The Inside Scoop on Gaming

Introduction

Despite the glut of d20 products out there, only a small portion of them target the new GM. What with today's roleplaying being much more than the "hack and slash" roleplaying of not-so-long ago, today's GM is expected to prepare entertainment almost equivalent to a short story.

Oh, sure, there's the WotC Introduction to D&D boxed set, but the RPGnet review calls it "a great leap backwards in gaming design". The 3rd Edition review says the rules are "watered down" and it emphasizes a "hack-n-slash mentality". And we should be worried about what the Book of Vile Darkness is teaching? Likewise, I've stumbled upon introductory modules which somehow think two pages of GM advice is enough. Any fool -- er, seasoned GM -- will tell you otherwise.

Orcfest is thankfully something new GMs will find useful. At just under 100 pages, twelve pages are advice for players, and the rest of the book is a well laid out combination of GM advice, and a not-so-standard adventure. Purchasers may balk at the $20 price tag for what seems to be just another softcover book, and arguably you can find roleplaying tips for free on the internet. This review will hopefully provide enough explanation to make an informed decision.

Player's Guide:

As said, the Player's Guide section is about twelve pages long. It's half basic advice (eg. "Interacting with NPCs", "Exploring your first dungeon"), half d20 combat mechanics (including two examples of combat, with round-by-round diagrams). The advice is almost necessary handholding -- but I was surprised that player character generation is entirely omitted. The player's guide does have a section on "Picking a Character Class", but detailed advice (such as suggested feats and skills for beginning characters) were missing.

GM Tips:

The rest of the book is the adventure juxtaposed with general GM's advice. Typically, the advice is on the left facing page, and the adventure on the right. Information and advice is laid out very well. Advice ranges from broader topics ("Starting a Gaming Group" and "Free Will vs. Leading by the Nose") to the specific ("Adding NPCs to a Party" and "Adjusting Monsters"). Important stuff for any new GM.

GM Assistance:

The adventure itself is very GM-friendly. With 3e using miniatures, the adventure includes maps with grids of 5' square, easily transferred to your standard square-based battlemap for combat. The adventure also includes Encounter Levels, which are challenge ratings for various encounters in the adventure. I don't know if these are standard features in today's adventure modules, but they certainly should be.

Adventure Contents (SPOILERS):

Despite the title, this isn't your run-of-the-mill hackfest. I'm very appreciative how the adventure covers a wide variety of standard elements of an adventure. It has a basic town (military post), a standard non-orc dungeon crawl (including a discussion why dungeons are more popular with new gaming groups), infiltrating an orc festival (a creative example of an open-ended adventure), resulting preparations for the orc attack, plus a few small skirmishes and sneaking around that add chrome. Because the orc festival is open-ended, the adventure tries to anticipate player actions, and gives Encounter Levels for possible ones. The adventure then ends with seven adventure hooks. Minor magic items, but no new monsters, are added to the adventure. (END OF SPOILER)

Conclusion:

New GMs should make this one of their first books for their gaming library. This books makes a very good gift for a new GM. The player's guide and GM tips will be useful even after the adventure is over (or if you don't end up playing it). The adventure itself should provide a new GM examples of plot elements and standard encounters in a typical D&D game. GMs not familiar with 3e will appreciate the assistance in miniatures-based combat, as well as examples on using skills outside of combat. The player's guide **is** missing a detailed character generation section. But otherwise, this is a very well written adventure **and** book.

Fast Forward Games website: http://www.fastforwardgames.com

Thomas M. Reid's Roleplaying Game Credits http://www.pen-paper.net/rpgdb.php?op=showcreator&creatorid=99

RPGnet review of the D&D Adventure Game: http://www.rpg.net/news reviews/reviews/rev_1654.html

The 3rd Edition review of the D&D Adventure Game: http://www.3rdedition.org/reviews/print.asp?ID=9

