Friday Fantasy: Fortnightly Adventures #2: On the Frozen Wastelands

Far from any frozen climes, from any mountains or tundra, or ice-churned seas, lies the strangest of lands. Qaasuitsup Nunaat, or Land of Polar Darkness, is inhospitable, ice and snowbound, its once life-giving lake frozen over, and where there were fields that settlers from far away came to till and make new lives, there are dunes and drifts of snow. The paradise that drew so many is long gone, frozen in a wasteland that stands in contrast to the surrounding jungle and warm coastal waters. Overhead nightly hangs the aurora borealis, bringing colour to the region where there is white of snow and black of ice. Ancient myths tell of the story of Imeq-inua, or Lake Spirit, who saw to it that the land was protected and made fertile and prosperous. Then the lake froze and the temperature dropped. In the crops, the trees and plants, and any animal that could not flee the region died. The settlers fled and the few that remained froze or starved to death. Now wolves have the run of region, howling and hounding intruders, whilst strange Iced-Blooded Mutants have been encountered by those brave—or foolish—enough to want to investigate what has become of the former paradise. Perhaps hired to restore the region to its original balmy climate or discover where the Iced-Blooded Mutants come from and if they are a threat, or cast ashore shipwrecked on the coast, or drawn by whispers of the Lake Spirit herself, the Player Characters found themselves in a strangely frigid land.

Fortnightly Adventures #2: On the Frozen Wastelands is a mini-hexcrawl published by Angry Golem Games. Designed for Player Characters of between First and Third Level, it is the third in the publisher’s ‘Fortnightly Adventures’ series, begun with Fortnightly Adventures #0: The Hollow Tower, which is intended to provide a brand-new, original module every two weeks—each exploring a different biome, mysterious locale, and unique challenge. Having done a section of desert, a strange tower, and a mystery to uncover in The Hollow Tower and a volcanic island with a volcano, a temple with some hot springs, and more in Fortnightly Adventures #1: The Flame Pact, the series switches to sub-polar region, all iced up and snowed under for Fortnightly Adventures #2: On the Frozen Wastelands. It is written for use with Old School Essentials Classic Fantasy and Old School Essentials Advanced Fantasy, published by Necrotic Gnome Productions, which is based on the 1981 revision of Basic Dungeons & Dragons by Tom Moldvay and its accompanying Expert Set by Dave Cook and Steve Marsh, and which together present a very accessible, very well designed, and superbly presented reimplementation of the rules.

What Fortnightly Adventures #2: On the Frozen Wastelands details is an eleven-hexagon region of frozen tundra. Each takes roughly two hours to explore, so the region is not a large one overall and could easily be crossed in a day in any direction. In fact, it could actually be reduced in size without losing anything and it could easily be treated as a mini-location as a whole and placed in a single hex in a Game Master’s campaign. This might be to keep it as written as an oddly frozen location amidst much warmer climes or even move it to actual colder regions where its previous warmer and more fertile status would have been the oddity. 

The five locations in Fortnightly Adventures #2: On the Frozen Wastelands consist of the ‘Experiments Base’, ‘Watchtower’, ‘Longhouse’, ‘Permafrost Caves’, and ‘The Lake’. Of these, only the ‘Experiments Base’ and ‘Permafrost Caves’ are fully mapped, but all are reasonably well detailed, bar ‘The Lake’ which is not detailed at all. ‘Experiments Base’ is where the scholars who brought about the changes to the valley with its radical climate change operate out of and continue to conduct research that their masters have since deemed unethical. The ‘Watchtower’ is home to a former guardian of the valley, whilst the ‘Longhouse’ is home to a gang of criminals desperately surviving after being washed ashore from the ship they were being transported in and attempted to take over. The ‘Permafrost Caves’ is home to a reclusive Frost Giant who prefers the company of the pack of wolves he keeps. The monsters and NPCs given full stats consist of the four scholars—two Wizards and two apprentices— and the new monster, the super-strong ‘Ice-Blooded Mutants’, who unarmed punches are so cold they inflict frostburn! The ‘Ice-Blooded Mutants’ are the result of another experiment by the scholars and are their servants and bodyguards.

