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Review of The Crucible of Freya
Right away, the two-page introduction breaks it down for the reader. First up a summary of the adventure, followed by the background. Next is the module overview, which makes mention of The Wizard's Amulet, and it breaks down the structure of the content for ease of familiarity. There are some notes for the Dungeon Master, which point out the obvious--you need the D&D 3rd Edition rulebooks, and you need to spend some time reading things through in order to become familiar with this, and so on--but it also states clearly that The Crucible of Freya is a difficult adventure that may result in one or more PCs dying unless the group is clever and acts as a team. (The company's design philosophy at the end isn't necessary, but it does drive home that Peterson and Webb are out to recreate the feel of the classic AD&D 1st Edition modules.) Next is a small section regarding adaptation of the contents, but it's the same sort of advice that the DMG has--change the names, the gods, make the cat into a small fuzzy bunny named "Herb", and so on--so there's nothing here that you've not seen before. Finally, under "How to Begin", there's another plug for The Wizard's Amulet as the ideal lead-in to The Crucible of Freya as well as a rundown of the possible outcomes and how they relate to this module; after that, there's a discussion about how to tie in the PCs and get them involved. (Again, nothing new here: the PCs are on their way to an infamous dungeon, the PCs here to see the Priestess Shandril, the PCs are to track down some other NPC in the village, they're here to track down Eralion's keep, etc.)
Starting on page four is the "Areas of Adventure" section, which is all about the areas around the village of Fairhill as well as Fairhill proper- and all of the inhabitants therein. It begins with a rundown of Fairhill's location relative to other locations in Necromancer Games' default setting; these comparisons sometimes include travel times as well as distances in miles, but otherwise the majority of them are vague and general. Next is a wandering encounter table, and the necessary notes for its use. Third are the monster lairs, and these are not for your low-level groups of PCs; even the geniuses out there will get slaughtered unless the Dice Gods bless them and their PCs are appropriately outfitted. (There are a troll, an ettin, an owlbear, and a pair of manticora to slay when the PCs are up to the challenge.)
The rest of the section goes into great detail about the village of Fairhill, its inhabitants, the rumors to be heard, what's where and when it's available to the PCs, who's who and do they like the PCs, and the player-friendly information for the goddess Freya is in a nice box that can't be missed. Nearby is Eralion's keep, and this--as it is near Fairhill--finishes the section; like the Fairhill information, it's concerned with what's where, who's who, and how the PCs cope with all of it. (The lack of rumors and such is deliberate, as this keep is the big setpiece for the module.)
In these first two sections, Peterson and Webb present plenty of data about Fairhill and its environs- so much so that there's more than enough to keep the PCs going far beyond the module's adventure. That adventure begins on page 32, and it lives up to the old-school motto in deed. It starts with a fight with three orcs on a road, and from there the PCs enter town to rest up. After an DM-detertimed time, the villains at the ruined keep attack Fairhill and steal the titular item from the Fertile Lady's temple; the PCs are asked to get it back, and they are equipped to do the job. The PCs chase the villains back to the ruined keep, attack it, kill the bad guys, chase the leader into the depths, kill him and the undead ex-owner of the keep, get back the crucible, and return home as heroes with plenty of treasure to go with the experience they've gained for their efforts.
Like I've said many times before, there's nothing new here. What is here, however, is an old idea executed in a very gamer-friendly manner that others should take the time to study and emulate. There are no crazy plots, no elaborate studies in relativism, and no subjective moralities at play here. Instead, you have this: the Bad Guys came, killed a bunch of hapless Good Guys and Innocent People, defiled a holy temple, stole a holy relic, and ran off to do Evil Things with it. The PCs are the Good Guys who, with the help of a few other Good Guys, go after the Bad Guys, kick in the door, kill the Bad Guys, take their stuff, reclaim the holy relic, and cleanse the place of evil so they can go home as acclaimed heroes- or die trying. It's cliched, it's hackeyned, and it's trite- all of this is true. Yet, I cannot help but to like The Crucible of Freya because of these very traits; never will I have to struggle to get any group of D&D PCs into this adventure, unlike other games I've run in my day, because there is so clearly an issue of Good vs. Evil.
I'll stop before I ramble on about the virtue of simplicity, and I'll summarize by stating that this module is not just an adventure module. It's also a short suppliment that details Fairhill in all of the detail that's needed to use this place in the majority of D&D games out there. For less than $10, that's a damn good bargain. Check it down when you make your next trip to the Friendly Local Game Store.
