Ultimately, Deep Horizon lacks the space it needs to tell the story it wants to tell.

Review Originally Published June 27th, 2002

Designed for 13th-level characters, Deep Horizon is WotC’s sixth Adventure Path module. Skip Williams, the author, takes us into the Underdark with this one, revealing a developing struggle between beholders, salamanders, and the long-forgotten civilization of the desmodus (a race of bat-like humanoids).

CONTENT

Warning: This review will contain spoilers for Deep Horizon. Players who may find themselves playing in this adventure should not read beyond this point.

One consistent weakness in the Adventure Path modules have been the character hooks, and this remains true with Deep Horizons: They’re tepid at best. You’ll be best off, in my opinion, using them as a way of foreshadowing the adventure.

Of course, part of the reason the hooks for these modules are weak is that, in general, WotC’s authors are not attempting to convey a plot. The Sunless Citadel, for example, is not a module about the PCs attempting to accomplish X, Y, and Z. The Sunless Citadel simply exists – and there are any number of reasons why the PCs might go there.

Similarly, Deep Horizon doesn’t convey a plot – it conveys an environment. A situation. How the PCs enter that situation, and what they do once they’re there, is entirely up to them.

Here’s the background: 300 years ago the desmodus were at war with the drow… and they were losing. In order to save themselves, the desmodus used powerful magic to reroute a magma flow – using it to seal off their city (and, simultaneously, destroy the nearest drow city). Although the desmodus survived, sealed off from the rest of the world (with the exception of small colony of salamanders, who traded with the desmodus for metal ore), every passing year of isolation brought them closer to the brink of extinction.

Three months ago, however, an earthquake reopened the desmodus’ corner of the Underdark. This has created a crisis in desmodu society, and their old ways of life have broken down: The entire race now stands on the edge of a knife, trying to find its way into the new future which has opened up before it.

Deep Horizon details three environments: The first is Chael-Rekshaar, the drow city destroyed when the desmodu redirected the magma flow 300 years ago. Today, it is inhabited by a trio of beholders (supported by a variety of slave laborers). These beholders are excavating the city with their disintegrate eye, searching for whatever treasure they can find.

The second is the Desmodu Enclave, the final refuge of what was – until just a few months ago – a slowly dying race.

The third is the Salamander Citadel, built upon the underground volcano formed by the backed up magma flow created by the desmodu 300 years ago.

Deep Horizon also details a power struggle: As their society has fragmented and redirected itself, the desmodus’ shipments of ore to the salamanders have slowed. This has angered the salamanders, who have allied themselves with the beholders – hoping to wipe out the desmodu once and for all. While the PCs are here, an assassination is attempted against the leader of the desmodu.

Also at work here is the destabilizing effect lying behind the recent earthquake: The ancient magic the desmodu used to seal themselves away is finally having consequences. If the situation isn’t completely remedied, the earthquakes will get worse. Unfortunately, undoing the magic and allowing the magma to return to its natural flow patterns will significantly cool the current habitat of the salamanders – something which is sure to raise their already heated ire.

STRENGTHS

If you want a summary of why you should pick up Deep Horizons, you don’t have to look any farther than the summary of its content: Skip Williams delivers an active, compelling scenario and invites you to bring along your PCs.

Of course, WotC consistently puts together a well-produced package, and this module is no exception: The cover, by Brom, is eye-catching. The maps are well done. The interior art delivers without detracting. The rules are impeccably handled. All the i’s are dotted and all the t’s are crossed.

WEAKNESSES

Unfortunately, Deep Horizon does have one significant problem: It just plain, flat-out lacks the space it needs to tell the story it wants to tell.

For example, the concept of the ruined drow city of Chael-Rekshaar is really cool. But, in actual execution, it’s rendered into nothing more than a single, ruined temple. (The rest of the city is left beneath the lava flow.)

Similarly, the assassination attempt which forms the module’s only substantive arc of plotted action is essentially squeezed into half a page. Its presentation is simply rushed, leaving you more with the sense of an outline than a module.

Which isn’t to say that Deep Horizon doesn’t work: It does. Everything on the page functions. It just doesn’t live up to its potential, and the primary problem here simply seems to be a lack of space. (Deep Horizon wouldn’t be the first Adventure Path module hurt due to its limited page count, either: The Speaker in Dreams was significantly gutted before its release. Ironically, WotC opted to increase the page count of its Adventure Path modules immediately after Deep Horizon — both Lord of the Iron Fortress and Bastion of Broken Souls feature 48 pages).

