This is one of those products that you really have always been looking for. On top of adding encounters that provide action, intrigue, and fantastic atmosphere, this product also adds little details like weather, trinkets, book titles, bird species, liquid contents. These other lists seem to mesh together nicely when you realize that there are many types of birds in various encounters and that more variety is given when you can identify the bird, or the bottle you found has a specific liquid inside, or the book you discovered is pertaining to birds, potions, etc… There is a fantastic Statistics page with sums up the combatants, obstacles, traps, and diseases.

Really worth the investment and it goes splendidly with the Random Urban Encounters counterpart product.

This is a fantastic piece of urban dressing that adds action, possible adventure seeds, and the feel of a bustling urban environment. Details such as weather, NPC traits, tavern names, and an elegant set of custom chase rules written specifically to deal with the NPCs generated by the encounters makes for great action sequences.

My only criticism is a seemingly missing Statistics page that was present in the Random Wilderness Encounters product, and is referred to by at least one entry. If this changes in an update, then I would say that this product is darn near perfect for what it does and what it claims to be.

Well worth the investment already, I could run a party through a city with very little forethought to the feel and happenings of the city.

This is excellent. Though the descriptions are short, I found that they acted as great catalysts for entire story hooks, or for short bursts to keep the characters happy. In fact they really got in to some of them from the short descriptions in the first place

They are a great help for DMs who do not have the time to create such things. Highly recommended. Take a look at the city encounters too, just as useful.

They are a great help for DMs who do not have the time to create such things. Highly recommended.

Overall: 9 out of 10. I love this product. I highly suggest it.

In terms of content & layout: I loved this product. It could have easily been an add on from WoTC. Beautifully compiled. 10/10 on the production side. the next part is difficult to grade.

Everyone seems to have a different way to use poisons. I, personally love mixing the ways different people use poisons. In this product, It is all layed out nicely in the foreward section.

Favorite aspects of this product: categories of poisons & multiple effects from a single poison.

The different categories really add a layer of depth to the poison system. I'm all for that. It breeds creatovity and improve for not only the DM but also for the players.

Having a single effect from a poison is cool but having a possible secondary effect just adds so much depth, reward & excitenent to the table. The way it works is like this: "target fails first save, something bad happens. Target has a certain amount of time before making another save. If target fails after first save: a new effect happens. Repeat this effect for every failed save after the first." I love that concept.

It's worth mentioning the increasing potency is a cool idea.

I am not a big fan of the way they do checks. I feel as of poisons are rare and deserve to be something of a particular interest. So unless the character has a reason to know poisons, I use the check to determine if the character knows they are poisoned or not. Then they must seek out someone who would know.

As stated above, I love this product. It's been a great addition to my sessions. (Especially Blood Fire & Concoction of the Pallid Serpent)

Got to run The Raven last session wow that was a lot of fun, I can't wait to run some of the others in this pack. Highly recommend the next time your party is in a city run one of these adventures. it has also works great for getting new players onboard with D&D and wanting to come back for more.

Played two of the encounters this past weekend (MRs O'leary's Basement and A Vermin Problem) and players really liked them. Loved the random sewer hazard/encounter rules. Will try adding some more in for later games.

I just used Wilderness Encounters last night and it was so much fun! My players really liked the engaging and quirky (yet not unrealistic) things/people they came across. It made travel enjoyable. Assassin Games, please come out with more of these encounter supplements!

I felt that this was definitely well put together. I have used quite a bit of this through my Campaign setting as it adds depth and flavor to what would have been an empty and meaningless travel through the wild. I definitely feel that this line of 5e products from this company is definitely great and adds a lot to a campaign (Wanted was also a very nice product as well...if you have not checked it out, do so!). I definitely look forward to future products from them!

This is a nice collection of a variety of very small encounters. I'm not sure I'll use any of them as-is, but they're good jumping points for building a simple encounter or a hook for a new quest. I've already started using some of these 1-2 paragraph encounter descriptions to create some adventures which should make for a couple fun sessions. Definitely worth the very reasonable price.

Very handy little booklet to have as a starting DM. A few encounters that can be adapted to be dropped into play at a moments notice.

It's a shame that a couple have to be city based for them to work, but should be fun once my players reach a city. If they reach a city! :)

The scenarios are well thought out, and the guidance clear. With so little 3rd party stuff available for 5e, very handy to have!

This is a super cool set of adventures. I have run three of them with great player enjoyment. The wererat story is easy to make cool. I had a player contract the wererat curse which led to some amazing sessions trying to cure him after we finished the adventure.

I buy way too many rpg products. Absolutely worth 3 bucks I would actually say its worth five.

Originally posted at: http://diehardgamefan.com/2014/09/01/tabletop-review-the-curse-of-hallas-reach-ogl/

The Curse of Hallas Reach is an OGL adventure, meaning it can be used with Dungeons & Dragons 3.0/3.5 and Pathfinder. It’s a fairly straight forward adventure consisting of two dungeon crawls and a decent amount if investigation/NPC interaction between each hack and slash affair. The adventure is designed for characters between Levels 3 and 5 although there is no recommended party size.

