Steamforged Games: Local Legends – ‘Griffon’ & ‘Berserker’ Encounters
Steamforged Games has two new Local Legend Encounters to try out. The Griffon and the Berserker are in the house!
When it comes to 5e supplements that can quickly get you going Steamforged Games has quite a few options. We’ve covered a lot of them here and I’m happy to get to showcase the two newest Local Legends Encounters. To be transparent, they did send us these review copies. And, once again, I was already volunteering to cover these because I’ve been a big fan of Steamforge Games’ Epic Encounters and Local Legends series thus far. These two boxes did not disappoint!
Griffon Encounter
I did have to take the plastic insert out to get a good photo of the box but I think it was worth it. This set comes with two miniatures, a single-sided play mat (full color, 1″x 1″ squares), and a guide on how to run/incorporate the Griffon Encounter into your campaign.
The map is in a forested area as well. Now, I’m not going to get into the actual encounter just incase any future players might read this. But it’s well done and super easy to add.
If you’ve never used one of the Local Legends Encounters before the setup is really simple. You can think of these as either side-quests or “not-so random” encounters. If you’re really short on time you can follow the suggestions in the guide book to add this to your campaign. SFG recommends using this combined with the Local Legends Tavern Kit for maximum ease-of-use. I can’t say I disagree. I could easily see this slotting into one of the rumors or NPCs dropping hints for this encounter.
What’s nice is the encounter can be scaled up or down as needed for your party. There’s monster stats and a bit of a backstory you can use (or not) to include in your games. That’s really what I like about these kits. If don’t need that much help (or you have prep time) you don’t need to use this right out of the box. But if you’re short on time, these are a GM’s lifesaver.
Griffon Miniature
The two miniatures in the box are the Griffon (duh) and the poor victim. I really liked the poor victim model because we often don’t get anything more than a token or some other marker for these types of things. Having the horse and rider on a base is a nice touch. And then there’s the majestic Griffon. I really like the detail that SFG is able to squeeze out of their pre-assembled miniatures. That’s right — it came out of the box looking this good and ready to go. You can absolutely paint them if you’ve got time, too.
The Griffon Encounter is a winner in my book and should score more than two points for Gryffindor!
Berserker Encounter
If you’re looking for more of a knock-down, drag-out brawl perhaps you’d be more interested in the Berserker Encounter. This box features the Berserker, three Floating Blades, an arena pit play mat (single-sided, full color, 1″x 1″ squares), and the guidebook.
It’s not to hard to imagine how this one goes. But, there is a pit map and the Berserker, aka the Pit-fighter Champion. Once again, you can drop this in just about any 5e fantasy setting and run with it. Or you can use the plot hooks provided to add it to your game. Did I mention there’s even a battle plan for the GM to use when playing as the Berserker? Because there totally is.
I won’t re-hash all the same points from the Griffon Encounter because they all hold true for this one, too. I will add that I really like the lore that’s included with this one in particular. I was reading through the booklet and it was really getting my creative juices going. While you can assume you know the story of a Berserker in a pit, this one has some neat hooks that I won’t spoil. I wouldn’t call it a “twist” ending or anything but rather an interesting take on the general concept for sure.
Plus that Berserker miniature is fantastic!
If you need some inspiration or just some fresh ideas then check out either of these Local Legends Encounter boxes. They are perfect for one-shots, side-missions, or just some “filler” while you sort out your campaign and need a break! Both of these boxed sets are in store now or can be purchased online.
These are GM lifesavers. For the price-point you really can’t lose.
