Hey everyone, just a quick clarification. I messed up and miss typed a 15 in the value rating when I meant 18, but the overall 51 rating is correct. SORRY!
You aren't the only youtuber whose game and module reviews I like to watch, but with yours there is observational acuity and well organized objectivity that makes me take your reviews more seriously than any other. When you say it I pay attention. Keep it up
I can't help but think this would dovetail perfectly with the old Keep on the Borderlands module as a distant support village that did regular trade with it. You could make the crazy old ranger with the mountain lion from that the estranged husband of the old fortune teller lady, and so on...
HI capt-c....I clicked this immediately when I saw the title of this adventure module. It cracked me up!!!! I love this little sandbox and it seems filled with ecologically-reasonable mini-adventure sites (not mega-dungeons, which I don't like). Plus I am always looking for well-developed towns to throw in, with fun NPCs with personalities, rumors, and I love the random events (rather than just random combat encounters) chart, and I use them all the time! I kind of wish any outdoor areas were shown on hexes rather than the old school hommlet/keep squares, but that's ok. This kind of module is exactly what I love the most, and it will be a nice thing to have before OSE Dolmenwood is released. So before you rated it, I rated it as "gotta have it!" YAY. Going to get it RIGHT NOW!!!! Thanks capt-c!!! Have a good day! :D
it's understated how beautiful blue ink maps are - they really get my imagination racing. A sophisticated and timeless design choice even if it quickly got obsoleted by full colour
Good on the module designer for immortalizing his parents. I have the feeling that if some disrespectful adventurer tried romancing the lady adventurer who retired to become owner of her tavern. That poor adventurer would be annihilated by the townsfolk. Not just because she's pretty but for the sheer disrespect to their friend. Glad you liked the module, Captcorajus, and thanks for the review. Good job. I like how even though it was your friend's module you gave it a fair review of pretty good or was it very good. And didn't be biased and make it all scores of 20. Hope you don't mind me saying so. I once thought for that other module you were supposed to say Keep On The Borderlands. As if a general was telling its troops, "Whatever you do! Keep on the borderlands!" Then one day I heard it was The Keep On The Borderlands. As if someone said, "have you ever visited the keep on the borderlands?" And now I can continue life a bit for experienced.
Looking forward to this release! I've run T1 and B2 multiple times (the Goodman Games revision of the B1/B2 modules made Keep on the Borderlands a joy to revisit as a campaign during the 2020 lockdowns), and I'm more than keen to have a new sandbox for some unsuspecting noob players to explore. Thanks for giving this kickstarter the once-over, it looks like it'll be something special!
Yes, perfect for that. Many of us have played through or already run many times those classic modules and it will be nice to have something new in that area.
Amazing how much that looks like Homlet (I always misspell it so that is now its name once transplanted into my setting) till you start studying it. Less an omelette than a fully scrambled version of our favourite hamlet. :)
This seems like a cool adventure to either put after the keep of the borderlands or before and maybe do some rebancing for party level and expand the region around the keep on the borderlands. I really like these old modules of a small area with a few npcs. I only wish that these modules and newer products had more advice on how to run encounters and how to roleplay npcs including the monsters. I don't think I'll ever get my wish on that one.
EXCELLENT! wow, as ai aided content becomes more and more prominent for everything, including old school modules, hyper creative ideas expressed within the module, along with a decidedy anologue approaches to presentation and style, will stand out alot more. im always on the look out for spiritual reimagined variants of keep on the borderlands.
Another great review. Did you ever look at RuneQuest, Powers and Perils, Tunnels and Trolls or Dragon Warriors. The Village of Hommlet was my first AD&D module I ran back in the 80s.
They have a new one out with two modules also you can get the PDFs of all of their older stuff for like 25 bucks that's 11 adventures! Such a steal just for that.
@@captcorajus Okay, that makes sense. Double the pages is not double the printing cost... After the detachable cover and base cost for the print, maybe the print cost goes up $5-6. The print cost on the other modules is going to be something like $8-12. So if he's making $8 on a 30 page module, then twice the pages would be +$8, plus cost ($6). So +$14 = $34. I was pretty close.
@@Elric54 There's not just the cost to print. There's the cost of the Artists, and you have to pay an editor to look over your copy as well. At the end of the day $35 is a fair price.
