The Inside Scoop on Gaming

Disclaimer I: I have seen in reviews that the content had "spoiler" ascribed to it. I feel that if you are reading a review, you invite that upon yourself. If you don't want "spoilers," why would you read a review of a product you do not own? I will not use the phrase of "Contains Spoilers" in my reviews, if you want a non-biased review that doesn't reveal content-look elsewhere.

Disclaimer II: The majority of this review is opinion; your actual enjoyment of this product should vary accordingly.

"... The citizens of Corvis have made the realm's regular lunar eclipse into an excuse to party. The Longest Night festival sees nearly everyone dressed up in costume and taking to the streets. It's one day where beggars can rub elbows with magistrates, and everyone cuts loose, hiding behind their masks. This year, the party is getting crashed by an army of five hundred undead who are intent on causing as much damage as possible..." (p. 51)

WARNING SHOT:

I got paid to write this. $9.95, plus shipping, in fact. (At least it's nice to think that.) This 64 page, d20 system adventure/campaign module came gift wrapped for me in a manila envelope, on the Saturday I went back home to visit relatives. I have read most of the reviews for this product, as most probably have purchased their own copies for the art, or the "steam punk" atmosphere, or because they buy anything stamped with the little box with the red highlighted system (the D20 System logo, for those in suspense). At 64 pages, does The Longest Night stack up against other D20 System products on the shelves, or does it lay flat in the good-deliverance section of the OGL?

Not all adventures are equal, nor does every D20 System adventure break new ground. Privateer Press, with their much hurrahed The Longest Night (Longest Night hereafter), seeks to break new ground and stomp on the other adventures on the market. Set in the their new Iron Kingdoms setting, Longest Night opens a trilogy of adventures surrounding the mysterious Witchfire. Witchfire being a mystical blade that allows the wielder to use the magical powers of those it slays.

This adventure is set up in three acts, and as such, will be piecemealed reviewed in three sections. The introduction mainly sets up the city of Corvis the city of ghosts, which is set-up as the major city the characters are trying to reach.

With details on which faction of thieves hang out in which section of city turf, notable Iron Works guilds, Magician leagues, etc. this section is light on actual campaign setting detail. Good for first adventures in new settings, which make the module adaptable to a number of other worlds. The light section of detail is not to say that their Iron Kingdoms setting is not present, it is presented nicely without hovering over the plot.

However, to quote a good friend, the plot feels of "I've too much good stuff to show off in here," having the PCs scampering around for tokens to advance the plot.

KICKING OPEN THE KEG…

The plot begins, slowly, by having the characters involved in a carvan protection mission. In the last leg of the journey, the carvan is attacked by a group of swamp gobbers. After the brief battle, which is a rouse to get the gobbers one of the carvan's cargo chests, the group moves forward to Corvis.

Getting one of these chests to Corvis, lands the PCs happily into the lap of Father Dumas. The Father would like to hire the PCs into investigating a series of grave robberies. Why the Father would want to have the party do it instead of towns guards is not mentioned, and not discussed as a plot point. Referees are to use this encounter to make notice of the villain of the tale, Alexia Ciannor-the Father's own niece. Lovely little girl that is a budding necromancer, oh well.

Mincing forward, the party investigates the graves and ends up with notes pointing to the witchcraft trial of ten years ago. All the despoiled graves belong to city council members at that trial.

The act ends having the party with the idea that Alexia might have a hand in the dealings of the grave robberies, but it is uncertain without having more evidence.

ANOTHER ROUND ...

The second act of this little drama finds us heading into Widower's Wood to locate the burial site of the trial witches and see if any defiling has happened there. The idea of clues being a few miles outside the city is always good, and it gives us a good place to throw a dungeon crawl.

We get some nifty monsters and a number of rooms to investigate, and we learn that the number of witches that were to be buried here are off by one. Alexia's mother is buried back at the temple her uncle runs. We also get to chase Alexia through the streets of Crovis, as she runs from accusations that she's been raising the dead without permission.