There is a plot to Fortnightly Adventures #2: On the Frozen Wastelands, the possibility that the Player Characters could discover the cause of how the valley became frozen and then perhaps reverse its effects. The problem is that as written, there is little in way of clues to find and little to really push either plot or Player Characters forward. It is as if the Player Characters are expected to wander around in the hope of finding something that might suggest a course of action. The few NPCs described—the scholars who are effectively the villains of the piece—are underwritten and lack both character and motivation. Similarly, beyond being reclusive, the Frost Giant residing in the ‘Permafrost Caves’ has no characterisation. In order to find a solution to the situation in the valley, the Player Characters do need to find why of dealing with him, but there are suggestions as how he might react to their presence. Lastly, the escaped prisoners at the ‘Longhouse’ will defend themselves, but that is about as much motivation as they are given.

Physically, Fortnightly Adventures #2: On the Frozen Wastelands is decently done. The layout is clean and tidy and the illustrations are good. However, the scenario very much needs an edit.

Fortnightly Adventures #2: On the Frozen Wastelands is disappointing. It is underwritten and it is underdeveloped. The plot concerning the current state of the valley and its potential reversal has been left for the Game Master to properly flesh out and the NPCs all need characterisation and explanations as to either what they know or what they want—and sometimes both. It does not help that the adventure is poorly edited with odd turns of phrase that make it jarring to read. Ultimately, Fortnightly Adventures #2: On the Frozen Wastelands is a flaccid affair, an indication that the concept of releasing a complete mini-adventure every two weeks has got beyond the creators and run out of steam. At its very best, Fortnightly Adventures #2: On the Frozen Wastelands is something that the prospective Game Master might want to develop properly herself, as that is only way to get it into a ready-to-run state.

Friday Fantasy: Fortnightly Adventures #1: The Flame Pact

Far from any regularly ploughed sea routes and any civilised coast lies the remote island of Enjin no Chi—or ‘The Land of the Fire God’. Every sailor who has set their eyes upon it will say it is a place to be feared and none would be willing set foot upon its shores, for at its most northerly point sits a great volcano that spews out lava that runs in rivulets down into the forests that dominate the rest of the island to set their trees alight and when not spewing out lava, it belches out great clouds of ash that fall upon the rest of the island that fall in dry showers of heat. There are said to be monsters that lurk in the perpetual gloom of these clouds, and that is in addition to the ‘Fire God’ itself. Sailors and scholars might scoff at such an idea, but there are those who genuinely believe that Enjin no Chi is the home of fire god. They are the Honō no Dōshi, or ‘Flame Guides’, and their fanatism has driven them to commit many atrocities and villainous acts in their preparation to fulfil their life’s purpose—reaching Enjin no Chi and summoning the Fire God! Thus, ‘The Land of the Fire God’ is the setting for The Flame Pact that all Honō no Dōshi devoutly promise to keep.

Fortnightly Adventures #1: The Flame Pact is a mini-hexcrawl published by Angry Golem Games. Designed for Player Characters of between Second and Fourth Level, it is the second in the publisher’s ‘Fortnightly Adventures’ series, begun with Fortnightly Adventures #0: The Hollow Tower, which is intended to provide a brand-new, original module every two weeks—each exploring a different biome, mysterious locale, and unique challenge. For The Hollow Tower, this was a section of desert, a strange tower, and a mystery to uncover, but for The Flame Pact, this is a volcanic island with a volcano, a temple with some hot springs, the lairs of two types of beetles, and the cultists’ camp and ritual site. It is written for use with Old School Essentials Classic Fantasy and Old School Essentials Advanced Fantasy, published by Necrotic Gnome Productions, it is based on the 1981 revision of Basic Dungeons & Dragons by Tom Moldvay and its accompanying Expert Set by Dave Cook and Steve Marsh, and presents a very accessible, very well designed, and superbly presented reimplementation of the rules.

What Fortnightly Adventures #1: The Flame Pact details is a seven-hexagon rosette of island and volcanic terrain. Each takes roughly two hours to explore, so the region is not a large one overall. In fact, it could easily be treated as a mini-location as a whole and placed in a single hex in a Game Master’s campaign. This would have to be a sea hex, but also the name of a cult suggests that the island is located somewhere similar to the Asian half of the Ring of Fire, this need not to be the case. The details of the cult are the easiest thing about the scenario to change. Apart from the seven-hexagon rosette format, what Fortnightly Adventures #1: The Flame Pact shares with Fortnightly Adventures #0: The Hollow Tower is that it has a roving environmental hazard. In the latter, this was a roving sandstorm that tore that the Player Characters and their possessions, whereas in the former it is the daily ash rains which strike a hex each for the day, burning anything and anyone there, and heating up any metal present. Thematically, it fits the setting, but one can only hope that it does not become a signature feature of the series. A handful of hooks are included to get the Player Characters involved, including the Player Characters being shipwrecked on the island, being hired to explore and map the island, forced to follow the cultists to the island and stop them from whatever they are planning, and hired to obtain the ‘Essence Seal’. These are not enthralling hooks and the Game Master will likely want to create her own that are stronger and likely tied to her campaign setting.

