This adventure was not one I planned on reviewing any time soon but I needed an adventure for my own group in this level range so I decided to read it. My own party is in the 2nd level range now and still has a ways to go in their current adventure. But when they are done they will be well within the level range of this adventure which is from 2nd to 4th levels of experience.
The Forest Oracle is mostly an outdoor adventure which makes it kind of unique in the history of TSR modules for there are few of these. That is not to say that there are no dungeon areas. There are. But a large portion of this will be played on the surface and in wilderness areas.
The Forest Oracle is written by Carl Smith and published by TSR in 1984. It is thirty six pages long from cover to cover including maps. The adventurers find themselves in a farming town which is suffering from severe blight. A gypsy has cursed the town and now their crops are dying. The villagers desperately need help. A collective of Druids might help the town but they are far away and in perilous territory.
What I like about the Forest Oracle
It is a wilderness adventure primarily. And this is a nice variation from the normal dungeon adventures. It involves druids which is also different than the norm. The encounters are in the appropriate level range to challenge adventurers in this level range. It provides some role playing encounters as well as plenty of combat. It is in the right level range for my own group of adventurers which is actually not common among 1st edition AD&D adventures. There really are few adventures written for the low levels. And even fewer are written for 2nd to 4th level.
What I do not like about the Forest Oracle
This adventure is exactly what writers should not do with boxed text. The writer assumes far too much. He provides text for alternate possibilities in the event that players choose different paths. In my opinion a writer that chooses to use boxed text at all should limit this to providing a very short description of what the adventurers might see. And nothing more. This module could have shaved off about ten pages if it had gone with that method instead.
But worse than this is the actual text used. In many cases it uses text in a way that I would never speak to my players.
This adventure takes the story book method of adventure which I really hate. Unfortunately it became the primary method of writing adventures for later editions. What I am referring to is writing the adventure in chapters. The writer has created a story and intends to force the players to adhere to it. One must complete each chapter along the way to finish the story. I much prefer adventures that set the hook and then let the players go where they will in order to complete the necessary tasks.
Would I recommend this adventure to others?
Yes. This adventure is salvageable despite it’s flaws. The wilderness is laid out and can be used. Even the story book crap can be lived with. Just let your adventurers go where they will and don’t force them to follow the set path provided. And ignore the boxed text when it makes sense to do so.
Would I run the Forest Oracle with my own group?
Yes. And I intend to. But I will be ignoring the box text in most places and ignoring the story chapters.
If you enjoyed this article then perhaps you will enjoy these as well:
- Caverns of Thracia Review
- The Maltese Clue Review
- Verbosh Review
- Lara’s Tower Review
- Restormel Review
- The Dragon Crown Review
- Escape From Astigar’s Lair Review
- Hall of the Fire Giant King Review
- Glacial Rift of the Frost Giant Jarl Review
- Steading of the Hill Giant Chief Review
- Tegel Manor Review
- F’Deck Fo’s Tomb Review
- Operation Ogre Review
- Inferno Review
