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As discussed in Whither Exploration?, the basic structure of a hexcrawl will allow the PCs to navigate and explore a region, but this interaction will remain random and relatively shallow unless the PCs can gain access to information which will allow them to make meaningful choices and pursue specific goals. In other words, your Avernian hexcrawl will work best if it becomes a guided exploration; an exploration with purpose.

A rumor table is a default structure for injecting this information into your campaign, with each rumor informing the PCs about what can be found in the hexcrawl. When you need a dollop of such information, you can either roll on the table or select an appropriate rumor for the situation.

Rumor tables can be useful in a number of situations:

• During any broad social interaction (e.g., the players say “we spend the evening drinking at the tavern”) you might mention one or two interesting things they pick up in general conversation.
• During specific interactions with NPCs, the rumor table can be used to generate topics of conversation.
• NPCs might also be specifically questioned or interrogated about the area.
• The PCs might specifically canvass for information in a populated area (like Fort Knucklebones or the Purple City).

The point is to impart information to the players, so be proactive in finding opportunities to leverage your rumor table. On the other hand, it’s not necessary for the PCs to learn every rumor on the table, so you also don’t need to force things.

Playtest Tip: When you give a rumor to the PCs, cross it off the list. If you roll the same rumor again, you may want to roll again. However, being aware that you’ve given this specific rumor previously, you might simply make a point of finding a different spin or elaboration on the information the PCs already have. (For example, if they get Rumor #1 on the table below a second time, you might improvise a different fake “benefit” from drinking the demon goo.)

AVERNIAN RUMOR TABLE

1. The Pit of Shummrath is a huge canyon more than a mile deep filled with a lake of green slime that undulates as though breathing. It’s said that drinking the slime will give devils/mortals hallucinogenic visions which may have some power of foretelling the future. (True/False, you should not drink the demon goo.)
2. There’s a mine for green Baatorian steel (a rare metal which can only be found in Avernus and which can be easily crafted into swords of wounding) located Dis-ward of the Shummrath Dam. The mine is ringed with colossal, writhing tentacles. (Hex E2)
3. When you travel the Ashlands (located along the contra-Dis mountains), be careful: The ash can hide huge holes that you can fall down. I lost my Devil’s Ride in one and barely got out alive myself. (Hex B5, C5)
4. If you travel contra-Abyss along the Styx and head Dis-ward from the Pillar of Skulls, you will come to the Monument of Tiamat: The skull of a colossal dragon. A tunnel passes through this mouth into Tiamat’s Lair, where one can find the Gate Tower of Dis, leading to the second level of Hell. (Hex C1)
5. In the cliffs facing the Pit of Shummrath, there is a village of goblins. (Hex A3)
6. There is a mighty, elemental storm which perpetually surrounds a peak in the contra-Dis mountain range. There is rumored to be a great treasure at the eye of this storm. (Hex D6)
7. The legendary witch Tasha keeps a summer home in Avernus, located contra-Dis from the Alvskraema Caravanserai. (Hex B3)
8. The tinker Uldrak pretends to just be a humble mechanic, but he’s actually a celestial disguised as a devil to spy on Avernus! (Hex D5)
9. There is a colossal, insectile demon who lairs within the volcano at the tip of the contra-Dis mountain range. Cut off from the Abyss when the battle lines of the Blood War shifted across the River Styx, this demon remains within its volcanic demesne. You can sometimes see its antenna sticking up above the rim of the caldera. (Hex H6, False: The antenna actually belongs to a modron outpost.)
10. Sarcasia, Mad Maggie’s banker in the arcade at Fort Knucklebones, is skimming money. Anyone who could bring proof of her thievery to Mad Maggie would surely be rewarded. (Hex I4)
11. Bazelsteen, a devil working out of the Stygian Dock (H4), is looking for volunteers to test run an experimental bathysphere to dredge silted souls from the bottom of the River Styx. (Hex H4)
12. I once served on a flying fortress. They are vast and hungry constructs. They dock at the Stygian Docks to suck up souls from the Styx for fuel. (Hex H4)
13. The bone brambles contra-Dis and Abyss-ward of Fort Knucklebones are infested with abyssal chickens. (Hex J4, J5)
14. Warlords must be careful not to draw down the wrath of Hell’s elite. There was once a warlord named Jevvka who earned the ire of Bel and she and all her crew were wiped out. (Hex F6)
15. There’s a band of tulgar warriors marauding the wastes. They come from the endless vortex of the Elemental Chaos, and their leader, Algoran, is more savage than any demon. (Hex B6)
16. Contra-Abyss from the Purple City is a hellwasp nest. Such nests often contain vast treasures, left behind by the hellwasps’ countless victims. (Hex E3)
17. Avernus was once a glorious paradise envied throughout the Many Planes. Known now as Avernus That Was, there are supposedly still pockets of this paradise which remain embedded within the hellscape of modern Avernus. There are cult societies within the Blood Legions who supposedly still idolize Avernus That Was and seek to restore its lost glories.
18. There are often shipwrecks along the shores of the Styx; interplanar travelers seeking to use the river to travel between the Outer Planes who are not capable of passing through the dangers of Avernus. Such wrecks offer plentiful opportunities for treasure hunters, although one must be careful to avoid the river’s memory-stealing waters.
19. The imprisoned demon lord Kostchtchie is chained in a great pit Abyss-ward of Bel’s Forge (Hex H2). He cannot die, and the infernal elite would pay handsomely if his elusive phylactery could be found.
20. Rumors of Elturel: The PCs receive a rumor regarding the current state of affairs in Elturel or of its eminent approach to the Styx (possibly from a refugee who fled the city; or secondhand from one such). 75% chance that the rumor is accurate. Also use this as an opportunity to provide the devils’ perspective on Zariel’s city-stealing schemes.

