Product Name: No Man’s Land
Publisher: Cakebread & Walton
Author: Ken Walton, Peter Cakebread
System: RuneQuest II
Setting: Clockwork & Chivalry
Series:
Theme: Alternate History, English Civil War, Clockwork, Low Fantasy
Type: Campaign (Kingdom & Commonwealth Volume III)
Link: http://www.clockworkandchivalry.co.uk/
No Man’s Land is the third volume for the Kingom & Commonwealth campaign series for Clockwork & Chivalry, a full setting for RuneQuest II. No Man’s Land follows an over-arching storyline present throughout the first two volumes with, what I would consider, two other storylines woven within. These two storylines consist of the situation of things surrounding the Clockwork & Chivalry English Civil War setting and the actual mission the adventurers are committed to. It’s hard to truly summarize this campaign module other than saying wow… No Man’s Land blew me away!
This module is filled with twists and turns, grand combat, espionage, and plenty of plot-hooks. There is so many adventure seeds here that could easily be used to create new and unique mini-campaigns, new adventures, or used as a base point for a full campaign within the heart of the encounter. If you only purchase one campaign/adventure module for Clockwork & Chivalry, this is the one you need to have!
The following detailed review points will be somewhat vague as I avoid any spoilers and want the players to stay on their toes.
PART ONE
The one thing that really stands out to me during the first part of this module is that it seems like a typical mission that should be relatively simple. The adventurers are to meet their contacts at a given location and end up doing some investigation. But this doesn’t last long before the group is thrown directly into the midst of madness. A few NPCs are introduced, some key information is learned, and the modules main storyline starting to develop. But when chaos ensues, this storyline is thrown into a different direction and the truth behind the module begins.
PART TWO
No man’s land is the contested area between the Royalist and Parliamentarian lines. Part two begins with a beautiful story concerning the background of this area along with a look at how things have developed. This is a key part of the progression of the Clockwork & Chivalry setting and would be a shame if the players did not learn of this setup.
It doesn’t take long before the adventurers are thrown into the throngs of madness and they get a taste of the Civil War storyline. The mission’s storyline is not necessarily prevalent unless the adventurers do plenty of investigation and work on piecing things together. It may become obvious what they need to do, but the story continues to move along faster and faster while the players become an important part of the English Civil War. There is very little time to think and quick decisions thus need to be made. But how the adventurer’s overcome these encounters is in the hands of the GM and the players.
Part two introduces a number of NPCs that may come into play during part three or can become valuable allies, contacts, or even enemies for future adventures, campaigns, or continuing the Kingdom & Commonwealth campaign series.
PART THREE
Part three takes the adventurers away from the madness and into the other two storylines, the one present throughout the entire campaign series and the one that gives them their mission directive. Time seemingly slows down and the adventurers are given the opportunity to make valuable allies. While this may seem like the overall purpose of the module and its place within the campaign series, the prior two parts play are crucial to the setup of these storylines along with giving the GM source material that could be used for new adventures or campaigns.
There are numerous NPCs introduced, some valuable allies while other are targeted enemies, that could also be used in subsequent games. While avoiding a spoiler, there is a serious twist in events once the adventurers get to their mission’s destination that takes the Clockwork & Chivalry setting into a possible horrific direction. The adventurers will have to overcome things they haven’t dealt with in the previous campaign modules.
APPENDIX
The appendix is more than just a presentation of NPCs for the No Man’s Land module. Within are a series of clockwork devices, new adversaries, alchemical warfare, and new equipment. This section could be very valuable to players that may drive them to purchase the module as well. Once a player finishes No Man’s Land, they could look to this Appendix for possibilities of their own within future adventures or campaign modules (along with the reading through the story in Part Two and the narrative presented throughout).
OVERALL
No Man’s Land is a wonderfully written campaign module. There is an abundance of narrative that not only moves the story forward but also expands upon the setting and even moves the timeline forward. While it is written as a campaign module, there is a lot of source material that could be extracted along with multiple NPCs, adventure locations, and possibly important allies. Not only is it valuable to the campaign series, but it becomes valuable to GMs looking to expand their own adventures and campaigns and players looking for weapons and equipment to enhance their characters.
RATINGS
Publication Quality: 9 out of 10
Cakebread & Walton have shown definite signs of improvement when it comes to layout and presentation. No Man’s Land contains a lot of NPC illustrations, the style of which I find truly represent the period of the setting, some decent maps, and lots of well presented characters. There were a couple places for improvement here and there, but nothing that impeded the ease of reading the content.
Storyline: 10 out of 10
Absolutely phenomenal! I find there are three storylines presented throughout. One is the over-arching storyline following the entire campaign, another is the progression of the setting’s timeline, and the last is the adventurer’s mission. All three of these are wonderfully presented and flawlessly connected throughout. I found myself attached to these storylines and waiting to read what happens next. There’s a teaser for the upcoming Quintessence which makes me wish I already had it in my hands.
Desire to Play: 10 out of 10
There are numerous options for running this module in any fashion the GM or players desire. The storyline itself makes game-play desirable but the opportunities presented throughout enhance that and could satisfy anyone’s play-style.
Overall: 10 out of 10
No Man’s Land is possibly one of the best modules I’ve read. Not only are there epic possibilities, but there are numerous opportunities for such an array of game-play styles that every group could find that it caters to their preference. Plus there are so many plot-hooks and adventure seeds that the content could open up to numerous other adventures or campaigns. The content within the Appendix adds to the value and many Game Masters could turn this into more than just volume III of the Kingdom & Commonwealth campaign series.
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