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Interludes: Brief Expeditions to Bluffside

Though the d20 market seems very packed, new players are still coming on the scene all the time. One of these new companies is Thunderhead Games. Though comparatively late to the d20 marketplace, Thunderhead Games is generating a lot of enthusiasm in some online forums.

This is in part due to the background of those involved in Thunderhead Games. Many of the names in THG are no strangers to the d20 community. Some have already done much work on various D20 system netbooks as part of the D&D Community Council.

Thunderhead's upcoming offerings are centered on their city setting, Bluffside. Interludes: Brief Expeditions to Bluffside gives us a glimpse into the Bluffside: City on the Edge setting. The adventure actually occurs in a small town near Bluffside, called Kirkwood.

Interludes is an adventure intended for a party of 2nd-level characters, though the theme boxes feature (see below) makes it easily adaptable to higher or lower level parties.

A First Look

Interludes comes in electronic format as a 4.65 MB zipped PDF file. Adobe Acrobat Reader is required to read the document. It has 61 electronic pages, including the color "cover" pages. At the time of this writing, the adventure is available for download for $5.00 US. The download page (at www.thunderheadgames.com) has a crossed out "normal" price of $7.00 US, though it is not clear when this higher price will be charged, if ever.

Except for the two pages that act as a "cover," the document is black-and-white. The front cover illustration is of middling quality, depicting some travelers in an arctic setting with an inhuman spy or assassin lying in wait. The interior art is likewise merely of passable quality, except for the cartography, which is good. Attractive border flourishes are illustrated on alternating sides of the page, which is convenient for those who wish to print out the document.

The graphical layout is good. Further, the document makes good use of the PDF format. The pre-defined bookmarks provide a convenient way to navigate the contents of the document for those who intend to use it on a computer.

The text density is fairly good. Given the text density, page count, and presentation, Interludes is a good value at the current price of $5.00.

Thunderhead Games has also announced that they will be releasing a printed version of Interludes in December. The print version will have 64 pages and will be available for $10.95.

A Deeper Look

(Warning: This section contains spoilers regarding the contents of the adventure.)

The adventure is arranged into three "parts" describing the setting and the adventure, and six appendices. The appendices provide most of the game mechanical details such as the NPCs, new creatures, items, spells, feats, and prestige classes introduced in the aventure, as well as the player handouts.

One interesting aspect of the adventure is a feature called theme boxes. Theme boxes are boxed sections that appear throughout the adventure that give details which the GM can throw in to fit the adventure better to the players. Theme boxes come in seven categories:

Greater Than - Describes alterations that can be added if the PCs are more powerful than the prescribed party level and numbers.

Less Than - Conversely, the less than theme boxes describe how an encounter can be toned down for a smaller party or less experienced PCs.

Holier Than Thou - The party has multiple or strong divine spellcasters.

Puzzles and Pits - The text describes this category as being for "role-play heavy" parties. I found that slightly misleading in the case of this module, for where I took this to mean that such sections would be more involved NPC interactions, in actuality they often refer to sections where a trap or puzzle is resolved by player descriptions instead of game mechanics.

Spell Slingers - The party has strong or multiple arcane spellcasters.

Sword and Shield - The party has strong or multiple fighters (or, I would assume, fighter-types such as barbarians, rangers, and monks).

Treacherous Traps - The party has strong or multiple rogues.

In the adventure, each theme box is labeled with one of the above categories and a checkbox. If you feel the box applies to your group, you simply check the box so that when you run it, you remember to use that version of the encounter. I found this to be a wonderful way to make an adventure more adaptable.

The adventure itself is basically a fairly linear plot with an embedded site-based adventure. The central villain is a crime organization from Bluffside called the Hammers. The events behind the adventure are triggered when the ranking member of the Hammers in the area falls ill and fails to make her contacts. Her second-in-command makes a bold raid on the town, and the local leader of the Hammers tries to cover the mess up by blaming it on the local goblins.

Part 1 is entitled Kirkwood. It details the history and locales of the village of Kirkwood, and it sets of the adventure with the initial events. A few hooks are provided to get the party into Kirkwood. Once in Kirkwood, the party can interact with a number of NPCs, but eventually will be pulled into the adventure by a man stumbling into the inn from a coming storm. With a little investigation and prodding from the NPCs, the players discover that he is the only member of the Greyfox family left uncaptured by a recent raid.