DREAM MACHINE COMPONENT REFERENCE

In addition to the general rumor table, the Avernian hexcrawl has a very important second set of rumors: those indicating the locations of the four components of the dream machine.

Wherever the PCs go, they can ask people if they know about the components they’re looking for. Assume a 1 in 3 chance that they do, and then roll on the rumor table below to give an appropriate lead.

In addition to the rumor table, here is a reference to the locations in the Avernian hexcrawl where the dream machine components have been keyed.

Astral Pistons

• A2 – Obelisk of Ubbalux
• A5 – Warlord Lair: Lost Golgari
• D5 – Uldrak’s Grave
• H4 – Stygian Dock
• J1 – Siegeworks of Dis

Heartstone

• B4 – Red Ruth’s Lair
• D2 – Warlord Lair: Carol D’Vown
• E4 – Tower of Urm
• F2 – Purple City (The March)
• G5b – Plagueshield Point / rumor actually points to I6 – Shadowswimmer Tower

Nirvanan Cogbox

• B6 – Warlord Lair: Soul Collectors
• D3 – Demon Zapper
• E2 – Tentacular Mine
• H6 – Modron Outpost

Phlegethosian Sand

• E4 – Tower of Urm
• H3 – Bel’s Forge
• I2 – Warlord Lair: Feonor

DREAM MACHINE COMPONENT RUMORS

ASTRAL PISTONS

1. Archduke Bel imprisoned a demon named Ubbalux using a machine designed with astral pistons. If the prison is still there, you might be able to scavenge the pistons. The prison is said to lie between the River Styx and the Pit of Shummrath. (Hex A2)
2. Zariel’s vast legions still use a lot of older infernal machines and technomantic devices. It’s likely that a supply of astral pistons is kept at the Stygian Dock, located along the River Styx contra-Dis (south) of the Dock of Fallen Cities and north of Shadowswimmer Tower. (Hex G4)
3. Astral pistons? I haven’t heard of anyone using those in a long time. You’d need to scavenge them from some sort of old infernal machinery. I heard Zariel was funding some sort of major project during the Reckoning. There was some sort of technomantic complex located in an old mine Dis-ward of Kostchtchie’s Maw (Hex J2) in the mountains. (Hex J1)
4. [False] Zariel’s vast legions still use a lot of older infernal machines and technomantic devices. It’s likely that a supply of astral pistons is kept at Bel’s Forge. (Hex H2)

