It has been a long time since I have given a five-star rating to anything. I normally reserve that rating for work that is fun, gramatically settling, presented with the perfect amount of story-telling and game design and makes me go, "Wow, that was a fun read". This compliation of 5e adventures had me doing that multiple times. It has the feel of a welcoming storybook filled with a great variety of adventures that Dungeon Masters, Game Masters and Storytellers will enjoy presenting to players. I was a fan of how the monotony of reading each adventure is occasionally broken up by presenting an NPC that fed into the overall theme of Adventures of the Potbellied Kobold.

I'm not a big frills person--I prefer captivating narratives over pretty pictures. But I will say that this book presents so well that I did take time to admire the artwork and cartography. They certainly inject more life into the adventures they accompany; however, I felt like this book didn't need it! I would have bought it based on the writing alone-it's that good! I won't call-out favorites, because I am trying to stretch my reading with the book a bit longer, but NPC hero Annamarie Redtoe had me wishing that I created this halfing hero!

I had to have a hardcover in my hand, but no matter what form you are able to acquire Adventurers from the Potbellied Kobold, know that you have a great addition to your 5e library in your possesion. Great job by all!

I read this adventure in hopes that I would present it at a local convention next month. These are my thoughts:

• There is a great adventure hook that makes the provide a great transition from the Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden HC.
• There are a lot of NPCs. I intend to remove a few.
• Have somethin in mind to explain what motive the characters may have to go to Caer-Konig vs. Caer Dineval first. A map of this area of the Ten Towns would be helpful; however, the designer does place the distance chart in the adventure, which is helpful. The adventure presents the option, but really doesn't present a pro vs. con for the decision.
• The journey's path seems like it might involve Easthaven as well. I might add a little blurb in the adventure for this town too in case the players needed to stop there.
• I appreciate that the designer places in some interesting contests that will allow for player creativity. In each option presented in the adventure, combat is present. This should make players happy.

As a DM, I am not 'grabbed' by this adventure--but I'm pretty sure my players will enjoy it for what it delivers. It's a decent first effort by this designer. I look forwward to seeing what future efforts by Adam Sammler will look like.

I am currently prepping this adventure for a T1-T3 Adventureres League Border Kingdoms experience for my local players. I thought I would share some spolier-free thoughts after reading it:

• I like that the adventure continuously refers The Border Kingdoms supplement to find amplifying informaiton on locations. It is there is you want to breathe more life into the town of Estelker.
• A map handout would give players a visual reference. Consider adding one to your presentations if you see fit.
• This series of adventures involves an elusive enemy that is setting off many machinations to exert influence over The Border Kingdoms.
• There is a wonderful Wild Magic Table where at least two effects' narratives were hillarious, but all of them seem to be original enough.
• I had to look up who the deity Garagos was and still am trying to determine if the significance is "significant" at all.
• You'll want to consider how creature reskins will manifest in game, since they are significant creature category shifts. They add to the challenge of the adventurers task!
• The last scene had me hecka-confused because the adventuring party that is racing against the characters shows up, but throughout the adventure you get indications that that some of them are dead. I'm not sure if this was intentional or not, but it definitely is head-scratching.
• I appreciate that the ending is rather dubious. :DM evil grin:

This adventure has some fun environmentals and seems to fit well with what Border Kingdoms adventures I have read in the series. If you wanted to run this as a one off adventure, it seems like it could be done fairly easy. I would not hestitate to recommend this adventure to others.

I'm prepping this adventure as part of a entire T1-T3 experience in the Border Kingdoms. A couple things that I felt like sharing without spoiling specific content:

• The background plot of this season's Border Kingdoms Adventure thickens--Don't be fooled by the premise of going to a storage auction; there are some interesting plot points revealed here. Local discoveries make the adventure interesting and relevant to the seasonal plot.
• I appreciate that the plot does involve an in-game use for gold in an auction--the Gold as a Reward and Plot Device sidebar sparked some ideas about how this could be incorporated in other designs--I thought it was well done.
• One of the Bonus Objectives is amusing. The other Bonus Objective, no so amusing, but furthers the overarching plot more. If you do not run this objective, then be sure to provide the knowledge from it at other points in what you present. Bonus Objectives that involve elements of main plot? CHECK! Good job here.
• The early placement/layout of the Pillars of Play prior to revealing Area Information and NPCs, Creatures, etc is easily overcome by DMs.
• There is a question of 'What does a xxxxxx (creature) eat?' that I found myself asking. You might too.
• Give your players a head up that there are themes here that revolve around neglect and abuse.
• The ending to the adventure could use some narrative about what your benefactor will do with the information or what the consequences of the information leak are to the The Border Kingdoms and the players. Having something in your back pocket to present this to players will give them a sense of moving the overall plot forward. I wish there was a Story Award given for this knowledge.

