Blue Rose: Six of Swords
Dec. 16th, 2018 04:37 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kaysperCross posted from an old review log, putting it here because frankly Dreamwidth could use some more Gay As Hell Tabletop Games.
First off, it's a good book. There's nothing too offensive or "what the actual hell, writers" moments in here, all the adventure modules are up to standard, the artwork is REALLY nice, and overall this feels like the people genuinely cared about the material. Six Swords does the ever important job for modules, where it doesn't just give out adventures. It also helps to flesh out the world just a little bit more. Also it makes me want to either play or run a game.
Now for a quick play by play of the adventures.
1. Mistress of Gloamhale Manor
The PCs are sent to solve a rash of child abductions, and the process come across a rather chilling haunted house, and a tale of madness, abuse, and restless spirits.
We start pretty strong with this module. There's a good mystery solving set up, some nice map work, and some genuinely spooky moments littered about with child ghosts. It's a bit light on the combat though, with most encounters being either "reduce numbers" or "run away from the OP undead abominations."
The initial set up segment does feel like it drags a little though, and it takes a while to get to the meat of the adventure. But the big problem is... Probably the boss encounter, or lack thereof.
NOW. The book actually warns for child abuse before the adventure starts, so good on them!
But, a big part of this adventure is summoning and banishing the ghost of a "doctor" who starved and abused his child patients. (Some of whom still haunt the place.) Also he turned all incel on a woman living at the manor, and violently murdered her and the kids present.
So. THIS VILLAIN. This is not a villain who I'd be content with merely banishing to another dimension. Oh no. When you write someone this vile, you owe it to the PCs to turn him into a boss encounter where you visit every iota of righteous vengeance and violence you can on him, until the tattered remains of his soul weep for something as sweet and merciful as oblivion.
That boss encounter is something I'd want seriously overhauled before running or playing the adventure; running it as is would feel unsatisfying to me. But aside from a lack luster finale, it's a good adventure. Well constructed.
I give it a Disney's Pinocchio out of 10. Solid ideas, but needs better execution and payoff when you have a villain like THAT.
2. The Sixth Beast
This is probably the weakest adventure of the bunch. And by that I mean it's still very serviceable, but it doesn't quite have enough fizz. The adventurers are sent to fight bandits and prevent a collection of feuding village factions from descending into war.
That's all well and good, but it just doesn't feel like there's enough written here to make the NPCs pop or for you to care about what's at stake-
Well, actually there are details here, but they're the wrong sort of details.
One of the factions you're supposed to be helping, the trebutane, are refugees from the lich king. That should be really engaging, but they have some... questionable views on homosexuality. (ie, they see it as "just a phase" that people grow out of.)
You are supposed to HELP these people, and are given bonuses for helping these people. But I feel like there's not enough substance there to offset these flaws they have. There's not any standout NPCs that say, talk to the PCs about their love life, or their goal of raising prize veggies, or how they want to become a bard or something. And the genderqueer couple that you DO encounter doesn't make an appearance for quite some time, leading to the whole thing feeling disjointed.
Also the villains, while well written with some cool quirks/motives (HONOR! FOR SCIENCE! REVENGE!) aren't really well incorporated into the adventure. The PCs don't really get a chance to interact with them and learn about them. And sadly the sorcerer artifact comes a bit out of nowhere, and doesn't have enough build up to it, despite it being a major factor in the backstory and the conflict.
So overall, An ATLA: The Great Divide out of 10. There's seeds something interesting there, but on a whole it either needs more work or can easily be skipped over.
3. The Night Market
OKAY, now we're back into the good stuff. (And I can post some module artwork!)
The PCs are sent on a secret undercover mission to infiltrate a criminal underworld and their bizarre bazaar, and recover valuable but dangerous arcane artifacts, and... MMMMMM this is some GOOD STUFF, people. Not gonna lie.
For starters, the module puts in a lot of intrigue with different characters and factions. You really DO feel like you've just landed in a nest of vipers and need to use your wits to survive or perhaps even beat the baddies at their own game. (There's even OTHER secret agents from the rival Knight Templar country who are also here to perform sabotage, on top of the usual scoundrels and thieves.)
The PCs get lots of RP encounters to try and keep their cover intact, meet people, further their goals, AND the adventure provides an alternate route/big scene for what happens if they blow their cover. I'm honestly quite impressed with how cleverly the module handles its alternate route, and weaves in points to jump onto that alternate route.
