A quick one off advernture. This is a bit sparse on the cohesion that some of the others in this series have had. I do like that it makes the players make some moral decissions. 7 of 10

This is a great series of short adventures. This one might be a bit tough to fit into an ongogin campagain, but as it says it is a great starting point. I like the fact that it forces palyers to be creative in solving issues like a lack of weapons, armor and food. Not quire the standard shipwreck advenbtrue. I would recommend it as it is well thougth out, provides the GM with just enough to make it play smoothly and quickly. 8 of 10

The Halls of Runehammer is a very enjoyable and well written adventure. Though it is designed for 5th edition (and works extremely well, I might add), it has a feel to it that would definitely stand up to any of the original D&D or AD&D modules. It is very well written and laid out, and it has all sorts of maps and random encounter tables for the DM to make use of. If an area is of any importance, you can be assured there is a map for it.

Speaking Critically
There are a couple of typos that I found, but they are very minor (like a "the" got left out or deleted for example). I honestly think I found them only because I was really looking. The artwork varies a bit in quality, but it all still works really well to capture the atmosphere that the creators were aiming for. Overall, the quality is very good, and I am definitely impressed with the adventure.

Back to the good stuff (and there's a lot) Without spoiling anything, the adventure has a great story behind it while remaining action packed as well. As a matter of fact, the adventure pretty much starts with all the action that low level characters can handle. Yes, the adventure is very challenging and potentially deadly, but resourceful players will most likely find their characters coming out on top (barring bad luck of the dice, of course).

The adventure itself is around 75 pages, with the rest being new monsters, NPCs and magic items. There is definitely enough material to provide several sessions of game play. Some of the more random locations are briefly detailed to allow individual DMs to expand certain encounters by adding their own ideas. These are optional locations that lie off the beaten track (and may not be found by players), but will add a nice touch to the adventure as a whole.

Yes, while the adventure is definitely action packed, there are puzzles to be solved and plenty of opportunity for roleplaying with various NPCs as well. It will definitely test the mettle of 2nd to 4th level characters, but will reward them appropriately as well. It makes for a great 5E adventure (really a great adventure for any edition), and it is a perfect opportunity for characters to really begin the trek towards becoming heroes. I would highly recommend giving this adventure a shot!

It's a great little module. Short enough to wrap up in one medium length session, but with enough background and plot hooks to really dig into it more if you want to. It's based in the Asnar campaign world, but is easily adaptable to other settings.

The Sewers of Blackhelm is set in A Hole In The Ground Terrain's own campaign setting, Asnar. This adventure is perfect for low level characters just being introduced to Asnar. The adventure includes various plot hooks to lead in your PCs, and the story starts (in true RPG fashion) in the Inn of the Green Griffon. The plot is easy for the DM to follow, and the step-by-step layout makes it a breeze to run. Each encounter is laid out with the various enemies and map sections applicable to that part. The enemies each have their stat charts included right on the page for easy reference. At the end, a nice conclusion and even more plot hooks are ready to use to lead the DM right into the next adventure!

Simple, straighforward, and well thought out, The Sewers of Blackhelm is a great short adventure to get your PCs rolling!

See the campaign setting here: http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/196594/Asnar-The-Last-Kingdom--A-Fantasy-Campaign-Setting-For-5E-and-Others

Bart Turpin 5E DM and player

If you're looking for a great new setting to start your next RPG campaign, look no further! Asnar, The Last Kingdom is a complete setting with everything a DM could need to create detail-filled adventures for the players. This campaign setting is loaded with everything from a fully detailed history of Asnar with its own gods and goddesses, to a beautifully illustrated map of the kingdom. Various cities/locales and their descriptions are included, each with their own histories and colorful populaces. The political structure and religions are described in depth, as are the relations between the various typical races of elves, dwarves, gnomes, orcs, and humans. Statistics compatible with 5E are included for a variety of potential enemies, and important NPCs in the kingdom get their own profiles as well. There is even a section dedicated to the purchase and managing of land and properties, opening up all kinds of campaign leads and ongoing storylines!

Other than the NPC stats, the entire setting can be used not only with 5E but with any other RPG system the DM happens to fancy. Well written and well edited (this is a welcome deviation from a lot of fan made material), Asnar, The Last Kingdom is a must have for adventurous DMs!

Bart Turpin 5E DM and Player

I've been playing D&D since the early 80's when it was Basic, Expert or Advanced. I downloaded "A Brother Lost" to play with my teenage son who has expressed interest in playing before but who seemed to lose interest before we could finish an adventure arc. As an introductory adventure, I thought this one struck just the right balance between background (enough to get him interested and goal oriented), handholding and choice.