This act has two dungeon crawls: the Witch's Tomb and the Undercity of Corvis. Unfortunately, smack dab in the middle of the second one, the party is imprisoned to hear some exposition. Alexia, like all good Bond-esque villains, explains her actions and leaves the characters to their own devices.

CLOSING TIME...

The last act of the adventure has an unannounced bug-hunt.

The party escapes Alexia's dungeon and runs straight into the arms of the law-literally. The captain of the guard then asks the party to explore rumors of strange happenings at a distant keep. Agreeing, the party heads out to Rhyker Keep, a battleground host to mass slaughter some years ago.

We find Alexia's grand army after being attacked by her enemies. So racing back to warn Corvis, the festival noted above is happening, and no one cares. Some mistake the undead as revelers. So these undead focus in on Father Dumas' church, and the party must defend him from being overrun by the hordes of skeletons and zombies.

Not that the party gets to do anything but watch as the conclusion of this adventure hits…

PERSONALITY...

The personality of this adventure has some solid selling points: setting, mystery and action are always good in my book. However, this is not the place to have a case of the "whoo this is cool over here" syndrome. I feel this adventure could have been better had the excess setting traveling been curbed.

A good adventure, yes. A solid setting, yes. Good adventure in the setting, no. To me, when we have an adventure, the characters (both PC and NPC) should be a focal point and keep the adventure moving. Longest Night is good in some respects, but the plot having no PC involvement in its resolution is a major gripe. The setting takes over the plot to guide the next adventure in the trilogy. If the events had more PC input, this adventure would rate higher for me…

Disclosure Notes: I've held this book for damn near two months, but have been laboring under college courses during that time.