There's a couple of combat encounters sprinkled in, and the final encounter at an auction house is a wonderful clusterfuck of a melee where everyone starts brawling, reanimating the dead, trying to steal artifacts, attempting to assassinate people, etc. It's a pretty delightful romp all around with a lot of different outcomes possible, depending on the PC's actions.
If you really wanted me to nitpick, I'd say I wish there was even more time spent in the night market and mingling more with all the NPCs, and more RP write up encounters to show off their motives and foibles. Largely because what is here is good, but it leaves me wanting even MOAR. Which I feel is a mark of good adventure writing.
But overall, I give it a Good Stealth Game out of 10. Much like Tenchu or some of the better Assassin's Creed missions, there's a lot of fun sneaky adventure to be had.
4. A Harvest Of Masks
Spoilers guys: this is the best adventure of the book.
The PCs get to investigate mysterious abductions, strange masked villains lurking in the shadows, and finally uncover a mage whose twisted love has made him a sorcerer, and corrupts his magic and that of his fey lover.
So this? This is just a great little story with some fantastic ideas. The mooks you get to fight are super memorable with great gimmicks, the mystery is well paced, there's enough mystery and adventure to keep the PCs on their toes...And perhaps most commendable, the adventure branches at different points so the PCs can tackle the scenes in whatever order they want and without missing out on any of the cool stuff.
Also TONS of psychological drama going on. This module embraces Jungian archetypes full force. And better still? These mechanics can affect the PCs too, with some really great mini encounters. This applies to the boss battle too; super memorable for the same reasons as the mooks, and every combat encounter gives the PCs tons of wiggle room on how to approach the conflicts.
If I had to nitpick, I'd say that it might be nice to have a few more masked victim write-ups than what we already have, because it's such a cool mechanic. Similar to The Night Market, this is an adventure I'd want MOAR of, maybe even turn it into a campaign with some more encounters!
But overall, this one is absolutely a Persona out of 10. Wonderfully written and designed, would play again.
5. Storms Over Kamala
I'm pretty sure that every tabletop game is required by law to have a big, walk the earth on a grand quest module. In Storms Over Kamala the PCs set out for the Plains of Rezea (think the Dothraki, but as written by Mercedes Lackey) to challenge the forces that have claimed a lost clan's ancient homeland.
Storms Over Kamala goes for that epic adventure feel, it really does. And it has some great set pieces and encounters. The NPCs are also pretty memorable. (There is an entire sidebar where your party gets to choose horses to ride on, each with their own quirks. It's rather delightful.)
I feel that the problem with Storms though, is it is waaaaaaay too short to be a little module. It needs its own book to really expand on the NPCs, to give the PCs more encounters once the reach Rezea and help them understand the stakes. They need to meet more of the Kamala Clan, see more of the curses that plague the land, and they REALLY need to understand the stakes when they square off against the final boss. I think a lot more time needs to be spent in Rezea, to really immerse the PCs in the setting and the culture.
This is one of those adventures where there honestly needed to be more, but the foundations themselves are quite decent and could lend themselves to a full campaign.
So overall, A Suikoden Tierkries out of 10. Great ideas, but needs more time and attention to simmer.
And finally we come to the last of the bunch:
6. A Wanton Curse
The PCs are at a high society masked ball, only to discover a dark menace plaguing the nobility, vampires, and love corrupted into a curse.
...It's GOFFIC FANTASY guys. Of course I'm going to love this module. This is one of the modules where all the cards are laid on the table almost straight away, though the PCs don't realize it. The early encounters with the villains are absolutely fantastic and full of intrigue.
Also EVERYONE IS QUEER. The villains are very queer. The anti-villain is very queer. The heroic couple are poly queer. They finally took the Dragon Age system and made something even gayer than Dragon Age, and... Yes. Yes good.
Setting that aside though, the PCs get an excellent chance to solve the mystery with ghostly encounters, secret passages, and... TBH even if you took the vampires out this would still be Goth as Hell. ALSO, to keep the theme going... The boss encounter is pretty fantastic. Lots of cool themes and options for the encounter, and I always love me a good phylactery-vampire-litch plot.
If I had to nitpick... I sorta wish that the module kept the masquerade ball theme going the entire plot, somehow. Like maybe make the ball a multi-night thing or somehow compress the events so the occur in one place over just one night. But that's like, really small stuff compared to a delightful plot. (Oh and I suppose werewolves would've been good. Or more of the heroic wuffs that are just there in the background; there's a bunch of psychic wolves in the adventure but they only exist as a set piece, instead of being active players. It would've been super cool if they were more active players like in Harvest of Masks.)