As advertised, the module takes ~1 hour to complete and really only requires a player's handbook.

Recommendation for improvement: in future submissions or revisions, you could make the XP reward recommendations a little more "front and center". Maybe put it at the heading for each section (i.e. "3B) Trial By Ice [50XP]"). And then at the end of the module maybe a summarized XP roll-up table for session wrap-up.

Overall, I really enjoyed this module and I hope you'll continue posting stuff like this. Especially Solo. It also had a nice nostalgic feel for me (for what that's worth)...really felt like the D&D of old.

Respectfully,

Steve

A good solo adventure. I ran through it with my 8 year old son in around an hour. A few hints were given but he understood what he had to do. Hopefully there are more in this series as he wants to play again!

Very good one-on-one adventure for a young new player. I played this through with my 11 year old nephew, and he enjoyed it and wants to play D&D again. The hook was compelling for someone of his age, the regular binary choices and the variety of combat / traps / puzzles kept things interesting. We played in 90 minutes and were both satisfied. One word of warning: Both the "corrosion monster" and the "defender of the dead" are really tough opponents for a single 1st level fighter, and my nephew's character would have died had it not been for me clearly explaining his options (withdraw, dodge, exploit its weakness), and even then I had to fudge one dice roll after he had exhausted his healing potion and his second wind. By the DMG, they are off the scale of difficulty for 1st level (as 100 XP is deadly, not accounting for the 1.5 x modifier for being a single PC), and so it might be worth toning them down to avoid the disappointment of death on the PC's first mission and the player's first experience of D&D.

I bought it for 1$ only, so it's a very good deal. I had a very specific problem with the main file: Because the PDF is partly protected, I wasn't able to send to my Kindle Touch. I don't think it is necessary to protect PDFs.

I played this with a 13 year old. It took about an hour, and he was able to get through it without dying, even though he was playing a wizard. It helped that he rolled 5 natural 20's in that hour!

I've been playing D&D for a very long time, but he was a true noobie, although he plays computer games. The interesting thing to me was that he played it very "scared" -- he didn't want his character to die. I had to force him to drink one of the healing potions (he was going to ignore it, even though he was at 2/8 hp). He tried very hard to avoid confrontation (although it is conveniently forced a bit in this module).

To try to get him in to the spirit of things, I did add a goblin (4hp, AC 10, dagger) at the bridge on his way to the first encounter in the module. That seemed to give him a good feel for the basics of combat in the game (although he refused to loot the body, and left another healing potion and a few coppers behind).

I find it very interesting that both of the around-13 year old kids I've introduced to D&D play it very scared. I think it might be because they are used to playing games where death is easy to fix with a quick reset, but there is a "brutal" mode where everything is fatal and you can't restart. They were convinced that everything was bad, and you definitely never want to drink a looted potion or search a body for gold or weapons. Maybe I'll need to add another few minor encounters to the beginning of games to show that although sometimes things are trapped and bad, usually loot is good... (I may also add a house rule that DC5 you can identify a potion as good or bad, DC15 you can name it...)

As far as this title is concerned: it was very good; a great intro, easy to run, all of the details you need are in there, and it is a fun story. I will buy addition solo adventures from the author as they become available.

The content itself is mostly good, I have no issue at all with the story, but I had several issues otherwise. Namely, the rooms with the skeletons have conflicting text describing things. Some of the text makes it seem like there's 1 enemy, some makes it seem like there are two (using words like "both"). In the final chamber it describes the player receiving both a d6 and a d4 necrotic damage if they touch an item, both referring to the same item. Additionally, and this is probably the biggest error, the maps provided only show 1 sarcophagus in the fire and the ice rooms, but the screenshotted maps in the dungeon master's pdf of the adventure show 4, and refer to the player being able to gain extra treasure by looting the other 3 unopened sarcophagi. Overall the adventure is good but it comes across like the author is either English Second Language or didn't spend enough time proof reading. A final request for improvement would be to not have the room labels in the middle of the maps, instead putting them to the side so that they don't ruin immersion when using them on a virtual tabletop.

An adventure that accomplishes what it set out to do. A fun, quick and easy introductory adventure for a one-on-one session. Never enough of those.

As advertised, a good (G-rated) introductory adventure for a parent to run a single child through. It has lots of guidance, enough challenges to keep it fun, and is short enough to keep a child’s attention.

It's a great introductory adventure, perfect for introducing new players to gaming. It's long enough to include a little character development, roleplaying, combat, puzzle solving, etc. Plus, some good quality maps. Excellent starter module.