Forging Darkness
ISBN# 1-889182-52-4
Designed by Andy Miller
Published by Kenzer and Company
Originally reviewed by Jesse Dean on AtFantasy.com
Forging Darkness is the second in Kenzer and Company's line of d20 modules. Serving as the sequel for The Root of All Evil, it is written for a group of three to five characters of second to fourth level. It is set in the Reanaaria Bay area of Tellene, in the Kingdoms of Kalamar campaign setting. It is priced at $11.99
Plot Outline
Forging Darkness begins where the events of The Root of All Evil left off, with the PCs returning from the Reelio Jungle. If the PCs have not played The Root of All Evil an alternative beginning, where the wizard Geolain hires the PCs to work with the alchemist to recover the items sought in this adventure, is provided. At the resolution of the previous adventure the PCs had rescued the alchemist Halaan so that he could forge a Coin of Power that would negate the wizardess Daresh's Coin of Power. With the rescue completed Halaan insists the PC's return to Zoa so he can continue with his research and begin to forge the coin.
The first ingredient the PCs are sent for is diamond touched by death. He recommends they go investigate a ruined manor house west of Zoa where it is rumored the last of the line to receive a proper burial, Adool, was buried with a large diamond. The journey to the crypt is mostly uneventful, and the crypt itself is largely barren save for an encounter with the some dire rats and a battle with the Thing that once was Adool. With its defeat the diamond can be recovered and returned to Zoa.
The second ingredient the PCs are to acquire is blue dragon's breath trapped in an iron rod. Halaan sends them to talk to Geolain about acquiring it and he directs them to the Kydoban Desert, and specifically a small village within the desert, to start searching for a dragon that supposedly lives in the area. The PCs have the option of going straight to the village by boat or sailing to a city to the north of the village and travelling there by land. The people are initially indifferent of the PCs but, once they help to fight off a giant octopus attack, they throw a feast in their honor and offer them four guides to help them in the desert. The trip to the dragon’s lair is eventful, with the potential to encounter a giant ant lion’s sinkhole, a taunting encounter with Daresh’s magic, some vampire cacti, and a ruined village filled with gnolls. The dragon itself is not immediately hostile, and is willing to provide the PCs with what they seek if they are willing to kill the mites who have been stealing bits and pieces of his treasure, and return the treasure. If they aren’t he eats them. Once they succeed he provides them with his blue dragon’s breath and they can return to Zoa
When the PCs return to Zoa they are asked to participate in the next portion of the ritual, with the opportunity to spot a spy from the Sentinels of the True Way from whom the PCs, if they participated in The Root of all Evil, or Geolain recovered some arcane books from. The PCs are then informed that the closest place that is known where they might be able to recover the final ingredient, a devil’s blood spilled by a coward and mixed with the blood of a coward, is by way of the wizard Milead who is known to have devil guardians. He lives in Xaarum, some seventy-five miles to the north. The journey to Xaarum is marred only by an ambush by a group of orcs led by a bugbear witch doctor. Within Xaarum both a coward and Milead are easy to find. Milead is not very helpful in granting the opportunity to spill devil’s blood however, and if the PCs wish to acquire the materials they need to sneak in at night and confront the hellcat he has guarding his tower.
Upon the PC’s return to Zoa they find that it appears that Halaan has been arrested for sedition, and that a large number of thugs demanding that they go with them. The quickest way to recover Halaan is to go with the men, where they gain the opportunity to negotiate with a local leader of the Sentinels of the True Way, Sergeant Sooloe of the Zoa city watch. He demands that they return the books that were taken from him before he will return Halaan. If the PCs decide they would rather fight the thugs and investigate on their own it is possible to discover that Halaan was never legally arrested and they have no record of him as a prisoner. Eventually Sooloe sends a messenger demanding the books in exchange for Halaan’s safe return. Once the PCs recover the books, Halaan is able to finish the ritual in a short period of time. Unfortunately, Daresh has decided she needs to disrupt the ritual resulting in an attack by a group of her mercenaries. If the PCs are able to prevent the disruption of the ritual by the mercenaries than the coin is created and the PCs have the tool they need to confront Daresh.
