Purple Duck Games has taken some of their earlier adventures and combined them to form a short campaign arc for Dungeon Crawl Classics. The product was released as The Stars Are Falling and is written by Daniel Bishop, Paul Wolfe, and David Pryzbyla. The compilation includes the following previously released adventures:

• AL1: The Bone Hoard of the Dancing Horror
• AL2: Sepulchre of the Mountain God
• AL3: Through the Cotillion of Hours
• AL4: The Waystation
• AL5: Stars in the Darkness

I have reviewed each of the above products separately, except for Sepulchre of the Mountain God, here at The Iron Tavern. The links above will take you to the Iron Tavern review.

And though I have not done an official review for AL2, I have run that adventure. It was a great time for the group I ran it for and provided us with a lot of fun. So though it lacks a review here at the Tavern, it is no less great than the other adventures above.

The Stars Are Falling brings all of the above adventures together in one product – available in PDF or Print format from RPGNow, d20pfsrd.com, or Paizo.com.

Two pages have been added to provide a campaign framework for linking all of these adventures together. The suggested order to run these is slightly different than their release order – AL2, AL1, AL3, AL4, AL3 (optional), and AL5.

A 0-level funnel does need to be provided by the judge running this. Portal Under the Stars from the core rulebook is a great candidate for this as a particular event that happens in that funnel can be tied to The Stars Are Falling with minimal work. If your group is already familiar with that funnel, some suggestions are made on how to strengthen ties from whatever funnel you choose to the theme of this product.

The remaining portion of the framework chapter review each component of the compilation and what changes need to be made to tie them together into one campaign arc. These are usually 2-3 bullet points, map adjustments or how to tie legend from one adventure locale to another. These are all easy modifications and do a lot to give the compilation a cohesive feel.

While I have not run these adventures tied together I have run all of them but the finale at some point. They are all great adventures, several of which my players still talk about or haunt them in some fashion. By turning them into a compilation a DCC RPG judge has a great resource they can use to jumpstart a DCC campaign up through 3rd level or so. In addition a great many events will have been set into motion that ideas to continue the campaign should be abundant.

The Stars Are Falling compilation is another great release from Purple Duck Games for the DCC game. Whether you missed out on some of the adventures as they were released or you were looking for a mini-campaign product in adventure path style you will want to take a closer look at this release.

Purple Duck Games has just released The Perils of Cinder Claws by Daniel Bishop. This is a Dungeon Crawl Classics module ready for some holiday gaming! The product actually contains two adventures – The Thing in the Chimney and The Nexus of Yule. The module comes in at 32 pages with artwork from Jacob Blackmon and cartography by Kristian Richards.

The Thing in the Chimney is suitable for a wide range of character levels with the level appropriateness determined by the number of characters. Anything from 1st level to 4th level is covered. The adventure takes place on the shortest day of the year in the winter and starts in a great hall that can easily be placed in the middle of the wilderness or small village or town.

I do not want to spoil too much of the adventure, but suffice it to say that the adventure contains all types of holiday themed components. Fruitcakes, snowmen, reindeer, and more! All are blended in an interesting adventure that would play well as a one-shot or holiday diversion for your ongoing campaign. You just might get to meet Cinder Claws himself!

The Nexus of Yule is the second adventure in the product. It can be used stand-alone or as a follow-up to the first adventure, though this one is listed as being suitable for four to eight 3rd level characters. This is another easy one to bring a separated group of characters together as the characters are brought together in this Nexus.

Avoiding spoilers again, there are many holiday themed elements throughout. The adventure can conclude in a variety of different ways depending on the group’s or individuals desire to help Cinder Claws.

And finally the Appendix includes a Patron write-up for Cinder Claws, a Yuletide Spirit. Invoke Patron check results, Patron Taint, and Spellburn results are all included. The names of three Patron Spells are included, but the details of those are left up to the judge. The names of the spells should provide enough to convey a general sense of what would be appropriate.

While I have not had the opportunity to run the adventures in this product, they look like great choices for someone wanting to run a holiday themed DCC game. The product is available at RPGNow.

