Turn of Fortune's Wheel

Dungeons & Dragons, 5th Edition

by Wizards of the Coast

Genres: Dungeons and Dragons, Role Playing Games

96 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2023

About the author

Wizards of the Coast LLC (often referred to as WotC /ˈwɒtˌsiː/ or simply Wizards) is an American publisher of games, primarily based on fantasy and science fiction themes, and formerly an operator of retail stores for games. Originally a basement-run role-playing game publisher, the company popularized the collectible card game genre with Magic: The Gathering in the mid-1990s, acquired the popular Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game by purchasing the failing company TSR, and experienced tremendous success by publishing the licensed Pokémon Trading Card Game. The company's corporate headquarters are located in Renton, Washington in the United States.[1]

Wizards of the Coast publishes role-playing games, board games, and collectible card games. They have received numerous awards, including several Origins Awards. The company has been a subsidiary of Hasbro since 1999. All Wizards of the Coast stores were closed in 2004.

Reviews

[Bradley McCann · Rating 4 out of 5]

This adventure feels a little ... thin. It's full of fantastic ideas, but often these are not fully developed. It's frustrating when the book leaves you with an "It's up to you what this means" or "You can develop this however you want".

For my own tastes, the combat/challenges and jeopardy elements of the adventure are a little weak. Roleplaying opportunities are very strong, and given precedence: it feels as if this aspect was given such focus that putting the players in jeopardy is incidental to the game. Although I appreciate and love quirky, imaginative concepts and a strong roleplaying thrust to my games, I very much like a sense of danger and opposition.

Some of the side quests are compelling and others less so, probably mostly due to under-development.

I would have loved if this adventure - and the setting companion volume "Sigil and the Outlands" - had received another 50 pages of content each. I think then the whole Planescape package would be stellar; however, I do suspect that any deficiencies can be remedied by the DM and that this adventure will probably run very well, likely becoming memorable. It may be that its weaknesses are noticeable on the page to the potential DM poring over it but become relatively insignificant when the story is brought to life in gaming sessions. A dedicated DM will naturally provide the right balance of ingredients for their players.

When all is said and done, the 5e "Planescape" package stands as one of the 5e adventures I am most likely to run in future. Part of that is due to the power of the original setting - which I have adored since discovering the computer game "Planescape: Torment" - but there is no doubt that the 5e incarnation remains vibrant for me, despite some insipid events tables and hooks in "Sigil" and the weaknesses in "Fortune" that I have described.


Footnote for Those Who are Interested:

Of the 5e adventures I have consumed, my favourites for adaptation into my own games are "Descent into Avernus" and "Planescape". "Icewind Dale" looks like it could be in the running also (I'm delving into that at the moment). I will likely pull elements and adventures from "Yawning Portal", "Waterdeep" and "Candlekeep" into one campaign I'll run. "Tomb of Annihilation" is great, though the length of the final dungeon and the sheer fact that one must choose what to run - you can't play them all - means I may never get to it. "Princes" is probably too difficult for my players and too dungeon-intensive, though I like it myself.

I'm a PC in "Witchlight" currently, and I'm leaving "Abyss" to experience as a player also. Same for "Ravenloft". "Radiant Citadel" must be looked at, but whether as DM or PC, I'm not sure ...

[Sean]

Weighing in at 96 pages, this is the skeleton of an interesting adventure that absolutely requires fleshing out by a DM to become functional. The overall premise is interesting, as are many of the component parts, but most chapters are too short to be run as is, especially considering how quickly it recommends you level the party up. This is particularly true of the gate town chapters that comprise the middle half of the adventure; these could be improved by adding a part two or second strand to each that ties into the overarching plot (the mysteries surrounding the characters and the creature they seek), which is otherwise bizarrely absent from that whole section of the adventure. Similarly, a DM would need to develop most of the investigative sections, which generally only provide one narrow path of clues and inquiries that must be successfully navigated to progress; the rule of three needs to be applied by the DM for these to work well. All that being said, for a DM looking for a set of ideas to make their own, this could work nicely.

[Sierra · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was ok. The premise of alter / glitch characters was interesting but actually coming up with different alter version of our character was no only difficult, it also didn't sit well in the group. We build a lot of story into our characters and having to change or alter that, feels meh.
However we worked around that and it was good for the most part. Most of the book just gives you environments to work with and do whatever, but some chapters felt lacking in the possible events category. These books are template to build your groups own stories in, but I feel they should still have a narrative to help progress the story if the DM wants. But if there was a narrative, we lost it fast by chapter 2 and had no idea where or why we were doing anything really.
Anyway it was hit and miss at times.

[Derk Bruger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great structure for a campaign in the multiverse. Needs some work from the DM. Would advise to read the second edition ‘March of the Modrons’ to add an extra layer to the adventure.

[Tilda Sjöstrand · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5🌟 Bra äventyr för Dnd! Gillar den mycket