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Shadowsfall: Temple of Orcus (PFRPG) $2.95
Average Rating:4.4 / 5
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Shadowsfall: Temple of Orcus (PFRPG)
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Shadowsfall: Temple of Orcus (PFRPG)
Publisher: Jon Brazer Enterprises
by David D. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 04/02/2018 16:27:10

I bought the printed version of this adventure module ‘The Temple of Orcus’, which is a nice introduction adventure to lead players toward the plane of shadows, also known as Shadowsfall. It is made for a group of 4 players of 5th level and this adventure module includes 4 sample 5th level characters for those who like ready to play characters in their campaign (has also its use as NPC idea-source to help populate your campaign if so desired).

From the 18 pages this adventure module is rich, it contains 14 actual pages of content, which is nice. It is a black & white print with a colored softcover. Without giving away any spoilers, I can say that it is a straightforward adventure to fill your evening. It can be played both with the use of miniatures or without for those who like more the theater-of-the-mind approach. This module includes 2 maps (each filling half a page) with squares (each square equaling 5 feet). Not only useful to the GM, but also toward players (if you remove a few capital letters and numbers) since the maps doesn’t contain any secret (=spoiling) info.

‘The Temple of Orcus’ adventure also include 1 introduction page to Shadowsfall, explaining in short what exactly the plane of Shadows is, how Dark Vision works on this plane, how Shadowsfall affects magic, … It has a good editing and formatting with a nice layout. For its price, you get a quality product that I personally find its 5 stars worth.

I would describe ‘The Temple of Orcus’ as a classic rescue mission where player characters attempt to rescue some NPC’s from the clutches of evil, the mission clothed in an atmosphere of horror. It can be easily adapted to fit in any custom made world and Ravenloft-lovers could swap the plane of Shadows with a domain from the demi-plane of Dread for example. There is no limitation except by the limitation of your own imagination.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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Creator Reply:
Thank you for taking the time to review. I am really glad you enjoyed it.
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Shadowsfall: Temple of Orcus (PFRPG)
Publisher: Jon Brazer Enterprises
by Thilo G. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 06/27/2012 02:27:02

This adventure is 18 pages long, 1 page front cover, 1 page editorial/patron-list, 1 page SRD and 1 page back cover, leaving 14 pages of content, so let's check this out!

This being an adventure-review, the following contains SPOILERS. Potential players should jump to the conclusion.

Still here? All right! In the village of Dronabar, a woman and her children have been abducted by zombies - less than two hours until dusk are left and it's up to the player characters to save them before darkness falls and all the dangers of the woods creep from the shadows. When the PCs find the broken cart (including a b/w-map with a grid), the PCs will have to defeat some fast zombies and then track the assailants back to a graveyard where their knowledge-checks as well as the flavorful read-aloud texts will provide for a creepy atmosphere - that will be enhanced even more by the realization that they will have to take a portal into the plane of shadows to save the innocents and encountering a helblar, guardian of the dead and cemeteries.

In the plane of shadows, the PCs will have to make their way to a desecrated temple now consecrated to Orcus - after braving the dangers of the place, clearing the zombies etc., the players will hopefully be there in time to prevent the sacrifice of the innocents by the dread zombie-lord cleric of undeath. Additional ideas for the continuation of the story-line are part of the deal.

The pdf also includes a page of general introductory information to Shadowsfall, the plane of shadows, as well as a selection of 4 pregens (all with artworks) - they include a dhampir (plus new weapon, war-trident), an umbral kobold alchemist (including full racial trait information), a fetchling ranger and a wanderer wizard (also with complete racial traits).

Conclusion: Editing and formatting are very good - while I noticed some minor glitches, I didn't notice any significant ones. Layout adheres to a printer-friendly 2-column standard and the b/w-artworks are nice. The maps are ok and serve their purpose. The pdf comes with full, nested bookmarks. This module is FREE and it is hard to beat free stuff - here a heartfelt "Thank you" to JBE and all sponsors without which this module would not have been made.
The narrative is mostly well-written and while some pieces of prose are slightly less compelling than others, the overall narrative is solid. Free Rpg modules usually are intended to introduce players to mechanics and settings and thus, this module is not extremely hard, challenging or far-out, but it provides an interesting and compelling introduction to the plane of shadows that makes me anticipate the other Shadowsfall-books even more. Its introductory mission is accomplished, its flavor is nice etc. - however, not all is perfect. here and there the narrative feels slightly less organic to me. We get no player-friendly maps. The overall plot is nothing to get too excited about. We do, however, get herolab-files. That being said, while not perfect, this module is free and I'm willing to forgive these minor imperfections and still settle for a final verdict of 5 stars - it's free and you have definitely nothing to lose by checking out this neat little module.

Endzeitgeist out.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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