 Goto [ Index ] |
Review Summary: ‘The Last Defender’ is an average product that can be mined for ideas but little more. Hardcore roll-players might find the mindless combat of their liking, although ‘The Last Defender’ is not the usual dungeon crawl.
What you get: For your US$2.99 you get a soft cover 16-page d20 adventure for 5th to 7th level characters, authored by A. A. Acevedo and J. Darby Douglas and published by Alderac Entertainment Group. The ‘Last Defender’ is the second adventure of the second run of AEG’s instant adventures (numbered 8322) that can be played in a session. It is in the weird format of a folded A4 paper that became the standard for mini-modules published both by AEG and by Fantasy Flight Games. The artwork is sparse and average in every sense, while the map in the middle is (aesthetically) fair.
Spoiler warning: stop reading here.
The story: Genmarr pass has recently been reopened. Rumours suggest that its Gateway is haunted, and a caravan is reported missing indeed. The characters get involved after either a merchant guild asks them to retrieve their missing caravan or a noble asks them to enforce his family claim on the pass and the stronghold. Either way the characters have to go to the Gateway and solve the mystery.
The strong points: Having a toll station as the locale of this adventure is a fresh idea. The strategic location of the gateway-toll station is clever, especially because of the gigantic rock protruding from the chasm. It is a good idea indeed to build a toll post on the rock. Unfortunately this leads to other design complications discussed in the ‘weak points’.
Clever are also the three ways in which the now undead captain of the guard can be defeated. The one avoiding actual combat is ingenious, while the other two are also solid. The characters must prove their heroism against the captain, not just against the rest of the guard.
The weak points: The main problem with the adventure is that the characters have no incentive at all to do it, as the Gateway appears to be there just to be claimed. Although most of the characters’ enemies are undead, no fear or dread is evoked. If the opponents were living and an army was to arrive to back the defenders of the Gateway, the adventure would have had more interest. A potent GM can solve these nuisances but this essentially means keeping only the pass and rewriting the rest of the adventure. As the game stands I can think of many ways the characters can circumvent the adventure without any fighting. Don’t get me wrong, in any other adventure this would be brilliant, but it appears that fighting is the scope of this adventure. No fighting means US$2.99 lost.
The story behind ‘The Last Defender’ appears to lack cohesion and to a certain extent, logic. The King sends his troops to (not against) the Baron who owned the Gateway and imposed tolls, in order to peacefully force him to reduce the tolls. In an act of defiance the Baron orders his Gateway troops to defend and not let them pass. He also sends reinforcements that he later recalls, without ordering his Gateway troops to surrender. The King’s army slaughters everybody and the spirits of the Baron’s troops haunt the area. Great. Any other totally absurd decisions from the part of the Baron?
When the characters approach the Gateway and realize that it is haunted, what prohibits them of going back to town, re-equip themselves with scrolls, renewed spells, even hire a priest or two and return to the Gateway for a clean victory against the undead? I don’t buy the ‘characters are the heroes’ argument, as I know power gamers who wouldn’t risk their characters’ lives if they realize that an easier way to bypass the obstacles exists.
I also have some trouble with the map of the Gateway. Initially it appeared logical but since when are the barracks and mess hall situated on the third floor of a tower? This totally undermines the idea of fast troop mobilization.
The Guardian Spectre, the new creature presented in the module is a fair try, but one gets the feeling something is amiss. Its statistics are fearsome indeed, but its feel on the characters is dampened.
The magical item is plain boring. A 1 battle axe which the ‘Dark Powers’ enchanted more, bla bla bla. It is obviously oriented towards power gamers, but lacking any innovation whatsoever.
And of course, the casual typos made their way to the text of the adventure, again.
Conclusion: This is the second adventure of Alderac’s I read that turned out to be a disappointment. Although not outright horrible as the ‘Red Isle’, the first adventure of this second series of mini-modules, ‘The Last Defender’ leaves a lot to be desired. It lacks the driving initiative for characters to do what they are actually doing; in a sense it is ‘tasteless’. Unfortunately the potential created by the location is undermined by the critters of the location, making the ratio of the product rewriting needed enjoyment/money paid quite low. Therefore I would suggest it only to those not caring for the need of a coherent plot and enjoying mindless combat. ----------------------------------------------------------
The 2011 re-examination: It needs as much work as it did back then. More of an extended encounter than an adventure, and not the most elaborate one at that.
Help support RPGnet by purchasing this item through DriveThruRPG.
