ADVENTURE #00
The first volume of Eamon Deluxe is unsurprisingly comprised of seven beginner
level adventures intended to ease players into the system lightly, as well as
introduce Eamon Deluxe and its concepts. Though several of the titles (including
the traditional Beginner's Cave) originally would only allow new characters
freshly created at the Main Hall, Frank has modified the set so that any
character can enter. This means a starting player can play through all of the
beginner scenarios if they want (provided they can stomach the tantrums thrown
by the various Guardians of Beginnerhood). In fact this might be a good idea for
anyone who wants to build up their character through pure adventuring rather
than using a pre-generated character or modifying a character with the editor.
<paws>
Also it goes without saying that as part of Eamon Deluxe, some of the problems
which I see mentioned in the Eamon users club reviews that had to do with
earlier versions of the Eamon program, such as not being able to abbreviate
commands, or having text disappearing off the screen are not an issue here.
Nevertheless, these are fairly bare bones adventures with a beginners' theme
(including the first ever Eamon adventure by Don brown), thus they tend to take
the simple loot and pillage approach to the action, not that there's anything
wrong with that. 
<paws>
The Beginner's Adventures was of course where I started with Eamon Deluxe, and
had the effects in the Beginner's Cave not grabbed my interest, I probably
wouldn't be playing too much more of it today, so I'll always have something of
a fondness for several of these, simple though they are. The basic fantasy
principle they're based on, dungeons, magic traps, grabbing loot and rescuing
maidens, is actually rather refreshing these days, especially when the authors
have taken the time to add in atmospheric descriptions or special effects,
short though some of these may be.

To quote The Sound of Music, the very beginning is certainly a good place to
start.
<paws>
ADVENTURE #01
This was of course the first Eamon adventure I played, probably along with most
other people, and as an introduction to the system it serves reasonably well.
The layout is very simple really just a long corridor with a few doors off it
containing possible companions, several fights and, of course, treasure. Having
an actual damsel to rescue along the way as well is a nice touch since it gives
your quest slightly more purpose beyond just looting in a Warlord's cave, though
it would have been nice to get some prior indication that she was missing in the
first place, rather than simply running into her as, effectively, just another
treasure item.

The descriptions were short and to the point, but little touches, like the
engraving on magic swords, add to the atmosphere and Frank has put in one or two
extra bits of description and added a couple of previously hinted at artifacts
here and there in addition to the faithful replication of Donald Brown's
original design. The environment still feels a little sparse in comparison to
other outings and I am not a fan of the "It has a sticker on it," method that is
used for one item.
<paws>
The thing, however, that surprised me the most (and indeed really caught my
interest) were the several special effects. Magic spells, a secret door, a
disguised monster and a very interesting death trap (though since I saved first,
I didn't mind the death trap even the first time it happened). These turned what
was a fairly simple kill-and-loot scenario into something a lot more fun. Indeed
one minor problem I had with the adventure is that you can run out of monsters
to fight before trying one of the cooler combat effects!

Speaking of fights, this is obviously stated as a beginner's game and the
enemies are lightweight, plus you get some decent companions to help as well.
<paws>
Truthfully, if you are just looking for one beginner level adventure before
moving on, there are some better adventures in the set. And playing this one is
a little pointless if you intend to play the Enhanced Beginners' Cave as well,
since that replicates absolutely everything from this adventure, while adding a
fair amount of new content. If, however, you are interested in visiting the
place where Eamon began or just want to try everything then it's not a bad
intro.
<paws>
ADVENTURE #02
I was actually rather surprised that the Eamon Users Club review for this
adventure gave it such a lukewarm reception. I personally think of it as an
introduction to Eamon which is a distinct improvement over the original
Beginner's Cave even.

It's a good deal larger than Don Brown's cave, though not confusingly so, and
more is made of the descriptions of the various rooms and objects making for a
rather colourful underground complex. There is a slightly more coherent overall
theme (there are no random hermits or pirates, though randomness is all a daily
part of Eamon), and there are some rather nice specials to surprise you and keep
you on your toes. These include a couple of slightly obscure events (though
Frank has provided hints which can lead you to those).
<paws>
The fights are generally easy and you have companions to help you, and of course
there is plenty of treasure for building your character's wealth. One fight is
especially hard, however using the right item can get you past that and there is
a nice reward for doing so.

