The basics: This is a 4E adventure for 1st level PCs, part of the Dungeon Crawl Classics line. The adventure included all stats, a double sided battle map (including ALL adventure areas, thank you very much KotS), 3 player handouts and an interior color cover map of the city of Punjar. The adventure was 33 pages long, with an additional 2 pages of appendix stuff (new magic and new monsters).
Overview: My players had a great time. This is an exemplary adventure, much better IMHO than any of the intro adventures Wizards has put out. Most of WotC’s stuff reads like a series of random encounters strung together for a delve event; by contrast, this was a true adventure, ala AD&D Slavers series.
The adventure didn’t make as much use of skill challenges as I would have liked, mostly defaulting to skill checks instead, and some of the skill check DCs seemed a little out of whack. I recommend changing them to suit your group.
The adventure consists of 2 main “levels.” The first is an urban slum, the home of the Beggar King and his evil henchfolk. In one of the cooler aspects of the module, the adventure comes with roof tiles, making it possible for the DM to keep the battle map out in the open for the entire first half of the adventure, removing the roofs tile by tile as the PCs explore the slums.
The second level is a sewer/dungeon crawl, with some Lovecraft for good effect. While "standard old school" in the vein of the old Slaver series adventures, the crawl portion is very exciting, with a number of traps, strange locations, and unexpected opponents.
Summary: The adventure is very well suited for a swashbuckling play style. PCs spent time running across rooftops, jumping through windows, and jumping across alleyways. There is a fair bit of combat, and plenty of traps, but not much in the way of old school puzzle solving. The module does a good job of emulating Gray Mouser / Ffafhrd style sword and sorcery. And just like in those adventures, all hell can break loose if the PCs don’t watch themselves.
Cons: As mentioned above, I would have liked to see better use of skill challenges, and some of the skill DCs seemed a little high.
Pros: An intriguing adventure that showcases the strengths of 4E. Cool battlemaps. Memorable villains and killer traps.
Overview: My players had a great time. This is an exemplary adventure, much better IMHO than any of the intro adventures Wizards has put out. Most of WotC’s stuff reads like a series of random encounters strung together for a delve event; by contrast, this was a true adventure, ala AD&D Slavers series.
The adventure didn’t make as much use of skill challenges as I would have liked, mostly defaulting to skill checks instead, and some of the skill check DCs seemed a little out of whack. I recommend changing them to suit your group.
The adventure consists of 2 main “levels.” The first is an urban slum, the home of the Beggar King and his evil henchfolk. In one of the cooler aspects of the module, the adventure comes with roof tiles, making it possible for the DM to keep the battle map out in the open for the entire first half of the adventure, removing the roofs tile by tile as the PCs explore the slums.
The second level is a sewer/dungeon crawl, with some Lovecraft for good effect. While "standard old school" in the vein of the old Slaver series adventures, the crawl portion is very exciting, with a number of traps, strange locations, and unexpected opponents.
Summary: The adventure is very well suited for a swashbuckling play style. PCs spent time running across rooftops, jumping through windows, and jumping across alleyways. There is a fair bit of combat, and plenty of traps, but not much in the way of old school puzzle solving. The module does a good job of emulating Gray Mouser / Ffafhrd style sword and sorcery. And just like in those adventures, all hell can break loose if the PCs don’t watch themselves.
Cons: As mentioned above, I would have liked to see better use of skill challenges, and some of the skill DCs seemed a little high.
Pros: An intriguing adventure that showcases the strengths of 4E. Cool battlemaps. Memorable villains and killer traps.
