"The dismal town of Greymist seems endlessly mired in despair, perhaps echoing the sorrowful fate that has befallen one of its most beloved youths. In this tale of love, both true and spurned, the heroes must overcome dread magics and undead perils to reunite a devoted pair before a terrible curse ends their fabled romance—permanently"
The adventure follows the solid Three Act structure recommended in the GM's guide, and is another strong example of the Talisman Adventures school of adventure design (as already seen in Death's Messenger, Toads & Diamonds and The Corpse Watchers). The encounters and situations take into account the game's core "Test & Outcome" system (see previous profound thinkings on this subject), but are written with a strong narrative feel and including direction and suggestions for the GM - so that play doesn't have to be merely determined by dice.
My favourite element of the adventure is the first act, set in the town of Greymist. There's good fleshing out here of a location in the game world, but more significantly this is the first town location to feature in any of the adventures - which should play well for heroes (and Followers) who thrive in the urban environment.
Of least use? Probably the sole tactical map provided. It isn't exactly a location that is difficult to picture from the description, the map doesn't add anything in fact I would say detracts from the verbal description as it isn't really very striking. However, if you use tactical maps in play (maybe particularly if you play online with certain formats?) you may be happy enough to have it than not. The inclusion of the tactical maps in "Death's Messenger" baffled me for the same reasons - so if you liked those, you can disregard this opinion. There are no other maps, which though I am a cartomaniac I generally accept as a feature (rather than flaw) of the adventures we have had from Pegasus so far - see my previous bletherings on the subject.
I haven't run the adventure (just cast my hasty eyes over it for this preview/review/plug), but it seems as though it would be possible to run in a single session, comfortable to stretch out a bit longer if the players get stuck in and have fun with the various locations and NPCs.
The back of the adventure contains descriptions for the monsters - this is a useful reference, but the majority are just taken from the core rules. The creatures that are added are interesting though, and have some neat dark fate abilities for the enjoyment of GMs.
I don't want to put out any spoilers, but there are a good number of classic fairy tale elements in the various encounters and in the central plot, which is something I really like, and think is extremely well-suited to the game. All topped off by the charming and moody cover art.
Summary: Solid design, big plusses for the town details and fairy tale elements. Good introduction to the game, good "second quest", fairly plunderable for GMs just looking for parts.
OUT NOW as pdf-only, available on DriveThruRPG for $7.99, or bundled with the (recently-revised, including the desperately-needed apostrophes for the Thieves' and Merchants' Guilds that some pedant tipped them off to...) core rules for a special offer price of $24.99. Bargain.
POST-SCRIPT: That's a complete original unofficial GM Adventure and review of a new official GM Adventure you've had from me in less than a week, so don't come all "Where is the over-promised & over-due 3rd instalment of "Nor Gloom of Night"?" with me. Though as it happens, I really am almost finished, and expect to have it out right soon, honest.
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