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<blockquote data-quote="Melan" data-source="post: 2010460" data-attributes="member: 1713"><p><strong>Chaos Rising</strong></p><p></p><p><strong><span style="color: red"><strong>WARNING! SPOILERS!</strong></span></strong></p><p></p><p>This adventure tackles one of those areas of fantasy and science fiction literature which are underrepresented in adventure gaming: time travel. Pulling it off has always been tricky, especially in a game where player influence may easily mess things up. To be completely honest, I am not sure if <strong>Chaos Rising</strong> got it completely right.</p><p></p><p>The main plot revolves around the return of a long forgotten demon prince, the Faceless Lord, supreme master of oozes, slimes and the like. Currently, he (and the amulet holding his power) is contained in a cubelike vault which was originally devised by Jubilex to protect the talisman from harm. Unfortunately for him, Dwurfater, patron god of the dwarves managed to close access to this vault, which is only accessible under very special circumstances. Since the event (the rising of the blood moon) will happen in no more than two weeks, it is imperative that the key to the vault doesn’t fall into the wrong hands. These wrong hands are already present: a large company of evildoers, led by the evil Lord Raob and Sleera, a necromantress, is currently excavating the dwarven ruins around the vault to learn the secrets needed to use the demonic artifact to their own end.</p><p></p><p><strong>Chaos Rising</strong> is a fairly linear quest: first, the party needs to scale a 750 feet tall stone outcropping called „The Devil’s Finger”, somehow avoiding Raob and company. Then, they must travel though a temporal gate to the past, when the proud citadel of the dwarves still stood. This bastion of goodness is under attack by the demon lord Orcus, and the players must be careful to negotiate well with the dwarves if they wish to avoid being attacked. To complicate matters, they are not the only time travelers: there are others, and they have their own agendas, which may or may not result in confrontation. These companies may be encountered more than once, in different time periods.</p><p></p><p>After dealing with the dwarves, it is time to travel forward to the not-quite-so distant past and recover the key in an underground maze full of traps and evil. It will not be an easy task to get it, and even then, transportation may prove even more hazardous, as the „key” is a heavy platinum anvil that radiates an antimagic field. The dungeon is a nice change of pace from the busy and chaotic dwarven fastness – it is a place where there is little dynamism and everything seems to be still.</p><p></p><p>When the key is recovered, the party doesn’t return to the age of the dwarves as they would except – instead, they are deposited in the citadel long after it fell to forces of evil. They must again travel through it – but this time, there is a new assortment of foes to combat. In a way, this is the strongest idea I found in the module – the desolation and despair after is a stark contrast to the older „heroic age”. Some encounters are sure to creep out even more adept dungeoneers – like ghostly dwarven jewelsmiths, who still try to work on their creations when their incorporeal fingers can no longer even touch the materials they work with. The NPC groups (including Raob and Sleera if they survive and learn of the way to penetrate the time gate) are also back.</p><p></p><p>Returning to the present in time to enter the vault, there is one final test – to finally get the prize, the heroes must again embark on a journey to four small demiplanes for enchanted gold tablets. None of these locales are described in detail, and I would either leave them out alltogether or use <strong>Dimensions of Flight</strong> instead – it has four pretty interesting settings which a DM could use instead of the recommended ones. Of course, once someone recovers the amulet, the Faceless Lord also appears and he has absolutely no intention to let it go too easily. A party must possess quick wits if they want to survive and (in the best scenario) banish the Demon Lord again.</p><p></p><p><strong>Chaos Rising</strong>, while a good adventure, also has some problems which may distract from enjoyment. One of the prime factors, in my opinion, is motivation. Since a „Blood Moon” (the time when Jubilex’s vault can be accessed) happens only once every 400 years, a party may not want to go through all hoops to get the amulet. Since there is only one way to open the gigantic obsidian vault (with the special anvil-key), they may (correctly) decide to either NOT go after this item and simply annihilate everyone and everything that gets near the Devil’s Finger until the danger passes. A sufficiently mobile high level party (remember, they should ideally be 12th level or higher) could easily construct a security net against just about any kind of foe they may find in the adventure. Baddies emerging from the planar portal with the key? Oh, they will not be nearly as well prepared and rested as the player characters. An assaulting team from below? Unless they use the same methods as the party, they can be easily detected and dispatched.</p><p>Even if they obtain the key, they may not want to use it. Why not let the amulet stay in its old prison when it is just a matter of transporting the key to somewhere else – sure, it supresses magic, but if it is well hidden (say, shielded by lead in some containment facility, or in the depths of the sea, molten lava or some other hard to reach location), nobody will find and free Jubilex for a few millenia – whereas if the demon amulet is removed from safety, it can easily be captured by a force of evil.</p><p></p><p>Another complaint I would like to register is the module’s linearity – it may be expected in an epic quest, but it almost feels painful now and then. Sure, a freeform time travel scenario could cause a lot of trouble... But the players may feel railroaded by the scenario – with a good reason.</p><p></p><p>Despite these gripes, <strong>Chaos Rising</strong> is a solid adventure. It may not be among the greatest, it may not be the biggest, and it may be tricky to adapt, but it is still good and should provide a few nights of epic, high level fun.