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| A trio of adventures for Warlock! |
Three's Company is a collection of three adventures, loosely linked into a mini-campaign, for the Warlock! roleplaying game. It's 91 pages long and presented with the usual trade dress, in a digest-sized hardcover. Written by Eric Brimstin and Greg Saunders, it's suitable for a starting group.
TL;DR: This is a useful collection of adventures that would be equally useful for one-shots or a mini-campaign. Each one is different from the others, but they all give a great introduction to the Warlock! setting. Three's Company is a useful addition to the gamemaster's arsenal and will enable an interesting game to be run with some light preparation. The adventures are presented very theatre of mind style, so some improvisation will be needed if you want maps in the first or final scenario. I recommend this book.
The three adventures will need some preparation from the GM, they're very much written as a framework with ideas and situation for the characters to stumble into. The GM will need to react to events appropriately, determining the NPC's actions dependent upon their individual motivations. This is very much an old school sandbox with converging plot threads rather than a scripted story. It's suggested that the link between the scenarios is that the characters are signed on as caravan guards.
The first adventure, the Ghosts of Hollyford, is set in a small village halfway between the cities of Rebeck and Westerlan. The village has recently been established, built around the ruins of a fort that was destroyed in the war with the Traitor. The Hollyford Inn is the heart of the community, providing a place for travellers and caravans to stop. The wilds around include forests with ruins from the ancient Golethan Elven Empire. Caravan guards are a necessity with infamous outlaw highwaymen such as the Black Cat and his gang operating in the area, preying on weaker groups for their valuables. The adventure has a d6 table of hooks to draw the characters in, should the GM need them. The Inn and surroundings are described (but there's no map or floorplans), along with notable characters, both local and visiting. There is tension between the villagers and the self-styled 'Baron' Rurk who is trying to enforce a toll on the road.
It's likely that the characters will be drawn into a situation with Edwin, the Innkeeper's brother. He needs recruits to defeat a monster that he found in a ruin with much treasure in the forest. Of course, all is not exactly as it seems and there are plenty of complications before, during and after this mission. It's entirely possible that Edwin may gain alternative assistance and the characters may choose to let them take the risks, only to relieve them of the gains when they've been worn down by battle. The scenario wraps with a set of potential hooks for follow up, and then presents all the key characters and creatures in the format introduced in Compendium 2.
The second adventure, Vice and Villainy in Verminham, is set in a small city in the West Mudlands to the northwest of Westerlan. The characters will potentially get drawn into gang rivalries over gambling establishments. The owners of the Bloated Boar, a tavern and gambling den fallen upon hard times have aligned interests with the De Broeker syndicate in Westerlan in an attempt to gain an advantage over their local rivals at the Cantankerous Clam. The tension has been escalating slowly and tonight it will come to a head, when a move is made to take over the Bloated Boar's operations, and gain its clientele. At least two different factions plan to make a move, and the characters could end up working for either of them or just caught up in the mess that ensues. There are interesting NPCs, some of whom will be potential allies if the characters engage them the right way. There are a number of events that will take place if the characters don't act, with escalating chaos.
The Inn is presented as a simple set of maps along with some details of the local streets and sewers. If the characters can show sufficient funds, they may be able to get into the gambling den for cards or dice, or to gamble on the Ratbadger fights. The adventure rounds out with a selection of ways to close and ideas for future sessions. Again, there's an extensive cast list in the Compendium 2 format.
The final adventure - A Red Night in Fair Marenesse - has the characters drawn into the machinations of a secret society after the murder of Master Agris, potentially after they have worked to bring his caravan safely here. One of his journeymen, Kohler, needs them to retrieve some goods which are being stored at warehouses out of town in Seastead Village where some 'associates' (a polite word for smugglers) are trying to renegotiate their fees and leverage the situation to their advantage. Kohler is legally in the right, and he needs someone to retrieve the valuable bags of pepper and take them to the secure warehouse owned by the Count of Fair Marenesse. Fair Marenesse suffered much damage when the Traitor sacked the city, with only the Castle holding firm. Trade is the lifeblood of the city and critical to both its recovery and that of the Kingdom overall.
Details are presented on the journey to Seastead, the Smugglers and their motivations and it is left entirely open how the characters deal with the issue. Assuming that they can release the goods, they may want to smuggle them into the city as they can avoid pepper tax and pocket the monies they've been given to pay the gate guards. There are further complications that may bring the scenario to an explosive conclusion with confrontations of a messy nature. Once again, there are a few hooks and some detailed NPC descriptions. There are no maps presented in this adventure.
This is a useful collection of adventures that would be equally useful for one-shots or a mini-campaign. Each one is different from the others, but they all give a great introduction to the Warlock! setting. Three's Company is a useful addition to the gamemaster's arsenal and will enable an interesting game to be run with some light preparation. The adventures are presented very theatre of mind style, so some improvisation will be needed if you want maps in the first or final scenario. I definitely recommend this book.
14 April 2021
My other Warlock reviews are here:
My other Warlock reviews are here:
Thanks a lot for posting these reviews! I'm buying into (and playing) Warlock atm and these are very helpful!
ReplyDeleteThank you! I do have a couple more books to cover, but they're in a queue at the moment.
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