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Raiders of the Serpent Sea - Third Party 5E Review
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<blockquote data-quote="TheSword" data-source="post: 9209161" data-attributes="member: 6879661"><p>That's fair. I'm not going to write a separate review but I will just finish the fact check of the things you've said so far as some of the stuff is just plain incorrect and when you've already said you realised this is a campaign you're never going to run, at this point this isn't a review - its a hatchet job. Respond or not, that's your call. I'm going to avoid the general opinion stuff or questions of taste.</p><p></p><p></p><p>It covers some key elements that form the overall context and story of the campaign setting. What you're referring to is the Adventure Summary that absolutely does do what you're asking for. You mention it next so not sure why you're criticising the segment.</p><p></p><p>The sidebar you refer to in that section, explains that there is a twist and exactly what it is. Not sure why you are claiming it doesn't.</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]336335[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>The history of the world is fully detailed there. It is also detailed in the main campaign book. Not sure why you would want it printed twice.</p><p></p><p></p><p>The mechanic is described. Either have an NPC fish them out or use the misadventure rules.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]336336[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]336337[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>The map is beautiful and not photorealistic as per my previous post. Its just a colour illustration. </p><p></p><p>The Exit from area 2 is clearly detailed in the text for that location</p><p>[ATTACH=full]336338[/ATTACH]</p><p>There are windows on the second level. Three in fact on the map you didn't show.</p><p></p><p>Two methods</p><p>[ATTACH=full]336339[/ATTACH]</p><p>Or clearing the rocks out of the way that leads to area 15. Rolf himself will do this with or without the PCs. Its described in the text for area 15 and set up in the text for area 2 that Rolf and the crew will begin doing this.</p><p></p><p>because...</p><p>[ATTACH=full]336344[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>Squad combat for managing large scale fights has its own part of the Raiding appendix. always read the book before starting the adventure.</p><p></p><p>The shieldwall is an ablative barrier for the PCs and fights as a single entity. With 2 attacks a shield wall of 5 won't defeat 9 raiders so the PCs will be doing the majority of the damage. Once the shield wall is defeated as described the PCs will be at risk. Its a way of introducing the mass combat rules without putting the PCs in danger for not understanding them.</p><p></p><p>The backstories and motivations for the raid captains are really cool and provide many clues to how the ships might be obtained. </p><p></p><p>There is a whole section on games in the GM reference. Including Tug of War and a board game. Very cool. It is clearly referenced in the main text.</p><p></p><p>Leasing costs 25gp per person as a fallback if the party is unable to obtain one another way.</p><p></p><p>It is not a photorealistic map. It is however an illustration of a very useful mead hall map that could be used in any number of circumstances. Combat isn't the only reason one might want a colour map. Not an easy map to find outside of a Norse campaign.</p><p></p><p>I think at this point, with the reviewer begrudging the inclusion of the a mead hall map in a Norse campaign setting and having found several inaccuracies in the review, I'm just going to advise people to get it and read for themselves and bow out of the thread. Its pretty time consuming referencing the errors in the review... and there are a lot.</p><p></p><p>This is a beautiful set of books - with amazing art, maps, very thoughtful encounters, great NPCs and a real sense of myth. There are a lot of options and the writers have gone out of their way to give players choices rather than railroads. What I will warn is that is big - epic even. Extremely detailed and it probably isn't for first time GMs - though they would get a lot out of breaking the campaign into smaller sections and running them individually. Ultimately I would rather have a beautiful, epic and complex campaign full of roleplay and mystery than a collection of keyed rooms in a simple dungeon crawl. The associated challenge with that is that there are more moving parts and its easier to miss things.</p><p></p><p>One thing I particularly like is the 'gaming-from-below' element that I find far more satisfying than the 'gaming-from-above' found in Odyssey of the Dragonlords. The latter deals with the high and mighty - gods and kings - but largely skipped over the life of everyday folk. As a result it was hard to put the events in Thylea in context. It was an epic myth - interesting enough but ultimately quite superficial. Raiders of the Serpent Sea on the other hand is full of how ordinary folk live in Grimnir. Their customs, relationships, rituals, games and everything in between. When you do see the rulers, leaders and gods its in the context of a vibrant and well detailed world that the players can get to explore.</p><p></p><p>Also worth checking out the Alexandrian's review of the Players Guide that accompanies it. Full of effusive praise. </p><p></p><p>As a plug for folks I'm a big fan of - both Heroic Maps and Seafoot Games have some excellent battlemaps on their patreons that would support a norse campaign. </p><p></p><p>Good luck for anyone thinking of getting this and running through it. Try to look past [USER=7041430]@Sparky McDibben[/USER] 's negativity and see that there is a pretty amazing campaign here... for the low low price of $25. Best bargain I've seen in a long time.