A less systemic problem the potential DM should keep an eye on is the introduction of the desmodu: I’ve had several DMs tell me that their PCs were initially hostile toward the desmodu, due to the fact that they fall victim to a desmodu raiding party on their way down into the Underdark. (When faced with an unknown race of humanoids in D&D, I’ve found that players tend to assume the worst of anything that attacks them first.) Since the rest of the module assumes that the PCs will be, at the very least, neutral towards the desmodu, this has the potential to cause some problems.

Deep Horizon also has an annoying flaw: The PCs need to travel through the ruined drow city of Chael-Rekshaar in order to reach the Desmodu Enclave. No problem. But the map of the Desmodu Enclave also shows two passages leading off deeper into the Underdark. Problem: If the magma flow sealed off the desmodu, why are there still passages leading into the Underdark? Plus, the descriptive text implies that Chael-Rekshaar was just the nearest drow city involved in the war with the desmodu: But there’s nothing between Chael-Rekshaar and the surface. And the only way to get deeper into the Underdark from Chael-Rekshaar, according to the map, is through the desmodu enclave. So, unless the drow had a habit of living on the surface three hundred years ago, the whole premise doesn’t seem to make any sense.

(This is easily fixed, however: Move the passages leading deeper into the Underdark to Chael-Rekshaar. These passages would have been sealed by the magma – and were recently reopened, along with the passage to the surface, by the earthquake.)

CONCLUSION

Deep Horizon is a good module: The PCs are dropped into a complex power struggle, and are given the opportunity to save an entire race. This module can represent a launching point for the higher levels of your campaign – as your PCs begin to have a larger and broader impact on the development of the campaign world as a whole.

But Deep Horizon isn’t a great module, and that’s unfortunate: Because the potential was definitely there. And with another twelve pages or so it probably could have been delivered on.

That shouldn’t dissuade you from picking this one up, though – particularly if you’ve followed the Adventure Path series to this point. If you’re willing to take the time to expand the material found here – or even just keep on your toes when it comes to improvising — Deep Horizon presents a highly enjoyable gaming experience.

Style: 4
Substance: 3

Author: Skip Williams
Publisher: Wizards of the Coast
Line: D&D
Price: $9.95
ISBN: 0-7869-1855-1
Product Code: WTC11855
Pages: 32
Year Published: 2002

In my retrospective on my review of The Sunless Citadel, I talked about how Justin the Younger was still belaboring under the Plot is Adventure/Adventure is Plot paradigm. You can see the vestiges of this here, as I use it (incorrectly) as an explanation for why the scenario hooks for the Adventure Path modules were so poorly done. (The reality, of course, is that there’s nothing about prepping situations that requires threadbare scenario hooks. Quite the opposite.)

In reprinting these old RPGnet reviews, we’ve skipped ahead a bit with this one in order to release all the Adventure Path reviews together. This was actually one of the very last reviews I ever wrote for the site, appearing on the same day as a review of Atlas Games’ Backdrops. Two years later I would write a review of A Song of Ice and Fire, but these two RPG reviews were the true end of an era. (I never finished reviewing the Adventure Path series.) There were a number of reasons for this, the most prominent of which was that in 2002-03 I was spending a lot more time doing professional freelance work. I also lost my primary gaming group during this time as multiple members moved out of town. Shortly thereafter, I was knocked out of the industry in late 2003 by the post-D&D 3.5 collapse, during which most of the companies I had contracts with simply ceased to exist.

It was a rough time. And, at the time, it felt like I’d left RPGs for a long time. Looking back, though, I can see that in 2005 I both started the Alexandrian and took the first steps to getting a new regular gaming group. So it was just a couple years. And then, a couple years after that, I wrote the viral articles that transformed the site, launched my long-running Ptolus campaign, and started publishing RPG books again. Since then, my road has taken many unexpected turns, but I don’t feel as if the journey has ever been interrupted.

Hopefully the road ahead of us will be long and prosperous!

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

Bruce Cordell gives us a solid adventure, but ultimately fails to excite us.

Review Originally Published March 15th, 2002

Wizard’s Adventure Path modules are designed to take a group of starting adventurers from 1st level all the way to 20th. (You can read my reviews of The Sunless Citadel, The Forge of Fury, The Speaker in Dreams, and The Standing Stone here on RPGNet the Alexandrian.)

