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They are simply tools that are to be used to make the game fun. I have read some of the other reviews and I just have to say they nit pick about all the small stuff. I was a first time 4.0 DM and I love the new system and I love this module. My group used this module as our first 4.0 experience and had a blast. The content is there for a great first time adventure. The books and modules will not play the game for you.
A little lower quality if you print it yourself, however, the price is far better. As with anything anyone else has added, What I can add is, that this is no longer worth purchasing. WOTC has it currently posted on thier website.
A good GM can do a fair bit to expand on the adventure and flesh out what is there, but as written it's not the most creative or exciting adventure I've ever seen. Without the D&D4e core rulebooks, the character options are quite limited as well. Veteran players will probably want more choices, more roleplaying opportunities, and more chance to do something besides combat.
With pregenerated characters and quick start rules, even people unfamiliar with D&D can probably get to the gaming fairly quickly. It's relatively straight forward and does not contain a great deal of complexity, either in the adventure or the rules provided. As an introduction to 4th Edition D&D, you could do a lot worse than Keep on the Shadowfell.
For more experienced players, the very straight forward and uncomplicated nature of Keep on the Shadowfell works against it. Even so, a good group and GM can use this adventure as a jumping off point for better and more interesting things. This is not a review of D&D4e, so I won't get into the relative merits and detriments of those rules.
I will say that even people who have never roleplayed before will find things easy to pick up with this set.
(Even then, you're still going to want some miniatures). The downloadable version has, however, been clarified and revised in some places; if you purchase this module, I recommend downloading the free copy and taping the handful of pages which have been revised into the module booklet. The official DM screen is useful and high-quality. If you plan to move on from this to further adventures after you're done, buy yourself a Chessex battlemat and marker instead and draw the outdoor encounters yourself. I also recommend downloading the automated character sheet spreadsheet from dnd4.com and making power cards for your characters--these can be made from index cards, but there are a number of good generators linked from ENWorld and other places. As a newbie Dungeon Master, I purchased this module to teach some players who had never picked up a D20.
You won't need the Dungeon Master's Guide or the Monster Manual, although the former could be useful (I mainly use the tables that show me how to adjust encounters to a specified difficulty). (I say "booklet" because a proper book would have binding, whereas the module is stapled together).Since the module has been released for free, the only real reason to fork over money for it at this point is for the maps, or if you want an all-in-one game pack and do not plan to spend any more money on D&D ever. It's got a good learning curve on it--it starts out with a simple Kobold ambush by the road and slowly grades up to a confrontation with the Big Bad at the bottom of the cursed temple with the fate of the land at stake. You should also pick up some miniatures, which can be obtained in gaming stores or here on Amazon.Since April 2009, this module can be downloaded for free from Wizards.com, but that does not include the mini-Dungeon Master's Guide, the pregenerated characters, or (more importantly) the play-on maps for the outdoor encounters. Go download Keep on the Shadowfell from Wizards.com and enjoy your introduction to D&D. Good, classic fun for low-level players.The module includes almost everything you'll need to run the game.
Unless you want to stick with the pre-generated characters which are included, you'll still want at least one Player's Handbook.
Wizards of the Coast is allowing you to download this adventure and the quickstart rules at [.].The only thing that's missing are the large maps that come with this purchase, but there are maps in the pdfs that you can use (although a black-and-white printing may make some maps hard to read, either keep the PDF handy on your PC or print in color). A 3-star adventure becomes 4 stars when it's free.
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