The Courting of Fire
- Thread starter Raddu
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Alphastream
Adventurer
4 out of 5 rating for The Courting of Fire
When I read this adventure I was worried the investigative scenes would fall flat - they seemed simplistic. I've run this adventure at least five times at PAX Prime 2014, and I was really impressed with how it actually ran. The investigative portion is a nice simple framework, with each scene being evocative enough to draw in most player types. Players enjoy the overall mystery, but also the specific scenes. The scenes have a good variety to them, keeping player interest relatively high. The next portion of the adventure is a fun temple/dungeon crawl. There are some neat scenes that foster player ingenuity, including puzzles the players can delight in bypassing or have fun dealing with directly. Some of the foes are formidable for lower level PCs, but in real play this often encouraged players to develop imaginative plans to deal with the foes. The final two rooms have some interesting choices and the material, while in some places confusing, give the DM a lot of latitude to decide how to influence how players resolve the situations.I would have liked more clarity for the final room, some more lore (the players have great interest but receive few answers), more guidance on how to flow across the investigative scenes, and more guidance for the latitudes the DM has. Some DMs need to see the guidance before they will realize they have freedom in these scenes. Overall, this is a fun adventure with strong investigative play (within the organized play framework) that I would gladly run even more times than I already have.
When I read this adventure I was worried the investigative scenes would fall flat - they seemed simplistic. I've run this adventure at least five times at PAX Prime 2014, and I was really impressed with how it actually ran. The investigative portion is a nice simple framework, with each scene being evocative enough to draw in most player types. Players enjoy the overall mystery, but also the specific scenes. The scenes have a good variety to them, keeping player interest relatively high. The next portion of the adventure is a fun temple/dungeon crawl. There are some neat scenes that foster player ingenuity, including puzzles the players can delight in bypassing or have fun dealing with directly. Some of the foes are formidable for lower level PCs, but in real play this often encouraged players to develop imaginative plans to deal with the foes. The final two rooms have some interesting choices and the material, while in some places confusing, give the DM a lot of latitude to decide how to influence how players resolve the situations.I would have liked more clarity for the final room, some more lore (the players have great interest but receive few answers), more guidance on how to flow across the investigative scenes, and more guidance for the latitudes the DM has. Some DMs need to see the guidance before they will realize they have freedom in these scenes. Overall, this is a fun adventure with strong investigative play (within the organized play framework) that I would gladly run even more times than I already have.
2 out of 5 rating for The Courting of Fire
I did not DM this adventure, but I got a chance to discuss it with the DM and skim the adventure after we played it.Our experience with the adventure was particularly bad. We were mired down in seemingly pointless fights near the beginning and had to fast forward toward the climax. The undead in this adventure didn't feel needed, and the conclusion felt unsatisfying - after completing our main goal for the adventure, there didn't seem to be any reason to continue exploring the dungeon, despite the presence of more areas to be explored.I feel like this adventure had some potential, but the setup ought to be modified to make the player experience more satisfying.
I did not DM this adventure, but I got a chance to discuss it with the DM and skim the adventure after we played it.Our experience with the adventure was particularly bad. We were mired down in seemingly pointless fights near the beginning and had to fast forward toward the climax. The undead in this adventure didn't feel needed, and the conclusion felt unsatisfying - after completing our main goal for the adventure, there didn't seem to be any reason to continue exploring the dungeon, despite the presence of more areas to be explored.I feel like this adventure had some potential, but the setup ought to be modified to make the player experience more satisfying.
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