review: the breaking of forstor nagar by rite publishing

Metric: Icicles  Given you're in a glacial city in a race against time with some rather toothy enemies, the artistic metaphor seems apposite.
DISCLAIMER: Review based on PDF copy & Maptools elements provided by Rite Publishing.
Overall: 5 icicles.  (Pay attention big guys. This may be the future...)
A Pathfinder module for 8th-level characters with Maptools support built in!  Evocative setting, slam-bang action, eminently re-useable villains and magical items.  The layout is a cut above many PDFs.  The Maptools elements get their own documentation and are fun to use.

Content: 5 icicles (a iconic and challenging race against time)
Entering a besieged city on a rescue mission is one thing.  A glacial city trapped by a cannibalistic legion of hellish warriors?  That might be a little bit harder. This scenario takes full advantage of the cold environment to give the players food for thought.  The siege provides entertaining encounter elements.  Iconic arctic encounters have twists, NPCs have their own ideas.  A party will need both tactical and social skills to get out alive with their rescuee.  Chances for reckless heroism and cunning strategy abound.  Risks carry reward - some tactics are preferred of course. 

The stakes escalate as the city falls apart, it's secrets revealed and the Hungering Legion gets ever closer.  This adventure draws on deep roots.  Elements of Band of Brothers, Kull the Conqueror, and A4: In The Dungeons Of The Slave Lords combine beautifully.  The sense of high adventure and dark fantasy about Forstor Nagar makes this scenario sing. The scenario is flexible enough to provide multiple routes to the key encounters.  It provides a raft of motivations to visit and following actions once the adventure is done though there's enough here to set up a campaign arc.

The MapTools elements mesh well and are well-crafted.  There's documentation and if that's not enough, video tutorials at Rite Publishing.  Those familiar with technology like MapTools and Google+ will find this useful.  The tokens can be adapted to cardstock if Internet access isn't essential at your table. 

Art/Layout: 5 icicles (coldly beautiful, has style and substance).
Tyler Bartley's cover is ominous yet gives away nothing.  Interior art by Bartley, Jonathan Roberts and James Hazlett convey the epic nature of the setting.  The cold colours help evoke the feel of the scenario. Layout is simple yet effective, text boxes are uncluttered and the page backgrounds are lovely.  Stat blocks are clear, concise and informative.  Visually-appealing encounter maps help speed setup and shading highlights information to the busy GM.

In conclusion, this is a blast of a scenario - Ben McFarland has created a rollercoaster ride, the art and layout make it pretty damned excellent.  Nods to Open Design's Midgard setting with pre-generated PCs show how well this scenario integrates with other settings.  With Forstor Nagar, Rite Publishing have provided an excellent introduction to open mapping support for scenarios - hopefully the first of many.

bakalpanga

No. Enc.: 1d6 (1d12)
Alignment: Neutral
Movement: 120' (40')
Armor Class: 7
Hit Dice: 3d8
Attacks: 1 (bite)
Damage: 1d6, see below
Save: F2
Morale: 7
Hoard Class: VI

These 5' long iguana are named by Aussarian natives for their strong jaws and sharp teeth.  Their bite is strong enough that on a natural 20, their jaws lock in place and worry the victim for 1d6 automatic damage each round.  They cannot be removed until either the lizard or the victim is dead.  Their heads have heat-sensing pits in the forehead allowing them a limited form of infravision to 30'.  They prefer to bask in places where there is a lot of heat, moving away from such places to hunt.

(inspired by the Forge-A-Monster challenge at Monsters & Manuals)

inns & taverns: the blue owl

The two-storey tavern with walled garden sits apart from neighbours at the village edge.  A blue slate roof tops dark tarred timber and rough grey stone.  A blue horned owl watches from a circular white tile above the lintel.  Most locals keep their distance, preferring to brew their own, muttering about the owner being 'strange'. Visitors report it as "...indifferent, though well-appointed."

The recessed step up to the iron-bound south-facing door shelters from elements and sight.  The slate roof is distinctive and draws the eye from neighbouring houses.  The exterior is well-maintained and regularly cleaned by a local goodwife.  Her tuneless singing greets those in the morning.  The garden borders onto a rudimentary stable with one stall permanently taken by an aged palfrey and the stableboy.  Inside, the taproom's bar runs along the west wall.  A simple iron candelabrum lights the room.  Tapestries showing great heroes hang on the walls.  Tables and chairs are arranged in the corners. Stairs in the north wall leads up to a corridor of guest rooms and two locked doors.  One hides the rooms of Amfort and his extended family, the other is the owner's domain.  The west wall has the kitchen and a small private room for which Amfort has a key.

The beer is a brown ale from many miles north with a sulphurous aftertaste.  A syrupy barleywine, damson and gooseberry cordials are available at reasonable prices.  For food, a saltfish and carrot broth of notable vintage is always available.  More palatable fare of black bread, pickled onions and chunks of smoked pork sausage can be bought for a few silver.  The menu sometimes includes attempts to ape courtly favourites with more mundane ingredients.  The success rate of these attempts are wildly variable.  Some are edible in comparison to courtly fare.

Amfort, the landlord is a burly widower better at cracking skulls and counting coin than serving ale.  Wise enough to know, he lets Nila, his sister-in-law handle minutiae like paying customers.  Nila's charm soothes the roughness of the Owl's menu.  Nila's aunt doubles as cook and cleaner, her uncle works in the cellar.  Amfort's son, Kars, tends garden in the day and works as a linkboy to and from the Owl at night.  The stableboy, Jurd, is a foundling taken in by Nila.  Amfort would not miss Jurd if he left unexpectedly.

The stables are rudimentary enough.  Up to eight rooms can be rented for a few silver a night.  Here the Blue Owl redeems itself.  The rooms are simple and warm, each with comfortable beds, a jug of water, covered chamberpots and flowers.  Noise however will bring down the ire of the Owl's owner.  Tharsal is a sage who works on commission.  He dwells in the inn's stateroom, surrounded by rare manuscripts and a pair of cats.  He keeps himself to himself, has a little magic and his meals delivered promptly to him.

Tharsal prefers to keep out of sight.  His knowledge of otherworldly phenomena make him valuable to powerful figures.  His choice to live in ease atop an inn is a deliberate snub to those figures.  They are forced to be subtle as a result.  For all his foibles (the Owl's menu are Tharsal's favourites) both Amfort and Nila prefer him to other employers.  The locals avoid the Blue Owl because of Tharsal.  Some of his employers have distinctly infernal tastes.

ebon zikkuract reloaded

Over at the prolific netherwerks, the latest implementation of Planet Algol's commandment to seed our worlds with black ziggurats has provoked nostalgia for the ebon zikkuract of Algolia and it's hyper-geometric shadow-worlds.  I'm pondering a revamp but wonder which system(s) to flesh them out with?  Not as if I don't have enough choice so I'm going to throw this out to the readers.  I could FLAILSNAILS it, leaving it to the individual GM/DM/Keeper/Game Leader to fight it out of course.  If you've any thoughts or preferences, leave a comment or use the poll below.

Which system should I use for revamping the Ebon Zikkuract?

4th Edition D&D
Pathfinder
d20
Labyrinth Lord
AGE
Basic Role Playing
Other (post in comments)

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