The Fright at Tristor

Alright, this is one of the last things to review this year, which is great since I'm almost out of year. This, as a perusal of the cover will attest, is a Living Greyhawk product. Specifically, it was a free adventure dished out for everyone to use. It's not free now, of course; this sucker runs over $50 on Noble Knight games. I'll get it later. But I was able to find a PDF copy so I can review it.

So, this is an adventure for four 1st-level characters. It takes place in the Theocracy of the Pale, so your clerics are going to have fun getting along with the Pholtus-worshipping people. Yeah. Plus, if you didn't live in Northern California or Nevada, you weren't actually supposed to play in the Pale. So I'm not sure how many people used this as an actual Living Greyhawk game. For myself, I would have ignored the whole regional thing anyway. But I'm contrary that way.

Anyway, on to the adventure. Actually, the first half of this 32-page module covers the synopsis and background, plus the village of Tristor itself. The backstory is a bit unpleasant; it plays on the whole racial prejudice angle where some Rhennee came through town 20 years ago offering some cheap medicines. One of the batches somehow got spoiled, and people died. The people of Tristor, being of the Pholtan faith, reacted with their customary restraint and understanding. The Rhennee were beaten, hanged, and buried. The compassionate villagers did, however, spare the four-year-old boy who was obviously innocent, and he was sent off to a larger city to be raised in an orphanage. I'm sure he won't factor into this adventure at all.

In the present time, the village of Tristor is undergoing some terrifying attacks: their farm animals are being slaughtered. Many people believe it to be some sort of demonic spirit. Investigating will eventually lead the party to a tribe of orcs, who aren't involved, and a few close encounters with the actual culprit, a Sor4/Rog2 with disguised Rhennee features (can't imagine who that could be) and a trained circus bear. Yep.

The thing about this adventure is that while it isn't exactly linear, it is definitely an investigative adventure. There aren't a lot of combat encounters here, which may or may not be a hallmark of RPGA games; I wouldn't know. It's a mystery, and that might not work for some players who just want to kill things and take their stuff. No, put your hands down; we all know who you are.

This would be a suitable adventure for a more experienced group starting out a new campaign. I wouldn't recommend it as a beginning adventure; it's not at all a typical adventure, and some players, as I said, might get bored in a hurry. There are almost no monster encounters; the vast majority of the encounters in this adventure are villagers and animals. The aforementioned orcs are around, but they're incidental to the plot and could easily be ignored or replaced with human bandits. All in all, it's not a bad adventure; if you like mysteries, this will work for you.

Almost done; a couple of other online things to go, and we should be finished for 2000!

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