Overall, I have to give this one a Castlevania: Rondo Of Blood out of 10. It might not hit the symphonic highs of other gothic works, but what is there is fun, moody, and I'll happily revisit it.
So in conclusion? I like Six of Swords a lot. And my major gripes are mainly to the tune of "it needs MOAR!" Which to be fair, is likely the job of the Game Master to provide more. All of the adventures work as story seeds, and lend themselves well to becoming full fleshed campaigns. Or just quick games, if run as is! Either way I like it a lot as an addition to the Blue Rose library; it continues the themes put forth in the core book, expands the setting in cool ways, and just makes for a tantalizing set of adventures.
Now if only I could find people who actually play this game.
First off, it's a good book. There's nothing too offensive or "what the actual hell, writers" moments in here, all the adventure modules are up to standard, the artwork is REALLY nice, and overall this feels like the people genuinely cared about the material. Six Swords does the ever important job for modules, where it doesn't just give out adventures. It also helps to flesh out the world just a little bit more. Also it makes me want to either play or run a game.
Now for a quick play by play of the adventures.
1. Mistress of Gloamhale Manor
The PCs are sent to solve a rash of child abductions, and the process come across a rather chilling haunted house, and a tale of madness, abuse, and restless spirits.
We start pretty strong with this module. There's a good mystery solving set up, some nice map work, and some genuinely spooky moments littered about with child ghosts. It's a bit light on the combat though, with most encounters being either "reduce numbers" or "run away from the OP undead abominations."
The initial set up segment does feel like it drags a little though, and it takes a while to get to the meat of the adventure. But the big problem is... Probably the boss encounter, or lack thereof.
NOW. The book actually warns for child abuse before the adventure starts, so good on them!
But, a big part of this adventure is summoning and banishing the ghost of a "doctor" who starved and abused his child patients. (Some of whom still haunt the place.) Also he turned all incel on a woman living at the manor, and violently murdered her and the kids present.
So. THIS VILLAIN. This is not a villain who I'd be content with merely banishing to another dimension. Oh no. When you write someone this vile, you owe it to the PCs to turn him into a boss encounter where you visit every iota of righteous vengeance and violence you can on him, until the tattered remains of his soul weep for something as sweet and merciful as oblivion.
That boss encounter is something I'd want seriously overhauled before running or playing the adventure; running it as is would feel unsatisfying to me. But aside from a lack luster finale, it's a good adventure. Well constructed.
I give it a Disney's Pinocchio out of 10. Solid ideas, but needs better execution and payoff when you have a villain like THAT.
2. The Sixth Beast
This is probably the weakest adventure of the bunch. And by that I mean it's still very serviceable, but it doesn't quite have enough fizz. The adventurers are sent to fight bandits and prevent a collection of feuding village factions from descending into war.
That's all well and good, but it just doesn't feel like there's enough written here to make the NPCs pop or for you to care about what's at stake-
Well, actually there are details here, but they're the wrong sort of details.
One of the factions you're supposed to be helping, the trebutane, are refugees from the lich king. That should be really engaging, but they have some... questionable views on homosexuality. (ie, they see it as "just a phase" that people grow out of.)
You are supposed to HELP these people, and are given bonuses for helping these people. But I feel like there's not enough substance there to offset these flaws they have. There's not any standout NPCs that say, talk to the PCs about their love life, or their goal of raising prize veggies, or how they want to become a bard or something. And the genderqueer couple that you DO encounter doesn't make an appearance for quite some time, leading to the whole thing feeling disjointed.
Also the villains, while well written with some cool quirks/motives (HONOR! FOR SCIENCE! REVENGE!) aren't really well incorporated into the adventure. The PCs don't really get a chance to interact with them and learn about them. And sadly the sorcerer artifact comes a bit out of nowhere, and doesn't have enough build up to it, despite it being a major factor in the backstory and the conflict.
So overall, An ATLA: The Great Divide out of 10. There's seeds something interesting there, but on a whole it either needs more work or can easily be skipped over.
3. The Night Market
OKAY, now we're back into the good stuff. (And I can post some module artwork!)
The PCs are sent on a secret undercover mission to infiltrate a criminal underworld and their bizarre bazaar, and recover valuable but dangerous arcane artifacts, and... MMMMMM this is some GOOD STUFF, people. Not gonna lie.
