Dungeon Crawl Classic #14
Dungeon Interludes
Chapter 1: The Eye of the Night
Level 1-3 (Scaled to level 4)
Turn 44a: Review
Overall score out of 10: 7.7
Play time: 3 battered hours.
Review:
Another good one, and short, although the players spent Hit Points like they were going out of fashion. From a DMs perspective I thought at first that the continuous cycle of rats would prove boring, particularly when the scaled up version of the module meant the rats would stick around for a little longer than expected, also because there were so many of the little, and not so little, blighters. This seemed to be less of a problem than I expected for the players, they were in a rats den, this was soon concluded- there’s bound to be lots of them.
The players also enjoyed the fact that the pace of the scenario was quite frenetic at times, the battles hard, and the final epic entirely suited to what passed before.
With all the raving you’d perhaps have expected a higher mark, and yet they were just rats seemed to be the consensus on conclusion, and at times, particularly when faced with eighteen dire rats, and then another six… no make that twelve, well you get the idea.
Notes and Quotes:
Once they were inside the den, which took a little while, and caused a few upsets- some of the players want to get in and get swinging as soon as possible, the players were much happier.
The morass of Dire Rats in the first fracas set the pace, they knew they were in for trouble. Compounded when the loopy Barbarian decides to chase after the stragglers and ends up between a rock and a hard place, actually two rat nests complete with pairs of Fiendish Dire Rats.
An excellent introduction to the scenario which served to wipe the smile from all of the player’s faces, Jim for one, Mr. A., seemed most unamused that his sworn enemy- Dire Creatures, were getting offed and he was nowhere to be seen.
And the next creature they meet is of course a Giant Centipede, needless to say more rats follow, and Jim’s in his element, like Bec and Anya earlier, on the floor and getting bitten. Perhaps six Improved Fiendish Dire Rats was a little hard on the guys, but hey ho- who cares, they got through it.
The final fight was another fine moment to witness, shuttle runs to the fridge, players whispering blessings and screaming curses to their dice. It’s so reassuring to the DM- something must be working, nobody answers their phone, or tells stories about what happened in the pub the other night… They just roll their dice, make up stories, and sometimes chew on the gaming table.
And so…
Mr. R. (Cas)- “Can we play it again?”
Mrs. R. (Ala)- “Let’s not.”
Miss P. (Anya)- “I hate rats.”
Mr. W. (Newt)- “See above.”
Miss E. (Bec)- “See above.”
Mr. A. (Jim)- “Has anyone got a picture of a Dryad?”
Overall well received, the fights were all interesting in some way, kept the players on their toes. The hazards helped the story along, led to some creative suggestions, and the finale was definitely worth the price.
More of the same please next time, here’s hoping.
Next Turn: Into the trees.
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