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The Siege of Durgam's Folly is a 32 page D20 fantasy adventure for a group of 4-6 player-characters that range from 5th to 8th level. The scenario begins with the PCs accompanying a caravan to the remote wilderness stronghold known as "Durgam's Folly". En route, it becomes clear that something is very wrong and the answers to the questions are found at the titular location. Of course, this is the means to the end: letting the characters experience some site-based adventure goodiness.

Site-based adventures are the focus of Necromancer Games' products, so I expected to find quite the dungeon crawl. What I got was a module that presented an adventure that I found very easy to adapt, easy to employ and presented an interesting twist to two familiar concepts in fantasy adventure gaming. However, I felt that something wasn't there that should've been; I couldn't put my finger on it at first, and I'd be remiss if I didn't say that I couldn't identify it until after the playtest. I will elaborate below.

The first act went well enough; I began the test with the caravan run, using four of Wizards' Iconics as my playtest PCs: Jozan, Mialee, Tordek and Lidda. I ran it with these four at 5th level, and through a combination of Diplomacy checks (to represent an officer's skill at commanding subordinates) and good tactics the group assumed control of the caravan guard right away. The assistance of these warrior NPCs, as I expected (and was intended), was instrumental in making the first series of encounters challenging for the PCs.

The roc encounter was a damned tense combat encounter; it began with little warning, resulted in a dozen casualties and consumed a large amount of the PCs' resources to overcome the beast. It would've gone much worse had Tordek and Jozan not combined their talents to assume command and lead the NPCs towards driving off the roc while Mialee and Lidda worked together to put the hurt down on it. By comparison, the encounter with the drunken ogre and the one with the enemy scouts were tense for different reasons; each presented difficulties in dealing with over/under-eager NPCs, extracting information from the enemy and putting it to proper use. This is where Jozan and Lidda shined, with Mialee (again) backing them with her magics. Once the enemy scouts fell before the PCs, Mialee finally got a chance to shine by using her knowledge of magic to analyze the dead scouts and get the truth of the matter from the caravan's leader: Trina, apprentice to the artificer Theodocious.

As the second act opened, the PCs arrived at Durgam's Folly aware that ogres occupied the fort and that they had something to do with the presence of the construct scouts in the previous act. This act went fast, as it was just a matter of scouting out the fort and finding a way inside. The battle for the fort against the orcs went fast, and it went furious but superior organization and firepower won out; the PCs and their allies won. (Again, with casualties.) The PCs found the survivors and got the rest of the needed information; the fort fell from within, and it was the constructs that did it.

There was some time spent resting and planning the next move, but it came down to going below and dealing with the catacombs below the fort. This led to the Third Act, where the PCs fought their way through the hive-like construct complex until they found the Brain Gear and smashed it. From prior analysis, confirmed as they went about below, the PCs deduced that this was a one-shot affair; if they didn't smash the constructs now, it was over. Dealing with the other NPCs in this act wasn't an option; Jozan sent the infernal one back without comment, and Theodocious submitted without struggle (after the fight with his guardian).

In short, it was somewhat anti-climatic.

The playtest was entertaining, but that was due to my efforts more than anything in the text. The killer was that the location wasn't anything to write home about. If the location is evocative, unusual or well-presented then the adventure can be more run-of-the-mill. If the encounters do likewise, and engage the players' attention, then the location can be run-of-the-mill. If both aren't so evocative, then the result is an adventure that does the job and can be quite fun but is just average overall.

That's what this is: Average.

The artwork, while fitting the text and well-done, doesn't bring forth ideas for running the module as previous Necromancer Games modules do. The site maps get the job done, but the site themselves leave a lot to be desired; it's boring, but functional, like your average compact car. The same goes for the NPCs. The best part is the clockwork template the monsteres that stem from it; this combination of the hive mind and the construct horde is common to science fiction but rare in fantasy gaming, and this is the element that lifts the text out of the mire of mediocrity and makes it average.

Once more for emphasis: This is not bad, just average. It's worth playing, but it's also one that can be safely skipped until later.