For starters, the module puts in a lot of intrigue with different characters and factions. You really DO feel like you've just landed in a nest of vipers and need to use your wits to survive or perhaps even beat the baddies at their own game. (There's even OTHER secret agents from the rival Knight Templar country who are also here to perform sabotage, on top of the usual scoundrels and thieves.)
The PCs get lots of RP encounters to try and keep their cover intact, meet people, further their goals, AND the adventure provides an alternate route/big scene for what happens if they blow their cover. I'm honestly quite impressed with how cleverly the module handles its alternate route, and weaves in points to jump onto that alternate route.
There's a couple of combat encounters sprinkled in, and the final encounter at an auction house is a wonderful clusterfuck of a melee where everyone starts brawling, reanimating the dead, trying to steal artifacts, attempting to assassinate people, etc. It's a pretty delightful romp all around with a lot of different outcomes possible, depending on the PC's actions.
If you really wanted me to nitpick, I'd say I wish there was even more time spent in the night market and mingling more with all the NPCs, and more RP write up encounters to show off their motives and foibles. Largely because what is here is good, but it leaves me wanting even MOAR. Which I feel is a mark of good adventure writing.
But overall, I give it a Good Stealth Game out of 10. Much like Tenchu or some of the better Assassin's Creed missions, there's a lot of fun sneaky adventure to be had.
4. A Harvest Of Masks
Spoilers guys: this is the best adventure of the book.
The PCs get to investigate mysterious abductions, strange masked villains lurking in the shadows, and finally uncover a mage whose twisted love has made him a sorcerer, and corrupts his magic and that of his fey lover.
So this? This is just a great little story with some fantastic ideas. The mooks you get to fight are super memorable with great gimmicks, the mystery is well paced, there's enough mystery and adventure to keep the PCs on their toes...And perhaps most commendable, the adventure branches at different points so the PCs can tackle the scenes in whatever order they want and without missing out on any of the cool stuff.
Also TONS of psychological drama going on. This module embraces Jungian archetypes full force. And better still? These mechanics can affect the PCs too, with some really great mini encounters. This applies to the boss battle too; super memorable for the same reasons as the mooks, and every combat encounter gives the PCs tons of wiggle room on how to approach the conflicts.
If I had to nitpick, I'd say that it might be nice to have a few more masked victim write-ups than what we already have, because it's such a cool mechanic. Similar to The Night Market, this is an adventure I'd want MOAR of, maybe even turn it into a campaign with some more encounters!
But overall, this one is absolutely a Persona out of 10. Wonderfully written and designed, would play again.
5. Storms Over Kamala
I'm pretty sure that every tabletop game is required by law to have a big, walk the earth on a grand quest module. In Storms Over Kamala the PCs set out for the Plains of Rezea (think the Dothraki, but as written by Mercedes Lackey) to challenge the forces that have claimed a lost clan's ancient homeland.
Storms Over Kamala goes for that epic adventure feel, it really does. And it has some great set pieces and encounters. The NPCs are also pretty memorable. (There is an entire sidebar where your party gets to choose horses to ride on, each with their own quirks. It's rather delightful.)
I feel that the problem with Storms though, is it is waaaaaaay too short to be a little module. It needs its own book to really expand on the NPCs, to give the PCs more encounters once the reach Rezea and help them understand the stakes. They need to meet more of the Kamala Clan, see more of the curses that plague the land, and they REALLY need to understand the stakes when they square off against the final boss. I think a lot more time needs to be spent in Rezea, to really immerse the PCs in the setting and the culture.
This is one of those adventures where there honestly needed to be more, but the foundations themselves are quite decent and could lend themselves to a full campaign.
So overall, A Suikoden Tierkries out of 10. Great ideas, but needs more time and attention to simmer.
And finally we come to the last of the bunch:
6. A Wanton Curse
The PCs are at a high society masked ball, only to discover a dark menace plaguing the nobility, vampires, and love corrupted into a curse.
...It's GOFFIC FANTASY guys. Of course I'm going to love this module. This is one of the modules where all the cards are laid on the table almost straight away, though the PCs don't realize it. The early encounters with the villains are absolutely fantastic and full of intrigue.
Also EVERYONE IS QUEER. The villains are very queer. The anti-villain is very queer. The heroic couple are poly queer. They finally took the Dragon Age system and made something even gayer than Dragon Age, and... Yes. Yes good.
