Legends of the Ancient World: The Sorcerer's Manor

There is no reason not to get this. It is a fantastic adventure and it is free!

Great intro to the LAW world and rules. Encounters are always less powerful than the group, so you can figure out tactics and the rules of the game on the fly. Introduces you to the city of redpoint and some of the factions there, though the focus is getting treasure! There are some interesting post-adventure encounters as well. A lot of adventure for free!

A great series for solo or small groups. A mix of role playing and tactics.

While TSM might make for a good adventure for expereinced players, as an introductory scenario, it has always proven difficult and frustrating to players I have introduced to Legends of the Ancient World.

(In the interest of fairness and full disclosure, I am the author of Orc of the High Mountains, another introductory scenario, so my opinions may have some bias.)

Many of the encounters feature opponents that are difficult for a starting group of characters with limited equipment. As with most of the Redpoint based adventures, combat is key and characters who do not maximise their combat potential may find themselves in multiple TPK (Total Party Kill) encounters.

Encounters (such as one near the door with dwargs) where the party is penalized for trying to roleplaying, monsters that ignore armor, and a final encounter where the main bad guy gets a deus ex machina automatic escape that robs the heroes of their chance to...well, be heroes, frustrated and annoyed every group of players I ran with through this adventure. (We had three of five groups die to the man and none of the groups made it out with less than 50% casualties).

Now, it is a free scenario, so the only cost is the paper you print it on (if that). With a creative GM and some creative editing, this might make a decent scenario for a campaign. and I understand that letting the BBEG escape is supposed to inspire the heroes to get revenge on him later on. But for a starting scenario, it just frustrated too many of our player group. (One of whom still won't play other LAW adventures because of his bad experiences with TSM.)

Good game especially for the price.....Great way to figure if like the system without having to commit to anything. Play is good and has some nice lead ins to additional adventures.

Didn't like it as much as "Orcs of the High Mountains", seemed too centered around combat and not the actual story.

A nice basic intro scenario. Good to get all the mechanics of the rules down.