@@captcorajus Right! My print cost estimates are likely high. I did not include production costs like art, maps and layout. I still think the RP is high, but that's either because there's a lot of art and/or the small print runs are expensive. I don't think it's unreasonably high though. I'd target price for something like this at $25. I do think price point is holding these publications back, because I have a few of these adventures already, and they are all fantastic. They should be more successful. Of course that's easy for me to say. It's hard to find the sweet spot on margin vs volume.
Why does every module you review seem to slot perfectly into the world I'm building? Seriously, even the plot hooks to lead the party from place to place almost feel tailor made for it. Stop costing me money damn you!
@@captcorajus I wish I had friends to play Pen and Paper D&D with. I grew up playing Basic/Expert/Advanced D&D in the early 1980's and then 2nd edition. My Paladin Belthorian was a fun character to play. He was a self-righteous, overconfident/arrogant religious nut. He was always trying to convert the Magic Users to clerics of his God. My his rational, he had to pray for spells and being granted those spells proved that they were divine in nature. Using arcane knowledge, spell ingredients and spell books was demonic in origin, so they had to be saved. He was forever lecturing the rogues on the shortcomings of their character and activities. While he was a giant pain in the rear for the party, he was consistent. He gave away most of his treasure to the poor, helped people in need, and he was very handy in a fight. My friends hated the character but LOVED the way I played him, lol.
@@DoktorRotwang No, that's not the word I'm looking as its not a pastiche. Mark's writing style is not attempting to emulate Gygax's. This is a unique adventure as well. Only the art and production emulates older modules and that's it. So no.. not exactly a pastiche.
@@captcorajusI agree with Wang on this one as the style of this module is too specific to be an homage and too reverant to be a parody or satire. I agree that Pastiche is an acurate charactorization.
If a Kickstarter is fully funded, why the hell isn't it just for sale on a regular venue? Why do I have to continue to deal with Kickstarter, or meet somebody's "stretch goals," when all I want is a damn PDF? Seriously, they have a product. It's already made. It's more than fully funded... Why the hell can't I just go and buy it, like a normal customer?
Its not as simple as that. The version I have is the 'proof' version for example. The KS version frequently comes to the backer at a LOWER cost than the regular sale price AND there are stretch goals and add ons that further increase the value of a KS over regular purchase. You can always WAIT until all the KS backers get their copies MONTHS from now and then pay more for it, or you can back the KS now and get it sooner at a lower cost with additional items. Its up to you.
@@captcorajus - Or... I can wait about a week after that, and get it at no cost at all, which is what I usually do. The way I see it, they had their chance.
The classic colorful cover, map, and booklet is the way it's meant to be played... but you kinda are giving away the whole thing by showing so much of the contents ? Honest gamers will still buy the product... [ the good & lawful ;-) ]
@@captcorajus Um, literally show the upper half of the page, so people get a good idea of what they are getting, but at the same time, concealing half of it. :-) That way you still encourage sales and kickstarter backers for Mark, and give a great review... The artwork and maps still could be full page. I really enjoyed your video very much ! And looking over at Mark's Kickstarter page, a big pledge get his game modules all at once - a real time saver and really a good deal for people looking for new modules to play, since we all played the original ones dozens of times before... :-) GOOD JOB !! Thanks for the very informative video, I hadn't seen these before...
@@SeaJay_Oceans I've already reviewed two other modules of his, Villains of the Undercity and Palace of the Dragon Princess, which are linked at the end of the video. If you got the full Maximum Mayhem package then you'll be getting those as well.
@@captcorajus It's one thing to play a fiction based game involving a made up cosmology of imaginary gods which operate completely unlike the pantheons of real world polytheisms, and another to play a game, or a game accessory which involves using real world occult paraphernalia.
Please, if you backed this project, like i did, show Mark some support. Ten Foot Pole and the tool sc**bag that runs it has targeted his work with vulgar hatred. No constructive criticism, just bashing hate. Like Jeffrey Talanians' work, the guy has an unhealthy obsession to put down something that is meant to be fun. This hobby has enough toxic players it does not need to paint gamers as knuckle draggers. Cap, please reach out to Mark if you would. Like Jeffrey, I enjoy their work and dont want false or bad press for something that has just begun to falter into obscurity. I ran this briefly, and we had a blast. Granted, it has its faults, but show me any old school work that doesn't come off odd, questionable, or goofy. As long as the adventure is fun and imaginative, that's all that I care about.
