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The Pit of Loch-Durnan (POLD)
The Blurb:
This massive adventure from Mystic Eye
Games will fit into any d20 fantasy setting.
It is ideal for 4-6 characters from 2 nd to 4 th
level. Immerse yourself in a plot of intrigue,
betrayal, and murder while trying to help a
small town rid it’s mine of evil goblins and
more. Can your band of adventurers help
Loch-Durnan, or will they die in the dark
caverns of the pit? (Not my punctuation or
grammar) MSRP: $11.95.
The Bones:
On first impressions, POLD is seemingly a
high-quality product, with a nice, glossy,
limp-back cover. The mood is well set by
the cover, dark, brooding and sinister, with
good attention to detail. Inside, there are
some nice page decorations, continuing the
‘dark’ theme and plenty of incidental
illustration, although the latter vary in
quality form the quite good to the, well
simply put, amateurish. Which brings us on
to the maps, a strange mix of quality and
presentation styles, some with gridlines,
some with dot-grids and some with neither.
There is ample opportunity for the party to
literally ‘wander off the beaten path’ and
also to wander from the ‘guided’ route
through the encounters but fear not,
provision is made should the party do just
that. POLD is indeed quite an expansive
scenario, although I wouldn’t go so far as
to call it massive. There are wilderness
encounters, town encounters, building
encounters and dungeon encounters. There
are ready-to-play characters (PC’s) which
double as non-player characters (NPC’s),
new creatures and new special items of
both a magical and a non-magical nature.
There is even a free, add-on, adventure
location, downloadable from the Mystic Eye
Games (MEG) website, at least that’s what
it states in POLD, unfortunately when I
checked the website nothing was available.
This is not a get rich quick scenario,
although it may be presented to the party
in such a way, treasure is not overly
abundant but there are extras to be found
by those players whom are both carefully
observant and persistent. A nice balance is
found, helped by mechanics such as some
magical items having a limited period of
usage. For Characters whom survive to the
conclusion of the scenario, there is even
the opportunity to base themselves in the
hamlet and become Lord Protectors of the
residents, an accolade unheard of at the
character levels suggested and there is a
wonderful opportunity to develop enmity
with escapee NPC’s, for those wishing to
continue in this campaign setting.
The Skinny:
I don’t know what the project timetable
was like for this product but I get the
feeling it must have been quite tight, there
is a distinct shortfall in the quality of copy
editing, with typo’s and poor grammar
abounding, even the ‘very’ odd double
space finds it’s way in there. The cover
tells you the 3 rd edition Player’s Handbook
is required, whereas the notice above the
internal credits states the 3 rd edition
Dungeon Master’s Guide and the Monster
Manual will also be needed. Mystic Eye
claim to be taking the campaign setting
seriously and go out of their way to affirm
their commitment to this product,
comforting for the purchaser I’m sure
you’ll agree, which makes the missing
prom-ised extras, even more of a mystery.
In the introduction, great pains are taken
to emphasize the importance of
atmosphere to the successful running of
the scenario and this type of campaign in
general, yet there is scant mood-setting
descriptive material provided for the
Dungeon Master (DM), until that is, the
party reach Ian’s Tower.
A shame because an experienced DM will
make this into a memorable tale for all
concerned but a fledgling DM may struggle
to make it anything more than a linear
dungeon hack, one which the party are
unlikely to survive. Perhaps making use of
a sound effects tape, with distant screams
and bells tolling, would help create the
desired atmosphere, along with subdued
lighting or even candlelight.
There is a glorious error, within one of the
most important encounters of the entire
module, regarding instructions for the
party to a) Finish off the major
troublemaker and b) Escape the ensuing
carnage. If this was intentional it was a
stroke of genius and if it was accidental, it
is the type of fortuitous accident I could do
with by the bucket-load. The error lies in
the written instruction, in the form of a
map, differing from the verbal instruction
given by the NPC. The furore within the
party, whence this minor incongruity was
‘discovered’ by my NPC was, how should I
put it…a joy to behold.
Hack ‘n’ Slash
players will not
do well in this
scenario there
are just too many
foes for lowly
characters to
wade through
and some quite
powerful ones to
boot, even the
wandering
monsters are
quite powerful.
Experienced DM’s
will have no problems guiding the players
through the encounters and adjusting the
level of difficulty to maintain the tension. The
provisions made for the party’s deviation and
subsequent diversionary route are well
thought out but, some DM’s may find having
to keep track of a timeline, to keep track of
where the principle adversaries will be
encountered, a little confusing. For
inexperienced DM’s I would recommend using
one of the ‘off the peg’ characters as your
NPC, using their obviously greater experience
to help the party make the ‘right’ choice.
POLD is apparently undergoing a complete
overhaul and will be re-issued in electronic
format only. All I can say is, the overhaul is
greatly needed and I hope ePOLD is less of a
phantom than the promised extra location.
The School Report:
Shows promise. With concerted application,
has the potential to excel.
The Witch of Loch-Durnan (WOLD)
The Blurb:
In this sequel to the award nominated Pit of
Loch-Durnan the players find themselves
once again thrust into intrigue and evil.
Designed for four player characters ranging
from 5 th to 7 th level, this adventure can be
used to continue the story from the pit or as
a stand alone. In this large 72 page
adventure you will find a rich plot, a massive
battle, an
entirely new
class of creature
and an
innovative
mutant
generator. (Not
my punctuation
or grammar).
MSRP: $13.95.
The Bones:
The first thing
that strikes me