Customer Reviews

Tsar Rising

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The snowy land of Torassia is certainly off the beaten path for most D&D veterans, both in front and behind the GM screen. Michael Tresca's "Tsar Rising" is a d20 adventure for 3rd Ed D&D that takes players on a wild ride through what amounts to the folklore and culture of 19th century Russia of all places. It's a land that is both warm-hearted and deadly cold, and those looking for some solid adventure outside of Faerun or Greyhawk would be well served to pick this up. The module is designed for an 8/9 level party, and for the most part the encounters are the kind I try to run: those that aren't too difficult IF players give proper thought to the situation and keep a cool head. The party starts in the small Torassian town of Volkov, hired to find a lost caravan. What they find is more than they bargained for as they stumble into a war of succession, a populace resisting the new Imperial monotheistic religion, an economy based chiefly on Mammoth power and a whole mess of monsters.

This would be an average module except for the fact the author does a wonderful job of laying out the new land of Torassia, its culture, people, folklore, and creatures. This is NOT Icewind Dale, and it's worth giving copies of the first few pages to the players involving the history of this harsh land. GMs will especially enjoy throwing brand new monsters at the players and seeing how they react, because of this I don't recommend this module for a brand new group. If you've got a batch of veteran gamers looking for something different however, this is a nice change of pace. It's better than many D20 modules I've seen because of the details laid out for the land, its people, and its unique monsters.

The creatures themselves, such as the two-headed eagle-like Dvorlem, represent the theme of the Tsar's newly mandated monotheistic religion clashing with the polytheistic folklore of the people. The Tsar used the new religion to try to hold the land together, but the Old Gods are not amused (as gods often aren't with mortals.) This is a theme that runs throughout the module, the conflict between the Tsar's "modern ways" and the "old traditions" of the peasants. This makes for an excellent story if your players can appreciate more than just a hackfest. It's always nice to see opportunities for players to use their heads for something other than receiving axe blows. Suddenly that Gather Information skill at Rank 5 your Bard has been ITCHING to use may save the party a lot of time, for instance. Your Clerics and Paladins on the other hand will especially have to be careful, as foreign gods aren't too welcome among the superstitious public...

The NPCs are a riot as well, ranging from bucolic bartenders to the Main Bad Guy. Tresca encourages the DM to whip out his or her best cheesy Russian accents to play the NPCs, and there's a great opportunity for some real hilarity here. I firmly believe a module should be as much fun for the DM as it is for the players, and this one is a winner on both sides of the screen (if you can take the puns, there's tons of them, yikes.)

I wasn't too impressed with some of the individual encounters (most are on the easy side) and especially in the middle portion of the game the adventure can bog down at points, but luckily there's a couple surprises that keep the adventure fresh. The major work is going to be in towns, and that's fine with my style of play and GMing.

As far as graphics, the visual work is pretty decent. Maps are clean and well designed, and there's plenty of opportunity to fiddle with encounters based on the group. There's also a couple major league curveballs in the adventure that will be great to throw at PCs, and overall this is a well done module, worth the .... There's a pretty fair amount of material here in 60 pages, enough for a GM to snap out another adventure or two in the lands of Torassia. I'd like to see a follow-up, as there's a lot to this land and its people. Overall Tsar Rising is a worthy effort.

Tsar Rising is an epic adventure. The plot is a political situation that will determine the fate of a nation. As a nice change of pace, it's set in Torassia, a fantasy Russia. This module is more than just an adventure, it also has enough information, especially in the appendix, to be a sourcebook for Torassia.
The Introduction gives a good dose of History, grounding Torassia, its people, politics, religion. This paints a bright tapestry that the adventure is set against. The history is believable and borrows from real Russian folklore. That's a strength that runs throughout the module. The use of Russian folklore and terms makes for an enjoyable read for the DM. It also allows for a more immersive experience. Torassia is not Alaska.
Chapter One presents the characters with a mission to find a missing caravan. This is a standard plot hook to start many an adventure. Refreshingly, the caravan is at worst a red herring, and yet a foreshadowing of the future. Here is another great innovation of Tsar Rising. The characters aren't the heroes of the story. The plot doesn't revolve around them. They're an aid and a tool for the Tsar. They're the supporting cast, the sidekicks. Larger forces are at work, but not directed at them. Which leaves the players guessing. As I said, it is very refreshing to have players break out of that egocentric mold. It reminds me of Harlequin, an old Shadowrun module, which did the same thing, and was great to play, and even more fun to run as a gamemaster. In Chapter One, the characters meet up with `Sergei', then go through a series of encounters, which build up feelings of supernatural forces and of being hunted. There is also a well-designed tiny village (the thorp of Volkov) that gives life to the Cossacks, in the middle of this hunt.
Chapter Two has the party protecting Peter and the surviving members of Volkov to a small town, Drakino. It is here that they are exposed to the plight of the people. The characters learn about the religious strife between the new Khrestianin religion, and practitioners of any other, often including themselves. Drakino is full of role-playing opportunities. In the middle, there is the next attempt on the Tsar's life. Even in a town of 2000, the hunt goes on. Is nowhere safe?! Some other encounters occur, both harrying the party and giving them the opportunity to learn more of Peter. Here is a second innovation in Tsar Rising. Not every encounter is meant to be combat. Not everyone or everything they encounter is meant to be killed. If the characters are truly feeling harried by the constant hunt upon them, they should be more than ready to run. Sometimes, that is what they were meant to do.
Chapter Three is the endgame. The players accompany the Tsar into his capital to face the Devil that has orchestrated the entire ordeal and is now ruling Torassia. The tactics of this battle are presented to the DM. They're also really good. This should be a very challenging battle, which makes for a great ending. But the defeat of the Devil isn't the end for the characters. As their reward, they are offered noble rank and land in Torassia, in addition to some intriguing magic items. If they accept, it's not the end of the adventure, but the start of the campaign, in Torassia. And thus, we reach a third innovation. Instead of walking off into the sunset, or in this case anywhere south and warm, the characters can end up tied to the land, the politics, and the people of Torassia. But they'll have more than enough to deal with. There are further adventure hooks, describing surrounding enemies, plots, and religious strife, just waiting to intrude upon these heroes and new nobles. Of course, after what they've experienced, they may run like Hell, and not just because it'd be toasty warm if they reached it.
Overall, Tsar Rising is an excellent adventure. The writing is clear and amusing. The encounters set the mood and never let up on the players. The people and the towns are well-described, giving ample information for role-playing the setting well. The inclusion of Russian terms adds to this nicely. The adventure is more than that, it's an introduction to the nation of Torassia, a realm that the characters may want to explore more when they finally get a chance. And that brings us to the Appendix, with a listing of NPCs, monsters, armor and weapons. These round out information on the realm. Tsar Rising is 60% adventure, 40% sourcebook, which means it continues to give and be useful, even after the adventure is over. That's more bang for your buck.
I liked it. I think it's well done. And I'm just waiting for an excuse to send some players up north...

Amongst great literature and investigative books there must certainly be a place for junk like this. Teach the young to watch MTV, teach them the "importance" of spending days and days devoted to escapism. And oh, don't forget to reward the authors with your hard earned money.