Horns of War Review (Spoiler Free)

Horns of War (Designed by Devin Cutler) is a grand quest that has a lot to offer. A very detailed and well thought out campaign that offers a lot of versatility for a group of players around 2nd level. This adventure is all about DM choices and full of different opportunities that you can pick and chose to maximize fun for your group. And believe me, you have options!

Pacing - This was the second adventure I ran for a group (the first being Sphere of Sunlight), so my group was a little larger then the recommended 4 for this campaign. Pacing was a little more of a struggle because I juggled a larger group, and balancing both interactions and combat was more of a bear to handle sometimes. The climax at the end was all worth it, which we will get into later. The arc of this adventure is one you need to be ready for; it plans for 25 in game days of travel, most with their own special encounters to customize the experience and really give you the option to cherry pick what fits best. I will say, 25 days worth of travel for 6 players, there was some groaning involved and the "Are we there yet?!" from some. 2 our of 5

Flow - This is all about transition. How does it feel when walking on a road into a town verses seeing that caravan going full speed towards you? Was it a natural occurrence? I believe so, simply because you can pick what works best for you and your group, and will never have the exact same run each time you play. This module gives you a lot of options, from Day 1 of travel to Day 25, you can pick from multiple encounters (Not all combative) that liven up being on the road. Because of all the versatility and customization, this gets the highest marks! 5 out of 5

Difficulty - Now, this is a great thing to dive into! Even though I had 2 more players then suggested, they all had the right amount of struggle that made their hard work pay off. This is of course up the the DM and what they choose to run. A perfect example would be that on Day 12, you can either be approached by an NPC (Merchant) that offers a job, or a different NPC (Young Boy) can approach and ask for help purely for charity. If the players go with the Merchant, they make some good coin and deal with whatever the DM throws at them. If they go with the Boy, they go to a new area and have a grand battle, which my players got their butts handed to them! But not beyond recovering, and got some decent loot out of it anyway. I will say this for the adventure as a whole: Day 12 could have easily been a stand alone one shot with the amount of care and creativity that was in it, but good 'ol Devin decided to give us that and much, much more! And the final battle! Ah, that too justifies a high score, in a good way! 4 out of 5

Atmosphere - This story can be told in any realm, I used Faerûn, because that's my preference, but it truly can fit anywhere. Just change a name of a town or two if you want to get really technical with it, but it's not needed (unless you have an Explorer at the table! See the DMs Corner for info on that!). This adventure certainly can give the party a good sense of scale of how big the world actually is. I mean, all that traveling is not something you can just gloss over! When you hit a town, they feel run down and in states of desperation due to the main story arc of Orc raids affecting trade very heavily. Merchants are scared without proper guards to protect them. Even the major city at the end is full of refugees living in tents and wagons, too terrified to leave the sanctuary of it's walls. 4 out of 5

Enemies - This adventure gives you a lot of baddies to dish out and it's all completely up to the DM to pick what their party faces. You have all the options in front of you, ready to be unleashed. From Dire Wolves, to Orcs, to a little homebrew Zombie action, you have a ton to work with! I know I keep mentioning the climatic battle at the end, but that really drives how big this adventure feels. I also spiced it up a little and added some stuff of my own to personalize the experience, but that was just my own touch. It wasn't needed, but it was fun! The look on their faces... haha 4 out of 5

Treasure - Lot of options here! I actually went a little over board and gave some extra stuff, but again, I had a bigger party and not all the loot found could be used effectively by my party members (Those Halfling fighters... Can't wield heavy weapons haha). I also enjoy making custom loot, so I like sprinkling that in too. The goods do range from a +1 battle ax to a full set of splint armor, which is a HUGE deal for level 2s, so that will put a smile on a players face. 3 out of 5

The Finale - (Mild Spoiler Warning!) Okay, I've hinted at it long enough! This part deserved it's own spot because of how much fun it was. First off, there is a mini game that comes with it, and a map. Set up the map, and get your d12s ready! We won't go over how the game works, but I will say that it does make things very tense and gets everyone involved if you've set the mood right. This is a siege situation/mini game. If numbers on sections of the wall go up, you're fighting off the attackers, but if they go down, the wall may fail and collapse. It's this scenario that gets everyone involved and invested. As a DM, you can group your party to hold a section of wall by themselves (Highly Recommended), or if it makes sense, spread them out and possibly command units in that area.

This is also where I spiced it up, adding NPCs that they encountered previously in the lineup to defend (Or attack, because I'm evil) the wall. This part of the game definitely provokes images of massive battles, and the rolls for the d12s show to flow of battle. When those numbers go down, your party feels it, and that's fun to experience! The purpose of this fight is not to win, but you can fight them off, and they will fall back. However, it's not just rising and falling of numbers we're dealing with, elements of the battle take effect on every turn. Ladders, arrows, magic, oh my! It keeps things is a state of flux, and a lot can happen in 6 seconds. But I won't spoil any more for you! Just going to have to play it for yourself! 5 out of 5

Final Thoughts - All and all, very solid and very fun. There is a lot that can happen in this adventure, and for me and mine, it did! Set a slave free, a merchant found love, a town cleared of evil, coin purses stolen, and a siege fought! Talk about an adventure!

Overall score - 3.8 out of 5!