Thunderspire Labyrinth

pukunui · Jul 20, 2008

Hi all,

Has anyone got H2: Thunderspire Labyrinth yet? I would've thought the boards would be all abuzz with reviews and the like but I can't seem to find very much about the adventure at all. There are a few comments on amazon and on the d&d boards -- they all seem to be favorable, saying it's a better adventure than H1 was.

Anyone got anything to say about it? I pre-ordered it but chose to delay my order to get it along with H3 and the DM Screen in August.

Cheers,
Jonathan

D'karr · Jul 20, 2008

Check this thread

AntiStateQuixote · Jul 20, 2008

I got this adventure on Wednesday. I have read most of it cover to cover with a bit of skipping around.

It looks great. It's four linked "adventures" in a massive underground complex with a "town" inside the complex. There are some neat NPCs and plenty of room for the DM to make adjustments and add stuff to suit personal preference and campaign.

My only two problems:
1. Pregenerated treasure: this is an easy fix that requires no more work than it would have required if the didn't include pregenerated treasure. Magic items in 4E should be matched to your PCs. The pregen treasures won't match many parties.

2. The double sided poster map is not enough. I LOVE that they are doing these poster maps for use with miniatures and I wish there were more. This poster map is useful for three encounters. One of the encounters is a huge area that covers one side of the map completely.

Things I really liked:
1. Varied combats with lots of different bad guys: gnolls, hobgoblins, demons, duergar and more.

2. A sense of "wilderness" adventure underground that I haven't seen since Vault of the Drow.

3. The "town" (The Hall of the Seven Pillars) is fleshed out enough to be of use, but not over done so as to limit DM improvisation.

4. Several pages of "show this to the players" pictures for different places in the adventure.

5. Several optional side quests.

6. Multiple "getting started" hooks that can fit almost any game.

Overall I like this module a lot more than Keep on the Shadowfell.

pukunui · Jul 20, 2008

Awesome. Thanks for the replies.

How much does it rely on the existence of the Underdark, though? I haven't yet decided if my homebrew world has an Underdark, but if this adventure is all about the Underdark, then I may have to include one ...

Rechan · Jul 20, 2008

Not very. I mean, the Duerger had to get there and likely traveled from ajoined underground passages, but there's no Drow cities or anything like that. Everything else could've just strolled over across the mountains and went inside like everyone else.

However, the assumption of the "Town" is that it's a Trade Depo to trade with the various Underdark races. So, if there's no Underdark, then you need to come up with another reason why the Town is there. One solution is simple: Black Market.

pukunui · Jul 20, 2008

Rechan said:
Not very. I mean, the Duerger had to get there and likely traveled from ajoined underground passages, but there's no Drow cities or anything like that. Everything else could've just strolled over across the mountains and went inside like everyone else.

However, the assumption of the "Town" is that it's a Trade Depo to trade with the various Underdark races. So, if there's no Underdark, then you need to come up with another reason why the Town is there. One solution is simple: Black Market.

Awesome. Thanks. I'm not sure what I'll do about the Paragon tier adventure that's got Drow in the title ... I'll either cave and run it or skip it and write something of my own.

On a side note, I'm really hoping that the final Epic tier adventure will be all about facing off against Orcus.

OMAC 247 · Jul 20, 2008

Picked it up yesterday, and from what I've skimmed so far it seems great.
Definitely has more potential than Keep on the Shadowfell, but that said, Shadowfell seems to be keeping my group entertained and teaching us the new rules, so i guess i can't complain

pukunui · Jul 20, 2008

OMAC 247 said:
Picked it up yesterday, and from what I've skimmed so far it seems great.
Definitely has more potential than Keep on the Shadowfell, but that said, Shadowfell seems to be keeping my group entertained and teaching us the new rules, so i guess i can't complain

Yeah, my guys are enjoying KotS as well. They particularly enjoyed talking to all the NPCs in the town. I'm definitely going to be modifying it quite a bit in places, though.

pukunui · Jul 20, 2008

What's with all this double posting?

OMAC 247 · Jul 20, 2008

Yeah, i think KotS needs a 'little love and attention' at make it shine

I'm going to start giving hints about the Goblin Slavers in Thunderspire Labyrinth now, as i know one of my guys will really want to wipe 'em out.
i've already adopted the use of quest cards, mentioned in the DMG i think to help them keep all the information in one place and help keep the party focused