The first two modules in this series — The Sunless Citadel and The Forge of Fury — are, in my opinion, destined to become classics. These modules succeeded on three levels: First, they were executed with near-flawless precision. Second, they embodied two ineffable archetypes of D&D (a dungeon and a dwarven citadel). Finally, while playing with archetypal structures they also avoided the cliché by offering a few unique twists, lots of specific color, and well-designed encounters and scenarios.

The next two adventures in the series, unfortunately, tapered off somewhat: The Speaker in Dreams is well-executed, but simply lacks a certain degree of flair. Where The Sunless Citadel and The Forge of Fury have the potential to generate stories that will be swapped around your gaming table for years to come, The Speaker in Dreams provides only a light weekend’s entertainment. The fourth module, The Standing Stone, proceeded to drop the ball entirely – bordering on the unplayable without serious fix-up work by the DM.

Which brings us to the fifth Adventure Path module, Heart of Nightfang Spire, designed for 10th-level PCs.

PLOT

Warning: This review will contain spoilers for Heart of Nightfang Spire and The Sunless Citadel. Players who may find themselves playing in this adventure should not read beyond this point.

Heart of Nightfang Spire is something of a sequel to The Sunless Citadel, although there’s absolutely no requirement that the party has played through the previous module. (And I mean that: This isn’t one of those “you don’t need the previous module; but this one is going to suck if you don’t have it”. Heart of Nightfang Spire really does stand by itself.) At the end of The Sunless Citadel, the players cut down the evil Gulthias Tree, which had grown from the stake stabbed through the heart of a vampire.

Unfortunately, the vampire – Gulthias – wasn’t actually dead when the PCs did this, just impaled. As a result, shortly after the PCs left, Gulthias rose once more, returning to this old power base, Nightfang Spire.

(Play the ominous music here.)

Basically it breaks down like this: Gulthias is the leader of a cult of undead, all of whom worship the dragon Ashardalon. Although Ashardalon was killed centuries ago (in fact, the titular heart of Nightfang Spire is Ashardalon’s heart, transformed into a powerful evil artifact), Gulthias believes that if he performs enough atrocities in Ashardalon’s name, the dragon will return. Gulthias is probably insane.

The PCs head off to Nightfang Spire. Once there, they have to fight through undead, girallons, and a couple of demonic servitors in order to collect the four parts of the dragon key which give them access to the Spire’s core, where they face off against Gulthias and (presumably) destroy the evil heart.

(Roll credits.)

WEAKNESSES

Overall, Heart of Nightfang Spire represents an improvement over both The Standing Stone and The Speaker in Dreams. Unfortunately, it also fails to get back up to the high quality of The Sunless Citadel and The Forge of Fury.

Ultimately, here, the flaw is not one of execution: With only a couple of exceptions, Heart of Nightfang Spire is flawless. The problem lies in Cordell’s failure to actively excite you with his adventure: Nightfang Spire is simply not all that interesting as a location; Gulthias’ cult simply isn’t that interesting an antagonist.

I mean, let’s take a closer look at the cult: As far as I can tell, their master plan boils down to nothing more than “being really nasty”. There’s nothing wrong with that, but are you really going to turn to one of your gamer buddies in later years and say, “Hey, you remember that time we beat those guys who were being really nasty?”

Similarly, there’s nothing wrong about Nightfang Spire, but there’s also nothing special about it: It’s a tower with some catacombs underneath it.

And the problem here isn’t that you won’t be swapping stories about Nightfang Spire five years from: It’s that Nightfang Spire is boring. Because there’s nothing unique about the setting, and because there’s really nothing memorable about the villains, Heart of Nightfang Spire plays like the worst of all possible dungeon crawls: Kick open the door. Kill the monsters. Gather the treasure. Rinse. Lather. Repeat.

A couple of other minor flaws I want to mention here:

First, the text of the module does not match the interior illustration which does not match the map which does not match the cover. In short, there are about a half dozen versions of the Spire in this product.

Second, the Adventure Path series as a whole suffers from very weak adventure hooks (as I’ve commented in my previous reviews). Heart of Nightfang Spire is no exception. (And this helps contribute to the lack of any sense of purpose in the module.)

