Review: "The Forbidden Land" by RC Pinnell

The Forbidden Land by RC Pinnell is a free hex-crawl scenario hosted on Dragonsfoot.  The design is oriented towards Classic D&D (B/X, BECMI, or the Cyclopedia) but the work leans lightly enough on the statistical information that I think it would work well under any old school rules.  Indeed, it wouldn't be too hard to use The Forbidden Land with new school or non-D&D rules.  The scenario is recommended for somewhat seasoned characters, from about 4th level, but the actual difficulty will be determined in the process of preparing the work for play.

I've reviewed a couple of Pinnell's works here previously and generally like the ambition shown, even if the results aren't always successful.  With The Forbidden Land, the designer is again striking out into new territory.  Not only is the scenario focused on exploring the untamed wilds of a new continent, but it's a lightly detailed hex-and-rumours type product, rendered in a style strongly reminiscent of the Judge's Guild.  And while I felt that Pinnell had left Cold Drake Canyon (billed as a campaign starter for levels 1-8) too undeveloped to be fit for purpose, The Forbidden Land never pretends to be anything but an area overview.

Pinnell's scenario is a kind of pulp New World, thinly populated and threatened by monsters - but independent of the monarchies of the Old World.  I'm not entirely sure that The Forbidden Land needed to be independent but this is one of the few points on which Pinnell withholds the trademark permission to improvise so perhaps it's absolutely essential?  Surely not, but there is something curious about the way that the Pinnell gives explicit license to expand on The Forbidden Land but doesn't grant the same permission to alter it.  At any rate, the theme of independence goes completely unused in the material presented, so it probably should have been left as a possibility for developing the scenario.  Although there are other elements sketched out, the core of The Forbidden Land are the encounters of "The Forbidden Forest".  Here the PCs might come into contact with an ancient mystery, savage animals, and fierce locals.  The material could stand for a few more brush-strokes but I definitely liked the theme evoked.

As I said at the outset, the mechanical information isn't so heavy that the material would have to be used with any particular rules system.  The heart of the 18-page scenario is its large, 2-page hex-map that details the relatively civilised coastal region and the savage interior.  As maps go, it's fairly neatly presented and the 12-mile to a hex scale provides fair granularity.  Colour would have been a nice touch, and a players' map (or maps) is always welcome in this kind of product.  As mentioned above, there are rumours to guide the characters towards the keyed locations on the map, though The Forbidden Land as written provides no red herrings.  While Pinnell recommends that the DM make up some false rumours, I think omitting them from the document was something of a mistake.  Such details are a frugal way to provide details about the setting.  (Even better would be a smattering of JG style "just rumours", to be true or false at the DM's discretion.)  A few signature NPCs to distribute these rumours are presented - though with the towns little more than names and population numbers, it's hard to see their descriptions as meaningful.

Adventure sites are a mix of suggested threats and ideas, and a more detailed section on the Forbidden Forest.  I thought the Forest was a relative weak point, as the danger is largely direct combat rather than a mix of monster and trap.  The exploration component of the game is exported largely to the wilderness journey, which is slightly disappointing.  Overall, I would say that even the Forbidden Forest is better treated as a grab-box of ideas and components for stringing together the DM's own creations.

Before summing up, a few words on Pinnell's "Wandering Encounter Tables" (Wandering Monsters).  The scenario instructions for wilderness encounters are that frequency of encounters should be at least one per day of travel and perhaps more depending on the DM's whim.  I dislike this sort of fiat-based difficulty and I doubt that I'm alone.  More objectively, the tables are over-complicated, requiring a 2d6 roll to determine the general monster type then a 2d4 roll to determine the specific creature.  Although this does allow for some creatures to appear less than 1% of the time, the DM would have been better served with tables based on a single percentile dice roll.

I was tempted to give this a numerical rating in my usual fashion, but I think that would either do violence to my system or misrepresent The Forbidden Land.  This is essentially a setting and a fairly interesting one.  The tools provided are mostly serviceable timesavers and the ideas presented give a good springboard for development.  For a particularly time-strapped DMs, The Forbidden Land could serve as frame into which more specific modules are inserted, but even those with the luxury to fully develop their own material should find a read of this volume rewarding.  Recommended.