DuChampion (JJ)

Mutant: Year Zero thrusts players into a post-apocalyptic world where humanity's remnants—mutated humans, animals, and robots—struggle for survival amidst the ruins of civilization. Developed by Free League Publishing, this tabletop role-playing game emphasizes exploration, resource management, and community building in a setting where every decision can mean life or death.​ Pros: ✔ Engaging Survival Mechanics: The game masterfully integrates survival elements, requiring players to scavenge for resources, manage supplies, and contend with environmental hazards, thereby enhancing immersion.​ ✔ Community Building: Beyond individual survival, players invest in the development of their home base, known as the Ark, fostering a sense of collective responsibility and long-term strategy.​ ✔ Expansive Lore Through Expansions: The game's universe is enriched by several expansions:​ Mutant: Genlab Alpha: Introduces intelligent, mutated animals as playable characters, each with unique abilities and narratives.​ Mutant: Mechatron: Focuses on robots gaining consciousness, exploring themes of identity and free will.​ Mutant: Elysium: Centers on non-mutated humans residing in an underground enclave, delving into societal structures and moral dilemmas.​ Mutant: Ad Astra: Takes the adventure into space, offering new frontiers and challenges beyond Earth.​ Cons: ✘ Steep Learning Curve: The game's intricate mechanics and survival aspects may overwhelm newcomers or those preferring more straightforward gameplay.​ ✘ Resource Management Emphasis: Players seeking constant action might find the focus on scavenging and resource allocation less appealing.​ ✘ Potential for Group Tension: The survival setting can lead to in-game conflicts among players, which, if not managed well, could affect group dynamics.​ Final Verdict: Mutant: Year Zero offers a rich, immersive experience for players who appreciate depth, strategy, and a touch of existential challenge in their role-playing games. The expansions further enhance the universe, providing diverse perspectives and narratives that keep the gameplay fresh and engaging. However, its complexity and focus on survival may not suit everyone's taste.​ Rating: 8.5/10 – Surviving the Apocalypse, One Mutation at a Time.

Planescape is one of the most beloved settings in D&D history, known for philosophical intrigue, bizarre factions, and the ever-weird city of Sigil. So when Planescape: Turn of Fortune’s Wheel was announced, fans expected a mind-bending, reality-warping adventure that embraced the depth of the multiverse. Instead, what we got was a confusing, rushed, and underdeveloped mess that fails to live up to Planescape’s legacy. This campaign throws your party into a convoluted plot about being "unmoored" from fate, meaning they can’t permanently die and are tied to a cosmic event threatening the nature of reality. Sounds cool, right? Well, the execution feels shallow, disconnected, and full of wasted potential. Instead of a grand tour of the planes, most of the adventure railroads the party through an unfocused, weird-for-the-sake-of-weird storyline that often fails to provide meaningful stakes or satisfying player agency. Pros: ✔ Sigil is back! The setting itself is still fun and chaotic, even if the book doesn’t do it justice. ✔ The concept of being “unmoored” is unique—your party is stuck between realities, which is an interesting narrative tool. ✔ Factions return! The beloved Sigil factions make an appearance, but… (see below). Cons: ✘ Underwhelming execution of the setting. Instead of deep faction intrigue, philosophical dilemmas, or an exploration of the planes, the campaign mostly keeps you stuck in an uninspired, directionless story. ✘ The "unmoored" mechanic makes death meaningless. The players literally can’t die permanently, which removes tension and makes consequences feel weightless. ✘ Pacing is all over the place. Some sections drag forever, while others rush through moments that should have been memorable. ✘ Minimal interaction with the Outer Planes. You’d think a Planescape adventure would take you on an epic multiversal journey, but this one barely leaves Sigil. ✘ The adventure railroads players hard. There is very little room for open-ended exploration, which goes against everything Planescape is supposed to be about. Final Verdict: If you were hoping for a rich, deep Planescape campaign filled with philosophical intrigue, planar exploration, and open-ended adventuring, this book will be a massive disappointment. While it has a few fun concepts, Turn of Fortune’s Wheel fails to capture the magic of what makes Planescape special. 4/10 – Sigil Deserved Better!