Hey everyone, just a quick clarification. I messed up and miss typed a 15 in the value rating when I meant 18, but the overall 51 rating is correct. SORRY!
We will forgive you…this time.
Blue Ink Map, Bandits, Giant-Class Humanoids, a giant crab, ruins, and a Rumors Table. Sign me up, Captain. My old school cup runneth over.
This is so delightfully nostalgic! Oh how I miss the early days of D&D!
Thanks for that! All of my adventures for 1E follow the old school style I love so much as well!
Dark Wizard Games makes the best adventures right now.
Love the old school feel. Thank you for showing us this Captain!! 😊
Its my job! Glad you liked it!
You aren't the only youtuber whose game and module reviews I like to watch, but with yours there is observational acuity and well organized objectivity that makes me take your reviews more seriously than any other. When you say it I pay attention. Keep it up
I can't help but think this would dovetail perfectly with the old Keep on the Borderlands module as a distant support village that did regular trade with it.
You could make the crazy old ranger with the mountain lion from that the estranged husband of the old fortune teller lady, and so on...
HI capt-c....I clicked this immediately when I saw the title of this adventure module. It cracked me up!!!! I love this little sandbox and it seems filled with ecologically-reasonable mini-adventure sites (not mega-dungeons, which I don't like). Plus I am always looking for well-developed towns to throw in, with fun NPCs with personalities, rumors, and I love the random events (rather than just random combat encounters) chart, and I use them all the time! I kind of wish any outdoor areas were shown on hexes rather than the old school hommlet/keep squares, but that's ok. This kind of module is exactly what I love the most, and it will be a nice thing to have before OSE Dolmenwood is released. So before you rated it, I rated it as "gotta have it!" YAY. Going to get it RIGHT NOW!!!! Thanks capt-c!!! Have a good day! :D
it's understated how beautiful blue ink maps are - they really get my imagination racing. A sophisticated and timeless design choice even if it quickly got obsoleted by full colour
Channel deserves much more traffic. Engaging style, informative, memorable content. Keep it up!
Thank you!
Good on the module designer for immortalizing his parents. I have the feeling that if some disrespectful adventurer tried romancing the lady adventurer who retired to become owner of her tavern. That poor adventurer would be annihilated by the townsfolk. Not just because she's pretty but for the sheer disrespect to their friend. Glad you liked the module, Captcorajus, and thanks for the review. Good job. I like how even though it was your friend's module you gave it a fair review of pretty good or was it very good. And didn't be biased and make it all scores of 20. Hope you don't mind me saying so. I once thought for that other module you were supposed to say Keep On The Borderlands. As if a general was telling its troops, "Whatever you do! Keep on the borderlands!" Then one day I heard it was The Keep On The Borderlands. As if someone said, "have you ever visited the keep on the borderlands?" And now I can continue life a bit for experienced.
Looking forward to this release! I've run T1 and B2 multiple times (the Goodman Games revision of the B1/B2 modules made Keep on the Borderlands a joy to revisit as a campaign during the 2020 lockdowns), and I'm more than keen to have a new sandbox for some unsuspecting noob players to explore. Thanks for giving this kickstarter the once-over, it looks like it'll be something special!
Yes, perfect for that. Many of us have played through or already run many times those classic modules and it will be nice to have something new in that area.
Goodman Games are VERY expensive here in Australia.
Amazing how much that looks like Homlet (I always misspell it so that is now its name once transplanted into my setting) till you start studying it. Less an omelette than a fully scrambled version of our favourite hamlet. :)
Looks like a nice starting module for new players and DMs, with the potential for being a springboard for a larger campaign world.
This channel is Soooo AWESOME!
This seems like a cool adventure to either put after the keep of the borderlands or before and maybe do some rebancing for party level and expand the region around the keep on the borderlands. I really like these old modules of a small area with a few npcs. I only wish that these modules and newer products had more advice on how to run encounters and how to roleplay npcs including the monsters. I don't think I'll ever get my wish on that one.
It's always good to get a review from the cap, he never disappoints
EXCELLENT! wow, as ai aided content becomes more and more prominent for everything, including old school modules, hyper creative ideas expressed within the module, along with a decidedy anologue approaches to presentation and style, will stand out alot more. im always on the look out for spiritual reimagined variants of keep on the borderlands.
