Under a Smiling Moon is a role playing game supplement written and published by Matthew Pfister for use with Shadowdark. This is an adventure for 2nd-4th level characters.
The supplement is available as a Pay What You Want PDF from DriveThruRPG. There are two versions of the main PDF, a normal version with 32 pages, with two being the front and rear covers, one the front matter and one the Table of Contents, and a second, spreads version with 17 pages.
The Introduction explains how shipments from a castle recently stopped and it’s believed the gnoll tribes took back control. There are various hooks to get the characters involved. There are overviews of the main NPCs and some rules, including for the Smiling Moon Curse.
The Town maps out the major points of interest in the town, dividing it into different areas, with random encounters, things to find and NPCs and what they’re up to.
Smiling Moon has the effects of the Smiling Moon on the land.
The Castle covers the castle itself, and also describes how the Hunt starts and what happens.
Rubbish Pit covers briefly this single location behind the castle.
Aftermath has suggestions for wrapping things up and benefits.
Monster Stats has these.
Gnoll Ancestry is a single page PDF which adds a new ancestry and Hunt Timer is a single page PDF for keeping track of this.
Under a Smiling Moon in Review
The PDF lacks bookmarks and given its length and the number of sections, these would have been useful. The Table of Contents covers the major sections and subsections, though the names can differ slightly from the ones in the text. The text maintains a two-column format and the errors were those previously mentioned. As well as the maps, there are some other illustrations. Presentation is good.
This is an interesting and thematic adventure, with new rules options and some complexity. It’s perhaps more on the gonzo end of things than is commonly seen with most Shadowdark adventures, perhaps having more in common with Troika! though this isn’t a negative. Under a Smiling Moon can be found by clicking here.
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