The Siege of Durgam's Folly
The Siege of Durgam's Folly Playtest Review by Bradford C. Walker on 12/02/02 Style: 3 (Average) Substance: 3 (Average) A solid, but average effort. Product: The Siege of Durgam's Folly Author: Mike Mearls Category: RPG Company/Publisher: Necromancer Games Line: "G" Adventure Module Series Cost: $9.95 (US) Page count: 32 pages Year published: 2001 ISBN: 1-58846-188-2 SKU: WW8370 Comp copy?: yes Playtest Review by Bradford C. Walker on 12/02/02 Genre tags: Fantasy	WARNING! SPOILERS DISCUSSED! The Siege of Durgam's Folly is a 32 page D20 fantasy adventure for a group of 4-6 player-characters that range from 5th to 8th level. The scenario begins with the PCs accompanying a caravan to the remote wilderness stronghold known as "Durgam's Folly". En route, it becomes clear that something is very wrong and the answers to the questions are found at the titular location. Of course, this is the means to the end: letting the characters experience some site-based adventure goodiness. Site-based adventures are the focus of Necromancer Games' products, so I expected to find quite the dungeon crawl. What I got was a module that presented an adventure that I found very easy to adapt, easy to employ and presented an interesting twist to two familiar concepts in fantasy adventure gaming. However, I felt that something wasn't there that should've been; I couldn't put my finger on it at first, and I'd be remiss if I didn't say that I couldn't identify it until after the playtest. I will elaborate below. The first act went well enough; I began the test with the caravan run, using four of Wizards' Iconics as my playtest PCs: Jozan, Mialee, Tordek and Lidda. I ran it with these four at 5th level, and through a combination of Diplomacy checks (to represent an officer's skill at commanding subordinates) and good tactics the group assumed control of the caravan guard right away. The assistance of these warrior NPCs, as I expected (and was intended), was instrumental in making the first series of encounters challenging for the PCs. The roc encounter was a damned tense combat encounter; it began with little warning, resulted in a dozen casualties and consumed a large amount of the PCs' resources to overcome the beast. It would've gone much worse had Tordek and Jozan not combined their talents to assume command and lead the NPCs towards driving off the roc while Mialee and Lidda worked together to put the hurt down on it. By comparison, the encounter with the drunken ogre and the one with the enemy scouts were tense for different reasons; each presented difficulties in dealing with over/under-eager NPCs, extracting information from the enemy and putting it to proper use. This is where Jozan and Lidda shined, with Mialee (again) backing them with her magics. Once the enemy scouts fell before the PCs, Mialee finally got a chance to shine by using her knowledge of magic to analyze the dead scouts and get the truth of the matter from the caravan's leader: Trina, apprentice to the artificer Theodocious. As the second act opened, the PCs arrived at Durgam's Folly aware that ogres occupied the fort and that they had something to do with the presence of the construct scouts in the previous act. This act went fast, as it was just a matter of scouting out the fort and finding a way inside. The battle for the fort against the orcs went fast, and it went furious but superior organization and firepower won out; the PCs and their allies won. (Again, with casualties.) The PCs found the survivors and got the rest of the needed information; the fort fell from within, and it was the constructs that did it. There was some time spent resting and planning the next move, but it came down to going below and dealing with the catacombs below the fort. This led to the Third Act, where the PCs fought their way through the hive-like construct complex until they found the Brain Gear and smashed it. From prior analysis, confirmed as they went about below, the PCs deduced that this was a one-shot affair; if they didn't smash the constructs now, it was over. Dealing with the other NPCs in this act wasn't an option; Jozan sent the infernal one back without comment, and Theodocious submitted without struggle (after the fight with his guardian). In short, it was somewhat anti-climatic. The playtest was entertaining, but that was due to my efforts more than anything in the text. The killer was that the location wasn't anything to write home about. If the location is evocative, unusual or well-presented then the adventure can be more run-of-the-mill. If the encounters do likewise, and engage the players' attention, then the location can be run-of-the-mill. If both aren't so evocative, then the result is an adventure that does the job and can be quite fun but is just average overall. That's what this is: Average. The artwork, while fitting the text and well-done, doesn't bring forth ideas for running the module as previous Necromancer Games modules do. The site maps get the job done, but the site themselves leave a lot to be desired; it's boring, but functional, like your average compact car. The same goes for the NPCs. The best part is the clockwork template the monsteres that stem from it; this combination of the hive mind and the construct horde is common to science fiction but rare in fantasy gaming, and this is the element that lifts the text out of the mire of mediocrity and makes it average. Once more for emphasis: This is not bad, just average. It's worth playing, but it's also one that can be safely skipped until later.