The most entertaining DnD adventure I've ever read

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  • Опубліковано 24 лис 2024

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  • @QuestingBeast
    @QuestingBeast  2 місяці тому +15

    Down Among the Dead on Kickstarter: kck.st/3XJG34F
    Completely Unfathomable (S&W): bit.ly/UnfathomableSW
    Completely Unfathomable (DCC): bit.ly/UnfathomableDCC
    Knave 2e Adventure Jam: itch.io/jam/knave-2e-adventure-jam
    My RPGs (PDF): bit.ly/QuestingBeastPDFs
    My RPGs (Print): bit.ly/QuestingBeastBooks
    Newsletter: bit.ly/TheGlatisant
    Patreon: bit.ly/QBPatreon

  • @rynowatcher
    @rynowatcher 2 місяці тому +152

    Love the return to reviews. Seems like it has been a while.

    • @jeremytitus9519
      @jeremytitus9519 2 місяці тому +5

      Gotta have been like a hundred years

  • @joeg451
    @joeg451 2 місяці тому +33

    I love the ape monster with the daily schedule. More adventures should do that!

  • @themerrymushmen6390
    @themerrymushmen6390 2 місяці тому +44

    JASON-SHOLTIS-IS-A-GENIOUS, and that's all.

  • @datrux
    @datrux 2 місяці тому +7

    The amount of page flipping required made this one of the most frustrating adventures I've ever run. Worse, the maps are so ink-heavy that printing them from pdf is costly.
    It's amusing, but it's a challenge to run. And the Kickstarter was a bad joke that is somehow still not finished after 7 years.

  • @Madkingstoe
    @Madkingstoe 2 місяці тому +21

    So happy to see this being reviewed. I had no idea what to expect from this book when I bought it, but I was intrigued by the idea of "gonzo" gameplay and I heard good things about the writer. I was absolutely blown away by how inspiring this adventure was - from the opening "hook", to the many interesting and hilarious elements of the adventure. I became an immediate fan and was quite shocked the book hadn't gotten more attention. I hope this gives it the boost it needs so more people can discover how great this adventure is (and hopefully Sholtis will continue to expand the setting). If you want the TLDR version, this adventure feels like Flash Gordon meets Journey to the Center of the Earth.

  • @onselfdestruct
    @onselfdestruct 2 місяці тому +2

    Great review. This was completely off my radar and I ordered it for DCC right after I finished this video.

  • @swordsnstones
    @swordsnstones 2 місяці тому +7

    awesome, these are my fav types of modules, who cares if it makes sense as long as its fun :)

  • @FoxTrick101
    @FoxTrick101 2 місяці тому +20

    Great review, Great book, Great host. I appreciate all the work you do for the TTRPG community.

  • @christophersbyers
    @christophersbyers 2 місяці тому +3

    This is awesome, thank you for the review!

  • @delmonte4426
    @delmonte4426 2 місяці тому +10

    So glad youve got this, I got the DCC product recently. Feels perfect for the system!

  • @horsebattery
    @horsebattery 2 місяці тому +11

    This book is the ultimate distillation of unadulterated Sholtis-Gonzo. Great review!

  • @timsanty3052
    @timsanty3052 2 місяці тому +7

    This is THE most gonzo adventure I've ever seen. Goodman Games, give this man a job!

    • @wbbartlett
      @wbbartlett Місяць тому +2

      Providing they don't mind waiting a decade for any output from him

  • @hater911ful
    @hater911ful Місяць тому +1

    This has very "Rick and Morty" kind of feel to it. Very cool

  • @rogerpenny1181
    @rogerpenny1181 2 місяці тому +4

    Great review; I've gone and bought this!

  • @TheDanielDFox
    @TheDanielDFox 2 місяці тому +2

    This has been on my list for a bit, your review just convinced me to grab the print on demand. Thanks for the review!

  • @TheAurgelmir
    @TheAurgelmir 2 місяці тому +3

    Love the reviews - have actually played a few of the ones I have seen on here as part of my larger campaign.

  • @OrdinaryTrevor
    @OrdinaryTrevor 14 днів тому

    I bought a used copy of Operation: Unfathomable from you at a gamer garage sale at Imperial Outpost about 5 years ago. I’ve run one shots from it 3 times and it is ALWAYS entertaining.

  • @thuglifegame7573
    @thuglifegame7573 2 місяці тому +6

    Great review Ben! Such a great work. All GMs should read this.

  • @broceollomon
    @broceollomon 2 місяці тому +3

    This looks really fantastic. I feel like i could use a lot of this piecemeal. Thanks for doing this review.

