“Dice Hard” by Hangry Dwarf Press is a light heated short Kickstarter funded adventure penned by Sean Ferrell older brother of Matt Ferrell owner and host of the Undecided by Matt Ferrell which is a tech-focused channel.
The adventure is not-tech focused but it does contain the promise of new technology in the form of an improved diamond mine drill located several layers beneath the earth which the Duergar by the name of Hans Duergar has come to steal using goblins as a detraction.
The story pays a light-hearted homage to the first of the Die-hard series of movies staring Bruce Willis, but flips it by not going up a skyscraper but down into a dwarf mine. It is a fun ideas and the author chucks in a few Dad-jokes in for GM consumption and play.
The premise is simple enough, a goblin raid at the surface provides a detraction to allow the Hans Duergar crew to slip below and after the raid concludes the players learn an interaction they had during the raid was not what it was and the mine owner asks them to descend into the darkness rescue any dwarf miners from goblins, find out who the raiders are and secure the new mining drill.
The adventure bills itself as a two-hours adventure but its more a 3-4 hours adventure as it is spread over 6 level below grounds and one above ground level. It also contains a minimum of 4 combat encounters so it took a little over 4 hours for my gaming group to complete.
For an adventure that raised around $750 on Kickstarter the author has put in a lot of effort to make the adventure playable. At 37 pages it longer than expected. With nice clear Dungeondraft maps created for each level its ready for import and use in Virtual Table Tops. It also contains a side view of the mine that helps to explain the lift well and the air shafts (a nice touch).
The artwork is limited and likely all from AI or perhaps author drawn and its all welcome. Layout is good and the wordsmithing is fine.
I did find the underwater river map confusing to read and use so I created an alternate map (below) which anyone may use.
Billed as an adventure for levels 3-5 I felt it is most comfortable as a level 4 adventure with level 3 suitable for more experienced players and level 5 for less experiences players. Level 5 in Dungeons and Dragons sees a marked step-up in power level and this adventure doesn’t lend itself to a powerful party, that knows what their characters can do – they may just steam roll through – but this doesn’t preclude them having a fun time.
If you are after a short-light hearted adventure that has a raid style then this is for you. Its a good primer for the adversary group – such as a criminal gang or religious order for a larger campaign, or as gate-way to under dark adventures.
The adventure can be obtained from DriveThurRPG.
