Frostgrave: Perilous Dark (Frostgrave, 12)

I started looking at Frostgrave a couple of months ago looking for a solo play engine. I started with "The Missions: Scenario 1 - The Deserted Village" and really enjoyed building out the table and playing. After some research, I heard that this book, Perilous Dark, would be released in a month or so and that it will focus on dungeon crawls and solo play! I was excited and placed it on Amazon pre-order; I was not disappointed!Quickly, I pulled up one of the 2-level dungeons I've created (see photos), created a custom quest/adventure table, clue marker, rooms, hallways, traps, treasure, and 6 encounter tables (gnoll, undead, animal, miscellaneous, large, and horde). After creating a wizard and his Soldiers (archer, barbarian, knight, 2 war hounds, and an apprentice), I decided to load up my FOG OF WAR on my digital table top and give it a try. I rolled on my quest/adventure table and was informed that my adventure involved saving a local Kings 3 children (age 17, 15, and 12) who were taken by beasts! There would also be treasures to be discovered, but the 3 children were my primary goal. At the entrance to the dungeon, I rolled an immediate encounter for 2 Gnoll Barbarians and 2 Gnoll Man-at-Arms. YIKES! I tried my best rolls and lost a few guys before even getting started! UGH! I started thinking that the encounter tables I created were too tough for a level one wizard and his crew, so I dialed them back just a little but and started over. Starting over, I was attacked by a Snake-Man Hunter (1) with a bow. It took a couple of rounds but we killed him, finding nothing else in the entrance room. We started down a short hallway and hit another room - this room had 6 giant spiders! It was an interesting battle, losing one of my war hounds, but we gained ground at the end, clearing the room. In the room we found treasure! A Grimoire (Control Undead). Next, we started looking down a hallway upon which we noticed a Gnoll Thug and his Hyena....(see image).... this is as far as we got so far.... (sorry).As I move forward, the plan is have 3 objective rooms, one with each child being held hostage. I am going to keep the 2 levels moving along by (most likely) placing 1 objective room on level 1 and the other 2 on level 2. Although I created these dungeon layouts, with fog of war, I don't recall what is going to be around the next turn.... this helped with the randomness of the dungeon. You'll also notice I am taking a pack mule in with me to help carry out treasure and possibly the children as the only way out is to go back to the main entrance. I used horse stats for the pack mule and added a check that if the pack mule gets within 3" from active combat, a Will Roll (TN12) or more is required or the pack mule will run in the opposite direction stopping 10" (50ft) away. Also, the pack mule does not move or take actions unless a character "pulls" him along. I'm thinking of setting a weight limit on the pack mule to 400-500 lbs since real pack mules can carry about 1/3rd of their wight. This will restrict what treasure they can capture for reward. If pack mule is left behind or runs from combat, a character must go after the pack mule. I also gave the children stats as the team has to drag them around while collecting all 3, and then has to get them out alive.It may take a while, but I'm excited about running through these 2 dungeon levels and getting out alive with all 3 children! Wish me luck!

I expected this expansion to be a little more than just another series of scenarios for solo or cooperative play. There are no new dynamics here that make either of the above any different than what was already presented in Dark Alchemy and The Breeding Pits. And I have no idea what the other reviewer is talking about with some App I'm supposed to buy/use to make this book worth anything. This is not an add-on to an app: it is supposed to be self contained, or at least I thought.As the author states in the introduction, "One thing this book is not is exhaustive. [There are] numerous solo and cooperative techniques that I haven't even covered..." This is an understatement; there are basically no techniques discussed for creating random encounters that do not already exist in either of the two expansions mentioned above. The author pretty much leaves all random encounter tables, designs and outcomes out of the book and tells the reader to go and create there own.This is not what a book costing $25 at time of purchase should declare. It would have been worth the cost if the author had bothered to include tables and charts for themed encounters (not just scenario specific), in an appendix for easy reference (another aggravating design of all the books: monster stats scattered across many books with no single source of consolidated material desperately needed). Yes, there are some random generation tables in the book: and all of them are for that specific encounter and in no way can be argued as something you could easily use for other scenarios outside these ones. Would it have been so difficult to include an Appendix at the back of the book with tables that I do not have to now design myself?Old school gamers will remember the original AD&D Dungeon Masters Guide that contains dozens of pages in the detailed Appendices with a treasure trove of random tables for treasure, encounters based on terrain/climate, dungeon creation, and even room dressing to name just a few. This book lacks any of that. You would be better off purchasing a beat-up copy of the old TSR DM's Guide than this one if that is what you are expecting.In short, this is lazy writing. How lazy? Page 62 talks about Dungeon Cards. Don't get excited; it doesn't actually include anything remotely useful. It tells you that you might want to create some giving you the most obvious advice without anything else. This was a facepalm moment for me.I do not recommend this book unless you get it for half the cost or are just desperate for 10 scenarios and some vague advice on how to write a better book than this one. Call this book what it is: 10 scenarios for solo and cooperative. Nothing more.

The book begins by explaining what is believed to be bad design on how to handle co-op then immediately goes into committing those very sins.The difficulty on this is incredible. Which for one off board games would be fine but in what is supposed to be an ongoing campaign of attrition the game has no breaks. You will lose entire warbands on the first mission and if your lucky youll survive to the 2nd only to die there instead.My friend and I have tried each of the first 4 missions multiple times and for about 75% of those games we left the table feeling irritated as all hell. We both really love frostgrave and the Dark alchemy co-op as well as the Black Pyramid were tons of fun. Perilous Dark does indeed teach you how to create co-op/solo games as it claims but it does so by showing you what not to do.

What a great expansion! If your a Frostgrave player and with Covid stuff going on this is much needed. Very detailed and well written rules for Solo and co-cop play. New magic items, new scenarios and new monsters. Makes this a must have edition to your Frostgrave collection.

Veteran gamer. I read this like a novel.Just wonderful.

Very solid product!

Dungeon crawls and solo missions?? What more could you ask for!

This and main book is all you need for so much fun and adventure.

Sehr schöne Erweiterung für Frostgrave. Ich konnte einige Szenarien gut verwenden und habe auch durch die Szenarien die ich nicht verwenden konnte gute Inspiration erhalten.Alles in allem ein Buch das ich gerne weiter empfehlen kann.