Overall, I like this adventure. I think it is a good pivot on the Social and Exploration Pillars and immerses elements of The Border Kingdoms setting well. My rating comes from this being my first exposure to the designers work and not having anymore of his work yet to gauge it off of. That will change though. Well done!

Good Evening All,

There is alot of DungeonCraft (DC) material available on the DMs Guild. It can be challenging to filter through all of it. I decided to write this review to tell you to pick this adventure up. It is well-written, has good meta-balance and creatively engages the S10 DC Adventure Seed it is based on without losing sight of it. Most DC adventures I have read seem to gloss over the adventure seed then take off on plot tangents. This one does not do that. The NPCs are well-fleshed out and the climax of the adventure is worthy of multiple play experiences!

I look forward to seeing other works by this design duo. Best of fortune in your future efforts!

Good evening all.

I went ahead and purchased this to add it to my weekend one session AL events here over the summer. First off, I want to say that I am no frills adventure consumer- I am more focused on narrative presention than anything else. I am not familiar with the 1920's play "Rossum's Universal Robots" upon which this adventure is inspired by, so if there is something significanty lost because of it, then I apologize first. I will do my best to avoid spoilers.

Although it is written within Season 10's Icewind Dale-Rime of the Frostmaiden (ID:RotFM) Dungeoncraft program, the adventure presents too similar of a plot, by presenting an additional account of another NPC discovering the chaotic-capturing crystalline substance and creating a similar creature in ID:RotFM made from it. In addition to this, a familiar creature that is the unique creation of the Netherese in ID:RotFM is used in this adventure frequently. The Adventure Hooks only offers one optio. You'll want to come up with something for players that may not have an idea for an adventure hook going in.

The adventure was easy to read and understand. I saw the word "lizardfolk" and a very clever quote by an NPC that made me want to see something more! There are plenty of map options for a variety of VTT. It shows good use of various stock art sources. It is certainly worth adding to your collection, but if you intend to use it in conjunction with the hardcover ID:RotFM, you'll need to prepare yourself for some plot adjustments for PCs. I have not seen anything else from this designer to compare this work against, but I did not read or see anything that was overly glaring about it or hallmark about it. It has enough for DMs to present a good experience. Consider adding it to your collection. I wish Christopher Bertucio good fortune in any future efforts! Good gaming!

Hi all,

I decided to purchase this adventure as part of series of Icewind Dale adventures I hope to run next month. The synopsis presented on the cover was compelling enough. I would have preferred to have the content warning on the cover of the adventure rather than inside or a preview that permits purchasers to see these content warnings prior to purchase. However, the fact that they are they even present inside the adventure demonstrates a committment to player/DM well-being. Kudos in my book.

The CTA flavored texts was enjoyable. There is a long bulleted list of information given to you by the NPC that is mixed with dialogue. The challenge here for DMs comes from an NPC that would travel with the adventurers, but has four levels of exhaustion. Players at the T1 level will have difficulty helping the NPC mitigate the exhaustion. You will need to consider another option.

Beyond that there is an environmental encounter presented with a chase mechanic that require three successful DC 15 ability checks or a DC 17 Survival check to overcome with no narrative to explain what needs to be done here. A sidebar tells you that, "Groups who do not realize they should find each other in the storm are more than likely to fail" and "this is a deadly encounter". There are adjustments for damage based on party strength, but you should also consider lowering the DC of the check. The Complication Table for this chase-structured encounter does depict the deadliness of a blizzard during the Everlasting Rime. There are complications that do damage with no save or check to mitigate/overcome-that is deadly. d10 base resultant damage! OUCH! However, some complications are actually benefical; granting you a success to one-of-three ability checks above that would get you to safety from the blizzard. I have not seen a benefical complication in a design in some time.

Part Two of this adventure made my jaw drop. There's some advanced tech here ...there's some advanced tech here ...... there is some advanced tech here= PEW!PEW!FUN! There is mention of a CR 7 creature being around, but you don't actually encounter it. Thank goodness. After contact with the missing children you need to get them to saftey. The adventure provides a revved up version of a "race-to-escape-the-crumbling-lair" trope with the children. Much like the Complication Table in Part One, big damage consequences as your running through the lair and dealing with the obstacles presented. There is an incremental success ability/check saving throw meta? The design explores a Partial Success result that still results in damage, but not as much. Any failed check deals damage to children unless adventurers take it and some checks failures have children taking death saves. If this is not harrowing enough, two of the children are infected with a creature presence, and they do not tell party members that they are. They could be attacking the party at the same time this fleeing is going on. There are some adjustments that can be made to the obstacle damage. At Very Weak adjustments, the children do not take damage or death saves. Much like the beginning of the adventure, there is a content warning about the themes presented here. Thank you.

