Answering the Raven Crowking’s call, a review of Doom of the Savage Kings Dungeon Crawl Classics (DCC 📖) #66.5: A Level 1 Adventure by Harley Stroh.
I have run Doom of the Savage Kings for two different groups (see my session reports).
What you get
- An opening quandary
- A rumor table
- A dungeon
- A village
- A wilderness region
- A situation with multiple possible solutions
What I love about this adventure
The situation starts with an immediate decision - do you save a woman being carted off for sacrifice? Do you defy the village lord and his strongmen? From here, a rich adventure situation and locale unfolds as the time pressures mount.
The adventure instills a strong sense of Norse/Celtic villages. As I read and play through this adventure, I think of King Hrothgar’s Hall from The 13th Warrior and Theoden’s Hall from The Lord of the Rings.
The tightly written Doom of the Savage Kings sits on the top-tier of campaign opening adventures. The opening quandary pushes characters to show their true colors and sets the initial tone of their upcoming career.