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.