Originally Published in Games Unplugged Webzine – May 1st, 2001

Warning: This review will contain spoilers for Into the Dragon’s Lair. Players who may end up playing in this module are encouraged to stop reading now. Proceed at your own risk.

Into the Dragon’s Lair is a 96-page module, written by Sean K. Reynolds and Steve Miller, inspired by and designed around the events detailed in the Forgotten Realms novel Death of the Dragon by Ed Greenwood and Troy Denning.

The plot goes something like this: Cormyr was laid waste and her king slain by a dragon who has an ancient blood grudge against the royal line. During the fighting which followed the dragon was killed. (That’s what happened in the novel – and it’s all summarized for the DM at the front of the module.) The PCs are asked to track down the dragon’s lair and liberate the treasure to be found there for the good of Cormyr. (I would have liked to see a few alternate adventure hooks, including the self-obvious: “We’re adventurers, we’ve heard about abandoned treasure, and we’re off to get it.”) Of course, the PCs are not alone in their hunt for the treasure – they’re in a race against time against a half dozen other adventurers and adventuring parties (although it would have been nice if the adventure had been designed so that they could actually lose the race).

The adventure basically breaks into three major sections at this point: First, the PCs need to travel cross country to the dragon’s lair. When they penetrate the lair they will discover its secret: The dragon’s orcish thralls are actually the inhabitants of a demi-plane and the dragon herself exists in a pocket dimension outside of that pocket dimension. The PCs need to work or fight their way through the demi-plane of orcs in order to find the entrance to the dragon’s pocket dimension. The dragon’s pocket dimension is inhabited by evil elves who had sworn loyalty to the dragon. Once they’ve liberated the treasure (if they can do successfully), they have to find some way to transport it back to Cormyr.

There are a couple of really nice features to this product: First, Reynolds and Miller have made sure that it remains accessible – even for those Forgotten Realms players who aren’t familiar with the novel which provides the background out of which this adventure is constructed. (Including me.) Second, the whole structure of competing with other adventuring parties for the deserted dragon’s horde is really cool – and carried out with relatively few flaws. Finally, the entire adventure has an epic quality – which is not only nice to see, but surprising given that the adventure has a novel as its basis for existence: All too often, novel-based adventures are just linear railroads where the players are forced to pantomime the actions of the original protagonists.

There are also some rather unfortunate flaws in this product: First, the map on page 26 (which shows how the PCs get to the dragon’s lair) has misplaced the location of the ambush so that it doesn’t match the description in the text. Second, there are quite a few elements in Into the Dragon’s Lair which are brought up and then never capitalized on – orcish politics, a mysterious valley of fog, some of the interactions with the other parties. In other areas, plot threads are simply left dangling without resolution or explanation. Executing on these would have made the difference between a good module and an excellent one.

If the premise of Into the Dragon’s Lair has you interested, you should definitely check it out – it delivers. If the only reason you’ve been holding back on it is because you’re (understandably) leery of novel tie-ins, then definitely check it out because they’ve avoided all the pitfalls with this one.

But there’s nothing here which is going to make this a “must-have, instant classic”. It’s a good idea, with above average execution, and its definitely worth the cover charge. Beyond that, your own judgment must reign.

Grade: B

Writers: Sean K. Reynolds and Steve Miller
Publisher: Wizards of the Coast
Price: $17.95
Page Count: 96
ISBN: 0-7869-1634-6
Product Code: TSR11634

This is an oft-overlooked adventure from the very earliest days of D&D 3rd Edition. If I recall correctly, it was actually the second official adventure published by Wizards of the Coast, actually predating The Forge of Fury, but no one really paid any attention to it for some reason. I only ended up reading it because I got a review copy, and I’ve just discovered that it’s actually missing from the Wikipedia article listing all official D&D adventures (although I’m sure someone will fix that shortly).

Part of the problem was likely that it was a 10th-level adventure released within just a few weeks of D&D 3rd Edition being released, so it’s unlikely anyone had a group leveled up and ready to play this when it released.

In truth, though, I also have no memory of the adventure itself at this point. I wonder if, in light of of the Race to the Prize scenario structure, I would still be impressed by its handling of the rival adventuring teams?

If you actually run a D&D campaign, Backdrops is just the sort of crunchy goodness that the doctor ordered. If you’re looking for reading material, on the other hand, give this one a pass.

