The Inside Scoop on Gaming

Let me start off by saying this adventure succeeds at what it is intended to be, a one night adventure, and succeeds quite admirably. If the truth be known for the small price point of this product and the small stature of the booklet (imagine a one column type of booklet) I was expecting a lackluster adventure. I was gladly proven wrong.

Since this is a playtest review let me get down to the meat and bones of this reveiw, the play. I had 6 characters going through this game. 4 2nd level and 2 3rd level. 2 fighters (2nd level) 2 wizards (1 2nd level 1 3rd level),1 cleric (3rd level), and 1 rogue (2nd level). Four of the characters had just finished running through an abandoned mine (abandoned with many stray kobolds wandering around mind you) and were making there way back to their inn, when they heard the cries and were on their way with the adventure.

I will not go into details to not spoil it for anyone who has not read or experienced it, but suffice it to the characters were forced to go into the sewers to prove their innocence, which really infuriated the players (hehe). Each one of these adventures comes with a new monster and a new magic item. That's a nice idea.

I found that the challenges posed to the characters in this adventure were well thought out and fit their namesake being a good challenge whilst not being to easy nor too hard. The length took us about 5 hours to complete. Your experience may be more or less depending if you have more or less talkative players than mine. Easy enough to get finished in one night. This adventure has spawned more adventure hook and now the characters are in search of possibly more of the creatures of which they found in this adventure. As for the new magic item well the characters left it in the sewers, not quite grasping the importance of it.

As for the art and the map they were more than enough to get the point across my only complaint was the map was a tad off scale, but that is minor and quite workable.

In Conclusion the big question I would have would be, Is it worth it. In my Opinion I would say yes. Nothing here was suprisingly new or extremely inventive, but it's a solid piece of work which will keep you busy for a night. It's one of those products that is great to pull out when you don't have anything finished for your next gaming session and the players our on their way over NOW. Just pull one of these out and keep them busy for the night. Then spend the next few days or week (depending on how often you get together to play) to finish what you were working on before. Now if you don't mind I gotta go buy a few more of these for those times when I need something quick.

The Crypt of St. Bethesda
The Crypt of St. Bethesda Playtest Review by Mr. Grimm on 19/06/01 Style: 3 (Average) Substance: 3 (Average) nothing suprising ,but a solid piece of work and you can't really go wrong for the price. Product: The Crypt of St. Bethesda Author: James Macduff Category: RPG Company/Publisher: AEG Line: DND3E Cost: $2.49 Page count: 16 Year published: 2001 ISBN: SKU: 8307 Comp copy?: yes Playtest Review by Mr. Grimm on 19/06/01 Genre tags: Fantasy	Let me start off by saying this adventure succeeds at what it is intended to be, a one night adventure, and succeeds quite admirably. If the truth be known for the small price point of this product and the small stature of the booklet (imagine a one column type of booklet) I was expecting a lackluster adventure. I was gladly proven wrong. Since this is a playtest review let me get down to the meat and bones of this reveiw, the play. I had 6 characters going through this game. 4 2nd level and 2 3rd level. 2 fighters (2nd level) 2 wizards (1 2nd level 1 3rd level),1 cleric (3rd level), and 1 rogue (2nd level). Four of the characters had just finished running through an abandoned mine (abandoned with many stray kobolds wandering around mind you) and were making there way back to their inn, when they heard the cries and were on their way with the adventure. I will not go into details to not spoil it for anyone who has not read or experienced it, but suffice it to the characters were forced to go into the sewers to prove their innocence, which really infuriated the players (hehe). Each one of these adventures comes with a new monster and a new magic item. That's a nice idea. I found that the challenges posed to the characters in this adventure were well thought out and fit their namesake being a good challenge whilst not being to easy nor too hard. The length took us about 5 hours to complete. Your experience may be more or less depending if you have more or less talkative players than mine. Easy enough to get finished in one night. This adventure has spawned more adventure hook and now the characters are in search of possibly more of the creatures of which they found in this adventure. As for the new magic item well the characters left it in the sewers, not quite grasping the importance of it. As for the art and the map they were more than enough to get the point across my only complaint was the map was a tad off scale, but that is minor and quite workable. In Conclusion the big question I would have would be, Is it worth it. In my Opinion I would say yes. Nothing here was suprisingly new or extremely inventive, but it's a solid piece of work which will keep you busy for a night. It's one of those products that is great to pull out when you don't have anything finished for your next gaming session and the players our on their way over NOW. Just pull one of these out and keep them busy for the night. Then spend the next few days or week (depending on how often you get together to play) to finish what you were working on before. Now if you don't mind I gotta go buy a few more of these for those times when I need something quick.

The Crypt of St. Bethesda