The Longest Night
The Longest Night Capsule Review by Alex deMorris on 02/08/01 Style: 3 (Average) Substance: 4 (Meaty) The entry volume of a trilogy dealing with supernatural revenge and "steampunk" stylings. Product: The Longest Night Author: Matt Staroscik Category: RPG Company/Publisher: Privateer Press Line: WitchFire Trilogy Cost: $9.95 US Page count: 64 Year published: 2001 ISBN: 0-9706970-0-7 SKU: WF001 Comp copy?: yes Capsule Review by Alex deMorris on 02/08/01 Genre tags: Fantasy Horror Gothic Other	Disclaimer I: I have seen in reviews that the content had "spoiler" ascribed to it. I feel that if you are reading a review, you invite that upon yourself. If you don't want "spoilers," why would you read a review of a product you do not own? I will not use the phrase of "Contains Spoilers" in my reviews, if you want a non-biased review that doesn't reveal content-look elsewhere. Disclaimer II: The majority of this review is opinion; your actual enjoyment of this product should vary accordingly. "... The citizens of Corvis have made the realm's regular lunar eclipse into an excuse to party. The Longest Night festival sees nearly everyone dressed up in costume and taking to the streets. It's one day where beggars can rub elbows with magistrates, and everyone cuts loose, hiding behind their masks. This year, the party is getting crashed by an army of five hundred undead who are intent on causing as much damage as possible..." (p. 51) WARNING SHOT: I got paid to write this. $9.95, plus shipping, in fact. (At least it's nice to think that.) This 64 page, d20 system adventure/campaign module came gift wrapped for me in a manila envelope, on the Saturday I went back home to visit relatives. I have read most of the reviews for this product, as most probably have purchased their own copies for the art, or the "steam punk" atmosphere, or because they buy anything stamped with the little box with the red highlighted system (the D20 System logo, for those in suspense). At 64 pages, does The Longest Night stack up against other D20 System products on the shelves, or does it lay flat in the good-deliverance section of the OGL? Not all adventures are equal, nor does every D20 System adventure break new ground. Privateer Press, with their much hurrahed The Longest Night (Longest Night hereafter), seeks to break new ground and stomp on the other adventures on the market. Set in the their new Iron Kingdoms setting, Longest Night opens a trilogy of adventures surrounding the mysterious Witchfire. Witchfire being a mystical blade that allows the wielder to use the magical powers of those it slays. This adventure is set up in three acts, and as such, will be piecemealed reviewed in three sections. The introduction mainly sets up the city of Corvis the city of ghosts, which is set-up as the major city the characters are trying to reach. With details on which faction of thieves hang out in which section of city turf, notable Iron Works guilds, Magician leagues, etc. this section is light on actual campaign setting detail. Good for first adventures in new settings, which make the module adaptable to a number of other worlds. The light section of detail is not to say that their Iron Kingdoms setting is not present, it is presented nicely without hovering over the plot. However, to quote a good friend, the plot feels of "I've too much good stuff to show off in here," having the PCs scampering around for tokens to advance the plot. KICKING OPEN THE KEG… The plot begins, slowly, by having the characters involved in a carvan protection mission. In the last leg of the journey, the carvan is attacked by a group of swamp gobbers. After the brief battle, which is a rouse to get the gobbers one of the carvan's cargo chests, the group moves forward to Corvis. Getting one of these chests to Corvis, lands the PCs happily into the lap of Father Dumas. The Father would like to hire the PCs into investigating a series of grave robberies. Why the Father would want to have the party do it instead of towns guards is not mentioned, and not discussed as a plot point. Referees are to use this encounter to make notice of the villain of the tale, Alexia Ciannor-the Father's own niece. Lovely little girl that is a budding necromancer, oh well. Mincing forward, the party investigates the graves and ends up with notes pointing to the witchcraft trial of ten years ago. All the despoiled graves belong to city council members at that trial. The act ends having the party with the idea that Alexia might have a hand in the dealings of the grave robberies, but it is uncertain without having more evidence. ANOTHER ROUND ... The second act of this little drama finds us heading into Widower's Wood to locate the burial site of the trial witches and see if any defiling has happened there. The idea of clues being a few miles outside the city is always good, and it gives us a good place to throw a dungeon crawl. We get some nifty monsters and a number of rooms to investigate, and we learn that the number of witches that were to be buried here are off by one. Alexia's mother is buried back at the temple her uncle runs. We also get to chase Alexia through the streets of Crovis, as she runs from accusations that she's been raising the dead without permission. This act has two dungeon crawls: the Witch's Tomb and the Undercity of Corvis. Unfortunately, smack dab in the middle of the second one, the party is imprisoned to hear some exposition. Alexia, like all good Bond-esque villains, explains her actions and leaves the characters to their own devices. CLOSING TIME... The last act of the adventure has an unannounced bug-hunt. The party escapes Alexia's dungeon and runs straight into the arms of the law-literally. The captain of the guard then asks the party to explore rumors of strange happenings at a distant keep. Agreeing, the party heads out to Rhyker Keep, a battleground host to mass slaughter some years ago. We find Alexia's grand army after being attacked by her enemies. So racing back to warn Corvis, the festival noted above is happening, and no one cares. Some mistake the undead as revelers. So these undead focus in on Father Dumas' church, and the party must defend him from being overrun by the hordes of skeletons and zombies. Not that the party gets to do anything but watch as the conclusion of this adventure hits… PERSONALITY... The personality of this adventure has some solid selling points: setting, mystery and action are always good in my book. However, this is not the place to have a case of the "whoo this is cool over here" syndrome. I feel this adventure could have been better had the excess setting traveling been curbed. A good adventure, yes. A solid setting, yes. Good adventure in the setting, no. To me, when we have an adventure, the characters (both PC and NPC) should be a focal point and keep the adventure moving. Longest Night is good in some respects, but the plot having no PC involvement in its resolution is a major gripe. The setting takes over the plot to guide the next adventure in the trilogy. If the events had more PC input, this adventure would rate higher for me… Disclosure Notes: I've held this book for damn near two months, but have been laboring under college courses during that time.