HEARTSTONE

5. There’s a night hag (named Red Ruth) who lives in the bone brambles Abyss-ward of the Ashlands. (Hex B4)
6. A heartstone? I’ve heard those are useful in alchemical experiments. There’s an alchemist who lives in a tower on the banks of the Styx near where a tributary from the Pit of Shummrath joins the river. (Hex D2a)
7. The legendary wizard Mordenkainen has a vast stock of magical components and trophies taken from the many enemies he has slain over the endless centuries of his existence. He might have a heartstone. He has a tower on an island in a boiling lake of blood here in Avernus. (Hex E4) [He also has Phlegethosian sand.]
8. The thieves’ guild of the Purple City is rumored to use heartstones in planning their heists. (Hex F2)
9. There’s an old tower full of alchemical junk in Plagueshield Point, which is a demonic prison located on the bottom of the Styx. There might be a heartstone in there. (Hex G5b) OR There’s a mage named Shadowswimmer who lives in a tower on the Styx contra-Dis (south) of Fort Knucklebones. He dabbles in alchemy and might have a heartstone. (Hex I6)
10. [False] Mad Maggie has a heartstone, she just doesn’t want to give it up. (Hex I4)

Design Note: Mad Maggie is, in fact, a night hag, and most night hags have heartstones. The framing here implies that Maggie has lost hers, but you could also conclude that this is NOT a false rumor and that Maggie, in fact, just hopes that the PCs will bring her an extra one. Or, alternatively, the dream machine will irrevocably damage or destroy the heartstone, and Maggie isn’t willing to sacrifice her own. (In which case she might nevertheless be convinced to use her own heartstone in the dream machine.)

NIRVANAN COGBOX

11. Nirvanan cogboxes are used by modrons. I heard that the warlord Algoran recently captured a modron. His lair is located at the far end of the Ashlands. (Hex B6)
12. There’s a technomantic apparatus designed to destroy demons located contra-Dis of the Pit of Shummrath and contra-Abyss of the blood lake. Modron technomancy was used in its construction, which makes it possible that a Nirvanan cogbox might have been used. (Hex D2)
13. There is a dream machine similar or perhaps identical to the one which Mad Maggie has. It’s located in a mine Dis-Abyssward from the Dam of Shummrath (Hex D2) where baatorian steel is taken from the Avernian soil. It’s likely to have the components that the PCs are looking for. (Hex E2)
14. Nirvanan cogboxes are used by modrons. There’s a modron outpost which occasionally engages in trade located within a volcano along the contra-Dis mountains near the River Styx. (Hex H6)
15. [False] The Archmagi of Thraxai, in the Purple City (Hex F2), are said to maintain portals to many other planes, including Mechanus, the home plane of the modrons who create Nirvanan cogboxes.
16. [False] Nirvanan cogboxes are a Modron technomancy. There’s a fortress of modrons located in the Dis-ward mountains, Abyss-ward of the Drogoloth Mines (Hex F1). (Hex G1, but this is actually a Court of Hell managed by the Rilmani.)

PHLEGETHOSIAN SAND

17. The legendary wizard Mordenkainen has a vast stock of magical components and trophies taken from the many enemies he has slain over the endless centuries of his existence. He might have Phlegethosian sand. He has a tower on an island in a boiling lake of blood here in Avernus. (Hex E4) [He also has a heartstone.]
18. Phlegethosian sand is used to quench certain types of infernal blades. It is therefore used in Bel’s Forge. (Hex H2)
19. Phlegethosian sand is used in necromantic experiments. One of the warlords (Feonor) is a necromancer. Her lair is located on the Styx Dis-ward of Bel’s forge and Abyss-ward of the Purple City. (Hex I2)
20. [False] Phlegethosian sand can be found in bone brambles.

Go to Part 8: The End

Dark Tower (1980) is a classic adventure module by Jennell Jaquays. Originally published by Judges Guild, it was one of several titles by Jaquays which revolutionized the genre.

In the hinterlands of the world where civilization grows dim, an isolated and seemingly innocent village has become dominated by cursed cultists of Set.

Beneath the village lies two towers – Mitra’s Fist, the first temple of the great god of good; and the Dark Tower, supernaturally raised by the black might of the serpent god Set as his forces overthrew Mitra’s temple. The titanic forces of this deific cataclysm triggered an avalanche which buried the two towers.

Centuries later, a new village was founded on the site and began excavating the old temples… only to discover that something inside had been digging its way out.

The Dark Tower module consists of four devilish dungeon levels beneath the village, pierced through by the twin towers which still stand as stalwart bastions of two faiths locked in eternal hatred.

What we have in this post is a very specific tool which I believe DMs looking to run Dark Tower will find absolutely invaluable. (It may also be of some passing curiosity to those who have read Xandering the Dungeon.)

