'Undiscovered Quests & Adventures (Q&A)' is an e-zine featuring articles and adventures for the 'Undiscovered: The Quest for Adventure' RPG. It is published in PDF format by Eilfin Publishing, and available from the publisher's website, as well as from RPGNow.
Before I start, I should mention that I don't own the Undiscovered Rulebook. I do however have the free Quickstart, available from Eilfin's website, and the author has advised me that this should be enough to perform a fair review of this e-zine.
This review of Issue 2 of the e-zine follows on from my earlier review of Issue 1.
Presentation
The PDF formatting in this issue is the same as the first. While the contents page links to the articles, bookmarks are still missing, and copying from the text is still impossible. The general layout is the same two-column format, and the unreadable cursive font remains.
Some grammar, spelling and word choice issues are still present in this issue. 'Altar', for instance, does not contain an 'e', and I have to wonder why the size of an 'average civilized human' would be innately different from that of the average uncivilized human. RPG.net's own Adrian Chapman (whose fiction is featured in this issue) would do well to re-examine the rules for using commas, and maybe draft his work a few more times to work out some phrasing problems. But then, I am a grammar nazi, so maybe I'm being too harsh.
The quality of the artwork in this issue is much improved. Tom Miskey's art is a sound addition (his illustration of a cherruve on page 96 is a personal favorite), and Jon Hodgson is excellent as always. Robert Carlos seems to have put in some of the necessary work on anatomy, but he has much more ground to cover yet; the pose of his Desert Duster on page 38 looks particularly awkward.
Content
This issue again includes two adventures. 'Raiders in Disguise' is a stand-alone, while 'Breaking the Ice' is the second part of the trilogy of adventures begun in the first issue. Again, the adventures are easy to convert to your fantasy system of choice.
Adam D. Theriault demonstrates once again his ability to turn clichéd adventure plots into interesting stories with 'Raiders'. Reports of a raid by trolls on a small village lead the PCs into an adventure that veers towards dungeon crawl territory in certain sections, but never for long. This adventure will provide a good night's entertainment for a party prepared to think about the evidence before they act. It also features a new addition to the world of Arkas, the Mokrel, detailed elsewhere in this issue.
The second installment in the trilogy begun with 'Trading Company Troubles', 'Breaking the Ice' once again makes use of a location detailed in the e-zine. This adventure has the PCs following up on leads from the first adventure, and investigating a thieves' guild in the town of Zutum. Even more focused on investigation than the first part, this scenario will reward a patient group of PCs, especially if your group appreciates a little intrigue.
There are more pre-made NPCs and locations this issue. Most are easily converted for use in your favorite fantasy RPG. Jean Carlos continues his series of NPC details for the high priests and priestesses of different gods, this time covering Eos and Luna. While these NPCs are well-detailed, a campaign only needs so many High Priests and Priestesses, so hopefully this series won't go on much longer. The town of Zutum would make an excellent base of operations for a PC group, especially if they've had a chance to explore it in an adventure like 'Breaking the Ice'. I also particularly like the Astman Jungles, for which wildlife and monster stats are provided, but I'm a sucker for Amazon-style adventuring locations.
The new game rules material included in this issue is quite extensive, with new spells, a new PC race, and a wealth of new monsters. The Vormokrel stands out among the monsters, with its ability to bond to a dwarf providing tremendous story potential. The new PC race, the Half-Dwarf, is in much the same vein as the previous issue's Half-Alfar, and is similarly well-balanced. All of the new spells fit in quite well with 'Undiscovered's coven magic system, and give characters a number of new options in combat and out of it.
I found this issue's game fiction overall better than last issue's. The continuation of the 'Slather's Secrets' piece from the previous issue stands out here, making good use of the afore-mentioned plot potential inherent in the Vormokrel, but the dialogue is a little stilted. Adrian Chapman's piece is evocative, but as mentioned, the phrasing and grammar needs work.
Jon Hodgson is this issue's Showcase artist, and his amazing work provides a great example of what illustrators should aspire to. His dynamic use of color, and his wonderful shading makes his pieces live. It's a wonder this man doesn't get more work than he already does.
This issue of 'Undiscovered Quests & Adventures' is much improved over the first, and again provides a profusion of fantasy gaming material for any system. There's a lot for an inventive GM to work with here, and conversion is very worthwhile if you don't play 'Undiscovered'.
Go to forum!
(Due to spamming, old forum discussions are no linked.)