The Dawning of Thule

This is a really neat idea. I've always liked 0th level adventures and I love the idea of it being a rite of passage. It really ties the characters into their culture and religion and makes religion play a much bigger role in people's lives than just clerics running around casting spells.

It would also mean so much to pass these tests. All the adults would have done the same and it will create bonds with the characters when they adventure as 1st level characters, later.
Although this was written for MYFAROG, it's playable by any system.

One thing I particularly like is that this is not just an adventure, but also a little booklet about cultural lore. You could run it as an adventure, but also include it as cultural background, as welll.

It's definitely worth a buck, even if you just want inspiration as to something neat you can do in your fantasy campaign.

I do have several suggestions (#1 is for the author, the rest are just how I'd run it):
1....See more Yes, I would like a more standard style of PDF. As nice as it is to print it double-side, landscape and then fold and staple to make a booklet, it would be much easier to read on the computer in standard portrait with the pages in reading order than than printing order (they're in the order needed to fold them over, such that they'll be in order once you fold).
2. I'd put in clear definitions in the culture of different age groupings and I think the rite of passage should clearly put a character into the next age grouping. If it's just children and adult, I'd have their culture simply treat them as adults once they finish, though that might mean that they're a bit older when they go through the trials.

2a. Then again, maybe there are more than just child/adult distinctions in the society. Maybe there are children, youths, and adults. In that case, if this is the test to go from childhood to youth status, I'd have them be considered youths after passing. In that case, it would be nice to come up with a second rite of passage from youth to adult.

3. I'd add some details about the rolls the adults play in this.

3a. Maybe there's a portion of the ceremony around the autumn equinox festivities where the adults give the children tips on how to do this, like the lore about bears and the like. Or, maybe it's something more subtle, like stories that impart some of the information needed. The players could listen to these or get them as handouts (or both) and then use the lore. Maybe there's an epic that this rite mimics of an ancient hero who did similar things and hte epic would give clues.

3b. Maybe there's some sort of celebration when the children return, like a huge feast where everyone in the village comes together around their return. Maybe all the children are fed and tended to and those who passed are honored in this celebration. This might also be a time for the older adults to give life advice to the newly made adults. Also, I'd add a symbol of adulthood (or youthhood if it's a rite of passage from childhood to youthhood) like a bear pendant or maybe even a tatoo or branding, if this is a particularly tough culture.

4. I'd also add in the option that the children could try multiple times during the season. I like that there's a chance of failure. I think it's not much fun without the possibility of failure. I also think that, given that no one would want to fail this test, they'd keep trying. That way, there could be set-back conditions in which you can fail at first, but try again, and defeat would be a little bit more of a choice. It would also raise the sense of gaining courage, particularly with the bear. You'd have to really take that life/death risk to prove your courage, but you'd get to keep trying. That would also make it less about making your rolls and more about the perserverance of the characters.

5. It would be nice to have some NPC background as to how the adults handled it when they were children. It would be a neat surprise if the chief or village elder failed on his or her first attempt or something, but kept trying until they succeeded. It would be kind of cool if the children / newly made adults got to hear the war stories, as it were, of the adults, but not until after they succeeded. I'd add a random table as to "war stories" the adults have about when they went through this.

Other random thoughts:

Even if you start at 1st level, characters could put some details in their background as to how this did in this rite of passage. Also a bit of a conversation starter. If you go to the blacksmith to get a sword made, after completing it, maybe the blacksmith chats with you ("back in my day..."). How do other villages and social groups handle their rites of passage? Are there variants? ("You only had to walk into the cave of the bear... ha! In my village, you have to kill the bear with your bare hands!" or something.)

Those are my thoughts, anyway.

FYI. The large sample wasn't working.

If anyone prefers, I am looking into adding a second PDF format for standard 8 1/2 x 11 printing, rather than the booklet format it is currently in. For printing the booklet, you need to print double-sided and flip along the short edge.