The dungeons of Dark Tower are incredibly ingenious in their design, with myriad and varied connections between their levels. In practice, however, the presentation of the dungeon can be somewhat murky, and a DM can easily find themselves trying to riddle out the basic function of the dungeon.

Below, therefore, you’ll find an encyclopedic listing of every level connection in the dungeon.

DUNGEON OVERVIEW

If you look at the side view of the dungeon above, there are a few key features and clarifications to immediately note.

First, there are multiple entrances leading from the village into the dungeon below.

Second, there are four levels to the dungeon. There are multiple connections between these levels, but the progression is linear (Level 1 has entrances to Level 2, which has entrances to Level 3, which has entrances to Level 4). However, although this is true of the DM’s maps, it is likely that the players will struggle to cleanly intuit this due to the dungeon’s design (including split levels, minor elevation shifts, and, of course, the nested towers).

Third, let’s consider the two towers. Broadly speaking, you can enter Mitra’s Tower at the top of the dungeon and exit it on the bottom. The entrance to Set’s Tower, on the other hand, is most easily entered from the bottom level and then climbed to its top.

Thus, one can broadly think of the towers as forming a large “U,” with the PCs most plausibly journeying down through Mitra’s Tower, crossing the fourth level of the dungeon, and then ascending Set’s Tower. (Any number of factors, not to mention the intersecting dungeon levels, will likely confound this in practice.)

Finally — and this is of particular importance! — the side view of the dungeon is incorrect! Although Level 2 is depicted as intersecting Levels K and C of the towers, it actually intersects Levels I & D. The actual side view should look like this:

LEVEL CONNECTIONS

On the list below:

• X/Y indicates that the unkeyed level connection lies between area X and area Y.
• L-20A refers to the empty version of the top level of Set’s Tower described in the keys for areas L-20 and L-22.
• Connections which are one-way (teleportation traps, etc.) are indicated only from their point of origin.
• Tower stairs are only indicated in one direction, but are traversable in both (unless noted otherwise).

ENTRANCES TO LEVEL 1

V-2                       Trapdoor to 1-1 (secret)
V-5                       Trapdoor to 1-18 (secret)
V-7                       Cellar Door to 1-21
V-10                     Trapdoor to 1-46
V-11                     Tunnel to 1-45 (secret, tower’s door has been buried)
V-11                     Shaft to 1-36 (very secret, must break through mortar)

LEVEL 1 – EXITS

1-1                        Trapdoor to V-2
1-1                        Door to A-1/A-2
1-9                        Tunnel to 2-2/2-7
1-18                      Trapdoor to V-5
1-21                      Cellar Door to V-7
1-27                      Teleportation Gate to E-19 (one-way)
1-30                      Window to L-22
1-31                      Teleport Trap to 3-10 (one-way)
1-32                      Stairs to 2-23
1-33                      Capstone to L-20A (very secret, must break through capstone)
1-36                      Shaft to V-11
1-41                      Teleporting Mist to C-7 (two-way)
1-43                      Teleporting Mist to 2-1 (one-way)
1-45                      Tunnel to V-11
1-46                      Trapdoor to V-10
NE Tunnel          Tunnel to 2-18

Note: On the original map there is a “To 2^nd Level” which appears to indicate a tunnel coming from area 1-13. This tunnel is, in fact, a dead-end and the text should properly be located next to the tunnel from area 1-9 (as indicated above).

LEVEL 2 – EXITS

2-2/2-7                Tunnel to 1-9
2-5                        Hole to 3-2
2-12                      Stairs to 3-19
2-14                      Cave to 3-5
2-15                      Teleportation Hall to 3-11 (two-way)
2-18                      Tunnel to NE Level 1
2-22                      Stairs to 3-11
2-23                      Stairs to 1-32

LEVEL 3 – EXITS

3-1                        Rafters of 4-10
3-2                        Hole in Ceiling to 2-5 (not indicated in key)
3-5                        Cave to 2-14
3-6                        Stairs to 4-8
3-7                        Stairs to 4-9
3-10                      Hole to 4-25
3-11                      Teleportation Arch (West Wall) to 2-15 (two-way)
3-11                      Teleportation Arch (North Wall) to 3-16/3-17 (two-way)
3-11                      Stairs to 2-22
3-13                      Stairs to 4-18a
3-16/3-17            Teleportation Arch (North Wall) to 3-11 (two-way, not on map or in key)
3-16/3-19            Stairs to 4-14b
3-19                      Stairs to 2-12
3-20                      Open to 4-16
3-22                      Stairs to 4-15
3-24                      Hole to 4-13

Note: On the original map, there is a shaft or indicated in area 3-3. This is not indicated in the key, nor is there any corresponding connections on Level 2 or Level 3. It is omitted here as an assumed error.