Orcfest
Orcfest Capsule Review by Cedric Chin on 19/09/02 Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 4 (Meaty) Definitely worth considering for a new GM's library. Product: Orcfest Author: Thomas M. Reid Category: RPG Company/Publisher: Fast Forward Entertainment Line: Green Races (optional) Cost: $20 Page count: 93 Year published: 2002 ISBN: 0-9719598-4-6 SKU: FAF 2015 Comp copy?: yes Capsule Review by Cedric Chin on 19/09/02 Genre tags: Fantasy	Introduction Despite the glut of d20 products out there, only a small portion of them target the new GM. What with today's roleplaying being much more than the "hack and slash" roleplaying of not-so-long ago, today's GM is expected to prepare entertainment almost equivalent to a short story. Oh, sure, there's the WotC Introduction to D&D boxed set, but the RPGnet review calls it "a great leap backwards in gaming design". The 3rd Edition review says the rules are "watered down" and it emphasizes a "hack-n-slash mentality". And we should be worried about what the Book of Vile Darkness is teaching? Likewise, I've stumbled upon introductory modules which somehow think two pages of GM advice is enough. Any fool -- er, seasoned GM -- will tell you otherwise. Orcfest is thankfully something new GMs will find useful. At just under 100 pages, twelve pages are advice for players, and the rest of the book is a well laid out combination of GM advice, and a not-so-standard adventure. Purchasers may balk at the $20 price tag for what seems to be just another softcover book, and arguably you can find roleplaying tips for free on the internet. This review will hopefully provide enough explanation to make an informed decision. Player's Guide: As said, the Player's Guide section is about twelve pages long. It's half basic advice (eg. "Interacting with NPCs", "Exploring your first dungeon"), half d20 combat mechanics (including two examples of combat, with round-by-round diagrams). The advice is almost necessary handholding -- but I was surprised that player character generation is entirely omitted. The player's guide does have a section on "Picking a Character Class", but detailed advice (such as suggested feats and skills for beginning characters) were missing. GM Tips: The rest of the book is the adventure juxtaposed with general GM's advice. Typically, the advice is on the left facing page, and the adventure on the right. Information and advice is laid out very well. Advice ranges from broader topics ("Starting a Gaming Group" and "Free Will vs. Leading by the Nose") to the specific ("Adding NPCs to a Party" and "Adjusting Monsters"). Important stuff for any new GM. GM Assistance: The adventure itself is very GM-friendly. With 3e using miniatures, the adventure includes maps with grids of 5' square, easily transferred to your standard square-based battlemap for combat. The adventure also includes Encounter Levels, which are challenge ratings for various encounters in the adventure. I don't know if these are standard features in today's adventure modules, but they certainly should be. Adventure Contents (SPOILERS): Despite the title, this isn't your run-of-the-mill hackfest. I'm very appreciative how the adventure covers a wide variety of standard elements of an adventure. It has a basic town (military post), a standard non-orc dungeon crawl (including a discussion why dungeons are more popular with new gaming groups), infiltrating an orc festival (a creative example of an open-ended adventure), resulting preparations for the orc attack, plus a few small skirmishes and sneaking around that add chrome. Because the orc festival is open-ended, the adventure tries to anticipate player actions, and gives Encounter Levels for possible ones. The adventure then ends with seven adventure hooks. Minor magic items, but no new monsters, are added to the adventure. (END OF SPOILER) Conclusion: New GMs should make this one of their first books for their gaming library. This books makes a very good gift for a new GM. The player's guide and GM tips will be useful even after the adventure is over (or if you don't end up playing it). The adventure itself should provide a new GM examples of plot elements and standard encounters in a typical D&D game. GMs not familiar with 3e will appreciate the assistance in miniatures-based combat, as well as examples on using skills outside of combat. The player's guide is missing a detailed character generation section. But otherwise, this is a very well written adventure and book. Fast Forward Games website: http://www.fastforwardgames.com Thomas M. Reid's Roleplaying Game Credits http://www.pen-paper.net/rpgdb.php?op=showcreator&creatorid=99 RPGnet review of the D&D Adventure Game: http://www.rpg.net/news reviews/reviews/rev_1654.html The 3rd Edition review of the D&D Adventure Game: http://www.3rdedition.org/reviews/print.asp?ID=9