Deadly Goblins

[BainIhrno]

Deadly Goblins

 

Author: The Creator

Difficulty: Low

Rating: PG

Version:

 

Composite Score: 3.92 / 5.00

 

Best: 8% (1/12)

Good: 75% (9/12)

Average: 17% (2/12)

Substandard: 0%

Poor: 0%

 

Keywords: Combat Heavy, Short Scenario

[ScenarioReview]

TERROR'S MARTYR

 

I was rather excited when I saw 3 scenarios that were totally new and unreleased before. One by Ryan Phelps, one by Khoth (who hasn’t proven to be horrible yet), and one by Creator. I picked up Creator’s, seeing as it was alphabetical. (Deadly Goblins isn’t an attention-grabbing, but neither are Demon or Dirty Gold) My first impression was the above-par graphics file (but still rather small, of course this is coming from someone who almost neared 1/2 of Falling Stars’ graphics with only 10 towns). It featured (big surprise) a bunch of custom goblin graphics, and some other assorted graphics. Nothing too shabby. So I make a .meg of it, and slap it into my scenarios folder, then I open it up.

 

First off, I would like to point off two things I have not seen before. Both are special items you get at the start. The first is Read Book, which allows you to read a book you have equipped. Books are now tool-type items, to facilitate this. This could have been really great, but there are only 3 book types I found, which made it a mundane addition. Still, its novelty enhanced the experience. The second was much less impressive, but still existed and acted its role. It was Take Trophy, which basically turned Goblin Corpses (which are items goblins dropped) into Goblin Ears, which earn you some gold. A bit more notable is that goblins drop corpses that look like goblins. It was a bit confusing separating living goblins from dead ones, but it was still a neat little addition. On another note, I was a tad more than extremely annoyed while wandering around outdoors. Creator made the crops terrain attached to a can’t enter node, which makes some sense, at most (you’d think there’s some safe way to navigate in the crops without marching all over them, no?). He also took the time to make rows of crops cover a large portion of the outdoors, including passages from many of the encounters, and the city.

 

The plot is a mixed bag, at best. It seems to waver inbetween a humor and drama genre, but never really achieves either. It includes subtle references to jokes and has its insane wizard (bonus points!), but it also has contradicting experiences like the house burning. I shouldn’t use drama, but more thriller. It never meets both, despite trying. It keeps some interest to play, but the action is more of a carrier than the plot. This would be okay, but there also was not as much action as an action-based scenario would require. I was also dealt one large blow to the gut, when the ending was layed out to me. While searching the goblin lair for some crystals to operate the portal (which seems to be a rather popular puzzle, or lack thereof, nowadays), I found a long backstory carefully explained to me... ...in one special node sequence. A book on a pedestal, no less. I was seriously expecting some sort of revenge motive, but got nothing beyond that. Disappointing. Even moreso disappointing is the ending. I was expecting some sort of moral speech to talk the story off of the stage and give some sort of conclusion, but in lieu of something that actually made sense, I got a large thwap to the head with some large, blunt object of stupidity.

 

The action is most definitely the highest point of the scenario. A few high points would be the attack on the city and the burning house. The goblin lair itself; however, was a bit of a disappointment. It basically consisted of slaying the goblin wizard, fighting some summons of the goblin wizard (bug!), and then a big fight. The big fight was moderately hard the first time, but then a good bless and haste did the trick, and I buried them all. The action was overall decent, but never really kept up the suspense for quite as long as I would have liked. Rather, it went in bits and pieces. The end almost showed promise, but the blandness of the final dungeon sorta withered that away.

 

Summing things up, I recommend you play this scenario. It’s a fairly good diversion, and while it still doesn’t deliver up very well, it’s one of the better scenarios out there. Deadly Goblins is rated G, and is for low level parties.

 

Good

[ScenarioReview]

BRUCE MITCHELL

 

Prepare to be humiliated by goblins. Challenging combat. Wicked quickfire sequence. Good

[ScenarioReview]

DRIZZT

 

Well done, with some excellent node sequences, but short (albeit designed so). Story is nothing new but interesting enough. Good

[ScenarioReview]

MAGOICOCHEA

 

I hated the goblin wizard, STUPID LITTLE BAD THING!

 

However, the scenario was nice, although it was HARD.

 

My score is Good

[ScenarioReview]

BOOTS

 

Average

 

As advertised, it's everything I like in a scenario: lean, tactically demanding, nasty in its simplicity. In practice, it doesn't entirely pan out. I still admire the intent, and its execution is technically solid, but TM's review says most of what I would say. The plot is prefabricated; much of the combat difficulty is manufactured by breaking the rules of the Blades engine, rather than using them creatively; and the end is a slog. I'm conviced that an elegant, vicious little scenario featuring plain old goblins could be written without resorting to the super-modified, turbo-charged gimmicks found here.

[ScenarioReview]

ROSYCAT

 

Loved it!

 

I am a huge fan of the Creator, and enjoyed Deadly Goblins. Well-programmed and polished (as always), fast-paced, challenging combat. A nice break from the doom-and-gloom of the Kurnis trilogy. Any aspiring designer should check this, along with Truffle Days, out - a perfect example of how damn good a small scenario can be.

 

Problem 1: The atmosphere clashed a bit, as usual. It seemed to be a comedy, but putting in things like burning houses sort of ruined that, didn't it?

Problem 2: The Creator tends to fail miserably when it comes to titles - The Isle of Boredom is the only one which tops this for his worst. Deadly Goblins? C'mon!

 

Good

[ScenarioReview]

ALCRITAS

 

Good

[ScenarioReview]

WILD KARRDE SMUGGLER

 

For once, you can hit a goblin without hearing the seemingly automatic death scream. It was amusing, but the fighting did get annoying once the novelty wore off. Still, a nice short scenario.

Good

[ScenarioReview]

ARACHNID

 

Average

 

Good god, I hate goblins now. Fun scenario.

[ScenarioReview]

MILU K

 

This scenario had some interesting ideas. However, the combat was too difficult for me. I also seem to remember that finding your way out of the burning place required too much reloading to my taste. Otherwise fun. Good

[ScenarioReview]

S.M. ADVENTURER

 

This scenario was a fun experience. The goblin wizard was a very cunning character. I also liked the numerous customized graphics, like the fire. It had a very interesting plotline too, and interesting people with interesting personalities, like the mayor of that town. Overall it's an excellent adventure.

 

My Rating: Good

[BainIhrno]

The only good goblin adventure around

 

A fun short scenario. It is a fun, challenging scenario. The big fight in the Goblin fort was rather tough, as was the goblin wizard. I just replayed it with a level 1 party, and man, it was HARD. I had to think inventively on ways to defeat the goblins. It was a nice fun challenge, and I had a level 8 party coming out. However, there are some downsides.

 

My only real complaint is that after the burning farmhouse, I couldn't go back to Reconah to identify/sell my items. I found that a bit annoying.

 

All and all, a great challenge. The book and trophy features were nice too. I highly recommend playing it, and you should try it with an L1 party at least once.

 

Despite my complaints, I still rate this scenario Best