Also, though having no objective introduced at the start, there is a rescuable
maiden, albeit a slightly less logical maiden than the noble lady of the
Beginner's Cave (what this particular maiden is doing in an underground cavern
is a little beyond me).
<paws>
One issue with this adventure is that what appeared to be the last room ends in
front of a door welded shut, which feels a little of an anticlimax, having to
retreat rather than explore further, despite the dramatic fight and treasures in
that area. 

Despite that issue though, Rick's cave might actually be a nice adventure to
start on if you're just planning on playing one or two beginner Eamons, since it
does pretty much what the Beginner's Cave does, just with slightly more style.
<paws>
ADVENTURE #03
This is notable for being the only one of the beginners adventures not set in a
dungeon, however it seems that getting out of the dungeons also gets you into
lots of trouble since this is one of the harder adventures in the set. Though,
thanks to Frank's wizardly talents, several of the more critically nasty points
have been made somewhat less fatal in quite an amusing fashion. Also several
special events that were a little irritating in the original version have now
received a word or two of explanation, so that careful reading of the text can
help avoid them.

That's about all of the bad points though. This adventure has some nice
features, one being a well described environment which includes some fantasy,
fairy tale like locations around an enchanted forest. There are a number of
enemies to battle and friends to back you up, ranging from trolls and giants to
King Arthur's knights. I wasn't sure what a contemporary outlaw like Jessie
James was doing in the forest, but hey: randomness is a regular part of life on
Planet Eamon. And, other than a couple of very obvious digressions, the setting
stays extremely consistent.
<paws>
There were a couple of special events to keep things interesting, including one
rescue. The rescue is also part of one of the specials and gains you a good
reward for your actions.

Though hard to take too seriously given its fairy tale atmosphere, the fantasy
setting also makes for an interesting visit. Be prepared for some tough combat
though, unless you use Frank's work around (check the HINTS). Fortunately the
Eamon Deluxe 5.0 revisions have made this adventure a bit more fun to explore
than its previous, more frustrating incarnations.
<paws>
ADVENTURE #04
The intro text for this one pretty much tells you that it's intended as a money
maker, which really is it's main focus. Although there is a lot of treasure to
grab, I actually found this to be the least appealing of the Beginners
Adventures. The room descriptions were extremely short and many didn't
particularly say much more than the room name with shown exits. "You are in an
east/west corridor with an exit to the north." adds little to the already
struggling atmosphere of the game. Plus the map is simple to the point of
boring, consisting of three long passages off a central hall with rooms along
the ends.
<paws>
There were no specials, not even disguised monsters or surprises. The only items
of interest to find were a couple of fairly obvious secret doors. There is,
however, a lot of combat interaction involving some rather strange dungeon
inhabitants. There is some humour to be had from reading their descriptions (I
quite like the idea of a dwarf cyclops).

I'd only recommend this one if you're after lots of quick money, especially
enjoy combat or just want to play everything.
<paws>
ADVENTURE #05
This is obviously a complete clone of the original Beginner's Cave with some
rather nice extras added in. The pirate theme gets a little expansion, a couple
of extra monsters put in an appearance, and there is a new secret passage to
find.

This is a nice, short intro to Eamon with all of the same special effects found
in the original Beginner's Cave plus the bonus exploration of the expanded
content. Indeed if you only wish to pick one of Beginners Caves to explore, I
would recommend this be the one. It has the same light hearted, adventuring
atmosphere that made Donald Brown's original so engaging; a theme that's very
much continued in some additional descriptions Frank added to the recent Eamon
Deluxe 5.0 revision. (I found examining the cat idol to be quite fun).
<paws>
Just like the original Beginner's Cave, this is a good adventure to choose when
playing Eamon Deluxe for the first time or if you plan on playing just the one
adventure in the Beginners Adventures collection. There is at least a larger
area to explore in the Enhanced Cave and, unlike John Nelson's own "Beginner's
Cave II", the new material and setting adds something to the environment.
<paws>
ADVENTURE #06
Like the Alternate Beginner's Cave, this got a rather less than enthusiastic
review from the Eamon Users Club, yet it is possibly the best adventure in the
entire Beginners set. It has a good amount of special effects, interesting
descriptions and several fun artifacts to read and examine. This includes
several embedded artifacts such as those found in more advanced adventures,
which means taking careful observations of your surroundings generally pays off.