Author:  Daniel J. Bishop
Publisher:  Purple Duck Games
Art: Michael Scotta, Jacob Blackmon
Price: PDF $2.75 (sale) – RPG Now / d20pfsrd Shop / Paizo
Pages: 24 (incl. cover)

Campaign Elements

Silent Nightfall is the fifth installment in the Campaign Elements series from Purple Duck Games written by Daniel Bishop. The Campaign Elements line is designed to help a DCC RPG judge create a persistent campaign world and provide patron quests, divine quests, or any number of quests to help fill the “quest for it” vibe of DCC RPG.

The Campaign Elements series can also be used to provide a short side quest on nights you are missing a player. Or on an evening you need a short diversion from the main campaign events. The CE series is a very versatile set of adventures that easily drop into any DCC campaign.

Silent Nightfall

Silent Nightfall involves venturing into a nuclear power facility from a long gone era when magic was less prevalent. Since that era a new creature called the grallistrix has taken hold and is one of the creatures calling the facility their home. A mutated wizard also calls the area his home and even the energy of the remaining nuclear power can be used as a demi-patron for your Dungeon Crawl Classics campaign. If all the creatures inhabiting the area are not enough, a particularly sought after artifact is also located within the area.

While the location in this adventures fits in the vein of Appendix N literature, a nuclear power plant may not fit in with your campaign world. Daniel offers a couple of other options for a judge wishing to use this adventure but not use the previous civilization premise.

A background is provided for the judge to give him some information about the area. This is followed by a more in-depth description of the creatures within the remains of the structure, as well as the artifact lost within its depths. Before moving on to the encounter area descriptions a few ideas are presented for working the location into your campaign beyond just killing things and taking their stuff.

The included map covers the three levels of the structure. It is easy follow and for the motivated judge offers some room for expansion through collapsed corridors.

As is typical of the CE series there are several ideas suggested for “squeezing it dry”. These ideas help provide a judge with some suggestion on where the PCs can go from here after running the adventure for them.

Silent Nightfall is also full of several appendices that can be used in conjunction with the adventure or “stolen” for use in other areas of a judge’s campaign. These include a table of aberrations (due to the radiation, but easily adapted to be caused by something else). In addition to the table several specific creatures affected by radiation are included. The adventure also introduces the idea of demi-patrons. Demi-patrons are simply less powerful patrons that offer some assistance to characters but not at the capacity a full patron could. An expansion of the language rules is also included for judges wishing to use them.

And finally, a new lawful organization called the Radiant Brotherhood is introduced. This organization could easily be used as part of this adventure or borrowed for other areas of a judge’s campaign. A level structure within the organization is defined and some stats for each of these ranks.

The Review

I find Silent Nightfall another great release in the Campaign Elements line from Purple Duck Games. The adventure itself is a great option for working into an existing campaign or as a side trek.

The inclusion of multiple new creatures is also sure to add to a judge’s stable of creatures to surprise his players with. They could easily be transplanted to a different scenario with ease if the main encounter area did not grab a judge for some reason.

The concept of a demi-patron is an interesting one. A judge can easily expand this to other niche areas of their own campaign with the framework provided. I am sure I can find use for demi-patrons in my own campaign.

I continue to find the Campaign Elements line an excellent product. They have so many parts that are usable in existing campaigns – either in whole or part. I have always been able to find ways to include parts or sometimes the entire encounter area in my own long running campaign. The ease at which one can drop bits and parts or the whole encounter area into an existing campaign makes the CE line a great resource!

Author:  Daniel J. Bishop
Publisher:  Purple Duck Games
Art: Michael Scotta, Gary Dupuis
Price: PDF $3.00 – at RPGNow / at d20pfsrd.com / Paizo.com
Pages: 13 (incl. cover)

The Seven Deadly Skills of Sir Amoral the Misbegotten is the fourth release in the Campaign Elements series from Purple Duck Games. The Campaign Elements series helps fulfill the ‘Quest for It’ element of the Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG. The products in this series are perfect for use as divine quests, patron quests, or simply when you as a judge have a DCC RPG character that needs or wants to accomplish some task.