The four adventure locations in Fortnightly Adventures #1: The Flame Pact consist of a ‘The Volcano’, ‘The Hot Springs Temple’, ‘The Cult’s Camping and The Ritual Site’, and the ‘Giant Beetle’s Lair’. Each is nicely detailed and has its own map, the more expanded maps being for the ‘The Hot Springs Temple’, ‘The Cult’s Camping and The Ritual Site’, and the ‘Giant Beetle’s Lair’—the latter having a sperate map and making it the longest entry. ‘The Volcano’s location is the simplest having a Lava Monster that roams its slopes guarding against intruders and part of the ritual preparations done for the summoning of the Fire God by the Honō no Dōshi. ‘The Hot Springs Temple’ is perhaps the oddest location since it is on the island and tended to by a group of monks without much explanation given that the island is all but unknown. Here is where the scenario could have benefitted from more detail. Similarly, the Magic-User leader of the cultists could have been given some indication as to his personality, but that said, the cultists are active in looking for further sacrifices needed for their rituals. So, the Player Characters need to approach their camp with care. Surprisingly, the most well developed encounter in the scenario is with a dead cultist, or rather his skeleton, in the ‘Giant Beetle’s Lair’. He is given some motivation, mostly self-pity, and the Player Characters can talk to him, though what is ultimate motive now is not made clear.

One major difference between Fortnightly Adventures #1: The Flame Pact and Fortnightly Adventures #0: The Hollow Tower is that Fortnightly Adventures #1: The Flame Pact has a plot in that cultists are working to summon their ‘Fire God’. It is suggested by the scenario that the Game Master use a ‘doomsday clock’ to count up to the point where the Honō no Dōshi cultists succeed in summoning their ‘Fire God’ and the volcano erupts explosively, destroying the island in the process. The scenario also suggests that this will take twelve days, but that really is too long a period given the amount of adventure in the scenario. Halving this time would lend the scenario a greater sense of urgency and push the Cultists to act with greater haste. It would have been good too, for the Game Master to have been given some idea as to what the Cultists need to do to, step-by-step, if necessary, to complete the summoning.

Physically, Fortnightly Adventures #1: The Flame Pact is decently done. The layout is clean and tidy, the illustrations good, and the hexcrawl is an easy read.

Fortnightly Adventures #1: The Flame Pact is much like Fortnightly Adventures #0: The Hollow Tower before it. Some parts are reasonably detailed, but in others it is underdeveloped, especially in terms of characterisation and motivation. Yet there is more of a plot than Fortnightly Adventures #0: The Hollow Tower and in places more motivation, giving something for the Game Master to build upon herself. There is a basis of a solid, useful encounter location in Fortnightly Adventures #1: The Flame Pact , but the Game Master will definitely want to flesh it out a bit more to give some much needed character.

Friday Fantasy: Fortnightly Adventures #0: The Hollow Tower

Today the desert region is known only for the nomads that cross its sands, the tales of ancient myth and legends of what it once was, and the monsters said to lurk there. In times past, despite its dry environs, it was crossed by well-known trade routes on which the once-great Anhurak people—or the Children of the Burning Stone and the Wandering Stars, as scholar say they called themselves—grew rich and powerful ensuring the safe passage of goods and people. When they sought to build a settlement in the middle of the routes, they began by establishing a great tower for their leader, Mahrun Tal’Zahir, with the help of the group’s Cartographer. Yet legends say they turned on him soon after and fled the desert after the settlement began to sink into the sands. Now all that remains are half-buried houses and the tower itself, although only the top three of its five storeys are visible. This is the setting for ‘The Desert Forgotten by Time’ within which stands The Hollow Tower.