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="TheSword, post: 9209161, member: 6879661"] That's fair. I'm not going to write a separate review but I will just finish the fact check of the things you've said so far as some of the stuff is just plain incorrect and when you've already said you realised this is a campaign you're never going to run, at this point this isn't a review - its a hatchet job. Respond or not, that's your call. I'm going to avoid the general opinion stuff or questions of taste. It covers some key elements that form the overall context and story of the campaign setting. What you're referring to is the Adventure Summary that absolutely does do what you're asking for. You mention it next so not sure why you're criticising the segment. The sidebar you refer to in that section, explains that there is a twist and exactly what it is. Not sure why you are claiming it doesn't. [ATTACH type="full"]336335[/ATTACH] The history of the world is fully detailed there. It is also detailed in the main campaign book. Not sure why you would want it printed twice. The mechanic is described. Either have an NPC fish them out or use the misadventure rules. [ATTACH type="full"]336336[/ATTACH] [ATTACH type="full"]336337[/ATTACH] The map is beautiful and not photorealistic as per my previous post. Its just a colour illustration. The Exit from area 2 is clearly detailed in the text for that location [ATTACH type="full"]336338[/ATTACH] There are windows on the second level. Three in fact on the map you didn't show. Two methods [ATTACH type="full"]336339[/ATTACH] Or clearing the rocks out of the way that leads to area 15. Rolf himself will do this with or without the PCs. Its described in the text for area 15 and set up in the text for area 2 that Rolf and the crew will begin doing this. because... [ATTACH type="full"]336344[/ATTACH] Squad combat for managing large scale fights has its own part of the Raiding appendix. always read the book before starting the adventure. The shieldwall is an ablative barrier for the PCs and fights as a single entity. With 2 attacks a shield wall of 5 won't defeat 9 raiders so the PCs will be doing the majority of the damage. Once the shield wall is defeated as described the PCs will be at risk. Its a way of introducing the mass combat rules without putting the PCs in danger for not understanding them. The backstories and motivations for the raid captains are really cool and provide many clues to how the ships might be obtained. There is a whole section on games in the GM reference. Including Tug of War and a board game. Very cool. It is clearly referenced in the main text. Leasing costs 25gp per person as a fallback if the party is unable to obtain one another way. It is not a photorealistic map. It is however an illustration of a very useful mead hall map that could be used in any number of circumstances. Combat isn't the only reason one might want a colour map. Not an easy map to find outside of a Norse campaign. I think at this point, with the reviewer begrudging the inclusion of the a mead hall map in a Norse campaign setting and having found several inaccuracies in the review, I'm just going to advise people to get it and read for themselves and bow out of the thread. Its pretty time consuming referencing the errors in the review... and there are a lot. This is a beautiful set of books - with amazing art, maps, very thoughtful encounters, great NPCs and a real sense of myth. There are a lot of options and the writers have gone out of their way to give players choices rather than railroads. What I will warn is that is big - epic even. Extremely detailed and it probably isn't for first time GMs - though they would get a lot out of breaking the campaign into smaller sections and running them individually. Ultimately I would rather have a beautiful, epic and complex campaign full of roleplay and mystery than a collection of keyed rooms in a simple dungeon crawl. The associated challenge with that is that there are more moving parts and its easier to miss things. One thing I particularly like is the 'gaming-from-below' element that I find far more satisfying than the 'gaming-from-above' found in Odyssey of the Dragonlords. The latter deals with the high and mighty - gods and kings - but largely skipped over the life of everyday folk. As a result it was hard to put the events in Thylea in context. It was an epic myth - interesting enough but ultimately quite superficial. Raiders of the Serpent Sea on the other hand is full of how ordinary folk live in Grimnir. Their customs, relationships, rituals, games and everything in between. When you do see the rulers, leaders and gods its in the context of a vibrant and well detailed world that the players can get to explore. Also worth checking out the Alexandrian's review of the Players Guide that accompanies it. Full of effusive praise. As a plug for folks I'm a big fan of - both Heroic Maps and Seafoot Games have some excellent battlemaps on their patreons that would support a norse campaign. Good luck for anyone thinking of getting this and running through it. Try to look past [USER=7041430]@Sparky McDibben[/USER] 's negativity and see that there is a pretty amazing campaign here... for the low low price of $25. Best bargain I've seen in a long time. [/QUOTE]
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