  • @Ogrebeef
    @Ogrebeef 2 місяці тому +9

    I just wrapped up a 5 year campaign in DCC using this! Completely agree that the map is a challenge and should have hexes, and I found it tricky to us at the table compared to other books due to the sheer amount of information. Fort Enterprise is a great example of that because there are so many main characters and their descriptions are separate from the actual locations they are found at. I found myself going back-and-forth frequently between sections which slowed down play. Spot on review for sure.

    • @Ogrebeef
      @Ogrebeef 2 місяці тому +2

      Edited because speech to text is dumb.

    • @mrmaxwell346
      @mrmaxwell346 2 місяці тому +1

      So what are some highlights of tge campaign?

    • @pk-vk3oc
      @pk-vk3oc 2 місяці тому +1

      Nice! How could you have spent that long there? The dungeons seem ok sized but not exactly world spanning.

    • @Ogrebeef
      @Ogrebeef 2 місяці тому +2

      @@mrmaxwell346 The open world really grabbed them. They had a few quests like taking down the chaos godling and recruiting a woolly Neanderthal. So they just kind of explored the setting doing these quests and interacting with all the NPC‘s. They really liked it.

    • @Ogrebeef
      @Ogrebeef 2 місяці тому +2

      @@pk-vk3oc all the open world and faction stuff really grab them. I think they spent months just interacting with the wooly Neanderthals alone. They even did wizard quests so they could gain powered experience and allies to fight the chaos godling

  • @cameronmaas2644
    @cameronmaas2644 2 місяці тому +3

    The art in this book is incredible!
    I think this would be a perfect fit with the Black Hack.

  • @MenseParatus
    @MenseParatus 2 місяці тому +3

    an amazing amount of work and love in that book, great review

  • @artistpoet5253
    @artistpoet5253 2 місяці тому +5

    Sounds like a good read even if it doesn't see a table. Added it to my DTRPG wish list.

  • @brettjenkins1645
    @brettjenkins1645 2 місяці тому +9

    This would be perfect for my GOZR campaign!

    • @delmonte4426
      @delmonte4426 2 місяці тому +3

      GOZR??

    • @brettjenkins1645
      @brettjenkins1645 2 місяці тому

      @@delmonte4426 yeah! We use GOZR as our main ruleset and I borrow stuff from all over the place to give it a little more depth.
      Questing beast has a video on GOZR-check it out if you haven’t seen it!

    • @broceollomon
      @broceollomon 2 місяці тому +1

      @delmonte4426 GOZR is a rules-lite science-fantasy game created by J.V. West. It's meant to play like the stories in Heavy Metal (the magazine and movie). You play as weird mutants in a vaguely apocalyptic wasteland. It's good, deadly fun.

  • @samchafin4623
    @samchafin4623 2 місяці тому

    This looks like a blast! I'm so glad to hear and see that the map doesn't have hexes! 😃

  • @typoholic
    @typoholic 2 місяці тому

    Fantastic review. This made me order the book version immediately. Can’t wait to run it.

  • @user-bm2zb3uh7k
    @user-bm2zb3uh7k 2 місяці тому +1

    That cover looks absolutely stunning

  • @Vezalin
    @Vezalin 2 місяці тому +1

    I really enjoyed this review. Very in depth compared to past ones that I felt were far too short and barely covered what was in the book. More like this please.

  • @ctbutube
    @ctbutube 2 місяці тому

    Buying this based on your review. I'll leave a comment on the DTRPG page indicating such. You are the most reliable product reviewer out there (or maybe we just have the same gaming style). I have bought many, many products based on your reviews, and I've never been disappointed. You should make links that credit your review to the purchaser so at, at minimum, you get some social credit from them, but really you deserve a commission for steering people towards quality products. I encourage everyone who buys a product based on your reviews to leave a comment "Bought based on the Questing Beast review."

  • @Daniel-Six
    @Daniel-Six Місяць тому

    Oh my god... that art is awesome.

  • @Bluecho4
    @Bluecho4 2 місяці тому +2

    Sounds wonderfully gonza. I love it.

  • @jasondelvaux3036
    @jasondelvaux3036 2 місяці тому

    I love the hand gestures.

  • @jamesdoyle6914
    @jamesdoyle6914 2 місяці тому

    I did not know Sholtis did the dungeon dozen blog. I always loved reading through that at work

  • @oneheart537
    @oneheart537 2 місяці тому +2

    This looks amazing

  • @blackstone777
    @blackstone777 2 місяці тому

    I've been waiting for this! Have the two separate books, but now all in one! YES! BOUGHT IT!

