Michael

Strixhaven is the University education you WISH you had received; part Hogwarts, part hunger Games, part Old School, this adventure and setting have some pretty unique twists on the eccentric professor and looming disaster, intermingled with the pressures of socializing and maybe even romance? The new lineages and magic items are charming, as are the 'schools' of magic one can attend. There is enough lore to sink one's teeth into and the setting lends itself to a near-infinite number of adventures outside the included one. Highly recommended, though the Dungeon Master should probably have been at least an RA for a Semester before running it. 4/5 "Good!"

Are you a fan of Redwall or Guardians of Gahoole? Even if you're not, ever wanted to be a feisty Raccoon or quick rabbit or some other antropomorphic animal BUT do it in a DnD setting? You're in luck because Humblewood is right up your alley. To be fair, they are not quite one-to-one comparisons to the works above, especially since Humblewood can take some dark turns, but it is close enough. Humblewood offers a fun, sometimes whimsical, take on DnD and is all the better for it. The adventure itself is pretty solid and engaging, definitely easier to prep for the average Dungeon Master, which is saying something. 4/5 "Good!"

Prequel to the wildly-popular Baldur's Gate 3 by Larian studios, this is a roller-coaster of an adventure. The fields of Avernus are littered by war, pocked by battle scars, and ready for the unsuspecting 'heroes' to rise t the occasion. Players begin as ordinary people struck by metaphysical tragedy and circumstance and so should get their bearings and 'adventuring legs' under them at first. The early part is a definite lesson in resource management and picking one's battles. Players should be smart, or they will be dead. For Dungeon Masters, careful reading and understanding of the situation is a MUST. This means homework, sorry to those who prefer to 'make it up on the fly.' But the rewards can be worth it. Players can be seduced by easy answers and the temptations of the lower planes, or they can redeem the irredeemable, and pretty much everything in between. It certainly gives players who then go on to BG3 a different perspective of Tieflings. 3.5/5 "Pretty good"

Gothic horror and putting DnD on "Rogue-like" mode is what Curse of Strahd is all about. It hits a lot of the old, Gothic horror tropes; a land shrouded in mystery and death, haunted by the undead, and besieged by its own ruler. Not for the faint of heart of for those inclined to unserious play, CoS as it is written will 100% kill an unprepared or foolish party. But when the triumphs happen, they are glorious to behold. It get so much of the source material - Bram Stoker's Dracula - right that it is easy to forget that some of the stuff kind of misses the mark. If it is brutal to the player, it is a load of work for the Dungeon Master; reading, understanding, cross-referencing, and map-centric detail are KEY to running this successfully. Do your homework, and you will have players agog with the atmosphere. 4.5/5 "Nearly perfect"

Spelljammer has SUCH a great premise and some amazingly unique creatures to interact with, but the story is mostly middling, the space combat (what little there is of it) discourages ship-to-ship combat, the lore isn't fully explored and the sense of freedom one could have with a truly gargantuan open 'world' are missing. So what does that leave us with? A typical "Help the princess, stop the bad guy" drama that plays out poorly in most sections. The score, however, is revised upward IF one can find a DM who has revamped a few things, such as ship-owning and combat, new worlds to explore, and a truly meaty hook to draw the players into. In that case, Spelljammer's weird, wild, unique, and engaging universe comes to life and is a fresh take on a familiar setting. Wizards, but in space! Knights on interstellar shark-back! Druids who talk to the literal living heart of their ship! Give me more!!! As it stands, at best it is a competent adventure in an under-utilized setting 2.5/5 "Mid. Completely mid."