LEVEL 4 – EXITS

4-1/4-2                Door to F-20
4-5                        Door to G-1
4-8                        Stairs to 3-6
4-9                        Stairs to 3-7
4-14b                    Stairs to 3-16/3-17
4-15                      Stairs to 3-22
4-16                      Stairs to 3-20
4-18a                    Stairs to 3-11
4-25                      Hole to 3-10

WHITE TOWER OF MITRA

A-1/A-2              Door to 1-1
A-1/A-2              Straight Stairs to B-3/B-4
B-4                        Curved Stairs to C-5
C-5                       Spiral Stairs to D-9
D-9                       Spiral Stairs Up to C-5, Down to E-15/E-19
E-15/E-19           Spiral Stairs Up to D-9
E-17                      Teleportation Ritual to F-20
E-19                      Teleportation Arch to 1-1 (one-way)
F-20                      Teleportation Ritual to E-17
F-20                      Door to 4-1/4-2

SET’S TOWER

G-2                       Stairs to H-6 (NE Stairs)
H-6                       South Stairs to I-11 (South Stairs)
I-11                       North Stairs to J-12
J-14                       Stairs to K-17
K-18                     Teleportation Ritual to L-20
K-18                     Trap Door (Ceiling) to L-20A
L-20                      Teleportation Ritual to L-20A
L-20A                  Trap Door (Floor) to K-18 (secret)

In the first episode of The Mandalorian, the titular character parks his ship and heads off on an adventure. In the second episode, he returns to find his ship being stripped for parts by opportunistic jawas. This prompts an incredible action/chase scene, followed by an adventure hook which results in some startling revelations.

While keeping in mind the Principle of Using Linear Mediums as RPG Examples, let’s assume that this isn’t just an example of the GM having a cool idea and making it happen. (Nothing wrong with that, obviously.) If we wanted stuff like this in our games, what could we do to make that happen?

Non-focal random encounters.

Random encounters, of course, can be used to achieve several different effects. But one of the ways they can be used is as a procedural content generator, providing a creative prompt to the GM for an interstitial event. Because the “camera” of our game session is virtually always focused on the PCs, we tend to think of the events generated by the random encounter tables as intersecting the path of the party; it’s something that happens randomly in the place where the PCs happen to be.

But it doesn’t have to be!

You can just as easily use procedural content generators to model events happening off-screen.

For example, if the PCs leave mounts and/or henchmen at the entrance of a dungeon while they go delving within, I’ll simply make random encounter checks for the group left behind. A notable example of this occurred when I ran The Sunless Citadel as part of my first D&D 3^rd Edition campaign. The PCs left their mounts up on the surface while they went down into the citadel, I rolled regular random encounter checks, and when they returned they found the horses still there calmly munching grass… surrounded by a dozen scorched goblin corpses.

What the hell had happened?!

Ultimately, what I’m suggesting here is pretty simple:

Roll random encounters for locations/people that aren’t the PCs.

That’s it. That’s the tip.

You can probably usefully generalize this by identifying what the PCs care about and then rolling encounters for those things. This might include people, places, organizations, etc. The rate and nature of these encounters will depend on what and where these things are. The henchmen at the dungeon entrance are easy because you can just roll on the dungeon’s random encounter table (perhaps at a reduced rate if efforts have been made to conceal their camp). But what about the PCs’ favorite tavern? Or their emotionally troubled ward? Or their political patron?

In the most generic version of this, however, you can just create the list of Important Things in the Campaign and then roll encounter checks for everything on the list as part of your session prep. If an encounter is indicated, that simply means that this element of the campaign world has seen some sort of interesting development: What is it? And, importantly, how will the PCs learn of it?

This can be a really easy way to keep a big, complicated campaign world in motion without needing to constantly grapple with the almost impossible enormity of the whole thing. It can also just be a good way of reminding the players that the campaign world does, in fact, continue to exist even when they’re not looking at it.

