Shattered Gates of Slaughtergarde

DM_Jeff · Dec 28, 2006

I've been spending my Christmas vacation reading my recent few months' acquisitions and thought I'd comment on this new piece by WotC, Shattered Gates of Slaughtergarde. I'm quite impressed. Of immediate notice: someone said it was a sequel to Scourge of the Howling Horde, but it's not, at all. It's to start a campaign and get the PC's to 7th level.

It does take it's inspiration seeming by using the best philosophy and design ideas of the old "Thunder Rift" D&D Basic campaign folder and the "Gates of Firestorm Peak" adventure for 2nd Edition. As I was (and am) huge fans of those, and ran them successfully back in the 90's, I was pleased to see a married miniature campaign setting (in a valley no less) and local dungeons invested in the history and current goings-on of the setting.

The valley is easily dropped lock, stock & barrel into any campaign setting (with specific placement and ideas for both Forgotten Realms and Eberron) and contains classic ideas and themes but with a edge toward the new edition's tactics, neat templates, and monster class combos. The backstory is totally epic in scope and flavor. Stirring stuff. As I read further I'll post some more, but in the meanwhile I'll entertain any questions.

Player's guide to read to get ready? check. DM's campaign guide & valley gazeteer? check. Color visual aids from the old days to show to players? check. Poster map of miniature-scale locations for key battle scenes? check. Adventure guide with 3 full dungeons? check. Loaded with enough hooks, ideas and inspiration to run side treks and further adventures up to 10th level? check. For $25, that really ain't bad at all.

EDIT: Also of note, the entire thing is written alignment-neutral. It's written to accomodate good or evil PCs and their interests and actions.

-DM Jeff

MerricB · Dec 28, 2006

DM_Jeff said:
I've been spending my Christmas vacation reading my recent few months' acquisitions and thought I'd comment on this new piece by WotC, Shattered Gates of Slaughtergarde. I'm quite impressed. Of immediate notice: someone said it was a sequel to Scourge of the Howling Horde, but it's not, at all. It's to start a campaign and get the PC's to 7th level.

A lot of the promotional material referred to it as a sequel.

Thanks muchly for your impressions of it; I'm looking forward to seeing it for myself.

Cheers!

Monkey Boy · Dec 28, 2006

As a player I was dissapointed by the players guide. I was half expecting something like the Savage tide player guide which I think is an excellent resource to immerse your PC in the setting. Instead it turned out to be some very light "this race lives in this town" stuff with the rest of the guide turned over to PRC's.

I wanted to get a feel for what the valley of Obelisks was like when making a character. It was up to our DM to fill in the gaps. WOTC missed an opportunity when they wrote the the Slaughtergarde players guide.

Bihor · Dec 28, 2006

The thing is that the player's guide was the only thing that I liked.

This adventure is only good for two things:
1. For new players.
2. For lazy DM (like me) that need adventure ideas and already made map.

The so-caled adventure is only 3 simple dongeon (borring as hell) with 1 room/1 combat. the first for 1st lvl, the second for 2rd lvl, and the last for 6th lvl.
with almost no interaction with one room to an other (to explain why a monster does't attack in an other room, they say that in the dungeon nobody need to drink and eat).
At the back of the cover they talk about an army from the abyss ready to come out, the only evil outsider in the tow first is a fiendish giant spider and 2 demon at the very end with a yugoloth. Instead of putting spawn from MMIV they should a put lesser demons.

And why I liked the player's guide because it's the first time that I got a adventure/campagn that help the players creat a charcter that came from the region (where are the druids, the monks or the elfs) and the fact that they present two groups that uses the affiliation rules from PHII and prestige class with that. It could have been bigger for sure but I like the Idea.

DM_Jeff · Dec 28, 2006

MerricB said:
A lot of the promotional material referred to it as a sequel.

Indeed! I get the feeling it was more a point of interest to hobby store owners. A player comments how he liked "Scourge" and wants to know what to get next. So, in that vein, Slaughtergarde is a nice follow-up. Slaughtergard doesn't mention said ties however, and is not necessarily a product for new DMs (although it is mighty friendly for a DM who wants little work).

-DM Jeff

Prince of Happiness · Dec 28, 2006

DM_Jeff said:
Indeed! I get the feeling it was more a point of interest to hobby store owners. A player comments how he liked "Scourge" and wants to know what to get next. So, in that vein, Slaughtergarde is a nice follow-up. Slaughtergard doesn't mention said ties however, and is not necessarily a product for new DMs (although it is mighty friendly for a DM who wants little work).

-DM Jeff

There's a little comment at the end of Scourge of the Howling Horde that mentions that the beginning DM could go on to the Shattered Gates adventure. I'm considering this one, but then again, that Red Hand of Doom sounds god-like.

DM_Jeff · Dec 28, 2006

While I certainly wouldn't call Slaughtergarde boring, it is...hmm...simpler. Players who haven't 'seen it all' or been jaded will probabally get a huge kick out of this. As in back in the early 90's Thunder Rift was pretty typical, but it injected just enough new cool things that even seasoned players with imagination enjoyed it.

P.S. On the other hand, yes, Red hand of Doom really is a great module.

-DM Jeff

Prince of Happiness · Dec 28, 2006

DM_Jeff said:
While I certainly wouldn't call Slaughtergarde boring, it is...hmm...simpler. Players who haven't 'seen it all' or been jaded will probabally get a huge kick out of this. As in back in the early 90's Thunder Rift was pretty typical, but it injected just enough new cool things that even seasoned players with imagination enjoyed it.

P.S. On the other hand, yes, Red hand of Doom really is a great module.

-DM Jeff

Good point! I loved Thunder Rift. Fun little adventuring area that can open up to more, but plenty of bad guys for PCs to deal with for a while...a bad "neighborhood" that they can clean up. I like settings like that. Probably because of Thunder Rift.

Whizbang Dustyboots · Dec 28, 2006

What's the name of the Slaughtergarde mini-setting? Is every core race/class represented in the setting?

DM_Jeff · Dec 28, 2006

Whizbang Dustyboots said:
What's the name of the Slaughtergarde mini-setting? Is every core race/class represented in the setting?

It's called The Valley of the Obelisks. And yes, there is a place for each core race and class, and they're written into the setting with background information.

-DM Jeff