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The Ravenar Saga

My Mini-Review

I bought this monograph as a toss-up between it and a few others. I was very pleasantly surprised by the adventure. One of the thing it promises is that this campaign was not a quest where the PCs fumbled in forgotten libraries, reading decaying old books. As I read this, my eyes rolled back as I wondered "ok, so this will be boring and very deadly,very quickly". Ahh... to be a jaded old role-player who believes he cannot be surprised. Well I was surprised.

I will try to avoid spoilers in this review to leave players the joy of having the Ravenar Saga sprung on them

All ratings are based on a 10-Cthulhu head scale. None of that .5 crap.

The Unsung Saga

As I dug into "The Unsung Saga", Oscar gives a simple adventure. It includes well thought-out mythos involvement with a nice twist to it. The story itself is full of action, and I like the twist in the adventure. Made me think of an old Stormbringer adventure a former DM would run to introduce new PCs to the game. This first adventure is a good intro to the campaign, presents the major NPCs of the campaign. Though it may not convey the "typical" CoC feel at times, the combats towards the end may bog down the game a little, but any Keeper worth his salt can make the scene flow. It is a good departure from traditional CoC.

Adventure rating:

The Second Saga

"The Second Saga" takes place 3 years later, with the PCs now being well-known warriors in their own rights. This adventure was the one I preferred of all three in the monograph. This adventure has the PCs returning to meet with NPCs from the Unsung Saga where a very viking issue is going on. Again, the Mythos involvement makes a lot of sense and do not seem forced. The one thing that somehow bugged me is the rather scripted finale. It is true that this adventure sets up the Vinland sage, but it did seem... well forced! Again, with a bit of work, the flow can be fixed without major issues.

Adventure rating:

The Vinland Saga

Unless I missed something (likely), the biggest problem I have with this adventure is its timeframe. What happens during those 10 years seems to happen in fast-forward! People build a large settlement in Vinland, make alliances, marry, and have kids who grow to adulthood... Maybe 15 or 20 years would make more sense in that regard; again, a minor detail that can be arranged during the game.

One of the things I really liked about this adventure is the motivation of the NPCs in it. Their goals, hopes and motivations almost make the adventure by itself. Well done for that opening scene. From then on, the adventure turn into a combat-oriented, action packed extravaganza! Again, the number of opponents seems a little high to me, but it does have an epic feel to it that is really for the conclusion of the campaign. And then, when you thought it was all over... There’s more! Oh I love it when your PCs crawl out thinking all is done but then realize they only climbed the first part of the mountain... What fun would it be to climb Mount Doom and throw the ring in? No, Frodo wants to keep it, Gollum shows up and fights for it! The finale is about as epic as it gets in Call of Cthulhu.

Adventure rating:

Strong Points

The campaign is very challenging while not impossible. Clever PCs should do well.

The NPCs have motivations that are not unrealistic. To me, this was one of the biggest worries I had, but found their actions to be completely reasonable (for those who were not insane).

The NPCs themselves are interesting. As I read the adventure, I found myself wanting to know more about them and to flesh them out even more.

The involvement of the Mythos makes a lot of sense and should be a blast to run. Varied enemy forces keep the interest high and players on their toes.

The end of the campaign does not end with the end of the world. Frankly, that is one of my pet peeves with many CoC adventure. If the PCs fail, the world is destroyed. While that is an important

At the end of the adventure some "Archeological Fact" and new tomes allow the Ravenar Saga to be integrated into a classic of modern-era campaign as flashback or foreshadowing.

Neither Good or Bad

The campaign is just filled with elements that call out to be expanded upon. Without using the Pre-gens, this campaign screams "EXPAND ME!" A few extra scenarios could definitely make this into something akin to a Dark Ages "Masks".

Some of the PCs start out with some cool items and weapons. I think an adventure where the young PCs collect or are rewarded with those would add to their value in the game. Starting with an item and gaining it in play does not create the same attachment in a PC. A "prequel" adventure to "Unsung Saga could fix those issues.

I would’ve liked a few "spare PCs" so that if a PC dies, he can be handed a character.

There really is little the PCs can know about what they are facing (lack of Mythos skill). So effectively they will be going blind against the enemy. The campaign does a good job of making this a rather minor issue, but still it is often good to know who or what they are looking at and whether the bad guys have known weaknesses.

Each adventure can be run in 1 or 2 evenings.

Weak points

Very combat-intensive, a series of bad dice rolls and the PCs die really quickly. That may not be the case, but there are a lot of combats. A few bad hits and here comes the replacement PC.

Unless one runs a Viking saga for CDA, there is little re-use potential for the adventure without a major re-write.

"Traditionalist" CoC players may find the adventure a little too action-oriented.

Conclusion

The Ravenar Saga is a fun, action-packed, short campaign. It is perfect to throw at your players for a few evenings of fun and Viking-style mayhem. It should give players a fun, non-traditional time playing CoC. In the end, I really like this purchase and will have to find a way to spring this on my unsuspecting players. Thank you Oscar. This is a great supplement.

Campaign rating:

Mata Ne !
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