Magical Kitties Save the Day, the RPG I co-designed with Matthew Hanson (the game’s creator) and Michelle Nephew, has been nominated as the Best Family Game for the 2021 ENNIES Awards!

The nominations are juried, but the final awards are based on a people’s vote! That means we need YOU to vote for the game by August 27th!

A few things to know about voting in the ENNIES:

• You should only vote once.
• There are several different categories. You’ll vote in each category by selecting it. Magical Kitties is nominated in the Best Family Game category.
• You vote by ranking the nominees from 1 to 5. The best rank is 1 (that’s what you want to select for Magical Kitties). You can also select “No Vote” if it’s a game or book you’re unfamiliar with or don’t think deserves an award.
• Make sure you hit the “Vote!” button at the bottom of the page to register you vote for Best Family Game.
• You don’t need to vote in all categories. You also don’t have to vote in all categories at the same time! So if you want to wait to vote for Best Adventure until you’ve had a chance to check them out, you don’t have to wait to record your vote for Best Family Game.

Also take the opportunity to check out all the other great games, supplements, and books that have been nominated! There’s a lot of cool stuff to discover!

VOTE NOW!

Published in 2013, Legacy of the Crystal Shard was created as part of the D&D Next playtest which bridged the 4^th Edition and 5^th Edition eras. It was designed by R.A. Salvatore with Jeffrey Ludwig, James Wyatt, and Matthew Sernett, and originally sold as a bundle including a 64-page setting book, 32-page adventure book, and four-panel DM screen, supplemented with downloadable PDFs which contained all the stat blocks necessary to run the adventure with 3^rd Edition, 4^th Edition, or the D&D Next Playtest rules (which are now “close enough” compatible with 5^th Edition). It’s now available as a print-on-demand title from the DMs Guild, combining all of these elements plus a micro-prequel adventure that was released during the D&D Encounters Launch Weekend.

I grabbed a copy of Legacy to see if the material could be adapted to flesh out the sandbox of Rime of the Frostmaiden, and this review will be embracing that and, at least in part, assessing Legacy’s value to a Rime DM.

The first thing to note is that large chunks of Rime of the Frostmaiden’s text was actually lifted directly from Legacy of the Crystal Shard. For example, here’s the first couple paragraphs of the “Life Off the Lakes” section of Rime of the Frostmaiden:

Most of the ten towns except Bryn Shander are built on the shores of three big lakes. The largest population of knucklehead trout is in Maer Dualdon, the deepest of the lakes. Redwaters, the shallowest lake, almost completely freezes in winter, making the fishing there difficult. Lac Dinneshere catches the worst of the winds blowing off the Raghed Glacier to the east and thus has the roughest waters. Small thermal vents at the bottom of these lakes keep them from freezing completely, even in the coldest winters.

Ten-Towns fishing boats are simple affairs. The smallest are rowboats and single-masted skiffs that require careful handling to avoid capsizing. Larger, twin-masted cogs and keelboats with single decks handle the wind and waves better. These ships fly the flags of their towns and provide fish for the whole community, not for any individual fisher.

And here’s the “Life Off the Lake” section from Legacy of the Crystal Shard:

Except for Bryn Shander, each of the ten towns is built on the shore of one of the three lakes where knucklehead trout swim, surrounding the mountain of Kelvin’s Cairn. The largest population is in Maer Dualdon, the deepest of the lakes.

Ten-Towns fishing boats are generally simple affairs. The smallest are one-masted skiffs, which are rowed as often as oared – not least because the harsh winds of the dale can capsize each small craft. Larger, two-masted cogs with single decks handle the wind better, and their crews exemplify the neighborly cooperation that makes Ten-Towns function. These ships fly the flags of their towns and provide fish for the whole community, not for any individual fisher.

Rime of a Frostmaiden (1489 DR) canonically takes place a few years after Legacy of the Crystal Shard (1485 DR), so there are a few minor changes. But for the most part, Rime of the Frostmaiden largely assumes that the events of Legacy of the Crystal Shard will have had no meaningful impact on the Dale, and thus large swaths of text are either directly copied or lightly rewritten like a fraternity bro trying to dodge a plagiarism detector.

However, the material in Rime of the Frostmaiden is notably incomplete in several regards. So there’s still value to be had in scooping up the Legacy campaign guide. In particular, Legacy has sizable entries given for the Reghed tribes, Kelvin’s Cairn, the Arcane Brotherhood, and, strangely (given Rime’s titular focus), the worshippers of Auril, the Frostmaiden that are absent from Rime of the Frostmaiden.

