Gaming Purchases Mini-Reviewed

Caverns of Thracia (2004) - one of the earliest big, mega-dungeons ever revisited, Caverns of Thracia is just too bulky for its own good. There is plenty of good material here, but I’d edit out about 25% of it to make a leaner module out of the best of it. Grade: C+.

Dungeon Crawl Classics #3: The Mysterious Tower (2003) - I REALLY like the “old school” look, the Erol Otus cover (I bought the module for those two in the first place), and the humorous premise of the scenario (I recall Ron laughing out loud at it). But once you get down to reading it…there’s just not enough there to make a great module. I blame 3E and those annoyingly huge stat blocks, and Goodman’s decision to reprint the stats everytime a monster appears instead of just once. Grade: B.

Dungeon Crawl Classics #4: Bloody Jack’s Gold (2003) - Could it be coincidence a module about undead pirates came out the same year as the Pirates of the Caribbean movie? I was hesitant to buy a high-level adventure (when am I going to DM for 10-12 level PCS?), but got it for the same reasons as #3 above and was pleasantly surprised. It looks like a lot of fun. My main gripe is that it isn’t very “old school,” what with its dependence on half-fiend templates. Grade: B+.