I found the organization in Part 1 very confusing. The town of Kirkwood is presented in a typical keyed-site format, but the events that spurn on the adventure are interspersed throughout. Further, the village encounter descriptions include some rumors that are apparently relevant to this adventure, with some "hooks" that are apparently placed to provide activities for players in Kirkwood independent of the adventure - and this does not become clear until after you digest the adventure. I think that the setting information should have been presented first, followed by the events. Further, the intent of the hooks should have been made clear if it did not play into the adventure.

The second part is the goblin lair. The Hammer operative set it up to appear that the goblins were responsible for the raid. The catch is that one of the Hammers got captured by the goblins on whome they hoped to blame the incident, and they are expecting company.

The goblins are controlled by a member of a new goblin variant race called rakers. The goblin hideout is in an ancient grove that was dedicated to a long forgotten deity. This part of the area consists of three keyed encounter areas: the ancient grove itself, a temple within the grove, and the basement of the grove. The players will have to face goblins and other threats throughout the area. The key area of this part, however, is the basement. The basement contains the captured Hammer prisoner (who will later be interrogated) and a note from the Hammer leader that may prove to be the vital link.

The captured Hammer has a story he will tell. For some reason, this was left as a handout in the back. This struck me as a little odd: I thought the story was a little too short and simple to deserve a handout, and the story would have best been left in the main text instead of making the GM flip to a section that is not worth printing out.

There is a good chance that the party will skip the track, as players have a habit of not going to that one room you hope they would. Fortunately, the next part includes some notes for getting the adventure back on track if the players miss the connection.

The last part assumes that the players return to Kirkwood with their captured Hammer (and a captured raker as well). It is assumed that the Mayor will interrogate the Hammer at this point, but the same section could have been used if the party does a good job interrogating the Hammers as well. As mentioned, the third part also has ideas for kicking the adventure along if the Hammer and/or the incriminating note are not found.

The information the party gathers should lead it to the Hammers' lair in the forest. The party will likely be exposed to some random encounters and a special encounter with a wicked fey creature called a thorn faerie. Then the PCs will happen upon a member of the Sisters of Mercy (a new prestige class detailed in the adventure, representing an order of battle scarred clerics that have turned toward the ways of healing). She was a prisoner of the Hammers, but she was fed information that the Hammers hope will lead the party into an ambush. The final battle is with the Hammers' leader (having recovered from her illness) and some of her lackies.

Among the prisoners of the Hammers are a pair of siblings, Jezzica and Brandyn Bergen. Jezzica is a member of the blood guardian prestige class introduced in the appendix. The inclusion of these two NPCs seemed a little gratuitous to me. Though I am not above such tactics in introducing new and interesting NPCs myself, it probably would have been better if their role in the adventure or backdrop was more relevant than just "random prisoners."

Interludes brings with it a boatload of new goodies for the d20 System. This includes:

2 new feats (Armored Caster, which you may recognize from the Netbook of Feats, and Sixth Sense)

2 new spells (agony of deceit, which causes pain whenever a target lies, and remove exposure, which negates effects of exposure to weather)

2 new prestige classes (the sorcerous blood guardian and the previously mentioned sisterhood of mercy)

11 new magic and extraordinary items.

12 new creatures (many animals, plus creatures such as the thorn fairy and the goblinoid rakers)

Summary

Interludes is very strong on content. A small setting, well detailed NPCs, plus new system material help ensure that the product remains useful long after you run it.

The adventure is fairly decent overall. Though basically linear in nature, it does try to pay attention when there is a strong possibility that the players will go off the beaten track. Further, I am really enamored with the theme boxes concept. It is a very slick concept that I would not be surprised to see other d20 publishers emulate.

My chief complaints are with the organization of the adventure. The way the material is scattered, especially in Part 1, seems like it could make this a confusing adventure to run. Anyone wishing to run the adventure should get matters clear before setting out to run the adventure and make sure to know where the relevant sections of the adventure are among the setting material.

