Product– Friends in Need
System- Shadow of the Weird Wizard
Producer– Schwalb Entertainment
Price– $2.49 here https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/475523/Friends-in-Need?affiliate_id=658618
TL; DR– Solid start to a campaign. 98%
Basics– The blacksmith’s gone MAD! The kind hearted man has attacked and been contained but why… Can the heroes save the town from some deeper lurking threat?
Mechanics or Crunch– This is a pretty simple adventure, but solid enough to jumpstart a campaign. The adventure has exploration, combat, and social parts to allow the characters of all types to shine. It’s gonna be a bit hard, but Schwalb Entertainment adventures tend to be a bit killer. Complaining about that is like complaining that spicy food is spicy. It’s balanced for what it’s aiming to be, but still fun for those looking to get into the system and maybe even a campaign. 5/5
Theme or Fluff– Again, this is simple but what Schwalb wants in his adventures for this setting. It’s heroic with little to no gore and moral ambiguity. It’s just the heroes finding the cause, finding the solution, and killing bad guys along the way. Solid fun for a hero. 5/5
Execution– I like what’s here, but that’s contingent on there being more in the future. Right now, the item this links to is prepublication. If you want some Weird Wizard, then this is a good enough document (it even has a map!) that will get you playing in about 10 minutes. That’s good, but the layout is a bit lacking. Also, and this is a pet peeve, I want pregens. Give me at minimum a party of four with a better option being eight, two of each base class. They don’t even exist on Schwalb Entertainment’s website. That would make getting this play started even faster, and make getting my friends in even easier. That said, for the price you get a solid adventure with a map to explore. It’s good, but when fully published, it will even be better! 4.75/5
Summary– I do love me some “shadow” system by Schwalb. This is a good, but uncomplicated intro to his vision of how to play. It’s got the three pieces of a good adventure, and will let all the different characters shine. If you need Game of Thrones levels of background and intrigue you will be disappointed by this adventure. For the execution, it works, but this is a prerelease. It’s also pretty cheap, so even if it doesn’t massively change after layout, it’s still enough to justify the price. So far, I’m happy with how this system is working. 98%
Throat Punch Games 