</p><p></p><p>Score: 4/5</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Melan, post: 2010460, member: 1713"] [b]Chaos Rising[/b] [b][color=red][b]WARNING! SPOILERS![/b][/color][/b][color=red][/color] This adventure tackles one of those areas of fantasy and science fiction literature which are underrepresented in adventure gaming: time travel. Pulling it off has always been tricky, especially in a game where player influence may easily mess things up. To be completely honest, I am not sure if [b]Chaos Rising[/b] got it completely right. The main plot revolves around the return of a long forgotten demon prince, the Faceless Lord, supreme master of oozes, slimes and the like. Currently, he (and the amulet holding his power) is contained in a cubelike vault which was originally devised by Jubilex to protect the talisman from harm. Unfortunately for him, Dwurfater, patron god of the dwarves managed to close access to this vault, which is only accessible under very special circumstances. Since the event (the rising of the blood moon) will happen in no more than two weeks, it is imperative that the key to the vault doesn’t fall into the wrong hands. These wrong hands are already present: a large company of evildoers, led by the evil Lord Raob and Sleera, a necromantress, is currently excavating the dwarven ruins around the vault to learn the secrets needed to use the demonic artifact to their own end. [b]Chaos Rising[/b] is a fairly linear quest: first, the party needs to scale a 750 feet tall stone outcropping called „The Devil’s Finger”, somehow avoiding Raob and company. Then, they must travel though a temporal gate to the past, when the proud citadel of the dwarves still stood. This bastion of goodness is under attack by the demon lord Orcus, and the players must be careful to negotiate well with the dwarves if they wish to avoid being attacked. To complicate matters, they are not the only time travelers: there are others, and they have their own agendas, which may or may not result in confrontation. These companies may be encountered more than once, in different time periods. After dealing with the dwarves, it is time to travel forward to the not-quite-so distant past and recover the key in an underground maze full of traps and evil. It will not be an easy task to get it, and even then, transportation may prove even more hazardous, as the „key” is a heavy platinum anvil that radiates an antimagic field. The dungeon is a nice change of pace from the busy and chaotic dwarven fastness – it is a place where there is little dynamism and everything seems to be still. When the key is recovered, the party doesn’t return to the age of the dwarves as they would except – instead, they are deposited in the citadel long after it fell to forces of evil. They must again travel through it – but this time, there is a new assortment of foes to combat. In a way, this is the strongest idea I found in the module – the desolation and despair after is a stark contrast to the older „heroic age”. Some encounters are sure to creep out even more adept dungeoneers – like ghostly dwarven jewelsmiths, who still try to work on their creations when their incorporeal fingers can no longer even touch the materials they work with. The NPC groups (including Raob and Sleera if they survive and learn of the way to penetrate the time gate) are also back. Returning to the present in time to enter the vault, there is one final test – to finally get the prize, the heroes must again embark on a journey to four small demiplanes for enchanted gold tablets. None of these locales are described in detail, and I would either leave them out alltogether or use [b]Dimensions of Flight[/b] instead – it has four pretty interesting settings which a DM could use instead of the recommended ones. Of course, once someone recovers the amulet, the Faceless Lord also appears and he has absolutely no intention to let it go too easily. A party must possess quick wits if they want to survive and (in the best scenario) banish the Demon Lord again. [b]Chaos Rising[/b], while a good adventure, also has some problems which may distract from enjoyment. One of the prime factors, in my opinion, is motivation. Since a „Blood Moon” (the time when Jubilex’s vault can be accessed) happens only once every 400 years, a party may not want to go through all hoops to get the amulet. Since there is only one way to open the gigantic obsidian vault (with the special anvil-key), they may (correctly) decide to either NOT go after this item and simply annihilate everyone and everything that gets near the Devil’s Finger until the danger passes. A sufficiently mobile high level party (remember, they should ideally be 12th level or higher) could easily construct a security net against just about any kind of foe they may find in the adventure. Baddies emerging from the planar portal with the key? Oh, they will not be nearly as well prepared and rested as the player characters. An assaulting team from below? Unless they use the same methods as the party, they can be easily detected and dispatched. Even if they obtain the key, they may not want to use it. Why not let the amulet stay in its old prison when it is just a matter of transporting the key to somewhere else – sure, it supresses magic, but if it is well hidden (say, shielded by lead in some containment facility, or in the depths of the sea, molten lava or some other hard to reach location), nobody will find and free Jubilex for a few millenia – whereas if the demon amulet is removed from safety, it can easily be captured by a force of evil. Another complaint I would like to register is the module’s linearity – it may be expected in an epic quest, but it almost feels painful now and then. Sure, a freeform time travel scenario could cause a lot of trouble... But the players may feel railroaded by the scenario – with a good reason. Despite these gripes, [b]Chaos Rising[/b] is a solid adventure. It may not be among the greatest, it may not be the biggest, and it may be tricky to adapt, but it is still good and should provide a few nights of epic, high level fun. Score: 4/5 [/QUOTE]
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