Free Role Playing Game Supplement Review: FVC14 – Famine at Holderfield

FVC14 – Famine at Holderfield is a free role playing game supplement published by Adventures in Filbar. This is described as being an adventure for four 2nd level characters. The village of Holderfield itself is in the north-western region of the Lands of Calentria, which is aimed at Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition. The adventure is a holiday release, which is intended to be slightly tongue in cheek, but it can, as stated, still be deadly.

The supplement has twelve pages and lacks bookmarks. The first page is the cover, with a portion of a hex map (which would appear to be done in Inkwell Ideas‘ Hexographer) showing the north-western portion of Calentria, although the village is not itself marked. Half a page has a photograph intended to be the bandit gang that is fought, one page has half a page taken up with a map of the village, more of a hamlet, of Holderfield (which appears to have been created in Cityographer, also from Inkwell Ideas) and the other half has a size comparison between a giant chick and a baby. Another page has two more size comparisons, between humans and a giant chicken and a giant turkey and the final page has a “Wanted” poster which can be printed out for players. One page is a Player’s and DM’s Background for the adventure.

The adventure is quite linear, with the adventurers arriving in the village shortly after the bandit gang has robber both the village and a passing alchemist, the side effect of which is that some chicks, chickens and turkeys have greatly increased in size and therefore deadliness. The adventurers progress through the various encounters, before encountering the bandits and then celebrating their (hopeful) victory over them.

The supplement has a one column layout, and is largely error free. The various illustrations would appear to be stock images and photographs of some type, with the map being created for the village. Stats are provided for the various encounters, but these could be converted to other systems, although a bit more work might be required as they often are not standard monsters. The location itself is pretty setting-neutral, and could be dropped in most places. It is designed to be run with players who may not be as experienced, and it should do this well. Overall, FVC14 – Famine at Holderfield is a decent, easy to run adventure, and it’s free, so click here to get it.