  • @MitchellHudson
    @MitchellHudson 2 місяці тому +26

    Take a close look at the map at 9:30 of this video. One of my biggest issues is that much of the map is corridors, these corridors lead off the map, rather quickly. That means there is a lot of work for the GM to invent new areas not covered by this adventure text. The main passages are only about 2000’ across. The party hits one of these passages immediately, in the lower left, if they turn left they are about 500’ from the edge of the map and wander into uncharted territory. Note the lower right. There is an underground city here but it trails off the map leaving this for the GM to invent. I’m not against leaving some things up the GM but, I found there was too much of that in this adventure.

    • @QuestingBeast
      @QuestingBeast  2 місяці тому +14

      I would probably seal off many of the corridors leading off the page if I didn't want to expand things.

    • @MitchellHudson
      @MitchellHudson 2 місяці тому +12

      @@QuestingBeast don’t get me wrong, there’s a lot of great ideas and art in this but, at the table running this offers a few problems. My players ran off the map three times. For example the dwarf fortress spanning the chasm in the upper right, it looks really interesting, you have finagle your way inside to pass through, and… there’s nothing on the far side, unless you want to invent something yourself. You can’t dangle that kind of bait in front of players and not have something to back it up!

    • @CheeseWyrm
      @CheeseWyrm 2 місяці тому

      @@MitchellHudson I suggest that if you don't want them to finegle their way past the Dwarven Fortress - because you don't want to develop the far side - then don't make it an option. They can't go any further than the fortress. Events there re-route them back into your "DM-Zone" :)

    • @MitchellHudson
      @MitchellHudson 2 місяці тому +2

      @@CheeseWyrm understood and it should be admitted that this is a weak point in the design. If you place a big juicy castle keep over a chasm in the party’s way, provided some other effects that encourage players enter it, they will want to explore it! There is nothing of note on the inside making the situation about getting to the other side. And, there is nothing on the inside. When the party gets to the other side it’s very likely the party will March off the map in 180’. There is another path off the map to the north, and another that leads back into defined territory. My point is to fill in this review with real world play tested information. It doesn’t sound like Ben play tested this or noticed these short comings. This module looks great, is fun to read, it’s less fun to play for these shortcomings. To really make this great, take Ben’s advice cut down on the words, and my advice and fill in the content. For example, give the interior of the dwarf fortress a write, maybe a map, make it an outpost where players can rest and trade? And before you say it, I know I could do this but, if you are paying top dollar for a 335 pages of adventure you shouldn’t have to make a lot of edits.

    • @MitchellHudson
      @MitchellHudson 2 місяці тому +2

      I’d like hear from people who have run this. I posted a review in two parts on my blog. I think was fair and honest marking what’s good and what needs improvement. I wish more of these reviews were done by people who have actually run the adventures at the table. Sometimes things look great but less great at the table and the opposite can true also. Hearing first hand experience is more beneficial to the community. I hope Jason Sholtis can appreciate my honest feedback.

  • @MatsJPB
    @MatsJPB 2 місяці тому +2

    i kind of love this. Like, a lot!

  • @philalethes
    @philalethes 2 місяці тому +1

    Thanks Ben, these guys seriously suck at promoting themselves and this particular product should be getting absurdly more attention than it's been getting.

  • @jason-sp8nb
    @jason-sp8nb Місяць тому

    It looks brilliant. i would not mind having a copy of that book 😮

  • @delmonte4426
    @delmonte4426 2 місяці тому +1

    The references to Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (and various other Americana) is fantastic!

  • @melanclock
    @melanclock 2 місяці тому

    It would be cool to have a physical monster alert sign on the table and update it when a monster shows up :)

  • @RoJoBBandG
    @RoJoBBandG 2 місяці тому

    If anyone is interested in going full gonzo, Cha'alt is my favorite. It mashes genres well. The three hardcovers are also some of the most well-made books I've seen primted.
    The game itself uses the Advanced Crimson Dragon Slayer OSR rules which is available as a free pdf and can be used independently of the larger setting.

  • @cravensean
    @cravensean 2 місяці тому +2

    I am going to be getting both this and The Dungeon Dozen soon. But I wish someone would make Sholtis re-release the Dimension Z comics he and some other folks were doing back in the late nineties. They were a lot of fun but I wasn't able to get all of them... They operated at the intersection of the Marvel Universe and Saturday afternoon monster movies. I made my music buddy read them when they were coming out and he still makes references to the Mighty Gurnalon and the Flying Atomic Skull. (Note to self: Flamin' Atomic Skull, for Pete's sake.)

