Shattered Gates of Slaughterguarde
Stormborn
Explorer
Shadeydm said:
There are two threads related to Slaughter Guard in recent days:
http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?t=191609
http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?t=191499
(No, Donna, I didn't read it, I just got the link for him.)
[very low spoiler mode]
I am currently a player, running a half-elf (houseruled human with elven features) Battle Sorcerer (UA) and a half-desert orc (UA again) cleric of Ganesha. We hit 6th level last night and Theresh Ahng,my cleric, joined the Luminous Order as the rank of Luminary Captain. I am loving it. I rarely get to be a player, more often the DM over the long haul, and this is an enjoyable game. Yes, a lot of it is dungeon crawl (as the first thread above notes), or almost all of it. I should also note that we rarely play dungeon crawl intinsive campaigns, mainly becuase I know that my players like a lot of intrigue and roleplay, but we are all having fun with a change of pace and a well done adventure. And there is a ton of setting material for both players and DMs to incorporate things to make the out of dungeon experiace more interesting. For example, my half-elf battle sorcerer is the son of an exiled Shuul Vaath noble (of sorts) and a halfling in out party has cousins" in Sumberton; and as previously noted my cleric has joined one of the two interesting affiliations. Also, we have overcome at least two obstacles in the dungeons with role play (and some good Diplomacy and Sense Motive) so its not all hack and slash. It "feels" very DnD to me and reminds me of the first game I played in and the exitement I had then, as a sorcerer in The Sunless Citadel. The monsters are classic, other people may be tired of some of these but we harldy ever use some of them and are enjoying going up against some iconic DnD enemies.
Our DM is already peppering in hints to move beyond the module. She is enjoying it and says she will write a review when its done. In the past she has been disappointed and frustrated with pregen adventures, but is finding this one both easy and enjoyable to run. She uses our joint stock of minis and Dungeon Tiles and other products and has thrown in at least one side quest using Map-of-the-Week and Viscious Venues from the WotC site. I will point her to this thread.
Oh well I was hoping someone might direct me to an actual review of it. I am DMing a party of 5 PCs who will be 3rd level by the time they resolve their current dilemma. I am wondering how good the material in this $25.00 adventure is and if I would still get my moneys worth out of it with 3rd level PCs?
Thanks for trying!
Thanks for trying!
Capellan
Explorer
The module itself is very much a site-based dungeon-crawl. It's a good one, so if your group enjoys those kind of games, you should be well set.
The package also contains a pretty nice mini-setting, with enough info for the GM to run the game, but plenty of room for expansion. There's even a Player's Guide to help introduce your players to the area (it assumes that they are creating new characters, but it's easily adaptable). The inclusion of the mini-setting also gives lots of plot hooks to break up the dungeon-bashing if you wish.
With third level characters, you'll either need to increase the CRs for at least the first third of the module (and probably two-thirds or more) or find other ways to increase the difficulty for a better challenge. The module has some pretty tough encounters for characters of the modules expected level, but if you're two levels ahead of that it would probably be too easy as written. Leaving all the ELs as they are and slapping a tight timeframe on the first third might make for a fun challenge for 3rd level PCs, though.
The package also contains a pretty nice mini-setting, with enough info for the GM to run the game, but plenty of room for expansion. There's even a Player's Guide to help introduce your players to the area (it assumes that they are creating new characters, but it's easily adaptable). The inclusion of the mini-setting also gives lots of plot hooks to break up the dungeon-bashing if you wish.
With third level characters, you'll either need to increase the CRs for at least the first third of the module (and probably two-thirds or more) or find other ways to increase the difficulty for a better challenge. The module has some pretty tough encounters for characters of the modules expected level, but if you're two levels ahead of that it would probably be too easy as written. Leaving all the ELs as they are and slapping a tight timeframe on the first third might make for a fun challenge for 3rd level PCs, though.
Rafael Ceurdepyr
First Post
Shadeydm said:
Huh, sounds like Stormborn *was* reviewing it.
Absent a formal review, over on the Wizards boards, there's a thread posted by someone who's currently playing it:http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=767930.
I think the material is well worth the money. Capellan has good advice just above on making it suitable for 3rd level PCs. I've found a minimun of typos. The layout has been useful, using the much-discussed new combat format. If you want something that takes a minimun of prep time, it's a great module. If, however, your party wants an adventure that's not a dungeon crawl, then don't pick this one up, or mod it heavily. There are plenty of hooks for intervening episodes. My players will be 6th level when getting to the last section of the three parts, and I think they may have a tough time of it.
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