For the feel of the Icewind Dale during Rime of the Frostmaiden?; this adventure certainly is all that. While I think it is bad form to not have the content warning on the front cover, it is inside the adventure and in there twice. The designer does tell you that blizzard is deadly, but then doesn't tell you that the encounter at the end of the adventure is also deadly-it may even be deadlier than the blizzard. A beginning of an adventure that forces damage by virtue of you rolling it on the complication table with no check/save offered, an assumption that you are going to take an NPC that has 4 levels of exhaustion with you with no means to mitigate the exhaustion and an escape that seems more deadly than the chase at the beginning of it with two creatures potentially attacking you? How many adventurers/players are going to let children be hurt? I don't know any. This will cost them in damage that may drop them (and the children). An adjustment that changes the missing children to missing villagers could help to mitigate any thematic concerns by those at your table. I intend to do this myself.

The culmination of all of this makes for a gripping adventure plot, worthy of the themes presented in Season 10 AL Play; however, the design seems like it needed to be fine-tuned a bit to meet the meta standard of encounter balance. I recommended it for DMs that can take on these adjustments and present or mitigate these themes for their player's enjoyment. It's a good effort coming right out of the gate. The adventure's title is definitely appropriate. Congrats to the designer and their support team. I wish them continued success. Good Gaming.

AL DM and designer here.

I like having this file presented in a manner that allows for easy import and formatting into other documents. Something about having "community" in the image that makes me realize that we represent more than just our tables.

Good Gaming!

When I ran this adventure, my players had a good time with it. Most of them played 10-01 so they already got some elements of the adventure. I think the highlight of the adventure was the encounter with Clod-The NPC can be fun, irritating and can also set up players before they go into the Dragon Maw. The recommendation for prsenting Frostclaw can also be adjusted to present Charron and its wolfpack. The Pillars of Play presented in Part Four can help present a dire situation. I had Charron mock them under concealment and have its words carried on the winds while the wolves attacked. Once the last wolf was downed and htey were regrouping was when Charron appeared. The players had the day, but it gave them a little "jump". You are given enough to present an intense, terrifying feel, but adjusting to a lighter feel does not take away from the plot of this adventure or take away from its enjoyment.

I echo some of the previous sentiment. This adventure is a great kickoff to what has been a great series of adventures. The design is pretty solid. I look forward to seeing more of Laura Thompson's work. Travis Woodall's mentorship shows. Well done.

The compass roses are just what I needed to provide the added touch to my maps! The investment is minimal to have a variety of options at your disposal for your DMs Guild products! Consider picking this product up!

Hi all! I had the opportunity to run this adventure this past weekend. The party was pretty optimized. In fact, one of the players thought to email me to let me know this and that they play together as a group normally (Not sure why). But I did not make any adjustments because their APL was optimal. The adventure was perfect for them! I particularly enjoyed the ford crossing encounter! It challenged them; the use of creatures that can summon more is always something! The fortress that the party sets out for provides a pretty good sleuth which is not overly-challenging. Players that struggle with sleuths should still be able to resolve the puzzle of the magic doors and get to the finale. The design of the fortress was done well. It gives you a bunch of creatures and allows you to place them anywhere here you like. I was kinda pressed for time so I brought the creatures to the players.

I have only run the first two adventures of this series but the overarching plot is great!. This adventure fits into it really well. Two of my players had mentioned that they were starting to distrust a main NPC in these adventures, which means that there is enough narrative to feed that feeling! Good job! Add this one to your collection!

I had the opportunity to run this adventure this past weekend. My players enjoyed it! That Call to Action can easily go beyond duration; especially if you have a group who enjoys RP an/or lack the means to communicate with the yeti. My players told me that they really enojoyed the CTA.

If you have players that are pet lovers, I would encourage you to do what I did. In town, conversation with NPCs can turn into opportunities for DM fiat of villager pets. You're given names, but have the chance to embellish beyond them for the sake of your players- in the streets and at the hospital. I had players wanting to heal the hurt themselves and help the doctor out!

I appreciated the set up of the Town Hall to come to realization that the "creature" should be stopped. If you are pressed for time, you can have the general town consensus conveyed in anyone of the other locations. I did it at The Tipsy Tooth, where the bartender, partner and patrons, upon fiding out that the party is here to help, are promised a round of drinks, and room and board if they help take care of the issue.

