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Star of Alladore: The Official Rangers of Shadow Deep Fanzine $16.50
Average Rating:4.7 / 5
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Star of Alladore: The Official Rangers of Shadow Deep Fanzine
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Star of Alladore: The Official Rangers of Shadow Deep Fanzine
Publisher: Joseph A. McCullough
by A customer [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 09/30/2021 11:32:30

A collection of (not directly connected) missions, mostly for beginning and less powerful rangers. A welcome opportunity for other authors. The emphasis is on missions that can be repeated, and make sense whatever the current state of the war. Some spoilers in the following reviews of individual adventures.

Treason in Tallis

A mission defending the palace in the capital against a disloyal noble. An intriguing switch to fighting the enemy within. Ripe for prequel expansion. I added:Lady Anne's Ball (with the board set up a ballroom with adjoining gambling tables) to gain gossip about potential traitors and their plans; Raid on the Townhouse, a burglary of Baron Audric's residence in the capital, to find clues to where, when and how the attack will take place. Information picked up in the social encounters give bonuses for the raid; success in the burglary triggers the Treason in Tallis scenario as the climax of the mission.

In play, the loyalists won twice, managing to save some innocents from the fires, and defeating the Baron after a tough struggle.

To Help the Sick

A variant on Blood Moon, with Shadow Deep agents to unmask and information to gain from a contact. Excellent use of foreboding as undead forces increase at the edge of the board, waiting for "all is revealed" to attack. The heroes gather clues to trigger the event, also determining who are the healers, who are the imposters. An innovative event deck with some cards replaced, others discarded. Play one was touch and go at the point when zombies attacked, but a fire wizard turned the tide and the rangers and retinue achieved near total success. The second group also tottered when the undead storm was unleashed, but managed to triumph with the loss of one companion.

Possible improvement: no experience point listing for defeating wolves or agents of shadow deep.

The Baleful Tower

Fast moving and fun mission for one highly experienced ranger. In the first scenario, the "healing pool" adds extra options. I like the mechanic of double cards after one run through of the event deck to encourage the ranger to enter the tower. There is flexibility in the second scenario, as you can decide whether or not to risk battle (for a fine reward) with a fearsome monster. In play I added one companion, mainly to pick up clues, etc. Outstanding success in the first play through, albeit with some unlucky rolls by the Chimera in the climatic encounter; the Dark Light Axe (Mandalorian anyone?) was claimed. A weaker ranger was overwhelmed by a horde of skeletal knights adjacent to the tower in a second play.

Possible improvements: scenario one, the example layout has a missing clue marker (near the centre); scenario two, strange event deck cards, the red queen is missing for no obvious reason.

From the Shadows

Some optional rules for using stealth presented, then a simple but challenging scenario to save villagers from a gnoll force. In a first play, a strong martial group ambushed the gnolls, then won by force of arms (and spells). The party lost a companion; they were fortunate the gnoll reinforcements did not arrive quickly, the heroes can end up facing a sizable force. In the second play, the ranger and retinue concentrated on quiet rescues and fighting retreats. Resolved quickly, one companion detected, surrounded and slain, five villagers rescued.

The Evacuation

Party escorting villagers being moved to safer locales. The protection of carts on the trail seems the more challenging scenario, as there are some potentially nasty ambushes; opponents when guarding the camp are less numerous, although the ranger and retinue may have been weakened. Excellent replay value: any two plays are likely to trigger different encounters (although the chances of fighting a troll seem very slim). Already tried and tested, as an earlier version has been freely available for some time.

Group one fared badly on the long road as they tried to fight a rearguard against gnolls as the carts moved to safety, only for the latter to suffer an assault by zombies. A depleted force managed to defend the campsite. A second group was menaced by zombies, then gnolls, and a zombie attack from further up the road. They were more successful in fighting one set of enemies at a time, and took no losses, but arrived late at camp. Night attacks were repulsed with relative ease.

Possible improvement: add a 50% chance of "you have a bad feeling about this" to the spooked horses entries, to give a greater variety of opponents at the campsite in replays.

Overall Impression

A fine collection of repeatable adventures, filling a gap in the material published thus far: you can develop a new ranger and followers without replaying corebook scenarios.

Regarding pricing, the pdf and physical copy combination offers best value.

Highly recommended.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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Star of Alladore: The Official Rangers of Shadow Deep Fanzine
Publisher: Joseph A. McCullough
by Matthew B. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 07/23/2021 06:05:51

Great Stuff. The book is lovely and well presented and the stuff inside is worth the money

Cheers



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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