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Darwin's World: Against The Wastelords (W1)
 
$5.95
Average Rating:4.4 / 5
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Darwin\'s World: Against The Wastelords (W1)
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Darwin's World: Against The Wastelords (W1)
Publisher: RPG Objects
by Stanley L. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 06/14/2023 22:25:14

Not sure why everyone else is giving this module a 4 or 5 out of 5 rating. The module's story is a nice little opening for low levels, but there are some encounters simply needed the players to react to them in order for the party to progress. If they couldn't, the players soft-locked themselves and couldn't progress any further. Most of the encounters are pretty straight forward, it might not be too railroady, since the scenarios did gave the players the options. But the writers didn't expand some of the options for their scenarios. So it's up to the GM to write extra to cover those missing bases up. While some are poorly written scenarios. Take for example, when the players entered the town called Ebb. After meeting the trademasters, the pit fight organizer will insult the players to get them to fight against a level 5 NPC but the players have to pay 100 corium to bet. This entire scenario is a set up to make the players lose their corium. There is no way a player can survive going up against a level 5 NPC, not when the player is only at level 1, or at best, level 2 by the time they reach to Ebb. And what happens if the players refuse to get egged on by the pit fight organizer? Well, nothing of course. They can just move on and the scenario is wasted. As GM, i have to change the scenario a little bit to entice the players to get involved with the pit fight by involving the market and the side bets (the side bets was mentioned in the module).

In the Haunted Canyons, the cliff dwellings has been set up with some primitive wind fan device that when the wind blew in, it'll spin the blades, making it look like from the outside, that the dwellings are "occupied". It's written there that it's "bait". Bait to what? The actual pit trap is away from the cliff dwellings. If the players go to investigate the cliff dwellings, they'll just find the primitive wind fan contraption. So what is the point of this?

NPC dialogues like Captain Ulz is written very inconsistent, when the first two times the players meet the NPC, he'll talk with broken grammar in his sentences. By the third time and onwards, the players meet the NPC, he'll talk normally. Why? No explaination whatsoever.

While some scenarios are nice, like the party meeting the Terminals and the option to persuade them that the party is peaceful and using diplomacy to convince the terminals to collect the scrap metal at the "scrap mine", but it's revealed to be a B-52 bomber. The biggest problems comes to two scenarios.

For example, the crashed B-52 bomber scenario, where players can climb into the cockpit to explore the interior. What the players didn't know, is that they have to fiddle the console screen to get it activated, and it'll show the player aid map of the whereabouts of the fallen AGM-86 warhead. But if the players missed the console, or that they couldn't figure out the player-aid map with the military lingo presented, and they couldn't progress to the next scenario in seeking the Cruise Missile Site area. And if the players decided to do a search check, they'll find the power pack that powers the screen which the players can disconnect the wires to collect the power pack. Without the power pack, you won't be able to activate the screen, unless you reconnect again, thus, players misses the screen of the map that will clue them about the cruise missile site. The writers also encourage the GM to not tell the players on what the screen map is about, and informs the GM to let the players figure it out themselves. While it's nice to have the players think and figure out the clues themselves, but i think, for most GMs having to deal with players, there's a chance that the player group won't be able to figure out the console screen map. So what then? The GM have to figure out a backup plan on this.

The follow up is also the same, where after dealing with the Wastelords and Sprocket, the NPC wastelord that surrendered, players can interogate the NPC, but what the module didn't expand on, is what to do with the NPC after the interogation. It just abruptly ends there. And the interogation questions are listed in the module, but the writers didn't include on what happens if the players asks questions like, who's the Wastelord's leader, where is their base, what's the number of their army, and what's their firepower, and so on. Then, the next scenario will have the players spotting the two mutant monks that were spying on them right after the wastelords and sprocket battle. The modules tells the GM that the two monks will fight to the death, and that's it. But what happens if players manage to subdue them? It wasn't expanded upon. And this leads to the followup scenario, where the players heading to the monastery. Once the players reaches to the monastery, the NPCs consists of the monks and nuns are good characters, and they'll fight to the death to defend the warhead. There's no option where you can persuade the npcs that the players are not raiders or a threat to them. Just that, the monks and nuns believes the warhead will be used and that the valley will be destroyed. So what the writers wants the players to do, is to slaughter these innocent good characters...just because.

Another problem is that the author seem to forget how the travel distance and the time it takes to arrive from one spot to another will take, or that ignoring that the player characters need sleep (unless the author completely neglected that part for a "realistic post apocalypse survival game"). For example, starting in the beginning, when players leave the Bazaar to travel to the nearest next stop, will be the Black Stump. The author wrote that it'll take more than a day to reach there, and automatically either skips or ignore that the player characters will be walking non-stop without sleep to reach to the Black Stump. This also happens when near the end of the module, where players will need to travel to Dry River to ambush the Wastelords, and it'll take traveling all night to arrive. Once players arrive, players are not given any kind of rest and the ambush combat will begin next. Nevermind that the player characters are already suffering from fatigue (-2 to strength and dexterity, plus they cannot charge or run), but they have to endure the combat too. And following the next scenario, right after Dry River, is having the players (and 4 footmen NPCs from Bazaar with 4 riders from Dry Fort) will have to travel by on foot to reach Big Rock as soon as possible, since the NPC specifically tells the players that they need to be there before the Wastelord raiders arrive. Again, the distance to travel over to that area, will take another all night, since it's the same distance length if you compare to the Bazaar and Dry River's journey length.

Overall, the GM has to make a lot of preparations before running this module. The writers assume that the players are just a walking hack-and-slash group, that they'll go through every encounter battling enemies without any kind of thinking. Until the actual thinking scenario comes up. Then the players are stuck.



Rating:
[2 of 5 Stars!]
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Darwin's World: Against The Wastelords (W1)
Publisher: RPG Objects
by Eric K. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 03/03/2007 00:00:00

Overall this is a pretty good D20 post apocalypse adventure, ended up not being what I really wanted but I think those looking for political and Role-Play based Adventures would really enjoy.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
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Darwin's World: Against The Wastelords (W1)
Publisher: RPG Objects
by Andrew K. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 09/14/2004 00:00:00

It's a pretty good starter-campaign. Covers a variety of scenarios but leaves it open enough that it can either include or be included to other scenarios.<br><br><b>LIKED</b>: Good geneeral overall introduction (but longer than just a one-scenario adventure).<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Not many cool new monsters :)<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
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Darwin's World: Against The Wastelords (W1)
Publisher: RPG Objects
by Kese C. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 05/16/2004 00:00:00

Excellent low-level adventure. I plan on using this as a follow-up to Cave of Life in my campaign. The details are extensive and it contained very few errors (which have since been corrected). This one could bring your characters to 6th level easily.

My gripes are with a few plot devices that rely on the characters to react a specific way to continue the story, this is especially true in the finale. In my experience, players never do what you want or expect them to. These instances are easily tweaked to suit your group without ruining the adventure, though.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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Darwin's World: Against The Wastelords (W1)
Publisher: RPG Objects
by Kelly R. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 03/09/2004 00:00:00

Good adventure; suggested outline involves a bit of railroading, but there is enough information provided to "wing it" in most cases.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
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Darwin's World: Against The Wastelords (W1)
Publisher: RPG Objects
by JR M. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 11/09/2003 00:00:00

Good for the die hard waste setting gamers. Might be useful for Gamma World gamers also.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
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