Originally Published June 27th, 2002

CONTENTS

The concept behind Penumbra’s Backdrops is simple: Provide professionally designed, ready-to-use maps and descriptions of fourteen generic locations: A bazaar, an athenaeum, baths, a ship, wharfs, stables, a smithy, a toll bridge, a temple, a caravanserai, a tavern, an alleyway, a merchant’s district, and a city dungeon.

Now, unless you run a very out-of-the-ordinary D&D campaign, then you’ve seen at least 90% of these locations crop up in your game before.

“So, what?” you say. “If they’re (a) generic, and (b) I’ve used them before, why would I want to pay the good folks down at Penumbra nine bucks for the privilege of showing me stuff I already know?”

Well, primarily, because John Davis and Scott Reeves are professional cartographers and you probably aren’t. And, even if you can produce high quality maps, then this book is probably still worth the cover charge for the time it will save you.

“So, what?” you say. “Maps are maps. My players never see them, and I don’t care whether I’m looking at scribblings on graph paper or the next Michelangelo behind my GM screen.”

But that’s where you’d be wrong, because every map in Backdrops includes an enlargement ratio. For example, the map of the wharfs has an enlargement ratio of 220%. So you slap the book down on a copier at Kinko’s, boost up the enlargement ratio to 220%, spend a dime, and out pops a ready-made tactical map. Then, when the PCs chase the bad guys out onto the wharfs, you whip out your awesome looking handout, lay out the miniatures, and away you go.

STRENGTHS

And that’s pretty much what sold me on Backdrops. The xerox enlargement ratio is something that nearly every damn map produced should be copying as quickly as possible. There is nothing I like better than taking out some professionally designed visuals and laying them out on the table: Not only do my players enjoy it, but it makes my job just a little bit easier. (And isn’t that what it’s all about?)

WEAKNESSES

The one problem I have with Backdrops is that there are only fourteen locations. In terms of utility, I would have preferred to see a 64 page product retailing in the $15 range. This would have given the product a broader coverage. As it is, you’ll want to make sure that there’s something in here you’ll find useful before you pick it up (check the list of locations, above).

Each of the locations also includes an accompanying page of text. This material works when it’s covering rules or guidelines for handling a location. (For example, the bridge floor trap accompanying the Toll Bridge location. Or the “break it and buy it” combat variant for handling collateral damage to merchandise in the Bazaar.) It tends to go awry, for me, however, when it makes the location specific instead of generic. (For example, the map of the Smithy is perfectly generic. The description of the Smithy, however, describes it being manned by Azers.) I find this latter type of material to be of almost no worth to me. Perhaps in a longer product it would have worked better, but here I would again say the product would be better served with more maps.

CONCLUSION

Backdrops is an excellent resource. It’s filled with the type of crunchy goodness which is the delight of all true DMs: It doesn’t just take care of the details so that we can focus on the big picture, it spices those details up with high production values and professional quality.

Are you going to have a tavern brawl? An ambush in the stables? A chase through darkened alleyways?

Then buying this one’s a no-brainer.

Style: 4
Substance: 4

Author: Will Hindmarch
Cartographer: John Davis with Scott Reeves
Publisher: Atlas Games
Line: Penumbra
Price: $8.95
ISBN: 1-58978-009-4
Product Code: AG3210
Pages: 32
Year Published: 2002

Nobody copied the enlargement factor, which is a pity even in this era of digital options. If you’re okay with black-and-white cartography, though, Backdrops still holds up great in an era of virtual tabletops. On the other hand, the current e-book version doesn’t hold up when physically printed at an enlarged scale.

This was the last RPG review I wrote for RPGnet, appearing alongside my review of Deep Horizons on June 27th, 2002. (There’s one more non-RPG review on its way.) In retrospect, it’s a very strange finale to a rather expansive body of work, but I suppose that is often the way of things: You don’t know that something is ending until it has already passed. I wrote my last review for RPGnet without knowing it would be my last, in much the same way that the day will come when I pick up my daughter for the last time without knowing I will never do it again.

Into eternity all things shall pass. But we’ll preserve it here a little longer; a light shining bulwark against the dark.

For an explanation of where these reviews came from and why you can no longer find them at RPGNet, click here.

