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The Haunting of Eliuska Manor [ SagaBorn ] | Review

This is our review The Haunting of Eliuska Manor, an adventure written by Michael Bielaczyc and Dane Clark Collins, whom we thank for sending us a physical copy of the manual. The adventure is designed to be inserted in a campaign set in the world of Dark Return. This scenario is suitable for 4-6 players from the fourth to the sixth level. The game system is SagaBorn (which we have already talked about in our previous review), created as a simplified system of the famous D20 System; designed to be lean and efficient, it aims to encourage storytelling rather than getting lost in the rule books.

This volume, just over 40 hardcover pages, is available on DriveThruRPG in both digital and physical hardcover versions. The price varies according to the edition and ranges from 10 dollars (about 9 euros) for the digital version to 35 dollars (about 33 euros) for the version with the hardcover.

The Dark Return is a gothic fantasy setting whose events take place in the lands of Atheles; it mixes characters from popular fantasy scenarios (like Forgotten Realms and Middle-earth) with dark fairy tales, horror stories, and Lovecraftian creatures.

Review of the Structure of The Haunting of Eliuska Manor

The haunted house is a classic theme with an investigative flavor and this adventure does not stray too far from the canon it refers to. It is a classic dungeon in which exploration proceeds step by step, allowing you to visit the entire Eliuska manor.

Each room is represented by a specific number (which can be found on the maps), encounters, and treasures. From this point of view, The Haunting of Eliuska Manor is an adventure with a soft and smart approach; the DM is not forced to go back and forth between the pages to look for what he needs to present the challenges. Even the plot hooks and the background of the adventure are explicit and detailed; this is a great help if you want to focus the adventure on the mysterious tone and gothic atmosphere.

The Game System

As mentioned at the beginning of this review, The Haunting of Eliuska Manor is based on the SagaBorn game system; this is a simplified version of the more famous D&D and offers 8 levels, 7 Races, 8 playable Classes and 9 Skills.

The available Classes are strictly functional to the setting. Among the martial ones, in addition to the Warrior and the Barbarian, you can choose the Archeon, or the guardian of the magicians. The magical ones include the Bard, the Wylder (a kind of wild magician), and the Luminar (the academic magician); the last ones are Scout and the Rogue.

Among the Races, in addition to the most well-known and classic Humans, Dwarves and Elves, there are also Half-dwarves, Satyrs, and Elflings; of course, they are all races from Atheles, the continent of the Dark Return setting.

The Adventure

In order to complete the adventure, it is not necessary to face the whole manor; however, for a complete experience and to be able to obtain all the treasures, I suggest to proceed calmly and, as in most of dungeons, pay particular attention to where you put your feet. The rooms are presented in numerical order; for each, there is a piece of text to paraphrase to the players, a piece of context explanation for the DM, monsters and treasures; this approach is very classic, almost dated if we think about latest games.

Even though it is well structured also in terms of layout, one gets the impression that the choice of the two columns on which to develop the text is, in fact, counterproductive in the long run.

The adventure takes up about a third of the entire volume.

Monsters and Creatures

The bestiary of the manual The Haunting of Eliuska Manor occupies 12 pages, introducing 5 NPCs and 12 monstrous creatures; it’s basically a menagerie!

It must be said that with such a high number of possible encounters, you can take inspiration for other adventures to be set in Dark Return.

Graphics and Artwork

The graphic style of the creatures is suited to the context of the adventure. However, the aesthetic rendering and the printing quality is not proper for the authors’ work.

Thee maps of the physical manual are far too small to be playable; they are also extremely dark, to the point of making the details almost undistinguishable, even if they are very important in an exploratory adventure. This problem can be solved by purchasing the maps in digital format separately.

Conclusions of The Haunting of Eliuska Manor Review

The Haunting of Eliuska Manor is a well-thought-out adventure that lacks in its physical version. In my opinion, an excessive number of blank pages, designed for the notes of the DM and the poor print quality do not justify the price of the hard copy.

Since otherwise, the product is pleasant and functional (although classic), my advice is to buy the digital maps as well; alternatively, you can opt for a digital copy and, obviously, for purchasing the maps separately too.

If you enjoyed this review of The Haunting of Eliuska Manor, stay tuned for more SagaBorn products!

Autore

  • Francesca Viganò

    Classe '73, da anni in vesti diverse nei settore dei giochi da tavolo e dal vivo. Ha collaborato con quotidiani e riviste e, di recente, dopo diversi corsi presso la Giano Academy è diventata master del Salotto di Giano oltre a far parte degli Avventurieri, il gruppo di autori dell'Associazione.

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