Category: D&D Reviews (Page 3 of 5)

Tim Bannock provides in-depth reviews of the entire range of Dungeons & Dragons releases, from the old school to the latest campaigns to the community content and OGL releases!

Mini-Dungeon Tome Adventure Review: The Great Library by Jonathan Ely

The Great Library is a quintessential tier 2 dungeon crawl from the Mini-Dungeon Tome. It adheres to the old-school mentality that powers much of this book’s material: less is more; make it your own. As such, it offers some evocative details and challenges even on an otherwise fairly simple map. Additionally, the big bad guy makes for a fantastic recurring villain given his nature…

Rating: Content 4/5 and Form 4/5

Pick up the Mini-Dungeon Tome at DriveThruRPG and use the Mini-Dungeon Assistant at the AAW Games website to pick the adventure specs you want!

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Animal Training by E. R. F. Jordan: A Dungeon Masters Guild Review

E. R. F. Jordan tackles one of my favorite subjects in Animal Training (5e Rules): befriending the monsters you meet on your adventures and turning them into useful allies! It dovetails nicely with the established rules for Beast Master ranger animal companions in that it states outright it’s doing something for all characters and classes. It divides the subject matter into three simple sections, each with compelling, elegant mechanics. For a subject that I’m so invested in, it’s a tall order for Animal Training to bring something I like to the field, but E. R. F. Jordan’s system mastery and concise writing delivers in every way imaginable. I’m definitely using this guide in my games.

Rating: Content 5/5 and Form 3/5

Pick up Animal Training (5e Rules) by E. R. F. Jordan at Dungeon Masters Guild today!

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Quirks by E. R. F. Jordan: A Dungeon Masters Guild Review

E. R. F. Jordan’s Quirks (5e Rules) is a roleplay-heavy rules supplement that gives players a major character trait that has both beneficial (talents) and negative (flaws) sides. Though certainly focused on the roleplay, this book features elegant mechanics for the quirks, and they translate extremely easily to other existing mechanics, such as minor magical item properties, background features, and more. This versatility, along with some guidance by the author for using quirks as alternate rewards or having them chosen via random roll, really gives Quirks a lot of usability in a clean 11-page package.

Rating: Content 4/5 and Form 3/5

Pick up Quirks (5e Rules) by E. R. F. Jordan at Dungeon Masters Guild today!

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Archetypal Spell Compendium: Artificers & Arcanists Review

This review originally appeared on neuronphaser.com, and has been moved here for archival purposes.

Archetypal Spell Compendium: Artificers & Arcanists is a mechanics-heavy supplement geared towards players. It presents 101 new spells and a handful of new archetypes for spellcasting classes (including the official and newly-released-to-the-DMsGuild class, the Artificer). The author’s mechanical knowledge of 5th edition is fantastically showcased, as is the amount of lore that enhances the Forgotten Realms setting as well as touches upon other campaign worlds through the origin notes on several spells. This book is jam-packed with well-balanced, well-researched gaming material you can immediately start using at your table.

Rating: Content 5/5 and Form 4/5.

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Curse of Strahd Review

This review originally appeared on neuronphaser.com, and has been moved here for archival purposes.

Curse of Strahd is one of the strongest of the official Dungeons & Dragons adventures. There may not be a better module for Wizards of the Coast to retell, since I6 Ravenloft ranked among the best modules of all time, and Curse truly takes the necessary steps to convert it and then improve on it, rather than simply repackaging old material. What you’re getting is the iconic Ravenloft adventure featuring Strahd von Zarovich’s Castle Ravenloft and the haunted village of Barovia, but with his tragic backstory spread over a bigger playing field that presents hundreds of new mysteries, encounters, and new characters. It sheds new light on the classic story and challenges players with new, engaging material. Best of all, the concept of “replayability” present in the original module through the tarot-style Fortunes of Ravenloft Tarokka card deck is back, and that means you never know who’s your greatest ally, where the secrets to defeating Strahd might lay, and ultimately, where Strahd will reveal himself for the inevitable epic battle at the adventure’s climax.

Rating: Content 4/5 and Form 4/5.

Buy the hardcover at Amazon or pick it up on D&D Beyond!

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