  • @jamiemcdonough6548
    @jamiemcdonough6548 2 місяці тому +2

    I don't know if it's just me, but I like how that first time we see that one eyes, long tailed, long necked, lizard creature on two legs standing before a cave it could double as a big smiling face with one eye.

  • @Toddalotapodamus
    @Toddalotapodamus 2 місяці тому

    AAHHH! So similar to the module I started for you Knave Game Jam. I drew most of my inspiration from the Wizardry games, so hopefully the flavor is different enough from this.
    EDIT: Well, the gonzo nature of it at least.

  • @likeasonntagmorgen
    @likeasonntagmorgen 2 місяці тому +1

    Friendly Malicious, that’s my character’s alignment 😆

  • @BX-advocate
    @BX-advocate 2 місяці тому

    This is the type of adventure I would like to run... unfortunately not the type of adventure I can ever get a group to play.

  • @juauke
    @juauke 2 місяці тому

    Odious Uplands looks very cool!
    Operation Unfathomable has an interesting starting plot but I think I'll put the Nul Rod in the sandbox if I ever get to run it

    • @juauke
      @juauke 2 місяці тому

      Glad to see you're back as well!

  • @Sonic_Decay
    @Sonic_Decay 2 місяці тому

    Great review🗡️🛡️

  • @Shattered_Entertainment
    @Shattered_Entertainment 2 місяці тому +3

    Woooo new video

  • @sirguy6678
    @sirguy6678 Місяць тому

    Cool video!

  • @scottlurker991
    @scottlurker991 2 місяці тому +1

    Welp, I'm sold.

  • @bolicob
    @bolicob 2 місяці тому +1

    Looks neat

  • @MitchellHudson
    @MitchellHudson 2 місяці тому

    This sounds like it expands on the DCC version that was published earlier.

  • @JakAttack
    @JakAttack 2 місяці тому +2

    This looks super cool but sadly cuz I have dyslexia that big block of text stuff you mentioned at 10:15 def has me a bit put off

  • @JAH711
    @JAH711 2 місяці тому +1

    Which version do you think would be easiest to run with Shadowdark?

  • @bromossunstarranger8706
    @bromossunstarranger8706 2 місяці тому

    I wish Jason Sholtis made a KNAVE version

  • @strawpiglet
    @strawpiglet 2 місяці тому +3

    Can someone explain how the layout style is better now? I know Ben mentioned it before but I can't remember what it was.

    • @QuestingBeast
      @QuestingBeast  2 місяці тому +5

      Modern layout uses bullet points, hierarchies, bolding, and so forth to divide up information. That way you can quickly scan a room description and know what's obvious, what's secret, what's loot, etc.

    • @strawpiglet
      @strawpiglet 2 місяці тому

      @@QuestingBeast Thanks!

  • @sbenno1
    @sbenno1 2 місяці тому +3

    Hey, if we're considering running this with Knave 2e, is the DCC version or Swords and Widardry version more suited? I'm not that familiar with the rule set for either.

    • @QuestingBeast
      @QuestingBeast  2 місяці тому +4

      These swords and wizardry version would be closer. Knave should be pretty compatible with very little changes

  • @jamiemcdonough6548
    @jamiemcdonough6548 2 місяці тому

    I appreciate the like my first comment got. To be honest I was afraid someone might tell me I got a detail wrong about the picture in the book I was originally referring to. I thought someone might say go back and look again it didn't have a long neck or it wasn't a lizard creature. Sometimes I hastily submit a comment on a video, then too late I question if that's how I really remembered what I watched. Hopefully everything's cool now. Thanks for reading my ramblings.

  • @aurvay
    @aurvay 2 місяці тому

    Why do I feel like this was created with DCC first and foremost in mind?

  • @47ronins
    @47ronins 2 місяці тому

    Instant buy ❤

  • @jessefinch8861
    @jessefinch8861 2 місяці тому +2

    @QuestingBeast could you tell me why the S&W version has a lower page count than the DCC version? Is it just due to the DCC conversions?

