| The Adventurer’s Club | |
| by Shyguy | |
| A Review by Brett Bixler | |
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The Adventurer’s Club is one of those rare “first effort” scenarios that give us a glimpse of a budding author’s potential along with a solid scenario to boot. Indeed, this massive scenario hardly seems like a first effort. It’s big, with over 90+ towns. It covers a wide outside area that is thankfully NOT a wasteland. It has a definite story with a plot that moves smoothly forward and utilizes BoE programming features (like variable town entry) to provide a sense of change in time. It has interesting side adventures, involving joining guilds, acquiring spells, and learning the lay of the land. | |
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It has high-quality original graphics and good use of sound. |
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Check out the shapes of some of the caverns! |
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It has good puzzles. The text was actually edited! It even has a plausible evil “boss.” |
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You start the scenario as a low-level party resting in a quiet town after you were shipwrecked. (Note: Even wonder why so many BoE adventures start this way?) You are looking for adventure, thus your name of “The Adventurer’s Club.” Not a great name, but in a way it reflects the naivety of a group of young people who don’t realize the dangers they are about to discover.
You start by performing simple tasks for your local innkeeper and others nearby, eventually reaching the main city on the island. There you have some more adventurers — some comical, some serious, until you find a way to leave the island. Many adventures would stop here, and that’s what I fully expected from a first effort. I was wrong. Leaving the island for the mainland is when things really start to get interesting! The many quests and side quests available here all build your strengths and skills so you are ready for the main plot when it rears its evil head. You can even be in the middle of one quest when you receive a request for assistance elsewhere, making you ponder your best course of action.
Upon conclusion of the main plot, you can still explore the entire area, searching for that one spell or sword that eluded you — and there’s plenty of them.
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This is an excellent scenario, and an amazing first effort. It does have some flaws — minor ones — but in all fairness to this review they should be mentioned. I noticed several things occur seemingly out of sequence. For example, the first time I met the mayor of a certain city, he acted as if he knew me, even though I was repeatedly denied audience with him prior to my initial meeting. Apparently I missed a plot thread but the scenario thought otherwise. |
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I disagree with the weight of many unique (to the scenario) items. I can see a body weighing 250 pounds, but does a skeleton really weigh over 50 pounds? Would the fur pelt of a wolf really weigh 25 pounds? |
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The balance of the monsters in some areas is questionable. Outside, you can move from an area with Goblins to an area with Sliths quickly. There are no true barriers to keep the two apart, making me wonder why the Sliths didn’t conquer the Goblins long ago. |
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Underground, be very prepared for long hauls. Take PLENTY of potions, wands, scrolls, etc. You’ll need them. Towards the end of the scenario the monsters are so tough and so frequent you better have a large supply of magic with you, or the ability to create potions, or both. You’ll need plenty of Energy potions. You’ll never succeed otherwise. |
The above negative observations are minor in comparison to the positive attributes. I recommend everyone play this scenario, and encourage the author to write another!
My score — 9.2 out of 10