Finally, Cordell doesn’t use his villains to their full effectiveness. For example, Gulthias has inscribed a magical rune in various locations throughout the Spire – allowing him to scry on those locations and teleport his vampiric spawn through the runes to those locations. But, despite a few lackluster notes about potential courses of action Gulthias might take, these gazeways (as they are called) are never truly used to their full potential. I want to see vampiric hit squads teleported in behind the PCs; hit-and-run tactics that the PCs can’t figure out; and so forth. Once Gulthias knows the PCs are there I want to see him mobilize the entire tower, not sit sulking in his lair waiting for the PCs to systematically wipe him out.

STRENGTHS

I’ve explained to you everything that’s wrong with Heart of Nightfang Spire. Now let me show you that I’ve been a little unfair:

First, there is some unique flair to Nightfang Spire. Specifically, the adventure is designed so that the PCs have to fly through the top of the tower and then work their way down. Unfortunately, this is complicated somewhat by area 1 – which is some sort of ground level entrance to the tower. Although the description of area 1 suggests that there is still a door providing access to the tower here, this door remains completely unreferenced on the maps. I can only conclude that, in point of fact, this entrance does not exist (possibly it was bricked up at some point in the past?).

Second, there are some encounters here which are notably well done. For example, the 7th-level monk mummy and the vampiric gibbering mouther. Both of these technically violate the rules, but it doesn’t really matter: They’re cool concepts. Also, the module opens with a mid-air fight as the PCs try to gain access to the Spire – an encounter which is probably the highlight of the adventure (which is unfortunate, because it’s also the first encounter of the adventure – it’s all down hill from here).

Third, Cordell does present an environment where creatures respond to disturbances near them. In fact, on a room-by-room level, the Spire is far more detailed in terms of dynamic monster reactions than most modules. The problem is that the Spire, by its very nature, should be even more dynamic.

Finally, let me repeat myself by saying that Heart of Nightfang Spire is a solid adventure. The execution of the actual elements is almost impeccably solid: It’s only the elements themselves which lack a certain luster to my eyes.

CONCLUSION

Ultimately, as I step back and look at Heart of Nightfang Spire, I am struck by a single word:

Bland.

That being said, there’s enough raw material here that you should be able to spice things up easily enough: First, give the cult some meat. They need a real, tangible, meaningful, threatening goal. Wiping out a pocket of random evil is about as exciting as watching paint dry, but having tale to tell about stopping the Cult of Gulthias from [insert dramatic plot here]? That has something going for it. (This may be as simple as having the return of Ashardalon as a serious, tangible threat – rather than something so utterly ridiculous that people giggle about it behind Gulthias’ back.)

Second, really work on giving the tower a credible defense. Gulthias not only becomes a more memorable villain if he’s manipulating his minions (and using his own powerful abilities) to constantly harass the PCs, but the entire adventure will become far more exciting because – in one stroke – you will have successfully demolished the “kick open door, kill monsters, gather treasure” mentality which is here right now. (Two things to watch for here: First, the girallons are already very potent opponents. If you allow Gulthias to gang them up against the PCs, the PCs will most likely be dead. By the same token, the PCs should really need to retreat and regroup if Gulthias manages to get his defenses credibly focused. Second, once Gulthias knows the PCs are going for the dragon key he isn’t going to just sit there and let them gather the pieces together so that they can come and destroy him.)

So, in the final analysis, Heart of Nightfang Spire is probably a good value for your money. But I would recommend against running it straight out of the box: The result will likely disappoint.

Style: 4
Substance: 4

Authors: Bruce Cordell
Company: Wizards of the Coast
Line: D&D
Price: $9.95
ISBN: 0-7869-1847-0
Production Code: WTC11847
Pages: 32

When I ran The Sunless Citadel, I revamped the entire mythology behind the Gulthias Tree. In doing so, I’d inadvertently cut myself off from using Heart of Nightfang Spire, which is, obviously, completely dependent on the original mythology of the staked vampire. (The concept of the PCs accidentally freeing a staked vampire is very clever, though.) As a result, I’ve never actually run Heart of Nightfang Spire.

I think my closing paragraphs, however, were groping towards a desire to remix these Adventure Path modules in a way that would perhaps bind them just a little closer together: The opportunity to learn more lore about Ashardalon throughout the series, for example. Or for Gulthias’ resurgent cult to have more connections to and lore about the wider drama.