-Alan D. Kohler

Interludes: Brief Expeditions to Bluffside
Interludes: Brief Expeditions to Bluffside Capsule Review by Alan D. Kohler on 04/12/01 Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 4 (Meaty) An introduction to the Bluffside setting, THG delivers a good adventure along with well done game materials, and uses some neat techniques for adapting the adventure. Product: Interludes: Brief Expeditions to Bluffside Author: Jeffrey Quinn, contributions by Hal Greenberg, Becky Glenn, Susie Quinn, and Monte Cook Category: RPG Company/Publisher: Thunderhead Games Line: D20 System Cost: $5.00 / $7.00 Page count: 61 Year published: 2001 ISBN: N/A SKU: N/A Comp copy?: yes Capsule Review by Alan D. Kohler on 04/12/01 Genre tags: Fantasy	Interludes: Brief Expeditions to Bluffside Though the d20 market seems very packed, new players are still coming on the scene all the time. One of these new companies is Thunderhead Games. Though comparatively late to the d20 marketplace, Thunderhead Games is generating a lot of enthusiasm in some online forums. This is in part due to the background of those involved in Thunderhead Games. Many of the names in THG are no strangers to the d20 community. Some have already done much work on various D20 system netbooks as part of the D&D Community Council. Thunderhead's upcoming offerings are centered on their city setting, Bluffside. Interludes: Brief Expeditions to Bluffside gives us a glimpse into the Bluffside: City on the Edge setting. The adventure actually occurs in a small town near Bluffside, called Kirkwood. Interludes is an adventure intended for a party of 2nd-level characters, though the theme boxes feature (see below) makes it easily adaptable to higher or lower level parties. A First Look Interludes comes in electronic format as a 4.65 MB zipped PDF file. Adobe Acrobat Reader is required to read the document. It has 61 electronic pages, including the color "cover" pages. At the time of this writing, the adventure is available for download for $5.00 US. The download page (at www.thunderheadgames.com) has a crossed out "normal" price of $7.00 US, though it is not clear when this higher price will be charged, if ever. Except for the two pages that act as a "cover," the document is black-and-white. The front cover illustration is of middling quality, depicting some travelers in an arctic setting with an inhuman spy or assassin lying in wait. The interior art is likewise merely of passable quality, except for the cartography, which is good. Attractive border flourishes are illustrated on alternating sides of the page, which is convenient for those who wish to print out the document. The graphical layout is good. Further, the document makes good use of the PDF format. The pre-defined bookmarks provide a convenient way to navigate the contents of the document for those who intend to use it on a computer. The text density is fairly good. Given the text density, page count, and presentation, Interludes is a good value at the current price of $5.00. Thunderhead Games has also announced that they will be releasing a printed version of Interludes in December. The print version will have 64 pages and will be available for $10.95. A Deeper Look (Warning: This section contains spoilers regarding the contents of the adventure.) The adventure is arranged into three "parts" describing the setting and the adventure, and six appendices. The appendices provide most of the game mechanical details such as the NPCs, new creatures, items, spells, feats, and prestige classes introduced in the aventure, as well as the player handouts. One interesting aspect of the adventure is a feature called theme boxes. Theme boxes are boxed sections that appear throughout the adventure that give details which the GM can throw in to fit the adventure better to the players. Theme boxes come in seven categories: Greater Than - Describes alterations that can be added if the PCs are more powerful than the prescribed party level and numbers. Less Than - Conversely, the less than theme boxes describe how an encounter can be toned down for a smaller party or less experienced PCs. Holier Than Thou - The party has multiple or strong divine spellcasters. Puzzles and Pits - The text describes this category as being for "role-play heavy" parties. I found that slightly misleading in the case of this module, for where I took this to mean that such sections would be more involved NPC interactions, in actuality they often refer to sections where a trap or puzzle is resolved by player descriptions instead of game mechanics. Spell Slingers - The party has strong or multiple arcane spellcasters. Sword and Shield - The party has strong or multiple fighters (or, I would assume, fighter-types such as barbarians, rangers, and monks). Treacherous Traps - The party has strong or multiple rogues. In the adventure, each theme box is labeled with one of the above categories and a checkbox. If you feel the box applies to your group, you simply check the box so that when you run it, you remember to use that version of the encounter. I found this to be a wonderful way to make an adventure more adaptable. The adventure itself is basically a fairly linear plot with an embedded site-based adventure. The central villain is a crime organization from Bluffside called the Hammers. The events behind the adventure are triggered when the ranking member of the Hammers in the area falls ill and fails to make her contacts. Her second-in-command makes a bold raid on the town, and the local leader of the Hammers tries to cover the mess up by blaming it on the local goblins. Part 1 is entitled