THE ADVENTURE

As noted above, the current version of Legacy of the Crystal Shard includes a Launch Day micro-adventure that takes place immediately before the primary adventure kicks off. It takes place while the PCs are traveling to Icewind Dale as part of a caravan, but despite being sixteen pages long, it consists almost entirely of a single, notably overwritten, combat encounter with a crag cat. Its usefulness, therefore, is almost nonexistent.

The primary adventure begins as the PCs’ caravan arrives in Bryn Shander and is ambushed by yetis. This encounter is quite cleverly framed, forcing the PCs to make interesting choices about what to defend and how to strategically split up their efforts.

In the immediate aftermath of the encounter, the PCs are presented with three adventure hooks, each one pointing to a different crisis which is developing in the Dale:

• A member of the Arcane Brotherhood named Vaelish Gant is attempting to establish a mafia in order to seize political power.
• An Ice Witch in the service of the Frostmaiden seeks to bring frozen devastation to the people of Ten-Towns and the Raghed tribes.
• The undead Akar Kessel has escaped from his icy prison and is corrupting the Dale with black ice created from the ruins of the legendary Crystal Shard.

If you’re a long-time reader of the Alexandrian, you might immediately identify that as the textbook introduction to a node-based scenario. Unfortunately, Legacy of the Crystal Shard doesn’t quite follow through on that promise. While the scenario is obviously striving to be open and dynamic, the book struggles to clearly present it as such using largely linear techniques.

You can see this uncertainty and confusion manifest in several ways, but perhaps the most notable is the overall structure of the campaign. In trying to grapple with the diverse and divergent continuities possible with three villainous agendas and PCs free to choose which to confront, Legacy frequently becomes mired in contingency planning, but it crucially attempts to rise about this by implementing two incompatible approaches.

First, there is a timeline of how events will play out unless the PCs get involved. This is a venerable technique, although the execution here is a little problematic: The pace at which things happen on this timeline, combined with the stated travel times in Icewind Dale, makes it exceedingly unlikely that any of the plotted adventure material in the book will be usable as written.

Second, there is an alternative structure in which (a) the PCs get to pursue two of the three threats facing Icewind Dale in Act I and then (b) whichever threat they didn’t deal with advances their schemes in an Interlude before Act II begins. This is another solid way of presenting material like this (particularly in a published adventure), but the specific execution here is once again a little sloppy, with the primary problem being that the continuity of the villains’ schemes in the Interlude don’t consistently carry through into Act II.

The discord between these two approaches combined with the awkward, reflexive use of plotted scenario techniques in an adventure desperately crying out for non-linear design results in a number of weird continuity glitches throughout the text, the most notable of which is almost certainly the rather forced “finale” in which two of the villains are revealed to have been secretly teamed up with each other the whole time in a way which makes absolutely no sense until you realize that they’d probably run out of page count and couldn’t squeeze in a proper conclusion for all three threads of the adventure.

CONCLUSION

Laying all these caveats aside, Legacy of the Crystal Shard is a really good mini-campaign. The three independent crises, mixed with the rich setting of Icewind Dale, creates a really compelling premise, which is then stocked with individual scenarios which are delightfully varied and chock full of vividly creative material: mafioso protection schemes, corrupted ice pirates, undead dragons, dwarven zombies — it’s all the stuff that gets you excited when you think about running it for your players.

If you’re getting ready to run Rime of the Frostmaiden, these scenarios can be almost seamlessly dropped into the campaign, adding some really dynamic elements that will enrich the Icewind Dale sandbox. (The only thing you’ll need to tweak, as far as I can tell, is the “Behind Bars” scenario hook on p. 104 of Rime of the Frostmaiden, which features one of the villains from Legacy of the Crystal Shard. There will almost certainly also be ways in which you’ll want to tie the villains of Legacy to the ongoing events of Rime.)

In short, I recommend Legacy of the Crystal Shard for any D&D fans. And I strongly recommend it for those DMing Rime.

Style: 4
Substance: 4

Author: R.A. Salvatore with Jeffrey Ludwig, James Wyatt, and Matthew Sernett
Publisher: Wizards of the Coast
Cost: $14.99 (PDF) or $19.99 (POD)
Page Count: 112

Go to Icewind Dale Index