For style and layout, the book neither excels nor fails. I was able to clearly read through it with no distractions. I also have no complaints about the artwork.
Competitions revolve around a simple core mechanic. TFT uses “degrees of success” to determine how well a given task is performed. This adds depth to opposed tests and draws out the contest. There is no drama with a simple opposed die roll. That’s fine for combat situations which makes up most of D&D. But when you get to more social event, you see the problem arise. Feats are added to round out the mechanic so that the character can become a grand master in a given event.
Classic games such as cards and chases are given a light touch and the book moves on to martial tournaments such as archery and jousting. The martial events are a little more complicated, which is only natural as D&D has core rules built around these things. I liked the two jousting maneuvers given, which adds a potential bit of strategy to the event.
The book moves on to tavern games which one might find in a ... well ... tavern. Fire breathing, contests of wits (a nice touch), and even plays are covered. From there we have magical competitions. I have to admit, I didn’t care for “Bhaly” that much as it was just a slightly more complicated version of basketball with spellcasting, but since it only needs five players it might work great for a game based on Harry Potter (there is a sly reference to this). I honestly felt this was the weakest chapter. The games were just a little too trite for me. That said, the D&D fire-and-forget magic system complicates things here.
Next is Festival games, which essentially is everything else. These delve into flights of fancy. Squashgoblin is a dwarf-only game, but I could easily envision it being used as comedy relief if the party goes underground and has to gain the trust of a dwarf king or whatever. I would have liked to have seen more party-oriented challenges like this in the book.
Chapter Seven is DM advice on how to run a festive encounter. It seems pretty solid enough. Three sample events are given. They struck me as being a notch on the dark side. Fine, of course, I just personally would have preferred to see one light-and-happy faire to balance things out. The book ends with an appendix of what things the party might be able to find at an event. Very useful tables here.
This is a solid book covering material that inevitably comes up sooner or later in every campaign. It really helps flesh out a festive event and lets the party “explore” areas that the DM might otherwise have been time-pressed to think of. I will happily give TFT a “low” 5/5. This is not a perfect book, but I am very pleased with it and it does an excellent job of addressing the social aspects of adventuring.
Help support RPGnet by purchasing this item through DriveThruRPG.