The Slavers saga comes to an end with a whimper instead of a bang.

Originally Published March 16th, 2002

This review builds on my reviews of A1: Slave Pits of the Undercity, A2: Secret of the Slavers Stockade, and A3: Assault on the Aerie of the Slave Lords. It’s probably a good idea to read those reviews, found here, here, and here, respectively, before reading this one.

CONCEPT

Warning: This review will contain spoilers for the A-series of modules. Players who may find themselves playing in these adventures should not read beyond this point.

At the end of A3: Assault on the Aerie of the Slave Lords the PCs fell victim to the Slave Lords: For months now they have been imprisoned in their dungeons — spellcasters tortured and kept from sleep to prevent them memorizing their spells; thieves denied their tools; and fighters denied their weapons. As the adventure begins they are dosed with more sleeping potions and then dumped into the cave system which runs through the nearby volcano.

The PCs must survive essentially by their wits alone in these caverns until, finally, the volcano erupts – destroying the city of Suderham beneath lava and an invasion of magmen. There is also a sligth chance at this point that the PCs might stumble onto the Water Dragon — the ship the Slave Lords are using to escape. If this happens, the PCs have the opportunity to defeat the Slave Lords once and for all. If not… well, who knows? They might bump into them in the next pub they stop at.

WEAKNESSES

There is only one problem with A4: In the Dungeons of the Slave Lords, but it’s a biggie:

It doesn’t make any sense!

And I mean from page one, paragraph one. Keep the adventurers imprisoned for months? Why? Then knock them out again and dump then in volcanic tunnels? Why?

“Why?” is actually a very important question here, because it’s one I kept asking myself throughout the module. As another example: Why are there kobolds, myconids, giant ants, and magmen all living in close proximity to each other down here?

But the most baffling question of all is this: Why, after an epic, four-part adventure, was the decision made to deny the PCs an epic confrontation with the Slave Lords? These memorable villains, although drawn well on the page, are never truly pitted against the PCs as true masterminds and cunning opponents. Instead, the saga of Slavelords is allowed to die with a whimper at best – a complete anti-climax at worst.

STRENGTHS

About the only thing A4 has going for it is the titular concept: In the Dungeons of the Slave Lords. Stripped of their equipment and their most potent magical abilities, the PCs are asked to escape their imprisonment, re-establish a power base, and strike a final, definitive blow against their would-be captors.

That’s a pretty cool idea. But there’s so very little of it to be found on the page here. The dramatic escape is, instead, rendered as absolute, incomprehensible stupidity on the part of the villains. The volcano’s eruption, a potentially brilliant and epic complication for the final act, is instead used as a tool for anti-climax. The final confrontation with the Slave Lords – a battle which should live in the memories of the players forever – is reduced to a whimpering formality, if it happens at all.

CONCLUSION

A4: In the Dungeons of the Slave Lords is not worth your time. Buy A1-3, but skip this one: You’ll be much better off ignoring everything except the high-level concept of A4 (which you can safely glean from this review) and crafting your own ending to this epic.

Style: 2
Substance: 2

Author: Lawrence Schick
Publisher: Wizards of the Coast
Price: $4.99
ISBN: 0-935696-28-8
Product Code: TSR9042
Pages: 32
Year Published: 1981

Arguably a great concept for a tournament scenario, but a terrible railroad in any other context. And the execution on this one really is quite lackluster. The A-series is well remembered in any case, but I think it would be even more highly placed in the pantheon of D&D adventures if it had managed to even marginally nail the landing.

For an explanation of where these reviews came from and why you can no longer find them at RPGNet, click here.

The saga of the slavers continues, but the quality begins to drop.

Originally Published March 16th, 2002

This review builds on my reviews of A1: Slave Pits of the Undercity and A2: Secret of the Slavers Stockade. It’s probably a good idea to read those reviews, found here and here, respectively, before reading this one.

CONCEPT

Warning: This review will contain spoilers for the A-series of modules. Players who may find themselves playing in these adventures should not read beyond this point.

A3: Assault on the Aerie of the Slave Lords, designed by Allen Hammack, sets the PCs on a more proactive path in their mission to destroy the sinister slavers. The story here is basically broken into three sections.