I should probably resist the temptation to go deeper down this rabbit hole…

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

Although not as strong as The Sunless Citadel or The Forge of Fury, The Standing Stone mixes a strong premise with some daring design decisions to produce a solid module.

Review Originally Published May 21st, 2001

When it comes to 3rd Edition modules, Wizards of the Coast has established a strong track record with modules such as The Sunless Citadel and The Forge of Fury — each of which, in my opinion, is destined to become a classic. So the only question in my mind when I sat down to read John D. Rateliff’s The Standing Stone, a module for 7th level characters, is whether or not it could stand up to its remarkable predecessors.

The short answer is: No, it couldn’t.

On the plus side, even Mark McGwire can’t hit it out of the park every time. That doesn’t mean you won’t take his singles when they come.

PLOT

Warning: This review will contain spoilers for The Standing Stone. Players who may find themselves playing in this adventure should not read beyond this point.

A tiefling sorceror named Dyson has unlocked the ancient druidic magic inscribed upon the stone circles which surround the small town of Ossington. (For those of you familiar with the real world stone circles of England, Ossington is essentially Avebury with the stone circles and the avenue in slightly better condition.) These magics have allowed him to form an alliance with extraplanar forces of evil, and conceive a plan in which the animals of the forest can be transformed into humanoid form – a powerful staging force for a demonic invasion into our world.

Over the past few months, Dyson has killed almost all of the original villagers and replaced them with his faux humans and halflings. His actions have not gone entirely unnoticed, however: He has angered the local wild elves, and he has been forced to slay a visiting paladin who began to suspect the truth. In response, he crippled the wild elves by inviting them to a parley and then treacherously betraying their leaders. The body of the paladin he has dumped in a tarn at the foot of another local monument: Red Horse Hill (based on the ancient mound-building traditions of Native Americans).

Dyson’s murderous actions have taken their toll: The paladin has risen as a member of the undead, and ruthlessly hunts down any faux humans who wander beyond the protection of the ancient stone circles. The remaining wild elves, in turn, ambush any who escape the horseman. As a result, the villagers have been unable to plant their fields or tend their crops – and now, having exhausted most of their larders, they are slowly starving.

Enter the PCs, who are duped by Dyson into believing all the wrong things: After all, there is a ghost hunting down “innocent” villagers, right? And there are a group of wild elves whose atrocities (in the form of dead bodies with elven arrows in them) are well documented. Dyson will do his best to get the PCs to rid him of his enemies, while simultaneously continuing his demonic work. If all else fails, he will attempt to distract them with tales of yet another local fixture: The Great Barrow, where an ancient warlord rests with his undead protectors.

STRENGTHS

I have to admit that, right from the start, The Standing Stone struck a positive note for me: For several months now, I have been wanting to develop an adventure in which the PCs are duped by evil villagers into going after the good guys. And here it is. It’s a good twist on a familiar concept, and forms a solid foundation for an adventure.

Another nice feature here is Rateliff’s mixture of a variety of elements in building his adventure: Demonic pacts, ancient druidic magics, stone circles, burial mounds, lost souls, elven vengeance, even a tinge of The Island of Dr. Moreau thrown in for good measure. Nor does Rateliff overlook the importance of providing a nice selection of adventure hooks for getting the PCs involved in this dynamic scenario and environment.

Although largely an overland adventure, The Standing Stone also features a minor dungeon: The Great Barrow, in which the Warlord Shainath lives on as a member of the undead. Rateliff makes a rather daring choice by rendering this as, essentially, a random dungeon environment. While I was initially skeptical, I was astonished to discover just how well this works. Rateliff succeeds at manipulating a minimal amount of text into a very rewarding dungeon-delving experience. Where other author’s might have ended up compromising the complexity of the Barrow in deference to the space limitations of the module, Rateliff rises to the occasion.

WEAKNESSES

In reading The Standing Stone I am left with the indelible suspicion that it has been seriously compromised by its editors. For example, several pieces of background information are noticeably absent, despite the fact that they are implicitly alluded to elsewhere in the text. Although the result is not crippling to the adventure, its structure appears to be significantly weakened. (Of course, my supposition here may be incorrect. Whatever the case, however, there are things which should be here which aren’t – and that weakens the adventure.)

The boxed text is another weakness here. Quite frankly, it’s horrid. Besides being, in general, a textbook example of poor writing, it actively undermines some of the module’s best qualities by treating objects of ancient mystery and magic with a stunning colloquialism.

