Windows 3.1 all day until your brain turns to mush and you will start slobbering "Bill is God" for the rest of your life. . What's in the Adventure The Adventure itself is written for those of levels 4-6. It begins when the player characters are lounging around when a Ghost comes around seeking their aid. (After all, they are the first living people he sees). Not the usual Ghost, but a young priest who has, unfortunately for him, entered into a life of undeath. The Adventure is simple. Recover the temporal shard. But there is a bunch of challenges to meet first. 1. Space-Time is askew. The forest around a lake has become quite Pre-historic as creatures from the Jurassic and Cretaceous has appeared in the forest to give the Adventurers a bad time. 2. The heroes must recover the Shard from a cliff side. That's not all bad, but a hawk's offspring was transformed into baby Archeopteryx from the influence of askew Space-Time. Plus the Hawk protects it's archaic offspring. 3. Next, the characters actually have to go underwater. What, Underwater! Yes, underwater. And there are rules that provide for this in the adventure. After all, the place where you return the Temporal Shard is under water. Note, this provides a problem for some PCs who are very modest and prude. After all, in most Fantasy Campaign worlds, the swimsuit should not exist. Although certain Sorceresses in a certain setting (where heat energy is produced when one casts an arcane spell) wouldn't have a problem with that. Finally, in the final scene, you duke it out with a Time Elemental. If the PCs manage to return the temporal shard, the Time Elemental gives up and returns to the Temporal Plane, and Time reasserts itself. The lake disappears, revealing a nation of people no one has heard of before. And those 15 ft or less from the Temporal Shard is transported back in time and are treated as heroes before being returned to their own plane. New Game Mechanics in the Adventure In the Adventure, Michelle Nephew introduces some new game mechanics and creatures. One of these is the new God, Ras'Tan the All-Knower, the God of Time. There is a new Clerical Domain known as Time. The new spells in the domain gives players the ability to age or youthen targets. They can also have a spell which detects Temporal disturbances in Space-Time. The Adventure also gives rules for DMs to handle underwater adventures, making the adventure somewhat needed for adventures dealing with the Sahuagin. The new creatures included are the Compsognathus and the Icthyosaur, although stats for the Archeopteryx was not given, but the creature was implied. And we have stats for the Time Elemental, which is huge. Even an Aquatic Spider (which should not exist, replace it with a Dire Octopus and you have a scarier adventure). Traps are of the Temporal Side, as well. From tangle kelp to the temporal skid, to a temporal lag trap, you have something from the mundane to the outright bizzare (GMs, get out your copy of Nightmares of Mine and dress the temporal skid traps up!). Finally, there is a map in the middle of the Adventure which is that of a Pyramid. Like all Penumbra products, the map is produced with CC2, which will allow GMs to modify the map to their Campaign world. The map is downloadable from the Atlas Games Penumbra website. The Art did convey the feeling of the adventure. After all, where else do you see an adventurer being mobbed by a flock of Compsognathus? Plus the Art sidebars are done in the Eastern Style (without Perspective). However, I thought that the women adventurers wearing swimsuits (and wetsuits) to be a bit to Anacronistic for a psuedo-medieval adventure. But, what the heck, it's fantasy. Maybe Penumbra has a fashion industry that includes swimsuits. Conclusions I reccommend that the adventure of "The Tide of Years" to be in any DM's library not just because of the Game Mechanics, but because it provides a break from killing the Vile Villain adventures we see so in so much D20 products these days. If done right, the adventure is much more challenging to complete and has a better plot than the "stomp the Villain of the Week" plot. It shows DMs that you don't have to have a villain in the plot, all you really need is a Beginning, a Middle, an Escalation, a Climax, and resolution. A note to Gamer Grrls: This Adventure was written from a woman's point of view. Therefore, a gamer grrl GM will find none of the plot elements found in a Man's work: like Villians and cads. They will also find no masculine overtones and pages dripping with Tetosterone. The story has a light overtone with it and is just as challenging, and perhaps even more so, than, say, the adventure of "The Forge of Fury." The Art isn't too revealing, as everyone wears their loin cloths for the underwater scenes. There is no true nudity, although the picture of the two woman adventures facing off with the Time Elemental along with their male companions are revealing enough. I give this adventure a 4 for the Art, and a 5 for Substance, and that wasn't because it was a woman's work, but because of the Plot and the D20 Game Mechanics included therein. Also, Michelle A. Brown Nephew should be lauded and encouraged to produce Adventures for the Penumbra line because the plot of this particular adventure is fresh and new and different from D20 standard fare.