The Caves of Drachensgrab: Following leads picked up in A2: Secret of the Slavers Stockade, the PCs have (off-screen) penetrated deep into the Pomarj – a wasteland infested with humanoid tribes. Here, standing on the “rocky slope of a steep hill,” they hope to find the hidden entrance to the slaver’s stronghold.

This section of the adventure is essentially advanced spelunking with as many illogical twists as Allen Hammack could dream up: Gnolls, salt slides, bizarre and improbable traps, piercers, a storoper (a roper which looks like a stalagmite instead of a tree), an illusionary throne room, and more.

The Hidden City of Suderham: If the PCs find their way through the caves, they’ll enter the hidden city of Suderham – an entire city hidden away in the heart of the mountains and serving the Slave Lords’ every whim. Here the PCs need to keep a low profile, while trying to find a way into the Slave Lords’ stronghold.

The Catacombs: The way in lies through the sewers and catacombs beneath the cities. Here Hammack is able to find a bit more logic on which to hang his improbabilities (because here, at least, there should be no regular, legitimate traffic – so the Slave Lords can place whatever traps and defenses they want).

Eventually, however, the PCs find their way to the Council Chamber of the Slave Lords. At this point, the tournament background of these adventures rises up: The DM has the choice of either railroading a loss here (thus prompting A4: In the Dungeon of the Slave Lords), or letting the PCs mop up the Slave Lords. (In reality, there are several ways that a DM could restructure this final encounter so that the players aren’t run over by a train – but the module isn’t going to provide you with any guidance here.)

STRENGTHS & WEAKNESSES

A3: Assault on the Aerie of the Slave Lords has significant flaws.

First off, as I alluded above, the encounters here trigger all of my Absurdity Meters. The constant barrage of illogical contrivance in A3 renders the module essentially unplayable as written for me.

Second, as I mentioned above, there’s the railroad at the end of the adventure.

Finally, the Slave Lords simply don’t affect the course of the module at all. I have no sense of an “assault” on anything, because the entire module comes across as nothing more than a mediocre dungeon crawl. The title promises so much, and the adventure delivers so little!

So what does this module have going for it?

First off, the basic adventure structure is a good one: Find the hidden route through the caves of Drachensgrab, sneak through the Hidden City, and lay siege to the Aerie of the Slave Lords. As an outline, that sounds fantastic! (But, as the saying goes, the devil is in the details.)

Second, although both the caves and the catacombs are poorly done, the Hidden City portion of the adventure is very well done: There is a complete encounter key for the entire city (detailing every building), and the premise itself here is strong – even awe-inspiring. In playing the module, whenever a group of PCs emerges from the caves to see the Hidden City sprawled out beneath them, a moment of silence invariably settles over the group.

(The Hidden City also benefits from the inclusion of a Player’s Map.)

CONCLUSION

A1: Slave Pits of the Undercity and A2: Secret of the Slavers Stockade are both very strong modules, in need of little more than a minor clean-up job. A3: Assault on the Aerie of the Slave Lords, on the other hand, presents little more than a few good ideas – particularly when it comes to the first and third sections of the adventure.

That being said: The structure presented here is a good one. And the Hidden City material probably makes this a worthwhile purchase. You’re going to have to put in a lot of work to make this serviceable for your game table, but there’s enough raw material here that it’s going to make your job easier than working from scratch. For $5, that’s probably good enough to justify the purchase.

Style: 2
Substance: 3

Author: Allen Hammack
Publisher: Wizards of the Coast
Line: AD&D (ESD)
Price: $4.99 (ESD)
ISBN: 0-935696-27-X
Product Code: TSR9041
Pages: 30
Year Published: 1981

A3: Assault on the Aerie of the Slave Lords was one of the very first D&D modules I ever purchased, plucked out of the Used bin at Pinnacle Games in Rochester, MN. I pored over its pages and ran the dungeon section of the adventure many times, despite not having access to the rest of the A-series until several years later. (As a neophyte GM I could not wrap my head around how the underground city was supposed to work, although I sort of stumbled through it once.)

Next: A4 In the Dungeons of the Slave Lords

For an explanation of where these reviews came from and why you can no longer find them at RPGNet, click here.

The best installment of the Slavers series of modules.

Originally Published March 16th, 2002

 This review builds on my review of A1: Slave Pits of the Undercity. It’s probably a good idea to read that review, located here, before reading this one.

