Rivertide by Jospeh Mohr is a role playing game supplement published by Old School Role Playing for use with OSRIC. As such, it is covered by the Open Game License and some parts are considered to be Open Game Content as a result.
The supplement is available as a 41 page Pay What You Want PDF from DriveThruRPG. Two pages are the front and rear covers, three the front matter and three the Open Game License.
The opening paragraphs explain that the village of Rivertide is on the fringes of civilisation. Recently, there have been problems originating from some caves in the nearby hills, which are believed to be the source of raiders.
For the Game Master explains this is an adventure aimed at 1st to 3rd level characters and though 2nd and 3rd level characters will find it a challenge starting characters might find it lethal unless they have an appropriate mix of classes and a methodical method of exploring the caves. Rivertide is intended to be a base of operations with the sorts of things such a remote village would have.
Rumors has a d20 list of rumours, some true, some false and one a mix of both.
Rivertide describes the village itself. There are random encounters for in town and the various locations around it. Following this, the various locations are described, along with any services, if appropriate, and notable NPCs.
The Caves of Madness covers the cave complex itself, starting with a random encounter table. The caves are populated by fairly low-level monsters with a lot of bandits and a variety of traps, other dangers and treasure.
New Magic Items has these.
Random Customers Table has a table of customers to encounter in the village inn, a mix of local residents and travellers.
The final two pages of content have maps of the village and the caves.
Rivertide in Review
The PDF lacks bookmarks and is long enough with enough different sections that these would have been useful. Navigation is okay. The text maintains a single column format and some minor errors were noticed. As well as the maps and covers, there are some full page black and white illustrations. Presentation is okay.
This is a starting adventure of a type that’s not uncommon; a base of operations and some local area to explore and clear out. It could be expanded by adding some wilderness locations on top of the caves themselves. It does have the potential to be dangerous for starting characters who are too aggressive in their approach. Rivertide can be found by clicking here.
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