    • @QuestingBeast
      @QuestingBeast  2 місяці тому +4

      I haven't seen the DCC version, but I'm betting that it's longer stat blocks

  • @the_epipan
    @the_epipan 26 днів тому

    Well, it offers a great collection of interesting ideas.
    The tone is a bit odd, I mean, it's aimed at adults but the various illustrations and overall humorous tone make it pretty hard to take any of this seriously. It's kind of in the middle of being parody or satirical, but with the "contradiction" of wanting people taking the dangers seriously and being strategic because of the degree of mortality there is. I guess this falls into some kind of black/acid and absurdist humor? With things like an impossibly intelligent slug or snail that's also characterized as a condescending cultured gentleman just to laugh about it, like it's a Muppet-style thing or a children's puppet theater?
    On one hand, there is an abundance of details but, on the other hand, there is the use of "chaotic radiation" to justify all the impossible oddities, and there is also the mixture of different things, like mixing in science fiction with time travel in all that purely fantastic and light context. It clearly seems like something that would be more of a Monty Python movie than something designed to play a character and have development and interpretation of a character and drama.
    It reminds me of the tone of Paranoia, which revels in the absurd and the ultra-black and ultra-acid humor where the idea is that people revel in senseless violence and have fun with terrible situations and senseless deaths. It's a bit stressful (or disappointing?) because you can't empathize with anything there, or try to be introspective or really pretend to put yourself in that character's shoes, but everything is made so that you run until you die without thinking.
    It seems to me a bit like the world of Family Guy compared to the world of Lord of the Ring, Dragonlance, Blade Runner, The Godfather... I mean, things just for laughs and not something immersive to be taken seriously. And although in Family Guy they play with the soundtrack and certain cinematographic treatments to generate connections or emotional moments from time to time as simple narrative points in the formula of an episode, everything is soon betrayed by the characters, betraying what they were saying or supposedly believing... which if you think about it just a little, you become desensitized to what happens to the characters because they are inconsistent and false people. In the Simpsons at least in their best seasons, you had several characters that deep down you could see that they really wanted to do the right thing and the characters could appeal to that, you had Lisa as an edifying character that you could care about, you had Homer who despite all his imperfections was a loving father who really cared about his family and who deep down was a good guy, unlike other characters like that rich guy obsessed with Marge who despite being much more successful and intelligent than Homer he was a terrible person in comparison (for being possessive, narcissistic, not really loving or respect her) and that's why she chooses Homer, and it's endearing the moment when we see when Marge saw that side of Homer shine... and all that in a series that is also mainly satirical comedy and mostly absurd, but with those things you can empathize and love the characters. In Family Guy I end up hating them or having a lack of interest or indifference towards them, because absolutely anything can happen to them and they can do anything and nothing matters. The Simpsons have long since ceased to be what they used to be, however.
    It's probably a problem I have with overthinking things or wanting to take things too seriously. Maybe that's why I have trouble stressing myself out too much.

  • @johnnyhall3
    @johnnyhall3 2 місяці тому +1

    I love this! How close is Swords & Wizardry to OSE?

    • @aaronsomerville2124
      @aaronsomerville2124 2 місяці тому +5

      S&W is like Original D&D with all the supplements (I think they leave out psionics though). It's almost like playing with AD&D classes and monsters but with B/X combat. It should be seamlessly compatible, especially if using the OSE Advanced material.

    • @johnnyhall3
      @johnnyhall3 2 місяці тому +1

      @@aaronsomerville2124 Awesome - thanks for the response, much appreciated. :)

  • @Fo0tie
    @Fo0tie 2 місяці тому +2

    Roll a save or buy this product 😅❤

  • @rustymcrobot
    @rustymcrobot 2 місяці тому

    I've really been into the idea of running Black Sword Hack. Do you think this would port in well into this system, and if so which version would work best?

  • @fatihcihanhizlikan1427
    @fatihcihanhizlikan1427 2 місяці тому

    Reminds me of Oglaf. 😄

  • @bearbeard6604
    @bearbeard6604 2 місяці тому

    Probably a coincidence, but the publisher's website for this book is down. Anyone know if a hardcopy of the game can be purchased through the punlisher, or is it only a print on demand from drivethrurpg?

    • @QuestingBeast
      @QuestingBeast  2 місяці тому +2

      I'm pretty sure that it's only print on demand

  • @robertbird9807
    @robertbird9807 Місяць тому

    I've dowloaded my adventure, how do I know It's been submitted to the Adventure Jam?

  • @whiskeyvictor5703
    @whiskeyvictor5703 2 місяці тому

    Is this compatible with old school, i.e. TSR-era, rules and their simulacra?

    • @QuestingBeast
      @QuestingBeast  2 місяці тому +1

      This version is made for swords and wizardry, which is a slightly tweaked version of original dungeons & dragons. It would work just fine with TSR era stuff

    • @whiskeyvictor5703
      @whiskeyvictor5703 2 місяці тому

      @@QuestingBeast Thanks!

  • @zenithquasar9623
    @zenithquasar9623 2 місяці тому

    Wish it wasn’t DnD!

    • @QuestingBeast
      @QuestingBeast  2 місяці тому +3

      Steal the concepts and use your own stats

  • @jl7487
    @jl7487 2 місяці тому

    It isnt a dnd though....