Crapshoot Monday: This Free Thing I Found on Itch.io… Summer at Durnholde Keep

A regional/dungeon adventure by David Maynard, level 1
For Throne of Chaos
  Aw yeah, we’re in unapproved fanfiction territory here boys. Summer at Durnholde Keep is the introductory/sample adventure for the extremely unauthorized Warcraft TTRPG hack Throne of Chaos by David Maynard. I remember looking at the rules a while ago and thinking they were fine, a more old-school take on the Blizzard game world than the hoary old 3.0 hack back in the day. This adventure accompanies the ruleset, as is only right a proper, and it’s got an admirably broad scope, using seventeen pages to detail a large region and a thirty-seven-room dungeon complex that, in classic Warcraft fashion, somehow connects three location miles(?) apart. It’s unapologetically riffing off B2: Keep on the Borderlands, but all Warcrafty.
  The plot, such as it is, is that Durnholde Keep up in Hillsbarad is being used to supply the vast armies of the Alliance in their ongoing war with the Horde, particularly with a nearby mine that has recently been taken over by gnolls. Lord Blackmore of the keep has generated the resultant yellow exclamation point for a quest, and as the players wander the zone, they’ll pick up numerous other quests on the grind to that coveted level 2 ding. Along the way they’ll hopefully cotton on to the fact that trolls are using a nearby Altar of Storms to enact a dire ritual and free their hero unit Zul’jin, who is being held within the keep. There’s another deeper subplot involving a necromancer in the lower dungeon level massing forces to assault the keep…there’s a 25-day honest-to-Elune time tracker with events on a schedule, which is quite a good idea.
  What I liked first of all is that timer, it shows that Maynard knows how a regional campaign is supposed to tick along, even though I would have personally accelerated the timetable, maybe with more portents. The region itself has some nice and interesting “hermit’s huts” to bump into, with a lot going on ripe for disruption, with a limited d6 random encounter table that has the wanderers all doing something. Likewise, the mine is juuuust big enough to breathe with some decent pathing and various factions, all with, rarity of rarities, an order of battle. Everything is dynamic and moving and, ironic considering the source material, not very video-gamey. A little table in the back listing all findable keys along with what they go to is always a good idea.
  This won’t surprise anyone, but what can be improved first is “make the map(s) bigger”, a little more flexibility would go a long way to making the maps really pop. The other problem is going to feel a little vague, but the whole thing managed to feel a little…dry. I’ve focused on the highlights, but one consequence of the size is that there’s a lot of boar-grinding in here. Oh really, we’re going to be encountering 1d6 wolves for the third time today? Okay I guess. Bigger encounter tables would mitigate this somewhat. There’s also an opportunity here given the source material to seed in more yellow exclamation points. The admirable scale is unfortunately leading to a slightly empty feeling in several locations.
  Despite that, the best use case for Summer at Durnholde Keep is still to play as it is. If you want to learn to play Warcraft as a TTRPG and for some insane reason you want to go Alliance as your start, then this will be your keep on the borderland. For all that I admire elements in the scenario, I’m having a difficult time seeing bits I’m driven to mine. Plus I’m Horde all the way, baby.
  Final Rating? ***/***** For generic good Warcraft times, hard to beat.  

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More adventures should have this.