Setting that aside though, the PCs get an excellent chance to solve the mystery with ghostly encounters, secret passages, and... TBH even if you took the vampires out this would still be Goth as Hell. ALSO, to keep the theme going... The boss encounter is pretty fantastic. Lots of cool themes and options for the encounter, and I always love me a good phylactery-vampire-litch plot.
If I had to nitpick... I sorta wish that the module kept the masquerade ball theme going the entire plot, somehow. Like maybe make the ball a multi-night thing or somehow compress the events so the occur in one place over just one night. But that's like, really small stuff compared to a delightful plot. (Oh and I suppose werewolves would've been good. Or more of the heroic wuffs that are just there in the background; there's a bunch of psychic wolves in the adventure but they only exist as a set piece, instead of being active players. It would've been super cool if they were more active players like in Harvest of Masks.)
Overall, I have to give this one a Castlevania: Rondo Of Blood out of 10. It might not hit the symphonic highs of other gothic works, but what is there is fun, moody, and I'll happily revisit it.
So in conclusion? I like Six of Swords a lot. And my major gripes are mainly to the tune of "it needs MOAR!" Which to be fair, is likely the job of the Game Master to provide more. All of the adventures work as story seeds, and lend themselves well to becoming full fleshed campaigns. Or just quick games, if run as is! Either way I like it a lot as an addition to the Blue Rose library; it continues the themes put forth in the core book, expands the setting in cool ways, and just makes for a tantalizing set of adventures.
no subject
Date: 2018-12-17 04:08 am (UTC)Really, I just want to have fun talking about a game that I like that has psychic magic cats and reminds me of Valdemar. Sorry, but that's just the way I feel.
no subject
Date: 2018-12-17 04:23 am (UTC)You have the nerve to try to pull the "oh no I feel so attacked card because I pointed out the game is not perfect and that you might want a heads-up about the Company.
Feel free to enjoy your books published by a CEO happy to stand up viciously for the defense of an author whose revealed treatment of women got him instantly banned from the Horror Writer's Guild and all their events.
no subject
Date: 2018-12-17 04:26 am (UTC)Good thing Gmail never forgets.
Fuck you, you two-faced coward.
no subject
Date: 2018-12-17 05:24 am (UTC)On the double edit: initially I thought "oh, maybe if I throw in a comment about feeling so attacked right now, it will lighten the mood!" And then I thought again and figured that would sound needlessly catty and harsh. Thus the edit; sorry for coming across as a two-faced coward. Mostly I was trying to avoid an argument, and go for being funny. Needless to say, that backfired pretty horribly.
Sorry for that. My sense of humor is very much a work in progress, and I double guess myself a lot on it. Apologies for making you feel put out or lied to.
Now as for the initial response on why I just want to just enjoy my game. I admit that since I'm coming off of tumblr and watching that whole site burn, I wanted to avoid fandom drama and purity culture. Blog more about the stuff I really like, without going into why such and such is problematic. Sure the problems are there, and I get that it might interfere with the enjoyment other people have. If they want to ignore my entire post because they don't like something that much, then that's probably a good call! (My old roots might be a showing a bit here, with the whole 'don't like, don't read' ethos.)
I worry that I was much too curt with my initial reply. I probably was feeling really put out, because this wasn't the convo I was thinking of having. (I was hoping more for a "oh you like this game? I like this game too! Let me tell you about what I've done with this game!") But to try and explain real quick:
Let's say, for instance, someone writes a post about Why They Like Tacos. I suspect that their hoped for response would be a continued conversation on why tacos are great, less so about how that one time the people responsible for the lettuce on the tacos did something bad. Talking about lettuce producer crimes is certainly viable and a thing people might want to do on separate entries, but perhaps not on a post focused on why tacos are great.
I was going to try and type up a quick response on "hey, sorry if my reply was a bit curt, let me explain my reasons. Also sorry if this has made for a really bad first impression." But I see you've beaten me to punch there. Maybe that's on me, for delaying in getting my welcome post up super late and not explaining what I want to use my DW account for. (That is, talking about stuff I like.)
This said, I also apologize in being a bit short on patience here. But I don't feel very friendly towards you, after being told "fuck you" and the like. I was hoping to talk about a shared interest in video games and such with you, but I don't think that's much of an option at this point.
Sorry for the trouble and the disastrous first impression, but I don't think this will work very well.
no subject
Date: 2018-12-17 05:24 am (UTC)