There are also some gaps in plausibility to be found here. For example, the conceit that an entire forest has been depopulated by Dyson creating 80 or so faux humans and halflings borders on the absurd. (Perhaps we are meant to assume that a multitude of animals must die for every one success?)

The module also suffers from the simple reality that it’s far too deadly for the 7th level characters it is supposedly designed for. And Rateliff (or his editors) should really know better, considering that the lowest Encounter Level he assigns in the course of the entire adventure is EL 9. My “favorite” bit is when he actually assumes that four 7th level characters can take out four NPC villains ranging from 8th to 16th level, when those NPC villains are accompanied by more than 30 angry villagers.

The worst fault to be found here, however, comes from the module’s conclusion: Although, technically, a mystery in which the PCs are supposed to figure out what Dyson is up to, there is really no way for them to solve that mystery until after the adventure is completed (by reading through Dyson’s notes). This type of thing drives me nuts. You shouldn’t have to wait until after you’ve beaten the bad guy to know why you were trying to beat him in the first place.

CONCLUSION

The Standing Stone is a solid adventure, built on some really great concepts and developed within a locale with an intriguing history and magic about it. Despite its structural weaknesses, I found it to be a more than worthy addition to a D&D campaign – and easily salvageable from its unfortunate weaknesses. If this is the worst that WotC can produce, then I remain confident that they’ll continue seeing my hard-earned cash for years to come.

Style: 4
Substance: 3

Authors: John D. Rateliff
Company: Wizards of the Coast
Line: Dungeons & Dragons
Price: $9.95
ISBN: 0-7869-1838-1
Production Code: WTC11838
Pages: 32

Hey. Past-Justin. Quick question: Do you think the hill with a horse carved into its side might be inspired by the Uffington White Horse, from the same cultural heritage as the druidic stone circles? And which was clearly the inspiration for the cartographer’s illustration in the book?

“Nope. Definitely Native American mounds.”

Sigh.

This is mostly interesting as a reflection on how every reader (including you!) brings their own POV to what they read. I had visited Avebury. I had visited the works of the Native American “Mound Builders.” I had not visited the Uffington White Horse. (I think I would have at least been aware of it in 2001, but perhaps not.) If past-me had visited the Nazca lines in Peru, perhaps I would have instead confidently assumed they were our shared point of reference.

I was probably also being influenced by my personal predilection for cultural mash-ups as a source for inspiration for fantastical settings. It was more exciting to imagine Native American mound builder traditions and druidic stone circles both being sources of inspiration, rather than just a straightforward copy-paste druidic theme.

In any case, my suspicion that the later D&D Adventure Path modules were being compromised by the limited page count — either due to the designer cutting corners to make stuff fit or editors slashing the text after the fact — only grew to a certainty as the series continued. The scope of high-level adventures tends to expand, and in D&D 3E even the size of the stat blocks would grow significantly and consume more and more space at higher levels. Where this was somewhat worrisome in The Standing Stone, it would become a serious issue for the subsequent installments.

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

An excellent module haunted by some unfortunate flaws.

Review Originally Published May 22nd, 2001

The Forge of Fury is the second in WotC’s Adventure Path series of modules for D&D – designed to take the beginning party all the way to 20th level, while still having each module function as an autonomous whole. (In other words, you don’t need to have played The Sunless Citadel – the first module in the series – in order to play The Forge of Fury. There is, literally, no direct connection between the two.)

Like The Sunless Citadel before it, The Forge of Fury demonstrates that WotC is more than capable of competing effectively within the open market they’ve chosen to create for the D&D game: High quality maps (possibly the best on the market today), an exacting attention to detail (even small things, like having the same adventurers pictured on the cover as were pictured on the cover of The Sunless Citadel), and exceptional production values all combine to make this an extremely attractive product.

Warning: From this point forward, this review will contain spoilers for The Forge of Fury. Players who may end up playing in this module are encouraged to stop reading now. Proceed at your own risk.

The Forge of Fury is a location-based module, set within the confines of Khundrukar – a dwarven citadel which fell before an orcish invasion two hundred years ago, and which has, since, become inhabited by the denizens of evil.