The four modules in the A-series were written by four different creative teams. With A2: Secret of the Slavers Stockade Harold Johnson (along with Tom Moldvay) picked up where David Cook, who had written A1: Slave Pits of the Undercity left off.

CONCEPT

Warning: This review will contain spoilers for the A-series of modules. Players who may find themselves playing in these adventures should not read beyond this point.

At the end of A1: Slave Pits of the Undercity the PCs should’ve acquired a map. This map leads them to “an old fort lost in the midst of the Drachensgrab Hills.” A2: Secret of the Slavers Stockade picks up with the PCs standing outside of this fort, currently in use as a stockade for the humanoid slaver caravans.

The stockade is a guarded compound, and the adventure is designed with this in mind – in fact, the central concept of the adventure is that the PCs are laying siege. Although the adventure is compromised in this regard somewhat by its original status as a tournament adventure (the NPCs are just a little too static in their response to the PCs in my opinion), Johnson does succeed in presenting a gritty, dangerous, well-fortified fort. Getting in won’t be easy, getting out will be even tougher, and that’s the whole point.

A2: Secret of the Slavers Stockade also features a larger number of Slave Lords than A1 (which only had one): Markessa is the overseer of this fort, an extremely dangerous fighter and wizard who is currently engaged in various experiments involving human subjects. She is caught in a power struggle with Icar, the fort’s commander, and Blackthorn, a representative of the Slave Lords. They are accompanied by Executioner, Icar’s lieutenant, and Gulyet, Markessa’s assistant and apprentice.

WEAKNESSES

A2 shares many of the same general weaknesses as A1: The artwork and presentation is sub-par by modern standards, and some elements of the adventure don’t stand the test of time well. But, in comparison to A1, these weaknesses are also far less severe.

In fact, the only seriously debilitating element of the adventure, in my opinion, is a series of rooms inhabited by a madman pretending to be a ghost through a variety of parlor tricks: I simply can’t accept that a fort controlled by a powerful sorceress would put up a real ghost for long (let alone a fake one). A handful of similar, but less severe, flaws are also here – requiring some minor clean-up work. But these problems are not serious, and can be easily resolved (probably in less than a half hour of work). Unlike A1, I would be able to run Secret of the Slavers Stockade straight out of the box without having a bad taste in my mouth afterwards.

One change I would heartily suggest here: Take the defenses of the stockade up to the next level. The fort’s defenders could benefit from a bit more dynamism; and I would particularly like to see more involvement from the fort’s leaders in organizing, coordinating, and contributing to that defense.

ESD Note. The ESD currently available from Wizards has a flaw which the printed module lacks: Due to the poor quality of the scan, the map of the fort is practically illegible. Be prepared to do a fair bit of work trying to reconstruct the map key from the few legible clues which remain. Efforts to have Wizards correct this problem have been met with stony silence.

Note: This is no longer true of the current PDF copies available for sale.

STRENGTHS

A2: Secret of the Slavers Stockade is the strongest installment in the A-series. We’ll discuss the flaws of A3 and A4 in the next two reviews, but in comparing A2 to A1 the differences are clear: A2 is a larger module, giving you more in the way of sheer material; A2’s encounters are better designed and better conceived; and A2’s characters are more compelling and dynamic. (It’s at this point that you begin to understand why people talk about the Slave Lords as being villains of special quality.) The largest difference between the two modules, however, is simply one of execution: The average quality of material on A2’s page is higher than the average quality of material on A1’s page.

CONCLUSION

If you don’t like A2: Secret of the Slavers Stockade, then you’re probably not going to like the A-series as a whole. This is the best of the best, showcasing everything that sets the Slavers modules apart: A strong, well-defined concept, an excellent setting, memorable villains, and challenging encounters. This is classic D&D at its best.

Style: 2
Substance: 4

Author: Harold Johnson with Tom Moldvay
Publisher: TSR, Inc.
Price: $4.99
ISBN: 0-935696-26-1
Product Code: TSR9040
Pages: 42
Year Published: 1981

This was around the same time that I was designing adversary rosters. My desire for a more dynamic defense of the stockade was born from the same impulses, and with adversary rosters would now be trivially accomplished.

Next: A3 Assault on the Aerie of the Slave Lords

For an explanation of where these reviews came from and why you can no longer find them at RPGNet, click here.