So Against the Giants meets Keep on the Borderlands meets Village of Homlet meets Ravenloft meets Into the Unknown. I like it!
I like the trend of combining cookbooks with gaming books.
Thanks for the heart to my comment, Captcorajus. I really appreciate the support.
What a great review!
That looks like a worthwhile old school product. I think I'll pick it up.
Just backed it. Thnx for the tip.
Love the art for Esmeralda.
Another great review. Did you ever look at RuneQuest, Powers and Perils, Tunnels and Trolls or Dragon Warriors. The Village of Hommlet was my first AD&D module I ran back in the 80s.
Nice! This one actually looks pretty good.
this looks amazing, sad i missed the kick starter 😢
No worries. It will be on the Dark Wizard web page once all the KS pledges are fulfilled.
That mysterious man was infact a DRAGON!
They have a new one out with two modules also you can get the PDFs of all of their older stuff for like 25 bucks that's 11 adventures! Such a steal just for that.
Great overview! I just backed it because of your review.
Love the old school look
I'm having trouble with the $35 price tag. Especially when the other modules are $20, and those feel a tad high already.
The other modules are 30 pages long, this one is 64 pages, its double the content.
@@captcorajus Okay, that makes sense. Double the pages is not double the printing cost... After the detachable cover and base cost for the print, maybe the print cost goes up $5-6. The print cost on the other modules is going to be something like $8-12. So if he's making $8 on a 30 page module, then twice the pages would be +$8, plus cost ($6). So +$14 = $34. I was pretty close.
@@Elric54 There's not just the cost to print. There's the cost of the Artists, and you have to pay an editor to look over your copy as well. At the end of the day $35 is a fair price.
@@captcorajus Right! My print cost estimates are likely high. I did not include production costs like art, maps and layout. I still think the RP is high, but that's either because there's a lot of art and/or the small print runs are expensive. I don't think it's unreasonably high though. I'd target price for something like this at $25. I do think price point is holding these publications back, because I have a few of these adventures already, and they are all fantastic. They should be more successful. Of course that's easy for me to say. It's hard to find the sweet spot on margin vs volume.
Thank you my liege
Thanks.
So when is: The Keep of Hommlet gonna be released.
Why does every module you review seem to slot perfectly into the world I'm building? Seriously, even the plot hooks to lead the party from place to place almost feel tailor made for it.
Stop costing me money damn you!
Sowwy!
Well this decided it next month getting the 5e update for the borderlands Goodman games did this month got rocket age
Oh it’s new cool
Ooooooooooo! this is gonna be a good one!
LE CHAT DE SCHRODINGER.Always going outsider wITH it than without.
always going outside with it ! WOW !
Sounds great 👍
Nice one!
Thanks!
Thank you!
Go
Happy 😊
Always going with it.
Brunhild Helga? Couldn't make up his, mind, eh?
so what's the scale of the hexmap?
1 mile a hex
Is this a modern remake of Keep on the Borderlands?
Not exactly. More accurately its a homage to the open world style of play indicative of modules like Village of Hommlet and Keep on the Borderlands.
The word you're looking for is "pastiche." That's being kind.
@@captcorajus I wish I had friends to play Pen and Paper D&D with. I grew up playing Basic/Expert/Advanced D&D in the early 1980's and then 2nd edition. My Paladin Belthorian was a fun character to play. He was a self-righteous, overconfident/arrogant religious nut. He was always trying to convert the Magic Users to clerics of his God. My his rational, he had to pray for spells and being granted those spells proved that they were divine in nature. Using arcane knowledge, spell ingredients and spell books was demonic in origin, so they had to be saved. He was forever lecturing the rogues on the shortcomings of their character and activities. While he was a giant pain in the rear for the party, he was consistent. He gave away most of his treasure to the poor, helped people in need, and he was very handy in a fight. My friends hated the character but LOVED the way I played him, lol.
@@DoktorRotwang No, that's not the word I'm looking as its not a pastiche. Mark's writing style is not attempting to emulate Gygax's.
This is a unique adventure as well. Only the art and production emulates older modules and that's it. So no.. not exactly a pastiche.
@@captcorajusI agree with Wang on this one as the style of this module is too specific to be an homage and too reverant to be a parody or satire. I agree that Pastiche is an acurate charactorization.