Journeys Through the Radiant Citadel is a collection of standalone adventures set around the Radiant Citadel, a floating city in the Ethereal Plane that serves as a magical utopia and trade hub for a bunch of diverse civilizations. The book aims to showcase vibrant cultures, folklore-inspired settings, and lower-stakes adventures with more focus on diplomacy, social encounters, and problem-solving than combat. And that’s where the problem starts. This book feels more like a worldbuilding anthology than an actual adventure book—it introduces cool settings but doesn’t give DMs or players much to actually do with them. The Radiant Citadel itself is painfully underdeveloped, despite being the central hub of the book, and the adventures—while creative—lack any real sense of urgency, danger, or high stakes. If you like political tension, survival horror, or anything remotely resembling an epic quest, this book will bore you to death. Pros: ✔ Diverse, vibrant settings—each adventure is based on a real-world culture, which makes for some unique, underrepresented fantasy elements. ✔ Great for roleplay-heavy groups—if your table loves NPC interactions and solving conflicts without violence, this is the book for you. ✔ Each adventure is self-contained—perfect for one-shots or episodic play. Cons: ✘ The Radiant Citadel itself is underwhelming—it’s supposed to be a central hub, but it lacks depth, conflict, or compelling hooks. ✘ Most adventures lack tension or real stakes—many focus on social dilemmas and “fixing” problems rather than adventure and danger. ✘ Combat is rare, and when it happens, it’s unremarkable. If your players expect deadly encounters, monster-filled dungeons, or grand battles, they will be VERY disappointed. ✘ No real overarching story—it’s just a collection of disconnected adventures, making it hard to run as a cohesive campaign. Final Verdict: If your table loves low-conflict, dialogue-heavy roleplay adventures, Journeys Through the Radiant Citadel might be a good fit. But for most D&D groups, this book lacks compelling hooks, meaningful stakes, and engaging conflict—and the Radiant Citadel itself is shockingly underdeveloped. 4.5/10 – The Most Peaceful Apocalypse Ever.

Welcome to Dungeons of Drakkenheim, where your party gets to explore a post-apocalyptic fantasy city crawling with horrors, political schemers, and a deadly, reality-warping substance called the Haze. Think Chernobyl meets Lovecraftian horror, but with mutant abominations, crumbling towers, and way too many people trying to “reclaim” a city that actively wants to kill them. Your players aren’t just looting dungeons—they’re navigating the ruins of a once-great capital, now overrun with contaminated creatures, rival factions, and eldritch weirdness caused by a magical meteor strike. The deeper they go, the worse things get, both physically and mentally. Pros: ✔ The setting is fantastic—a ruined, haunted city with a mystery at its core, plus a ton of factions fighting over the scraps. ✔ The Haze makes everything dangerous—the city itself is actively hostile, and exposure to eldritch contamination has long-term consequences. ✔ Factions actually matter—players can’t please everyone and will have to choose allies and make enemies. ✔ Perfect mix of horror, exploration, and political intrigue—this isn’t just hack-and-slash; your choices shape the fate of Drakkenheim. Cons: ✘ This is NOT a casual dungeon crawl—Drakkenheim is lethal, complex, and requires actual planning. ✘ The Haze can be brutal—contamination effects punish reckless exploration, which some players might hate. ✘ The factions will NOT get along—the party will have to pick sides, and some choices can lock them out of certain quests. ✘ If your players just want to kill monsters and collect loot, they will be confused and dead. Final Verdict: If your party loves dark fantasy, faction intrigue, and survival horror with eldritch mutations on top, Dungeons of Drakkenheim is one of the best third-party campaigns out there. If they just wanted a traditional dungeon crawl, they are about to have a VERY bad time. 9.5/10 – The City Hates You.

Finally, a D&D adventure that isn’t about crawling through dungeons but instead throws your party into Waterdeep’s high-stakes criminal underworld, where they can scheme, betray, and backstab their way to fortune—or die trying. Despite the title, this is NOT a traditional heist adventure. There’s no “gather your crew, break into the vault” moment. Instead, the campaign is more of a city-based treasure hunt, where different factions, villains, and shady nobles are all vying for a massive hoard of stolen gold (aka the “Dragons,” which are Waterdeep’s gold coins). The adventure heavily depends on which villain the DM chooses—each one changes the season, motivations, and key events. Your players will likely get caught up in crime syndicates, noble feuds, and the occasional fireball explosion in a crowded street. Pros: ✔ Fantastic setting—Waterdeep feels alive, full of intrigue, politics, and crime waiting to unfold. ✔ A more social and roleplay-heavy adventure—you can go entire sessions without rolling for initiative (unless you annoy the wrong people). ✔ Multiple villain options keep it fresh—each villain changes the entire campaign’s tone and conflicts. ✔ Your party gets their own tavern—which always leads to ridiculous business ventures and side quests. Cons: ✘ The heist is misleading—there’s no single elaborate vault-breaking moment, just a city-wide scavenger hunt for gold. ✘ Which villain you pick changes a LOT—so if the DM doesn’t prepare, some plot points can feel disconnected. ✘ Combat is light—great for social players, but murderhobos will be confused and frustrated. ✘ The finale can feel rushed—without DM tweaks, the ending can feel more like a footrace than a true showdown. Final Verdict: If your party loves intrigue, roleplay, and urban adventures where every choice has consequences, Dragon Heist is an incredible city-based campaign. If they just want to bash monsters and loot dungeons, they’re going to hate it. 7.5/10 – The Real Heist is the Friends You Betray Along the Way.