Kirkwood. It details the history and locales of the village of Kirkwood, and it sets of the adventure with the initial events. A few hooks are provided to get the party into Kirkwood. Once in Kirkwood, the party can interact with a number of NPCs, but eventually will be pulled into the adventure by a man stumbling into the inn from a coming storm. With a little investigation and prodding from the NPCs, the players discover that he is the only member of the Greyfox family left uncaptured by a recent raid. I found the organization in Part 1 very confusing. The town of Kirkwood is presented in a typical keyed-site format, but the events that spurn on the adventure are interspersed throughout. Further, the village encounter descriptions include some rumors that are apparently relevant to this adventure, with some "hooks" that are apparently placed to provide activities for players in Kirkwood independent of the adventure - and this does not become clear until after you digest the adventure. I think that the setting information should have been presented first, followed by the events. Further, the intent of the hooks should have been made clear if it did not play into the adventure. The second part is the goblin lair. The Hammer operative set it up to appear that the goblins were responsible for the raid. The catch is that one of the Hammers got captured by the goblins on whome they hoped to blame the incident, and they are expecting company. The goblins are controlled by a member of a new goblin variant race called rakers. The goblin hideout is in an ancient grove that was dedicated to a long forgotten deity. This part of the area consists of three keyed encounter areas: the ancient grove itself, a temple within the grove, and the basement of the grove. The players will have to face goblins and other threats throughout the area. The key area of this part, however, is the basement. The basement contains the captured Hammer prisoner (who will later be interrogated) and a note from the Hammer leader that may prove to be the vital link. The captured Hammer has a story he will tell. For some reason, this was left as a handout in the back. This struck me as a little odd: I thought the story was a little too short and simple to deserve a handout, and the story would have best been left in the main text instead of making the GM flip to a section that is not worth printing out. There is a good chance that the party will skip the track, as players have a habit of not going to that one room you hope they would. Fortunately, the next part includes some notes for getting the adventure back on track if the players miss the connection. The last part assumes that the players return to Kirkwood with their captured Hammer (and a captured raker as well). It is assumed that the Mayor will interrogate the Hammer at this point, but the same section could have been used if the party does a good job interrogating the Hammers as well. As mentioned, the third part also has ideas for kicking the adventure along if the Hammer and/or the incriminating note are not found. The information the party gathers should lead it to the Hammers' lair in the forest. The party will likely be exposed to some random encounters and a special encounter with a wicked fey creature called a thorn faerie. Then the PCs will happen upon a member of the Sisters of Mercy (a new prestige class detailed in the adventure, representing an order of battle scarred clerics that have turned toward the ways of healing). She was a prisoner of the Hammers, but she was fed information that the Hammers hope will lead the party into an ambush. The final battle is with the Hammers' leader (having recovered from her illness) and some of her lackies. Among the prisoners of the Hammers are a pair of siblings, Jezzica and Brandyn Bergen. Jezzica is a member of the blood guardian prestige class introduced in the appendix. The inclusion of these two NPCs seemed a little gratuitous to me. Though I am not above such tactics in introducing new and interesting NPCs myself, it probably would have been better if their role in the adventure or backdrop was more relevant than just "random prisoners." Interludes brings with it a boatload of new goodies for the d20 System. This includes: 2 new feats (Armored Caster, which you may recognize from the Netbook of Feats, and Sixth Sense) 2 new spells (agony of deceit, which causes pain whenever a target lies, and remove exposure, which negates effects of exposure to weather) 2 new prestige classes (the sorcerous blood guardian and the previously mentioned sisterhood of mercy) 11 new magic and extraordinary items. 12 new creatures (many animals, plus creatures such as the thorn fairy and the goblinoid rakers) Summary Interludes is very strong on content. A small setting, well detailed NPCs, plus new system material help ensure that the product remains useful long after you run it. The adventure is fairly decent overall. Though basically linear in nature, it does try to pay attention when there is a strong possibility that the players will go off the beaten track. Further, I am really enamored with the theme boxes concept. It is a very slick concept that I would not be surprised to see other d20 publishers emulate. My chief complaints are with the organization of the adventure. The way the material is scattered, especially in Part 1, seems like it could make this a confusing adventure to run. Anyone wishing to run the adventure should get matters clear before setting out to run the adventure and make sure to know where the relevant sections of the adventure are among the setting material. -Alan D. Kohler