Waypoints #0: The Village of Cowfold

I saw Tenkar did a quick review of Waypoints #0, The Village of Cowfold the other day so I went and grabbed a copy.  It's free.  So there is reason not to grab your own copy over at RPGNow.  It comes in at 31 pages.  The last page was an advertisement for Moleskin Maps drawn by Matt Jackson.  I immediately marked up another product from Chubby Monster Games I'd be picking up and I haven't even had a chance to look at the first one.

Bryan Meadows wrote and edited it.  Matt Jackson did the layout and maps.  Artwork was by Carolyn Meadows.  And Keith Athey because he names things well.  

The lay out was simple one column, left justification.  I like the cover using Matt's map at the cover art and the subtle border is well done.  The fonts used were readable.  I liked the page number detail at the bottom with the number being in a shield shaped symbol.  There is a nice element used for the various price lists in the village.  It sets it off from the text nicely.  The artwork that's included by Corlyn is a lot like Matt's maps, simple but very pleasing.  Even though none of her work is featured, mainly small portraits within the text, it helps set the mood of the piece. 

The purpose of the product is provide GMs with a small village to plant in their campaign.  It starts with an overview map of Cowfold.  In typical Matt Jackson style it is simply drawn with an old school feel that I personally will never tire of.  From there it is broken into three sections.  A short journal entry from a traveler named Lexx who enters the village as a stranger and encounters some of what Cowfold has to offer.

The section section is the meat of the product and these are descriptions of Locations in Cowfold.  Each of these descriptions is accompanied by a small inset of its location on the village map.  Descriptions of the people within the village and how they interact with the others.  Then the best part is the Secrets section.  Gives a peek at what's going on behind those innocent faces.

And lastly there is a small section dedicated to three adventure hooks for a GM to tempt the players passing through.  There are many more hooks available in the secrets sections of the descriptions that a GM could plunder for adventure hooks.

This is a well done product.  It looks good, easy to read and easy to use.  There is no reason not to get it since it's free.  It's not like we all can't use a premade village in our games.  Overall, this is a great start for Chubby Monster Games.  I think they have good talent in their small group and look forward to the other products they develop.