I'm in!!!
Thanks for your help and support!
DARK WIZARD=LE CHAT.
Are the versions in 1st or 5th edition rules or are they 5e rules in 1st and 5th styles of presentation?
Its two separate books. One is 1E style, old school, and the other is 5E
@@captcorajus OK But ius the 1st edition style 5e ruleset of 1st edition ruleset?
@@bfrancies I'm sorry, but I don't understand the question my friend.
I just checked out the sample PDF for the 1E version. It's not only a style choice. It's 1E rules, eg descending AC.
24:43. 17+16+15= 48... but you gave it a 51 total? Why the 3 bonus points?
Not that it matters much as it keeps the same grade of Very Good.
See pinned comment. That's a mistype. The 15 is suppose to be an 18.
If a Kickstarter is fully funded, why the hell isn't it just for sale on a regular venue? Why do I have to continue to deal with Kickstarter, or meet somebody's "stretch goals," when all I want is a damn PDF?
Seriously, they have a product. It's already made. It's more than fully funded... Why the hell can't I just go and buy it, like a normal customer?
Its not as simple as that. The version I have is the 'proof' version for example. The KS version frequently comes to the backer at a LOWER cost than the regular sale price AND there are stretch goals and add ons that further increase the value of a KS over regular purchase. You can always WAIT until all the KS backers get their copies MONTHS from now and then pay more for it, or you can back the KS now and get it sooner at a lower cost with additional items. Its up to you.
@@captcorajus - Or... I can wait about a week after that, and get it at no cost at all, which is what I usually do. The way I see it, they had their chance.
I can't stand Kickstarter. They would be better off funding on their own website.
Seems unlikely.
à DRAGON=means DECEIVING.
Read the BEOWULF.
The classic colorful cover, map, and booklet is the way it's meant to be played... but you kinda are giving away the whole thing by showing so much of the contents ?
Honest gamers will still buy the product... [ the good & lawful ;-) ]
Well, I guess you got me there, but how can you show how good it is without showing the contents? Its a catch 22. Hence the Spoiler Warning. lol
@@captcorajus Um, literally show the upper half of the page, so people get a good idea of what they are getting, but at the same time, concealing half of it. :-) That way you still encourage sales and kickstarter backers for Mark, and give a great review...
The artwork and maps still could be full page.
I really enjoyed your video very much !
And looking over at Mark's Kickstarter page, a big pledge get his game modules all at once - a real time saver and really a good deal for people looking for new modules to play, since we all played the original ones dozens of times before... :-)
GOOD JOB !! Thanks for the very informative video, I hadn't seen these before...
@@SeaJay_Oceans I've already reviewed two other modules of his, Villains of the Undercity and Palace of the Dragon Princess, which are linked at the end of the video. If you got the full Maximum Mayhem package then you'll be getting those as well.
@@SeaJay_Oceans Thank you for your support I appreciate it! You will love all of the modules!
Looks good but not for $35
Well therein likes the problem right? Quality art, and content requires money.
To whoever, appreciate the like to my comment. Stay cool this summer.
Shame about the tarot cards. That makes it a hard no for me.
Whaaaaa???? lol... how's that work?
@@captcorajus It's one thing to play a fiction based game involving a made up cosmology of imaginary gods which operate completely unlike the pantheons of real world polytheisms, and another to play a game, or a game accessory which involves using real world occult paraphernalia.
@@patrickholt2270 Ah, I guess if you believe in that sort of thing. Its just a deck of cards.
@@captcorajus Hard no.
outside!stupid "correcteur orthographique."qui corrige des trucs sans que nobody.
Just backed
Please, if you backed this project, like i did, show Mark some support. Ten Foot Pole and the tool sc**bag that runs it has targeted his work with vulgar hatred. No constructive criticism, just bashing hate. Like Jeffrey Talanians' work, the guy has an unhealthy obsession to put down something that is meant to be fun. This hobby has enough toxic players it does not need to paint gamers as knuckle draggers. Cap, please reach out to Mark if you would. Like Jeffrey, I enjoy their work and dont want false or bad press for something that has just begun to falter into obscurity. I ran this briefly, and we had a blast. Granted, it has its faults, but show me any old school work that doesn't come off odd, questionable, or goofy. As long as the adventure is fun and imaginative, that's all that I care about.