All The King’s Men is a D20 adventure for a party of 7-9th level characters. You’d think at this point, the characters would be saving the world, defeated a major evil, opening a gate to a really nasty plane. But no! It’s a whodunnit adventure with a lot of humor, and written with a Shakespearean bent. This review will avoid any spoilers about the plot, other than telling you that the Butler did not do it.
The module:
The Prologue and inside covers give the background information and maps necessary to run the module. The map of Hamdon, the city in which the mystery takes place, lists the 6 locations important for the module. Other locales are left up to the DM, allowing the adventure to be run in any campaign. Of specific interest are the 2 performance halls, each of which has its own map. Unfortunately, you could almost exchange the legends and not notice. I’m surprised that these structures in different parts of the city are basically identical, even if they are used for similar purposes. If they were different, it would have enhanced the reality of the two stages. As it is, players may not get a feel for the scenery when the DM tells them it’s a circular structure with 3 floors and the stairs and offices at one end, since that covers both the Orb and the Bear Gardens.
Next are the Episodes, the various encounters covering what the PCs can do to solve the mystery. Other than the very first one, they can be run in any order, determined only by what the PCs want to do. To get the PCs involved, there are 2 different Opening Acts. Each is full of text to be read to the PCs as this is one of the few scripted events in the story. The scripting does a great job of setting the tone and the mood. Both do a good job of enticing the PCs into becoming detectives. The rest of the episodes describe the various clues and things the PCs can investigate. These clues will lead the PCs to the culprit, however, fruitless avenues of investigation are missing. It would be nice if there were dead ends and red herrings. I expect PCs will try to do things not covered, because there is no clue available for trying that.
Finally, the Epilogue occurs when the PCs have collected enough clues to determine the murderer. It has the classics: a confrontation, an escape, a chase, and the reward. It’s a very exciting ending, which won’t be given away here. The PCs will be kept whirling, excited to the point that they forget to eat their chips and drink their soda. And there are plot hooks left for future adventures of the DM’s own devising
The quality of the artwork varies from Why? to poor to really very good. The sketches of NPCs stand out the most. The tables are easy to read, useful references that are interspersed through the module. My personal preference would be to have them all at the end for easy referencing. The maps have been discussed previously.
Reading the module as a DM is just plain fun. The episode titles are humorous. The writing is light and airy. And many of the jokes may only be seen by the DM. A module can be good, but that doesn’t mean it’s a pleasure to read. This one is.
The good:
The plot is excellent.
The NPCs are well designed and interesting. The PCs will want to meet as many of them as possible.
It’s a whodunnit! There’s a little bit of Sherlock Holmes in everyone.
The bad:
This is not a module for a DM who cannot roleplay or improvise.
The twist:
This module could easily be converted into an evening LARP. The characters are well designed and interesting. It’s just a matter of making some characters for the detectives. Then let everyone at it, and see who gets blamed!
The conclusion:
If you’re a DM who can roleplay and who can think on your feet, this is a great module to play. It’s a very refreshing change of pace from any ongoing story. And it can be inserted into any game world. On top of that, it’s worth the read.
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