This fourth release is written by Daniel Bishop, just as the previous three releases were. The cover illustration was done by Michael Scotta and interior art was done by Michael and Gary Dupuis. The PDF is 13 pages long including the cover and page of OGL information on the last page. An area map is included, as well as encounter descriptions for each location of the ruined Gryffon Keep. Numerous new monsters are included, either to be used for this adventure, or “borrowed” by creative judges for other areas of their campaign. Several ways to introduce this area and Sir Amoral himself are also in the adventure, along with the ‘Squeezing it Dry’ section for getting the absolute most from this scenario.

The primary component to this adventure is the ghost of a once powerful warrior. This warrior knew many fighting techniques that could prove advantageous to other warriors or those interested in pursuing a special fighting technique. In life Sir Amoral was stingy with this knowledge, but in the afterlife he seeks to pass this on to others – if they are worthy.

Sir Amoral knows seven special fighting techniques that one can learn. To be worthy one must pass one of his seven deadly tests. Even succeeding at that means the one seeking to be taught this technique must accept a quest on Sir Amoral’s behalf.

The scenario includes the mechanics for these seven bits of knowledge and seven new creatures Sir Amoral can summon to determine if one is worthy of instruction.

The Review

The scenario rests in a specific area, the ruined Gryffon Keep. Most likely the characters will seek the place out in search of Sir Amoral to teach them new weapon techniques. A creative judge can come up with any number of ways to learn of Sir Amoral, but the most attractive appears to be the characters having met someone who had received training on their adventures. This person could be an ally or rival depending on which fits your DCC campaign the best.

There are some additional hooks noted for drawing characters to the area. And several opportunities exist to expand the adventure site to further work the area into an ongoing campaign.

The seven techniques provide mechanics to do things like increase initiative, increase armor class, introduce a form of attacks of opportunity, and similar mechanics. There is a sidebar that states the seven deadly skills are not supposed to analogous to feats. I still have a hard time shaking the feeling that they feel a little like feats to me.

They are certainly much harder to obtain than a feat in d20 systems and it does come with a price to learn them. But as I read them I feel like they will get recorded on my character sheet in a very similar manner as feats. My initial reaction is lukewarm to these mechanics.

I think when I use this scenario in play I would still have the seven deadly skills, but possibly swap in something of my own creation. I think. We will see what happens when the time comes though. In either case – a neat scenario and idea and certainly workable even if I tweak it from how originally written.

The scenario does include 7+ new monsters. Many of these are for use with the seven trials, but a judge could easily “borrow” some of these for use anywhere in a campaign.

The location itself is also interesting and has at least one area that just calls for a judge to expand on it a bit and really work it into their campaign.

Once again this release in the Campaign Elements series has lots of useful parts in it and ideas to “borrow” for an established DCC RPG campaign. Used in whole or in part this is another strong release from Purple Duck Games and Daniel Bishop. It is a welcome addition to my collection.

Author:  Daniel J. Bishop
Publisher:  Purple Duck Games
Art: Gary Dupuis, Luigi Castellani
Price: PDF $3.00 – at RPGNow / at d20pfsrd.com / Paizo.com
Pages: 14 (incl. cover)

The Folk of Osmon is the third, and as of this post, the most recent release from Purple Duck Games in the new Campaign Elements line. For those unfamiliar with the Campaign Elements line, it is a new series of products written as short scenarios ready to be dropped into an existing campaign. The scenarios offer possible questing locations, side treks, or possibly a place for a wizard to gather a new spell component. So far each scenario has offered several ideas as to how to work it into a campaign.

The module is written by Daniel Bishop and illustrated by Luigi Castellani. The PDF comes in at 14 pages including the cover and OGL license information at the back. A map of the area is included, as well as a couple of art pieces, one of which is in color. Several new monsters are presented along with a random encounter table for the area. Four scenario possibilities are at the end of the adventure to help a busy judge jumpstart some ideas on how to incorporate The Folk of Osmon in their home campaign.

The Folk of Osmon is intended as a hazard area and is located in a mire. This helps make it relatively easy to use in most campaigns. The four suggestions at the end of the module are helpful for judges having a hard time determining how to introduce their players to the area. For Purple Sorcerer fans, this particular Campaign Element screams to be dropped into the Sunken City area!

Hooks into the scenario range from simply passing through the area, rescuing an NPC from a sacrifice, finding possibly hidden treasure, to encountering a ritual in the swamp, or any number of other possibilities a creative judge can come up with. By aiming to be a hazard area with some interesting traits and occupants the transportability of the adventure has few limits.