Fortnightly Adventures #0: The Hollow Tower is a mini-hexcrawl published by Angry Golem Games. It is the inaugural entry in the publisher’s ‘Fortnightly Adventures’ series which is intended to provide a brand-new, original module every two weeks—each exploring a different biome, mysterious locale, and unique challenge. For The Hollow Tower, this is a section of desert, a strange tower, and a mystery to uncover. It is written for use with Old School Essentials Classic Fantasy and Old School Essentials Advanced Fantasy, published by Necrotic Gnome Productions, it is based on the 1981 revision of Basic Dungeons & Dragons by Tom Moldvay and its accompanying Expert Set by Dave Cook and Steve Marsh, and presents a very accessible, very well designed, and superbly presented reimplementation of the rules.

What Fortnightly Adventures #0: The Hollow Tower details is a seven-hexagon rosette of desert terrain. Each takes roughly two hours to explore, so the region is not a large one overall. In fact, it could easily be treated as a mini-location as a whole and placed in a single hex in a Game Master’s campaign. In that case, what would distinguish it from other hexes is the Eternal Sandstorm that rolls around the region, moving from hex to hex within the region. This is part of a curse said by the Anhurak people to have been laid on the region by their leader, Mahrun Tal’Zahir. A handful of hooks are included to get the Player Characters involved, including one of their number having “[a] dream about the sunken city and felt drawn to the mysterious place.” and being hired to investigate the region and make sure it is secure, primarily from the giant ants that plague it. These are not enthralling hooks and the Game Master will likely want to create her own that are stronger and likely tied to her campaign setting.

The four adventure locations in Fortnightly Adventures #0: The Hollow Tower consist of a ‘Giant Ant Lair’, ‘Mahrun’s Tomb’, ‘The Sunken City’, and ‘The Hollow Tower’ itself.

The ‘Giant Ant Lair’ is detailed, but not given a map. That said it is a simple encounter, more bug extermination that anything else. ‘Mahrun’s Tomb’ is singular in nature, consisting of single room under a cairn of white stone. He is though, still ‘alive’, and will plead his case with the Player Characters, telling them of how he was wronged. There is the possibility that the Player Characters discover his tomb and even aid him before his true nature is revealed when they discover the secrets of ‘The Hollow Tower’. (The point when the Player Characters confront him is both when they discover what a charmingly challenging foe he is, since he is actually powered by the stars, and when any NPC accompanying them turns out to a cultist dedicated to him.) ‘The Sunken City’ consists of ruins which the Player Characters can scavenge before ascending the spiral staircase with winds around ‘The Hollow Tower’.

The most detailed location in Fortnightly Adventures #0: The Hollow Tower is ‘The Hollow Tower’ itself where Mahrun Tal’Zahir once worked and studied. It inverts the exploration by making it from the top down, rather than bottom up, and is filled with secrets and the occasional monster. In comparison to other locations in the region, and barring the occasional random encounter, the focus is on exploration and investigation rather than combat or interaction. There is plenty to find, whether an indestructible chest which can either be opened with its key or cut open with a magical weapon, a pot plant with gem petals, and a ghost in the cells which wants help to move on to the afterlife. There is also ‘Anhurak’s Peculiar Library’ filled with potentially interesting books. These are listed by type and value, but the Game Master might want to develop them further to add detail and possible bonuses for their study.

What there is not in Fortnightly Adventures #0: The Hollow Tower is any plot or sense of story. There is no imminent danger in the region which threatens to spill over into the surrounds and Mahrun Tal’Zahir remains trapped in his tomb. Instead, the Player Characters will have to poke around to find out what is going on and potentially find out who Mahrun Tal’Zahir was and what he has become. However, there are elements here around which a plot can be strung in the setting with the addition of a rumour or two and some NPCs, perhaps some scholars or cultists with an interest in Mahrun Tal’Zahir and the civilization he left behind. These through, require development by the Game Master, but with their inclusion, the Player Characters might have stronger motivation to visit the region.

Physically, Fortnightly Adventures #0: The Hollow Tower is decently done. The layout is clean and tidy, the illustrations good, and the hexcrawl is an easy read.

Fortnightly Adventures #0: The Hollow Tower veers from overview to detail and back again. In places it feels underdeveloped, whilst in others, comparatively overly detailed. It leaves a lot for the Game Master to create herself to make it more useable and useful, but it at least provides the bare bones for that in what is attractive-looking minx-hexcrawl.