A Review of the Role Playing Game Supplement Breaking Heads

Breaking Heads, also called Breaking Heads – Bent’s Trading Post, by Stephen Chenault is a role playing game supplement published by Troll Lord Games for use with Castles & Crusades. As such, it is covered by the Open Game License and some parts are considered to be Open Game Content as a result. This is an encounter area, number 5, in the Adventures on the Powder River series.

The supplement is available as an eight-page PDF from DriveThruRPG for $2.99 but was purchased at a reduced price thanks to a special discount. One page is the front cover and one the front matter and Open Game License.

The opening paragraphs explains that this is suitable for 3-5 characters in the mid-level range. It mentions the preceding supplements in the series, which are set in the Darkenfold Forest of Aihrde, but are portable to other locations.

Using Bent’s Trading Post explains it is a simple encounter area that can be plugged in to a campaign, and gives its location in relation to the previous adventure in the series, Golden Shingles.

Bent’s Trading Post gives a history of the two adventurers who founded the post, neither of whom is called Bent, then gives a description of the post, the various buildings and NPCs and the goods available.

Breaking Heads is the actual encounter, where the characters get into a fight with some other visitors, though this is taken out of the trading post itself.

The final page has an unlabelled colour map of the location.

Breaking Heads in Review

The PDF lacks bookmarks and, though short enough not to need them, they would have been appreciated. Navigation is okay. The text maintains a two-column format and the only illustration is the colour map. Presentation is okay.

This supplement is exactly what it intends to be; a location to get supplies from that can be dropped onto a forest river together with a single encounter, no more, no less. It’s possible that characters in the area could repeatedly visit the trading post, though the combat encounter will only happen once. Breaking Heads is a decent little encounter and it can be found by clicking here.