A Review of the Role Playing Game Supplement Adventures in Bayhaven – Empty Nets

Adventures in Bayhaven – Empty Nets (Pt. 1, Shrike Incursion) by Brian Benoit is a role playing game supplement published by Roving Band of Misfits Press for use with the Hero Kids system. This is an adventure in the publisher’s setting of Bayhaven.

This is a 20 page PDF which is available from RPGNow for $2.99 but was purchased at the reduced price of $1.50 as part of the Adventures in Bayhaven Ultimate Bundle. One page is the colour front cover and one the front matter.

The first page covers what is needed to play, what is useful to have, how to use the adventure and Time Units, an optional rule where if characters run out of time units they either fail the adventure or fail to fully complete it.

Next is a page giving background on Bayhaven, on the adventure itself and an adventure synopsis. This also explains that this is the first adventure in a series of three, and is followed by Heart of the Bay and Sunrise Over Still Water.

There are three main encounters to the adventure, plus a starting and concluding encounter. The starting encounter has the characters recruited to help with a problem that the town is having with its fish; catches have gone down a lot. This involves dealing with a crotchety old man who will take them out in his underwater boat for the next encounter.

The characters then need to visit a shop for some ruby dust, and it is suggested that A Simple Errand or Escape From the Goblin Lair could be used as optional interludes. The next encounter involves exploring a cave to get a needed crystal. The cave itself has five locations.

The concluding encounter ties in to the next adventure in the series.

Five pages have battlemaps, which appear to have been drawn in coloured pencil, for the cave, two have new monsters, including miniatures and the final page is a map of Bayhaven with the various locations marked.

Adventures in Bayhaven – Empty Nets in Review

The PDF lacks bookmarks and, although not essential for the length, they would have been appreciated. Navigation is below par. The text maintains a two column format and no errors were noted. Illustrations are black and white monster images, as well as one for a new item, and the maps. Presentation is okay.

The encounter featuring the undersea boat lacks a battlemap and it is suggested that anything to hand be used. This would perhaps have been better to have a battlemap, which would be fairly simple to make admittedly. One item that can be found during the adventure is a treasure map fragment for the adventure The Cave of the Black Sail Pirates, which is not available as yet.

As well as the Time Units rule, there is another new one, for fighting when prone, which is also available in the main Bayhaven supplement.

This is a decent adventure, and the cave increases the amount of content available, as it has five separate locations. This could be used by itself, but it will be better used as part of the Shrike Incursion series. Adventures in Bayhaven – Empty Nets can be found by clicking here.