I love the Iron Kingdoms setting and I'm actually a fan of the Warmachine tabletop miniatures game. I'm also a fan of their newest RPG (the current Iron Kingdoms Roleplaying Game) to a lesser degree. Their fluff is, in my opinion, top-notch.

This book is not top-notch, and that's because of the intent - not the execution.

Let me explain. The core story is about a warpwolf. It has some fluff differences... but it's basically an extra-scary werewolf. The players fight it over the course of several days.

That's it. That's all the originality, right there. there are some reasonably interesting and detailed NPCs, and a cool setting, but that's not what players remember nor is it what they fall in love with. Players remember the fun they have with what their characters do. They don't really remember NPCs as well.

That's why Bad Moon Rising fails. The stuff that the players do is boring. They fight the werewolf. It escapes. It comes back. It transforms. Each night gets spookier. Each night something else goes wrong. Each night, it's painfully predictable and the entire adventure is fairly long. In short, it's utterly lacking in originality. None of the really cool stuff in the Iron Kingdoms gets used here. Instead, this is an adventure that's totally phoned in. To be honest, I think I've played something similar in Dread, the Jenga horror game. When your $10 adventure has the same plot as a one-shot party game, you're in trouble.

So, the main plot is totally lame. The upside is that there are a decent variety of encounters; thinky players can have their moments, and so can the shooty players. If you've got a badass 'jack marshal then she'll be able to use her Talon Light Warjack, and if you've got a cool investigator noble then he'll be able to do some cool roleplaying. That's good.

The redeeming features are the gorgeous pieces of artwork that fill the short adventure. Wow, it was really fun to look at and the art was all evocative as heck! Major props to PP for making such a visual treat. The graphic design is clean and neat and it's easy to read all the stat blocks.

There's one thing that I hate more than I thought I would... the maps! They've got insanely detailed maps, but you can't print them out! Instead you're forced to look at this pretty picture, then try to sketch it out by hand on your gaming paper. What the heck!? Is it so much to include a full-size at the end of the PDF? Maybe tile the map together? It was so seriously frustrating to run the adventure without being able to use their awesome-looking battlespaces.

Overall, I don't know if I can recommend this book. PP has a cool setting and a decent game, but this one is really phoned in. If you've got veteran roleplayers or gamers (or anyone who's played Werewolf) they'll probably find this trite and predictable. Heck, if they've seen any werewolf movies, they'll find it predictable!

This book was pretty and fun to read. I only wish I had as much fun when I ran it.