The Review

The Campaign Elements series continues to deliver with this third installment. Given I have my currently running campaign based in a city bordered by an expansive swamp to the south, it makes it exceedingly easy to drop this one into my game. So far that has been the case for each of the Campaign Elements series released, I have no trouble thinking of places I can use them.

The adventure includes four more creatures that are apt to be found near the area. One called a Pallid Thorn has an interesting attack that is sure to play with player’s minds. The other creatures easily fit into a swamp environ and will certainly see use in my campaign.

The actual encounter area has five areas within a set of ruins is described. I find the number of areas described enough to give the judge a feel for the area without being enough to side track a party for too long if the area is dropped in as a place the party is just passing through.

The inclusion of four ways to drop this encounter area into your campaign is a nice touch. The hooks here are more than just a one or two liner, but several paragraphs worth of setup to help make the area even more interesting or tied to the characters.

I noted above one of the pieces of art included in the adventure was in color. That was a nice touch for the module! I am used to the black and white pieces in a lot of the Purple Duck Games releases for DCC. It was good to see a little color in there.

The Campaign Elements line continues rolling on strong with this third release. I feel like with a collection of these I can always have something ready to run for my group or something to pull out when they need to quest for something. With an easy to use hazard area, new monsters to drop into any swamp in your campaign, and several suggested hooks to use this area of ruins, The Folk of Osmon is another excellent addition to a judge’s collection.

Author:  Daniel J. Bishop
Publisher:  Purple Duck Games
Art: Luigi Castellani
Price: PDF $2.50 – at RPGNow / at d20pfsrd.com / Paizo.com
Pages: 12 (incl. cover)

The Black Goat is the second release in the Campaign Elements line for the Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG. The Campaign Elements series is designed to be run with minimum preparation by the judge and provide “quest for it” areas. Whether your wizard needs a spell component or to be taught a certain spell, a rare metal or element for the crafting of a wondrous magic item, or maybe just a way to restore some ability damage, the Campaign Elements series from Purple Duck Games aims to fill this niche.

The PDF is 12 pages long including the cover and the OGL license information on the last page. A map of the mountain pass is included helping depict the gate system the pass residents have here. A rumor table covers twenty different rumors about the mountain pass and its inhabitants. In addition to eight encounter areas there is also a patron write-up for the Black Goat, this includes invoke patron checks, patron taint results, spellburn results, and a new patron spell, Silence. There is also a short section on getting the most out of the adventure with suggestions on expanding certain elements of the area.

The encounter area centers around a mountain pass that can be dropped into any hilly or mountainous region of a campaign world. The pass has been known as the Pass of the Black Goat, taking the name from a sphinx-like creature living in the pass.

The Black Goat is a spellcaster who could be a patron to a PC wizard or simply provide a resource for spells or other pieces of knowledge. A creative judge could find many ways to work the Black Goat into their campaign beyond the ideas suggested.

There are two factions of races that live in and near the pass. One race controls the gates of the pass, while the other group lives just beyond the pass. The factions do not get along with each seeking to control the pass. This friction between factions creates a wonderful backdrop for plots within a campaign.

The Review

I am once again quite satisfied with the direction the Campaign Elements line is taking. The Black Goat can easily spice up a mountain pass in a campaign or the Black Goat itself can be used as a source of knowledge or ability in “quest for it” situations.  The two factions in the area provide several ideas for a DCC RPG judge to work with to weave this encounter area into their own campaign world.

I know in my current DCC RPG campaign I wrote my own adventure to handle some travel the party needed to do at the time. Looking back I could easily see this encounter area as filling that need with much less work on my part! I really like products that are so easy to plug and play into a campaign world. It does a lot to make my job as a judge easier from week to week.

Essentially, from this short 12 page PDF I get a detailed mountain pass, two rival factions, a patron-type figure, and a patron write-up. This can all be used as a whole or in parts by the enterprising judge.

The Black Goat proves the Campaign Elements line is off to a great start. I see this series a wonderful time-saver for the busy judge and is giving the opportunity to finally adequately provide some “quest for it” options to my players. If you run a Dungeon Crawl Classics game, you should definitely be keeping an eye on this series.