The Nameless Isle is a 5th Edition Adventure for 1st level characters. It is set along the Sword Coast near Neverwinter. An island has suddenly appeared along the coast. Or, I should say, it has reappeared. Lord Neverember hires the party of adventurers to investigate this island and find out what or who might be there. This adventure is written by Jonas Kraft.
It is available as a pay what you want file on Drivethru rpg at the following link:
This module is written for 4 to 5 characters. By the time that they finish the adventure they should be 2nd level.
Long ago a sorceror named Zhir Cordal warned the high elf wizards that lived on the island that the Spellplague that was affecting the prime material plane was also affecting the other planes of existence. His warnings were ignored and the wizards teleported the island to the plane of water. The plague was present on that plane, as foreseen by Zhir Cordal, and the wizards all died there. Zhir Cordal was the only survivor and he was bitter and angry about the situation. Ultimately he found a way to return the island and it appeared along the Sword Coast in the present location.
What I liked about The Nameless Isle
The adventure is clean and professional looking. It has the same look and feel of the Wizards of the Coast Products and other well designed adventures sold for a great deal more money.
It is pay what you want. Which means you can try it and see if you like it before paying anything.
It has complete stat blocks in the back of the adventure.
It does not give away magic items with little or no challenge like many published modules do. There are but two magic items in this adventure and only one is really something that the characters will really benefit from.
The background section is short. I like short for background info. It is much better to give the players, and dungeon master, a chance to dive right in. This adventure does that.
What I do not like about The Nameless Isle
I am not a big fan of the way many 5th edition adventures are written. I understand that they want it to look more like a story than a packaged adventure. But when writers give the adventurers little choice in what directions that they will take it feels a lot like railroading to me. This adventure, and many other 5E products, has three chapters. And the players are moved through these three story elements. And they get little or no options. I prefer adventures where the dungeon is presented and the adventurers can choose where to go and what to explore. I think that this is how the game was always intended to be played. Unfortunately the current writers, even the ones writing for WOTC, seem to feel otherwise these days.
Would I recommend The Nameless Isle to others?
Yes. I probably would recommend it. Particularly to a newbie dungeon master. It is probably more than an adequate as a starter adventure for a new group wanting to begin playing 5th Edition.
Would I run this with my own group?
Probably not. If I were running 5E with my own players I would probably use a different starting adventure that I have used many times with my own characters in 1st Edition. But there is nothing wrong with using this one for starting players.
