We thank Midnight Tower for having sent us a physical review copy of An Unexpected Wedding Invitation. It is an investigative D&D5e adventure with romantic vibes and a Jane Austen style, with a little compendium about intrigues in the end. It’s is written for 3-5 third level characters and it has a good scalability. It is published by Midnight Tower, of which we already reviewed Before the Stroke of Midnight, Secret of the Drow Trilogy, What Happened to Evy Ashwood e Rise of the Ice Dragons Trilogy.
An Unexpected Wedding Invitation is the result of a great Kickstarter campaign, which saw the product being financed thanks to the support of almost 5,500 backers, for a raised amount exceeding £ 135,000 (corresponding to over € 150,000 at current exchange rates). It can be purchased on Amazon.co.uk or DrivethruRPG, with prices ranging from $ 7.5 for the PDF file up to $ 44.90 for the physical premium color version.
Another Solid Product from Midnight Tower
An Unexpected Wedding Invitation is not, as we saw, our first review of a product from Midnight Tower. This volume maintains the quality standard of the “two nerds in Oxford”, as they like to call themselves. Hard cover, bright colors, an elegant two columns layout and a large font that benefits from great contrast. The pages of the volume are so clear that they can be read even in low light conditions, such as those of a playroom properly prepared to give players the right atmosphere.
The images are pleasant, simple, colorful and well defined. Compared to other products there are some peculiar details due to the need to show particular elements. Mostly dresses, appropriate to a wedding and to the nineteenth-century atmosphere of adventure. The theme of romanticism and intrigue is linked to the original setting called the Eastern Farraway Region, particularly similar in terms of traditions. As we will see, incorporating these types of elements into a classic campaign can be difficult, but certainly not impossible.
On Midnight Tower site you can download maps, handouts, characters sheets and material for online play. The material made available is extensive and it shows attention to the needs of the buyers.
Spoiler-Free Review Of An Unexpected Wedding Invitation
The need to avoid spoilers makes it difficult to review An Unexpected Wedding Invitation. It all starts, of course, with an unexpected invitation to a wedding (an elven one, to be precise). The group of adventurers stands on the bride’s side and the players are encouraged by the events to enjoy the occasion. This adventure is built to put the characters into situations typical of novel weddings. Picnics on a meadow, hunting expeditions, dancing and other social life situations. As you can imagine, not everything goes the right way and the plot will move towards classic endings. More than one.
The second part of the adventure will lose the classic structure, leaving to the Dungeon Master the management of the events that will lead to the conclusion. However, all the information on places, characters and secrets is given to allow the DM to tell an engaging investigation. Based on the choices and deductions of the players, different conclusions can be reached. Always hoping that unfortunate dice rolls don’t frustrate the characters’ ruminations.
The setting and the situation created give more space to social activities and analysis. There are also moments of combat, but I do not think the choice of this adventure is made by those who aspire to slash relentlessly. It is an investigative adventure, with the unfavorable aspects that, as we will see, derive from playing it with the D&D5e game system. Same consideration for another aspect: dialogues and interpersonal relationships.
Tools to Optimize the Experience
Midnight Tower has certainly put a lot of effort into trying to make the Jane Austin-style experience faithful and engaging. There are Admiration Points, which translate into mechanics the likes and dislikes that the characters will have towards the NPCs and vice versa. These points will play an important role in the end of the adventure. Indeed, they will be fundamental if the DM wants to give a continuation to the story by involving even more the players and their choices.
Then, of course, the manual has other handy appendices regarding magic items, monsters, places and support for the scalability of the adventure (even if in my opinion raising the difficulties to investigate makes the story lose some credibility).
Finally, the product ends with a substantial part dedicated to the Intrigues & Intentions Compendium, a themed supplement tied with the adventure.
How will You Plot if the Compendium You Have not?
The An Unexpected Wedding Intitation review couldn’t be complete without talking about The Intrigues & Intentions Compendium. It is not a small appendix: it has about fifteen pages. This is not a generic work on intrigues, but a focus on apparel, objects, potions and magic related to seduction, deception and related topics. A toolbox useful for expanding the adventure played or for creating new ones with the same flavor.
It discuss he main narrative elements of a mysterious adventure, then it exposes magical objects related to love and romance, entertainment games for parties and receptions, appropriate costumes and clothing. It is always a mediation between D&D rules and needs. Clues that depend on rolls, filters and potions that grant you saving throws risk hindering the game and bogging down the narrative. It is the price to pay for using this system and having the goal of telling these kinds of stories.
The compendium continues with themed secret spells (such as Conjure Afternoon Tea), side quests always with a romantic theme and some other hints of correct traditions on love and courtship. The manual ends with a delightful character sheet with nineteenth-century graphics.
Final Thoughts about the An Unexpected Wedding Invitation Review
Let’s be clear. D&D is not the best system for romantic investigations. However, it is a very widespread and well-known system. A gaming group is more likely to play D&D and try it with a Jane Austen touch, rather than start a short campaign of another specific roleplaying game. An Unexpected Wedding Invitation was born precisely for situations like these. Midnight Tower perfectly know D&D5e and they prove it. They have tried to polish the limits of the system and to invent some aspects to favor important facets. Finally they have created an adventure that can enhance the whole. I cannot write that these vibes can be easily adapted to every campaign and every setting, because it pushes the classic high fantasy world towards Victorian drifts; but if a table wants to play this style, it is likely to already have stories that are quite compatible with the product.
In conclusion, I can say that An Unexpected Wedding Invitation is a solid and well made product that has two parts, the adventure and the compendium, interesting in content and characterization. It is aimed at players with specific tastes (or at least expectations). And it will hardly disappoint them.