Now, from the cover, you might be expecting a Ravenloft style fantasy horror adventure. While supernatural beasties are at the root of this adventure, it’s more in line with the very traditional D&D adventures, so don’t be expecting there to be an emphasis on horror or terror. Unless the GM decides to crank up those factors. Instead The Curse of Hallas Reach is very reminiscent of the adventures we played in the 80s and early 90s where you are given a quest and then dungeon crawl to find the root of the problem. The adventure plays it very safe and sticks to a formulaic and linear progression. This isn’t a bad thing. A linear adventure is only bad if players feel they are being railroaded to a specific destination and have no real control over the plot or even their characters. The Curse of Hallas Reach offers some minor Call of Cthulhu-esque investigation options but a lot of the plot progression will come from talking to and learning about recent events from the NPCs within the town. This means that The Curse of Hallas Reach has something for every type of gamer and it does a nice job of balancing the aspects. Sure the dungeon crawls will be the most memorable and take up the most time, but it is nice to see the gamers who like to solve mysteries or engage in intrigue have not been forgotten.

As you might imagine, The Curse of Hallas Reach finds the PCs in the small town of Hallas Reach. Perhaps they are there on a longer journey to stock up on supplies or perhaps they just needed a place to sleep for the night. How and why the PCs are there is up to your respective Dungeon Master. Once there though, several packs of ghouls erupt from under the earthen floor of the town and the PCs have to help the town guard fight them off. The town’s guard is depleted in the attack and the PCs are asked to trace the ghouls; footsteps to see where they came from. An initial foray of the caverns below Hallas Reach combined with post dungeon crawl conversations with townfolks will lead the characters to a much larger dungeon crawl event and the true culprit behind this ghoul attack. The time between both dungeon crawls is padded with three different random encounter charts (wilderness, night and mire), each with very different events and creatures to encounter. The Nighttime list is my favorite as it offers some spooky bits to flavor up what would otherwise be a pretty humdrum adventure.

The second dungeon crawl is quite large, with twenty six locations and three levels to scour. Here you’ll find the adventure’s big bad, along with foul beasties to slay and treasure to take. Again, what’s here is fairly pat and standard. That’s not to say The Curse of Hallas Reach is generic, because it offers some story depth and interesting antagonists. The adventure does play things safe by providing the same type of adventure (flow-wise) that you’ve probably played dozens of times before. That’s okay. Not every adventure needs to be some incredible mind blowing affair that changes how you game. The Curse of Hallas Reach sticks to tropes but it also does them very well. There’s a good amount of flavor and descriptive text to help make the adventure seem spookier or eerier than your normal dungeon crawl, but don’t be looking for some sort of deep story or even real plans from the Big Bad on what is he doing other than “Go team evil!” Still, it’s a fairly fun adventure, especially for new or casual gamers and I have to admit the tactics and battle strategies for the final boss were really well done. He’ll definitely pose a challenge.

The Curse of Hallas Reach doesn’t have much in the way of art or fancy schamncy layouts. It is what it is – a solid fun third party adventure that doesn’t waste time with frills. This is certainly reflected in the price point of the piece. I’m kind of glad that the adventure included a mini monster manual with all the creatures you can encounter, along with descriptions of several traps and diseases the PCs can encounter. I’d rather have the substance than art, you know?

All in all, The Curse of Hallas Reach is a formulaic piece that some gamers might get déjà vu from, but it’s also a fun adventure and worth playing or at least reading – especially since it’s only $2.99. For the cost of a comic book, you and your friends can spend a few gaming sessions doing battle with ghouls and investigating ominous locales. That’s a pretty good deal in my book.

Fancy a heist adventure with subtle undertones of something that wouldn't be out of place in the TV show Leverage, all in a fantasy setting? In a few short sentences the scene is set: a mysterious and powerful artefact has fallen into the hands of a fellow who has been making money out of warfare and off the backs of the downtrodden citizens in the town he rules, and your party has been hired to, ahem, acquire it. It's thought he's about to sell it on, so there's just one chance - he's throwing a party for notables from far and wide at which it is believed he'll be selling the item, and his guard may be down enough for the party to sneak in.

The background gives names and circumstances, but they are easy to change to fit in with your campaign world and its history. Likewise, you know the party and who is likely to hire them, but a range of suggestions (which can, of course, be twisted to fit) are provided to get the ball rolling.

Once we get to the main location - this warlord's plush manor house - the descriptions are rich and vivid, bringing the place to life in your mind's eye. It's up to the party how they get in - wangle invitations, present a fake one or sneak in, perhaps - and many of the likely options are dealt with in a series of notes to help you react appropriately with all the information that you'll need as they make their preparations to attend this prestigious event. Security is tight, so the party will have to be imaginative with their approach... and then it's likely that they will have to behave like regular attendees for at least a while. There are plenty of resources in terms of rumours and NPCs to test their social skills.

Those who prefer more in the way of combat should not fret, they will get the chance... and yet the scenario offers options such that everything could be resolved by persuasion and negotiation in the rather unlikely event that your party is that way inclined. Without giving too much away, the climax of the event is a gripping hostage situation that creates more problems of its own.

There are a few flaws in layout and proofreading, but nothing that renders any part of the adventure unusable. Floorplans are simple but clear, there's a DM version and one for the players.

Overall, this is an exciting adventure with plenty of scope to turn it into a really memorable event in your party's lives, even that of their players - the sort of adventure that will be reminisced about for years to come.