Among the specials are a couple of hidden monsters and a (vaguely) secret door
to discover. While there is no quest, there are a good amount of fun surprises.
Most of these are well done and some are indeed quite strange (in a good way).
This marks the first adventure I've played so far that gives the POWER spell a
good work out too, with one surprising result that can be slightly inconvenient,
though not so much so that it spoils the adventure. It's more of a quirky
challenge really, and checking the HINTS can avoid a potential panic at a sudden
unrequested change to your character.
<paws>
There is a pamphlet near the entrance that refers to the setting as "The Barrow
Downs Training Ground". This appears to be random, however, and I encountered no
references to wights or any other undead creatures from Tolkien lore. It seemed
to be more of a haunt for brigands and magical creatures instead.

Most of the combat is easy for a beginning character, with one of the harder
fights being avoidable, plus you get some nice help from the companions you pick
up along the way. One tip: if you run into a fight against multiple enemies
alone, you may need to FLEE until you come across some companions to aide you.
<paws>
Aside from the tough fights, I very much enjoyed this adventure. The room and
artifact descriptions were lively and engaging (I particularly liked the
descriptions of the three books) as well as the descriptions of the various
denizens you encounter. The rewards, in terms of specials and weapons, were very
nice and it was overall a very fun dungeon to explore.

Technically this is not for absolute beginning level characters because some of
the specials require your character to already know their magic spells a bit. It
is mostly scaled towards starting level standards though and is a very nice
adventure to use to advance your character and have some fun with the various
special effects along the way. I highly recommend trying this one out.
<paws>
ADVENTURE #07
This is a fairly simple slash and grab adventure scenario for starting level
characters, intended as an introduction to the world of Eamon Deluxe. There are,
however, a number of very nice points that make the 5.0 Demo Adventure stand out
from the other titles in the Beginner Adventures collection.

Firstly, though there is indeed a classic dungeon with treasures, this isn't in
fact all that the setting contains. It's entrance and introduction set the scene
with you exploring an abandoned building which quickly turns out to be the home
of a thief who's gotten himself into trouble with an underground criminal gang
which employs brutish monsters as its extra muscle.

While not an original or highly fleshed out plot, this does at least give a
little more explanation to what you are doing, and means that the enemies,
albeit the usual giants and ogres, have a little more purpose than just random
wildlife which got in your way; the treasure was slightly more logically
explained as well, rather than just being a natural feature of underground
dungeons.
<paws>
The plot also gives something of a quest feeling to the game even though there
aren't any outlined objectives. The quest feeling is compounded in the final
showdown (which will be a rather tough battle for beginning level characters)
and the fact that you do get to rescue the thief himself. It even has a very
nice exit at the end of the dungeon to go back to the Main Hall, rather than
the common practice of making you backtrack to the entrance that is found in
many other adventures.

Another major factor I enjoyed in this adventure as opposed to the others is the
huge range of embedded artifacts. Though there are no puzzles such as passwords,
you have to make far more use of the EXAMINE command than in any other title
from the Beginner Adventures set. In fact, just about every single piece of
furniture mentioned in the room descriptions is examinable, sometimes to your
profit, and several monsters are carrying useful artifacts so using the
inventory command on them is recommended too.
<paws>
The adventure isn't entirely stand alone either since, as well as some comical
references to popular interactive fiction, there are also references to some
other Eamon adventures which those experienced in Eamon gaming will pick up on,
while new players will possibly find them a tantalizing hint as to what the rest
of Eamon Deluxe has to offer.

Though it is a demo adventure which uses only the power of the basic Eamon
Deluxe system itself, the large number of embedded artifacts (those which only
show up in the descriptions of other things and not directly until you have
examined them) means that players should keep an eye out for objects to EXAMINE,
since the game strategically uses these artifacts to create its puzzles without
the addition of any special programming. In fact, several points can't even be
passed without examining your surroundings carefully.
<paws>
My only minor criticism is that several artifacts are a little fourth wall
breaking, such as a "message" which exists only to test in-game error handling;
or mentioning that a certain monster has specific attributes, a certain artifact
is of a specific type, etc.. But there are very few of these instances when
compared to all the other items in the game and this is, after all, a demo
adventure for the entire Eamon Deluxe System.

Either way it's certainly worth a visit, and a very fun introduction to Eamon
Deluxe 5.0 gaming.
<paws>
ADVENTURE #08



