Overview
This is a MonkeyLungs review of a Sword Coast Legends player made module. “Lands of Legacy (Prologue)” by module author: Nick ModernDisclaimer: Module review series is currently taking a time out. The limitations of the tool set have worn me down and, for now, I won’t be devoting as much energy into SCL. I will keep playing and am looking forward to RoD and I will probably grab the console version for some co-op but for now my epic quest is taking a breather.
Sword Coast Legends Module Review
Module Title: Lands of Legacy (Prologue)
Author: Nick Modern
DM Required: No … even though the module says yes. This module is fully ready to go for solo play but the author has marked DM required because it is enhanced with a DM and the author himself DM’s sessions of it on occasion. Try get in on one of these sessions!
Editable: No
Recommended Level: 1
I gained 2 levels here. Went in with a fresh level 1 Cleric and ended the module at level 3
Completion time: Around 3.5 hours for me.
Thumbs Up? Thumbs Down?
Thumbs Up for: Anyone who likes a fun RPG adventure. People who want to try out a very well crafted module. If you are a fan of SCL do yourself a favor a play this module. Rate it and let Nick know what you think at the SCL forums or here in the comments. There is some excellent quest design in here that shines on it’s own but in light of the limitations of the toolset, the skill with which sidequests start to seem less like side quests and interweave into the main plot is well worth your time.
Thumbs Down for: I guess if you really don’t like SCL then you most likely won’t do a 180 here BUT if you tried a bunch of fan made modules and found them lacking, this module will probably restore some of your faith in the community.
Review
Your party of adventurer’s has responded to a general call for sword arms and spell-slingers to help with some local problems. Trade routes are under attack and the local militia and local leaders alike are seeking help from any with the mettle to step up. Gather your party and head to Tradehill, help some folks along the way and then dig into a deeper, ever growing plot in your quest for gold, glory, goodwill, or any combination of the three.
I like how the author sets the adventure up within the confines of the game’s limitations. What I mean by this is that we have access to a group of adventurer’s, that’s just hardcoded into the game and modules should approach their storytelling taking this into account if they want us, as players, to feel more connected to the story. After proving your worth to a few notable NPC’s in the outskirts of Tradehill you are invited to help them out further. Meet up in town, grab a few sidequests and start being heroes.
Encounter design and trap and secrets placement is well done, if maybe a tad on the easy side. However this author does not fall into the trap other module creators do by constantly trying to bamboozle the player with enemies or trap DC’s way beyond a low level player’s abilities. I really like this. Traps were placed where they made sense, not every five feet and never felt annoying. There are still plenty of secrets and traps to find for your rogue, or other trap finder, so he or she will never feel like their invested points are wasted though. This module knows it is a low level adventure and does low level D&D right.
Very excellent use of placeable items with text pertaining to the adventure permeates this module. These notes, tables, cages, bloodstains, etc help to add some insight to the inner workings of the story and make exploration very rewarding. Keep your eyes peeled and read everything. There is a great story brewing here and I can’t help but feel some important details are contained within some of the placeable descriptions.
Considering the tools Mr. Modern is working with here the quest design is stellar. In fact, forget about the limitations of the tools, the quest desgin is just stellar. Tasks that seem like errands, end up being more than they seem at first. Seemingly unrelated events turn out to not be so unrelated. Everything serves the story well here and builds to something larger. What I also really enjoyed was the author’s restraint. Low level D&D can be hard to pull off. You don’t want it to be too boring but you don’t want to jump the shark and send players careening off into absurdly wild tales and world shattering events too early.
This module will be one I run at least a couple low level adventurer’s through to serve as their inaugural voyage into The Sword Coast. It’s just that good. Step into The Sword Coast and hightail it to Tradehill. Some folk there need your help. Don’t forget to tell Nick Modern what you think about his module over at The Sword Coast Legends forums and try to get into one of his Live DM’d sessions. Thanks for reading and safe travels.
Review Disclaimer
Currently the dialogue editor for Sword Coast legends is woefully deficient. Dialogue response choices for players are limted to two choices: 1. We accept! and 2. Not right now.
This is something that weighs heavily on any module and is not the fault of the module author. As such, I am not factoring this into the review even though the lack of any real dialogue options is a detrimental factor to the overall experience. Hopefully this is something the developers eventually rectify. However all of the most enthusiastic module creators, the early adopters, the die hard supporters of this game will have already been dealt the short end of the stick.