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Review of Maiden Voyage
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To be an honest, this adventure caught my eye as a way for my group to travel to Freeport, published by Green Ronin, rather than just have them sitting through a boring voyage. The story has your characters in town being enticed by Captain Fenn to help against any raiders that he fears may menace his ship. Before starting out, your characters come across some bounty hunters and their prey (who figures in later, of course) and, very quickly, they determine that not all is what it seems.
Not to reveal too much without going into spoiler mode, I was impressed with the backgrounds or I should say personalities of the NPC's. Each biography was detailed enough for the DM to gain a sense of character rather a sense of facts. As a DM, it is much easier for me to express NPC's characters in mood, speech, and motivations and, I believe more enjoyable for the players. Capt Fenn, First Mate Huxley, and Wendt, Ship's Cook are some of the notable characters. Once I read their backgrounds, I knew immediately how to play them. Any reference checks will for skills and abilities only. In fact, there isn't any real DM narration boxes that one finds in other modules. There are side notes and hint boxes, but NPC characters themselves serve as the descriptive and background of the players' surroundings. Very well done in this regard.
The author doesn't violate ship life of the period too much. The only inaccurate moment was the mention of a character that spent all day in the crow's nest during the voyage. Unless sunstroke was the order of the day, crewmen were needed for more important matters. The crow's nest was used primarily for spotting land. However, I didn't mind this at all, because the crew member's inclination to stay in the crow's nest all day was part of his personality. NPC's all have a reason to be there and some like our crew nest man can be fun.
This is more of a mystery adventure on board a ship. In fact, there is a great opportunity for some grand role-playing here including rules for a card game with NPC's using dice rolls for outcomes including cheating sailors. I haven't had time to playtest the rules yet, but I am intrigued by the dynamics. Your characters will quickly gain a sense of what each NPC is about and how to deal with them. Even players that find role-playing with NPC's a chore will enjoy the intrigue and background of this adventure.
Again, to avoid going into spoiler mode, there is suspense, intrigue, and lots of watching your backside as the days progress. When doo doo hits the fan, your players will be involved in deep discussions on who they can trust and who they cannot turn their back on. Chad Brouillard does a brilliant job heightening the suspense while the characters try to figure out who did what to whom and why.
I must say that I am excited to run this adventure for my players. This is an excellent way for first level players to earn a few XP's before getting to Freeport or other port. In fact, if you are looking for an in-between adventure story for low level characters, you have found it.
My only real complaint comes from the graphic layout choice that was made for this book. For 9.95, this 40 page adventure is a bargain, with some nice art and nautical design elements added to the borders, however, the standard gray boxes that most modules adopted for DM narration or side notes (the latter in this case) has been replaced with a light blue ocean graphic overlayed by small fonts that makes it a pain to read. It was a nice idea, but in the next printing ATLAS should consider enlarging and / or bolding the fonts or choose a less busier background.
Even if you don't plan on running a first to third level adventure for a while, I would recommend picking up this little gem just for the story elements. Maiden Voyage makes a fine darn nautical, mystery, and horror story that will make your characters think before they act. Once they reach shore (assuming they survive the grand finale), they will be kissing the ground.