Like The Sunless Citadel before it, however, The Forge of Fury is not a “one note” dungeon by any stretch of the imagination. To the contrary, Khundrukar is possessed of a rich, detailed, dynamic history (involving dwarves, orcs, troglodytes, demons, duergar, magic, and a black dragon). Combined with a complex dungeon geography (involving a complicated, but logical, arrangement of five interconnected dungeon sections, ranging from natural caverns to dwarven passages) this provides a delightfully evocative, believable, and entertaining gaming environment.

There are four major sections to Khundrukar (along with a number of minor features, which I won’t take the time to explore in detail here): The orcs who have taken up residence in the Mountain Door (the first barrier the ancient dwarves set up to repel invaders); the troglodyte warren which inhabits the Glitterhame (a network of beautiful, natural caverns); the duergar who have invaded the Foundry in an attempt to discover the ancient secrets of the dwarven forge; and the dragon which has taken up residence in the Black Lake.

It is ironic, however, that a module which draws so many strengths from its attention to detail, should also have its primary flaw be a lack of attention to such details. The most noticeable weakness of this product is the plethora of errors which wander through its pages with wild abandon: Minor map details which don’t match the text, missing italics in a section of boxed text, incorrect and contradictory information regarding the carving of the orcish tunnel on pg. 18, and so forth.

A few other minor problems are also present: I consider the boxed text to be lackluster and, in places, sub-par – needing some definite improvement upon occasion in order to provide the polish necessary to make an otherwise excellent dungeon environment really shine. Similarly, the adventure hooks designed to bring the PCs into Khundrukar are simply lacking (a problem which The Sunless Citadel also possessed). An epic setting such as this needs something with a little more kick to it than “hunt down the orcs” or “I’ll pay you a bounty for magic swords”.

Far more worrisome are the “killer monsters” which lie in wait: A roper and a succubi have both been placed within Khundrukar. Both of these are far too powerful for the 3rd to 5th level characters who are supposed to be going through this adventure, and – although the succubi is given several escape hatches – the roper is a definite problem. Cautious DMs should also be aware that the black dragon, although a reasonable challenge for the PCs, can also be extremely deadly if they encounter it while in non-peak condition.

While these problems are annoying, however, they are only minor flaws which do not serve to noticeably mar in otherwise exceptional adventure. In short: The Forge of Fury, like The Sunless Citadel before it, is a module with an epic quality to it – which will fill many nights with gaming memories which will linger for years to come. Definitely check this one out.

Style: 4
Substance: 4

Grade: A-

Authors: Richard Baker
Company: Wizards of the Coast
Line: D&D
Price: $9.95
ISBN: 0-7869-1644-3
Production Code: TSR11644
Pages: 32

“A roper and a succubi have both been placed within Khundrukar. Both of these are far too powerful for the 3rd to 5th level characters who are supposed to be going through this adventure.”

Oh no. It’s me. I’m the problem. It’s me.

This complaint (that The Forge of Fury included monsters who were “too tough” according to the CR/EL guidelines in the DMG) had quickly become part of the meme-sphere back in 2001. As a reviewer, I either felt pressured to include this “everybody knows” criticism of the module or simply bought into the meme. The only problem? It wasn’t true. First, including these encounters was actually completely in keeping with the DMG encounter guidelines. Second, the entire concept of “every encounter must be carefully tailored for the characters’ precise level” was a toxic concept. (I’ve written about this at greater length in articles like Revisiting Encounter Design. And it’s still relevant to D&D and other RPG adventure design today.)

So, important lesson to take away from my younger self: If you’re going to be a reviewer, your job is not to simply parrot the “common wisdom.” (Nor to reject it as a reactionary.) It’s to develop your own point of view, reflect on that point of view, and present it to others in a way that’s useful and insightful.

The Forge of Fury is one of those modules that’s difficult for me to accurately assess: When I ran it, I did a big expansive remix, adding a bunch of extra levels plus additional factions with conflicts and agendas that were baked into my campaign world. It also played a vital role in the development of adversary rosters. Running the adventure was one of the greatest experiences I’ve ever had at the RPG table. But, perforce, it can be difficult to separate my memories of experiencing the adventure from my memories of the book itself.

What I can say, is that I honestly don’t know if I would be the GM I am today if not for this module. And I highly recommend it. It was adapted to 5th Edition in Tales of the Yawning Portal.

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

James Wyatt provides Wizards of the Coast with another high quality adventure module, this time leaving the dungeon behind for the tempestuous problems of the city of Brindinford.

