Review - Grandmother Crookbesom's Book Of Hags

Today I'm taking a look at another new DMsGuild title; Grandmother Crookbesom's Book Of Hags.

Grandmother Crookbesom's is a little bit different from the books I usually get from DMsGuild in that rather than being an adventure or compilation of adventures it is a collection of 13 different unique named hags (or covens of hags in some cases) set in different locales with different motivations and histories to be dropped into an existing game or perhaps to have one-shots built around.

As a toolbox for DMs Grandmother Crookbesom's is a fantastic resource setting up a lot of content that can be used in a variety of ways.  One of the first hags I started planning to incorporate into my current game is Auntie Bumble, a hag with  a confusing and really unique secret that will make my players truly satisfied when they figure her out.  I also immediately adjusted a current adventure I'm running to use Cackling Gundred as the initiator of a minor sidequest.  The contrast for me personally between these two uses; Bumble will effectively be an entire adventure on her own, while Gundred will add some depth and flavour to an existing adventure, showcase the versatility and value of this book.

In addition to the named hags with their various story hooks and encounters there are some new types of hags and some unique magic to provide surprises and fresh challenges for any of your players who have become overly familiar with the cannon of published monsters.

I can highly recommend Grandmother Crookbesom's Book Of Hags for anyone looking to add a dark fairy-tale sensibility to their existing game and it's tremendously good value for money based on the amount of content and hours of play laid out inside for less than a fiver.

Grandmother Crookbesom's Book Of Hags is available now on DMsGuild at https://www.dmsguild.com/product/280395/Grandmother-Crookbesoms-Book-of-Hags?term=grandmother

-Jay

Review - Call From The Deep

I was fortunate enough to get a preview copy of JVC Parry's newest offering on DMsGuild; Call From The Deep and having had  some time to read an absorb the material I'd like to share my thoughts.

Call From The Deep is a nautically themed adventure with a little something for everyone.  Slightly Cthulhu?  Check!  Pirates and high seas adventure?  Check!  A little haunting?  Check!  Heavy use of an iconic D&D monster?  Check!  A scratch for your Spelljammer itch?  Check!

I will preface my review by simply stating that I was stunned by the length, depth and production quality of this book.  The book weighs in at a whopping 270 pages (for context that is a slightly higher page count than Curse Of Strahd) and is chock full of absolutely fantastic and evocative artwork and maps.  I would easily say the quality of this book is on par with anything Wizards Of The Coast has published themselves.

In addition to the excellent use of art and maps the layout with regular breakout sections and clear subsections makes it a very easy read for a book with this much content.  I particularly liked how much focus was given to each significant NPCs motivation and personality, the level of description provided should make each NPC easy for DMs to role-play and memorable for players to encounter. 

The adventure features many different nautically themed locations that all manage to feel unique and important with a character all their own.  Flavour text is descriptive and evocative without being overly long or drawn out.

The thing I appreciate most about Call From The Deep from a DM perspective is that it is a massive campaign length adventure broken down into bite-sized pieces that are incredibly easy to absorb and then run for your players.  The art and flavour text will make the settings and characters come alive for the DM and then they can use that immersion to deliver a truly fun and satisfying experience for their players.

Call From The Deep is available from DMsGuild now at  https://www.dmsguild.com/product/280922/Call-from-the-Deep?term=call+from+the+deep and I can't recommend it highly enough.  The amount of content contained herein is a bargain at the price and I can guarantee your players will enjoy it....unless maybe they get sea sick or are allergic to shellfish.

-Jay

Banshees

The unbelievably slow march of the ghost-pants continues.  This afternoon in preparation for a Ravenloft module I'm planning to run I painted a box of the Age Of Sigmar Myrnmourn Banshees.

The Banshees themselves were quite simple and straightforward to paint.  The real work on these models is their bases.  Each base had an assortment of rubble, weeds and roses on them.  It's well thought out because the bases seem to blend in fairly well with the Garden Of Morr scenery piece.

I'm excited about getting these models on the table soon.  Now I just have to figure out which game they'll be playing in first!

-Jay