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There’s a Crisis at Crusader Citadel, is the first adventure for Villains & Vigilantes. It was included in the V&V boxed set, and like the Keep on the Borderlands for Basic D&D, was probably the single most played V&V adventure. It is a very basic and simple adventure, and is good for both beginning GMs and Players alike, and even vets can have some fun with it. I should also point out, this adventure just oozes with the “feel” of V&V, and really sets the tone for the way the game is intended to be played.
I’m debating on going right down the line, and reviewing all the V&V adventures for the archives...this will probably depend on the reaction I get from this review, how much “free” time I have, and how motivated I stay.
My intention, is to inform potential GMs of what the adventure contains, to see if they want to bother putting forth the extra effort to get it (available online from FGU or on eBay, or some such place). Also, to inspire some nastolgic players to relive, and perhaps share, the fun they had with these adventures. In any case, it is loaded with spoilers, so, If you plan on being a player, I wouldn’t read any further.
Appearance:
CCC is a mere 20 pages long, with 4 of those being title page, copyright info, Preface and contents, and blank. It is like the V&V rulebook, when it comes to it’s small font, and black and white double spaced interior. The cover is a thick cardstock, the front is color (colorful might be a better description of this particular cover!) the back Black and white. Both sport Artwork by Jeff Dee. If your a Dee fan, this won’t disappoint, and as I’ve said, I feel that Jeff Dees artwork definitely has a major role in setting the mood of V&V. Also in the center of the book, you will find 2 pages of thick cardstock cut-out counters/miniatures to use with this particular adventure. A very nice feature, that was a bit ahead of it’s time. These are also color and by Jeff Dee. Other than that, the book contains some pretty decent Maps of the 2 locations used in the adventure (although the crusader headquarters itself has no bathrooms...urp!). The only illustrations are of the heroes and villains (all by Dee...cool!), but between these and the maps, the 16 pages of adventure are pretty loaded with pictures.
The Adventure:
The adventure itself is VERY straightforward. It is complete enough that a beginning GM can run it straight out of the box, and it offers enough interesting bits that an experienced GM can tweak a few areas or situations and come up with some cool effects. The basic Idea is that the Crushers (a villainous super group) has captured the Crusaders (the cities primary crime fighting super force!) and is holding them prisoner (unknown to anyone) in their own headquarters, the Crusader Citadel on the top 4 floors of the Harmon building in Center City. The Crushers are trying to reprogram Teacher, the Crusaders near-sentient computer of Ultra-advanced design, to gain his top-secret knowledge. It is basicly divided into 3 sections, the Introduction, and 2 fight scenes.
The Introduction is outside the Citadel, as the PCs (new supers) are applying to become Crusaders . This is where the PCs meet each other, and possibly fight (in Marvel tradition). They try to gain access to the citadel, only to be turned away by Teacher (on the fritz, but not reprogrammed yet). The heroes also get to meet the local news reporter who rushes in at just the right time to inform them about the missing Crusaders, and the Crusher crime wave! This leads them to the chief investigator of the Crushers activities, and he lets them know of a predicted attack by the Crushers on a local business (manning Enterprises) that is producing the components the Crushers seem to be stealing all over town (the stuff they need to reprogram Teacher).
The first fight scene puts the heroes in charge of an ambush at Manning Enterprises. This section offers a complete keyed map of the building, details on the 6 Crushers that will raid the building, and the basic plan of attack, and an aftermath section. After this, Teachers programmer arrives in town to inform the Heroes that the only reason to be stealing these components is to reprogram Teacher. Which leads to the stunning conclusion that the Crushers are hiding out in the Crusader Citadel itself!
The second half of the adventure (or second fight) takes place in the Crusader Citadel, and details the top 4 floors of the Harmon building (ala, the Fantastic 4s hideout), and the second half of the Crusher team, and how they will react. This section also contains details on the Crusaders themselves (held captive in the Infirmary in plexiglass tubes filled with mind-numbing vapors...sorry, they are in no shape to help! But having the stats and illustrations is a neat addition for NPCs).
Conclusion:
I would definitely say this book is worth picking up to anyone who wants to run V&V. Its a decent fun beginning adventure, with plenty of room to improvise. It’s worth it alone for the 12 stated and detailed villains and 6 heroes...as well as the Jeff Dee illustrations. One thing about V&V that always amazed me was the ability to create unique villains (seems that between Marvel and DC all the villains have been done already!). This adventure sees such interesting villains as Temper, Mercury Merc., F.I.S.T., Mocker ,Marionette, and more! Want to know about them? I’m not going to ruin EVERYTHING! Get the book and find out. It is also full of a lot of fun “classic” 80’s comic book stuff (20 ft. computer display screens, chemistry labs complete with bubbling flasks, miniature space shuttles, ect.).
On the flip side, It’s not very “deep” and isn’t as developed as most adventures produced today. It is rather like an adventure you could (or would) write yourself in one evening. That may be a good thing, or a bad thing, depending on your point of view. The real strength of the adventure is the cool villains, interesting locations, and the potential for some real interesting exciting fights that can come as a rusult of using the V&V combat system.