Review Originally Published May 21st, 2001

Many adventures of would-be greatness are dealt an Achilles’ heel of crippling proportions through the simple expectation that the PCs will follow a specific course of action – taking them, predictably, from one encounter to another. James Wyatt neatly sidesteps this problem time and time again in The Speaker of Dreams, on his way to presenting the first city-based adventure released by Wizards of the Coast for the 3rd Edition.

PLOT

Warning: This review will contain spoilers for The Speaker in Dreams. Players who may find themselves playing in this adventure should not read beyond this point. Three Days to Kill (Penumbra) and Death in Freeport (Green Ronin) will also be discussed in general terms.

The mind flayer Ghaerleth Axom has long been laying the groundwork for his plan to establish an empire of slaves upon the surface world, and the starting point for his conquest is the town of Brindinford.

The Speaker in Dreams is an adventure in two parts. In the first part, the PCs are attending a local fair in Brindinford when a troop of wererats begin strewing chaos. As the PCs attempt to track the wererats back to their lair, they will uncover other monstrous groups. And when they finally track the wererats down, they will discover that the rats were acting in the employ of a group of insane sorcerers. Once they’ve gotten rid of the sorcerers, the PCs – and the city at large — will believe that they’ve solved the problem.

The truth, of course, is that the sorcerers were being unwittingly manipulated by the mind flayer through the use of his telepathic abilities. As the PCs leave a feast thrown in their honor, the mind flayer’s remaining forces will launch an assassination attempt, launching the second part of the adventure. The PCs will, hopefully, escape unscathed – but the incident will provide a pretext for the lord of the town (who is also being controlled by the mind flayer) to institute martial law. Over the next few days the situation in the city will deteriorate considerably as the mind flayer’s demonic forces – empowered by the lord’s authority – tighten their grip of terror.

CONCLUSION

The opening of The Speaker in Dreams calls for comparison to Penumbra’s Three Days to Kill (which also opens with a fair). Here I feel that Three Days to Kill comes out on top: Not only by presenting a fair with a history and purpose – giving it a specific character and presence within your game world (instead of being simply “generic fantasy fair” – pun intended), but also by presenting several actual activities which the PCs can take part in while at the fair (something James Wyatt overlooks completely).

The rest of The Speaker in Dreams, on the other hand, calls for comparison to Green Ronin’s Freeport adventures (which also deal with an evil, mystical conspiracy lurking within the walls of a city). Here I feel that Freeport has the advantage when it comes to the conceptual and epic scope behind the conspiracy, but I feel that Wyatt has succeeded in organizing The Speaker in Dreams so that it is a more playable – and perhaps even more memorable – adventure.

My assessment, in short: Although not as memorable as The Sunless Citadel, The Forge of Fury, or the Freeport Trilogy, The Speaker of Dreams manages to avoid committing some of the minor flaws of actual design which tarnish the otherwise impeccable quality of those other adventures. Half a dozen of one, six of the other. James Wyatt has produced a high quality product.

Style: 4
Substance: 4

Authors: James Wyatt
Company: Wizards of the Coast
Line: Dungeons & Dragons
Price: $9.95
ISBN: 0-7869-1830-6
Production Code: WTC11830
Pages: 32

The Speaker in Dreams was the third Adventure Path module released for D&D 3rd Edition. Although I had slotted the two previous modules — The Sunless Citadel and The Forge of Fury — into my  first 3rd Edition campaign, the same was not true for Speaker. This had nothing to do with the quality of the adventure, but was simply because there was nowhere to slot Speaker into my campaign arc.

Anecdotally, this seemed to be true for a lot of people: They ran Sunless Citadel and Forge of Fury, but then parted ways with the loosely connected Adventure Path modules. This may have been because the event-based Speaker was more difficult to slot into a campaign than the site-based adventures, but I think it’s also likely that these adventures were just coming out too slowly. These were being released every other month, so if you started your campaign with The Sunless Citadel in September 2000, it would have been January 2001 before you could pick up this 5th-level adventure.

By contrast, when Paizo began releasing their stand-alone Adventure Paths several years later, the 5th-level installment would be released 30 days after the first installment, making it far less likely that a group could outrun the pace of the campaign, even if they started playing it immediately upon release.

In any case, having neither prepped nor run The Speaker in Dreams, my memories of the module itself are quite dim twenty-five years later. One of the quirks of the “living memory” we have of our RPG adventures.

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