I was recently given a copy of Beyond the Golden Vault to review. If you think that biases my review, no need to read further. Or, if you want, you can watch me heap praise on it one of two YouTube videos…..one short, and one long. Or, you can read my thoughts here. This review is spoiler free, really containing no actual details of the product at all, I guess. If people want more, ask away (the videos have some screen shots).
I mean, really, the videos capture my excitement, so you may want to watch those….but if you really want to read my thoughts, well, here they are.
This is a great product!
You should 100% buy it if you want to run heists in your Dungeons and Dragons games (it is useful for other games too, but you’ll get more out of it if you play 5e).
Want more details than, “You should 100% buy it”, fine…..here you go.
First, it has great options for characters. The PDF starts by laying out the five archetypical characters in a heist (if you’ve seen Leverage, you know what they are, if you haven’t seen Leverage, go watch a few episodes). It then gives new backgrounds, a sample magic item, and more for each of the archetypes. This section would be the best section if it weren’t for the last section! It is super useful, not only for the rules, but the fluff around characters in heists.
Also found in this chapter are new spells and magic items. Some of these are great, some are good, and a few might not see much use.
Next up is a chapter with three heists, but they aren’t like the heists in Keys From the Golden Vault. Well, they sort of are. Like those, they are in unique, interesting, locations. Like, really well done locations with details and great NPC descriptions. Unlike those, these are mini-sandboxes. As in, there isn’t a pre-defined goal, there are a lot of open ends, lots of options, in these three heists. If you are a game master comfortable with that, you can either set up a defined goal for your players, or if they are good at open ended stuff, you can give them lots of options.
I really like these, I even really like them, but I am not sure I LOVE them. Useful, fun, sure. But the inclusions of stat blocks will, imo, encourage more fighting (and death) than most heist stuff has…..one good thing introduced here is the idea that things might be going too well, and you can use a table to muck things up some. Great, great, stuff. I would have like one rail roady thing in each, and/or a really good example of how a table actually used these in play (in an appendix).
The next chapter includes traps and monsters. Both sections are good, but neither made me jump out of my seat and cheer. I think you’ll find useful stuff here (for these heists, or the ones in Keys, or your own), but it was good content.
The Best Chapter, Tools of the Trade, which is 100% not about equipment
This chapter is worth the price of admission (and then you get the PC stuff, which is awesome, and the other sections also, really, just stop reading and go buy this) alone. It lays out the steps in a heist, and I’m going to list them here.
This chapter lays out how a heist is run, from figuring out what you want to do, to getting away with it (or not). It is amazing. Like, this is the one thing the WotC book really needed, but I’m glad it wasn’t there, because they wouldn’t have done this as well. I’d love more example, more of this whole chapter. One really good thing is you can see how different archetypes have things to do in each section, but how they might shine in one section. Really, this whole thing looks like a “how to write an episode of Leverage, only for DnD.” I can’t recommend this chapter enough for any game master that wants to run heists.
What I’d Like Added / Changed / Improved
Sure, this is one of the better products I own (I would guess I own more PDFs than I should……). But, it isn’t perfect. I’d like a lot more spins (maybe I’ll do that as a product). I’d like some examples of flashbacks. Really, that’s what I’d like more of overall. More examples. I think an appendix with actual play examples would be great. That’s such a minor thing, though…..seriously….
Anyway, here is a link to the product (I get no compensation).
Also, you can always buy one of my products if you want (click HERE).