Last August, we covered Dan Coleman’s second Dungeons On Demand project, a series of ready-made adventures for fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons. Earlier this year, Coleman successfully crowdfunded the third volume on Kickstarter.
Now he’s back with his fourth volume of modular, easy-to-follow, well-designed role-playing game adventures: Dungeons on Demand, Volume 4. If you’re looking for an easy way to ease yourself into the role of Dungeon Master, or a break from crafting your own adventures, there are few products out there that compare to Coleman’s work.
I received a review copy of the Time and Time Again adventure, designed for 19th level adventurers, and I was immediately drawn in by its time-bending plot and set pieces, the horrific Big Bad of the adventure, and the ease of folding it into my own original campaign world. There’s lot of room for interpretation, and it’s a great excuse to dump some campaign history on your players.
I said this in my last review of Coleman’s work, but I really dig the graphic design of the modules. I doubt you’ll have trouble finding what you’re looking for, regardless of whether you print everything out or reference it on-screen. The iconography is clear, the maps aren’t overly complex (there are maps for the GM, and “player safe maps” free of spoilers), encounter breakdowns are informative but concise. And like any good RPG adventure, there are hooks to bring the players into the action, as well as a wrap-up at the end to help identify what effects the adventurers had on the world at large.
It would be nice if the adventures were hyperlinked, and I noticed some minor typographic and spelling errors in the review PDF provided to me. But one of the things I love about Dungeons on Demand Kickstarters is that Coleman is ready to deliver the products days after the campaign has finished. And he updates them, too, so chances are that he and his editor will catch most, if not all, of the errors, and correct them over time.
You pay $5 for one of the modules, or $15 for all five. If you want to pick up all of the previous Dungeons on Demand, there’s a $45 tier as well. That’s not much more than you’ll pay for the latest hardcover adventure from Wizards of the Coast, and it’s easily ten times as much content.
If you’re not convinced, maybe check out all of the glowing reviews on Coleman’s DriveThruRPG page. If that still doesn’t sell you, head over to the campaign and check out excerpts from all of the adventures, as well as a free adventure, Cryptic Entry. You have literally nothing to lose. But check it out fast, because the campaign is over this week, Thursday night.
I received a free PDF copy of the Time and Time Again module for this review.
