Tenarlian - A Review

Recently got my grubby paws on Tenarlian - The Dying of the Light, a 5E module from Crumbling Keep. 

This module is grounded in the homegrown campaign setting of Samsarras. "Tenarlian" is the name of the winter solstice festival in that setting. 

What's all this about then?

From the first pages of the module:

"Tenarlian: The Dying of the Light is meant to be a holiday one shot, easy to pick up and play as-is. As such, we’ve provided premade characters for this module. They are from the Frostdelver clan, a family of sheep herders. 

...If PCs wish to play their own characters, that’s fine! Just have them make PCs of 4th - 6th level. Afterwards, figure out why they are in the Long Winter Vale and how they know the Frostdelver clan."

This is such a perfect niche for a product. For the past several years, I've usually have someone in the friend group run a holiday themed one shot for me. It's great to have a product like this in your game folder to reach for when the opportunity comes up.

Oooh, that dark fantasy

Another thing to note is that the module is explicitly grimdark. Well, I don't know. That word means a lot of things. But the content warnings in the front matter are there for a reason. This isn't a silly holiday adventure where you fight the Jingle Elf and an animated snowman. This is a module about surviving the night. 

The gimmick is that as time goes on, your lights go out. Admirably, light becomes harder and harder to cast - requiring sequentially higher spell slots.

(I talk a lot in His Majesty the Worm about how the essential problems shouldn't be removed with cantrip spells, so I really dig this.)

Hexcrawling one shot 

There are elements of hexcrawling in this game. This is what initially piqued my interest about this project. I love hexcrawls - they've been my primary form of gameplay for the past several years - and the idea of a one shot hexcrawl really tickles something in me. I think the idea is really ambitious and I'd love to see more content like this. 

What do you get in the book?

The book is a good size for a one shot, clocking in at 28 pages of content. That includes:

• A random encounter table for hexes without a keyed encounter
• Ten keyed encounters
• Attractive hex map and hex map handouts
• Five premade 5E characters

The essential gimmick is that a magical darkness called the Darkfrost (eh) is creeping its way across the map. The players race against time, trying to make it to a safe haven before the darkness completely swallows them. 

The setup reminds me of a board game like Arkham Horror. You have to collaboratively do X before the scenario completely fills up its doom track. This sort of tension is good for a one-shot game since it puts a strict time limit on the evening's play.

Review

Well, I haven't played this module yet. But I want to. I'd craftily use this module as an introduction to the benefits of random encounters and hexcrawling procedures to friends who are hesitant to try a non-5E game. 

If any of this sounds as cool to you as it does me, you can check it out at the Crumbling Keep webstore for $7.