Whilst I usually keep technical comments for the end of a review after talking about the content, this time I shall start with them. It's the hyperlinking... if you subscribe to the Adventureaweek.com website, and are able to run your games someplace you have access to the internet, it is well worth doing so. About half a sentence into the Introduction, there's a named location that is hyperlinked. Click on the link, and there is a glorious visual of the location, along with notes on the place and a map showing where to find it. It's like that all the way through, a wealth of additional resources at your fingertips. Some you may wish to show to your players, others you'll prefer to keep to yourself but use them to inform the descriptions and information you do pass on. Being a webhead, it's something I've done for my own games, but with the full weight of a publisher behind it this is quite spectactular!
Back to the adventure itself, the Introduction sets the scene with a local population under environmental pressure as their own numbers and a newly-arrived predator stretch resources to breaking point. A peaceful monastery's calm is shattered as the beleaguered locals seek sustenance... even as the newly-arrived predator munches on them as well as on their flocks and herds! The adventure hook is thus quite simple: a plea for help. The characters must unravel the conflicting interests and find a solution to the problem.
Whist just the single hook is provided, you have considerable flexibility in how the bait is presented to the characters beyond the method given - a bird bearing a note, if you're curious. The Adventure Synopsis lays out the expected course of the plot, that the characters should gather information as to what is going on and then decide what action to take. Three options are presented, along with rather judgemental labels as to whither they are good, neutral or evil acts; or of course your players may have other ideas...
The area that the characters have to traverse in the course of their investigations presents challenges of its own: being mountainous and deep in snow. Copious notes are provided on the environmental and wildlife challenges that they will face, all again resourced with hyperlinks to both D20 and Pathfinder SRDs, so that running the adventure under the ruleset of your choice is made easy.
The monastery ought to be the first port of call, and both inhabitants and the place itself are well-described. Worth tucking away for any occasion on which a remote monastery built into the side of a snowy mountain may be of use; whilst it is embedded into the area well and - unless destroyed during the course of the adventure - is likely to remain a permanent feature against any return to the area. A new skill, that of Herbalism, is practised by the monks and is detailed here should any curious character wish to study it. The monastery is full of those little details that make the place really come alive, things that perhaps have no bearing on the plot to hand, may even not be noticed by characters just passing through. The level of care, love even, lavished on a single location is noticeable, both here and in the lair of the predator which must also be visited before the adventure is done. But there is no rest for the wicked or for that matter the good...
For this is no mere set of locations to wander and people to meet. Action piles on thick and fast, and the characters will have to think on their feet and prove competent with weapons and offensive spells as well as with investigation and diplomacy. At points the action seems a little forced, it's plain what outcome the author is looking for at several encounters, but handled delicately there's no reason for your players to know that - and there's sufficient supplementary information for you to accommodate players who make different choices.
The appendices contain several interesting magical items, some useful local berries, and full stat blocks (dual statted for both Dungeons & Dragons 3.x and Pathfinder for everyone (and thing) you'll meet.
The actual plotline is a good one, that should prove interesting and exciting whilst being well-embedded into the area in which it is set, building on an established alternate reality. It is well-supported, both within this module itself and even more if you are a subscriber to the website: a textbook example of how an adventure can be presented with thought, care and good use of available technology.
Return to Icecrag Monastery page.
Reviewed: 6 June 2012