The designers do provide a good balance of the pillars of play. I'm not much on pet tropes, but the designers here put together a good adventure that is easy to pick up and go with and provide good variety of play. Well Done!

Hi all. I had the opportunity to read this to prepare for a future gameday here. This is a perfect example of how someone can take an DDAL CCC Adventure Seed and spin it into a very compelling adventure! The narrative is written rather eloquently and does get a little bit wordy at times. There are some themes here that might need to be tempered down for younger players since this adventure presents as a mystery/horror adventure.

The design presents, "Shade Rules"; what appears to be a "Pillars of Play" sidebar that applies to the creatures in the adventure throughout. They present it as a Appendix, which is helpful. I was a bit confused as to who Ka'Chua was. It mentions the name several times in the adventure before actually telling you (on pg. 15) that Ka'Chua is an intellect devourer and that it is amongst the vengeful shades, plotting seperatly from the vengful shades (the other creatures prominent in the adventures). I was expecting to know about Ka'Chua way at the beginning of the adventure (in the Background, maybe?). Reading the entire adventure prior to running it reveal Ka'Chua and its motivations in the Dramatis Personae.

The transition to Part Two advises you to, "...take note of clues the characters uncovered, the Key Events completed as well as the NPCs that survived" (p. 16). Be aware that you need to do this beforehand so if you get to this point and did not record the information down, it might take a few moments of play to do so.

There are some great color maps there for those that use them. If there is a way to get B&W ones that are discernible that would be a great addition to this adventure.

There are alot of little intruigues going on in this adventure that make me appreciate the adventure. It seems to me to be better sutied for an RP heavy session. There were too many reasons for me to enjoy it in just reading it that I felt compelled to write this feedback before I even run it. Great job Jason Koh and team!

This adventure seems a bit different in terms of the plot premise. Doesn't have the intruigue that most of the other mods do. I didn't mind it though. I like that we potentially see Esselios (one of my favorite NPCs of this season BTW), I made some slight adjustment to the narrative. I just conveyed that the Bloodhand Orcs were brought across the mists and are looking for a way home and the prisoners may know, but were taken by the shaman Gagg.

Not much to this one as far as running it. I liked the winter wolf encounter more than the final one. It had enough to please my players, their monks were spot on with the stunning strikes and fury of blows. I did enjoy the rescuing of Terrorsong and Sybil. We used their rescue to get some RP out of the end of the adventure.

This isn't the best adventure out of this seasons offerings, but my players enjoyed it and it was written clearly.

I thought I would share some thoughts as I prep this module for running over the holidays. I really like the nods to the classic kung-fu films of old.. I did not miss the Bruce Lee Enter-the-Dragon narratives or the subtle play on the Shaw Brother NPCS. If you have this in the back of your mind as you are running this adventure, it may make it easier to present.

There were a few formatting snafus that can be overcome.. ignore the references to ACP and TCP, Episodes (meta 2 seasons old) flowchart doesn't help. In Part One an NPC is mentioned as being able to describe iconography of cultists .. specifically tattoos, but there in no mention of what the tattoos/iconography looks like. You will have to make something up there because if you bring it up, the players will most likely want to know what the iconography is. The lack of bard, cleric or druid among your players may hinder the use of the magic item that is given at the beginning of the adventure. Part Two has a pretty neat puzzle in it. I was little confused that the librarian does not know about the book you are looking for, but then in the Social Pillar of Play in Part Two it advises that a Cha (Persuasion) check can convince the librarian to show you where the book is at?

No narrative flow cues within the Parts 1-3 that guide you to the Bonus Objectives, but the Bonus Objectives explain how you arrive to them within their narratives. In the same context, the Bonus Objectives don't contain narrative flow cues to guide you back to the main adventure. Be aware of that if you intend to use them.

Part Three looks like a fun press through a temple. It reminded me of Han's Temple in Enter the Dragon, complete with hall of mirrors! The Playing the Pillars of this part is not as robust as one would hope. The difference between Radiant Dawn Cultist Monk and Radiant Dawn Monk Master does not appear to be captured anywhere. Consider using the Radiant Dawn Adept (Martial Arts Adept) that is in the Appendices if you need to increase challenges in this part for higher APL parties. The Jiangshi are a nice flavorful touch too.

Although I am not too keen on this adventure for its formatting oversights, it certainly looks like the module's premise is a good one and I look forward to running it for my players here during the holidays. Good Gaming!