''The Created'' is an adventure module for the 2nd edition of the ''

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Several different editions of the '' Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D'') fantasy role-playing game have been produced since 1974. The current publisher of ''D&D'', Wizards of the Coast, produces new materials only for the most current edition of the ...

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...

role-playing game A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, or abbreviated as RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of player character, characters in a fictional Setting (narrative), setting. Players take responsibility for acting out ...

, published in 1993.

Plot summary

In this ''AD&D''

Ravenloft Ravenloft is a campaign setting for the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' roleplaying game. It is an alternate time-space existence known as a '' pocket dimension'' or demiplane, called the Demiplane of Dread, which consists of a collection of land piece ...

one-shot adventure, the

player character A player character (also known as a playable character or PC) is a fictional Character (arts), character in a video game or tabletop role-playing game whose actions are controlled by a player rather than the rules of the game. The characters tha ...

s attend a festival in a village before it drifts into the demiplane of Ravenloft. The character encounter trouble with killer marionettes, and must use their wits.

Publication history

RM2 ''The Created'' was written by

Bruce Nesmith Bruce Nesmith is a game designer who has worked primarily on role-playing games. He was Creative Director at TSR, working on a variety of games including ''Dungeons & Dragons'', and was a senior game designer and design director at Bethesda Game ...

, and published by TSR. The cover artist was Brom, and the interior artist was

Dave Simons Dave Simons (December 20, 1954 – June 9, 2009) was an American comic book artist known for his work on ''Conan (comics), Conan'', ''Ghost Rider (comic book), Ghost Rider'', ''Red Sonja'', and ''Spider-Man'' for Marvel Comics and ''Forgotten Re ...

Reception

Allen Varney Allen Varney (born 1958) is an American writer and game designer. Varney has produced numerous books, role-playing game supplements, technical manuals, articles, reviews, columns, and stories, as well as the fantasy novel ''Cast of Fate'' ( TSR, ...

reviewed ''The Created'' for ''

Dragon A dragon is a Magic (supernatural), magical legendary creature that appears in the folklore of multiple cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but European dragon, dragons in Western cultures since the Hi ...

'' magazine #201 (January 1994). He liked the adventure "for its chilling premise, elegant craft, and atmospheric staging", and called the village "right out of Pinocchio". While he called the plot "spartan", he noted that the execution "makes the difference". Varney concluded by saying, "Nesmith, one of TSR's most talented staffers, shines in this introductory adventure. It should have come in the Ravenloft boxed set!" ''

DieHard GameFan ''GameFan'' (originally known as ''Diehard GameFan'') was a publication started by Tim Lindquist, Greg Off, George Weising, and Dave Halverson in September 1992 that provided coverage of domestic and imported video games. It was notable for it ...

'' said that "Is ''The Created'' one of the lesser Ravenloft adventures from the Second Edition era? Yes, there's no doubting that. It takes a very specific DM AND gaming group to make evil puppets work in any form remotely close to scary. Still, if you can find that right mix or you just want a weird adventure to make your friends laugh with, ''The Created'' isn't a bad choice."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Created, The Ravenloft adventures Role-playing game supplements introduced in 1993