Presentation
The Root of All Evil, a standard laminated, stapled, booklet, is forty-eight pages long. The inside covers have maps on them. The margins are partially white and partially marbled and are an inch wide.
The cover illustration, by Hung Vinh Mac, depicts the blue dragon Frez’nal upon an outcropping and two adventurers cowering below him. The interior artwork is comprised of miniaturized versions of the module's ImageQuest illustrations found at the back of the module. They mostly depict scenes and creatures to be shown to the players.
There are maps covering all the major locations within the module. Each of them is informative and flavorful, with scaled grids and enough information to provide a good idea of the physical features of the mapped area.
Overview
The bulk of Forging Darkness details the adventure, but space is also provided for the standard Introduction, Synopsis, Background, and Adventure Hooks. Frequent sidebars provide additional flavor to what is going on in the adventure. The Appendixes provide NPC Statistics, a summary of special attacks and qualities, and a random encounter table for the Fautee Forest and the Western Deadlands. A glossary is also included. The module ends with fourteen pages of ImageQuest illustrations.
Analysis
Forging Darkness’s strengthens largely match those of The Root of All Evil, but its weaknesses are mostly different.
Its strengths primarily revolve around the depth of material and little details that make a module easier to run. It contains many of the items that made The Root of All Evil an easy-to-run module, quality maps, ImageQuest drawings, and random encounter charts. It provides the same depth of material within its pages, enough to keep a group busy, and interested, for a good deal of time. The additional setting material provided in this module is largely new, giving more details and depth to the Kalamar setting, and providing frequent hooks for further adventures.
Its weaknesses are disparate, pointing to individual problems in the module rather than any structural weakness. The main weakness, which it shares with The Root of All Evil, is that the adventure is not really complete without possessing its predecessor and its sequel. Several of its encounters would prove to be deadly for most parties, and some, such as the encounter with the hellcat, are impossible without magic items that the PCs probably will not have coming into the module, and probably will not have at the encounter unless they are lucky or extremely thorough. In addition the module provides more treasure than a PC should have at this level (assuming you are following the guidelines in the DMG). One encounter alone provides over 40,000 gps worth of magic items. Also, in the Hiereed Tomb when recovering the first ingredient, a door is mentioned in the flavor text, and referred to in a book that is acquired as treasure, but not further mention is made of it. It is even absent from the map. Particularly glaring are the actions of Daresh. In addition, when the PCs are travelling to get the Blue Dragon’s Breath there is an encounter that has some logic problems. Daresh, who is unsure of what they are doing but is paranoid and vengeful, torments them. Unfortunately it does not explain why Daresh, who is easily capable of eliminating the PCs and who apparently has time to do so, since she has time to torment them, does not just kill them out of hand.
Conclusion
Forging Darkness is a solid, if slightly more flawed sequel to The Root of All Evil. Its flaws are a bit more serious than those of The Root of All Evil are, but these flaws are not exceptionally difficult to remove, and the depth of the material makes up for it. Its total value is also hindered by its presence as the second of a trilogy. Though it is possible to run it without its sequel or predecessor, Forging Darkness will mean less without them. If you are running the trilogy started in The Root of All Evil, or if you just want to gather material for the Kingdoms of Kalamar setting, than Forging Darkness is an excellent buy. Otherwise, it depends on whether you feel whether its flaws are worth its $11.99 cover price.
ISBN# 1-889182-52-4
Designed by Andy Miller
Published by Kenzer and Company
Originally reviewed by Jesse Dean on AtFantasy.com
Forging Darkness is the second in Kenzer and Company's line of d20 modules. Serving as the sequel for The Root of All Evil, it is written for a group of three to five characters of second to fourth level. It is set in the Reanaaria Bay area of Tellene, in the Kingdoms of Kalamar campaign setting. It is priced at $11.99
Plot Outline
Forging Darkness begins where the events of The Root of All Evil left off, with the PCs returning from the Reelio Jungle. If the PCs have not played The Root of All Evil an alternative beginning, where the wizard Geolain hires the PCs to work with the alchemist to recover the items sought in this adventure, is provided. At the resolution of the previous adventure the PCs had rescued the alchemist Halaan so that he could forge a Coin of Power that would negate the wizardess Daresh's Coin of Power. With the rescue completed Halaan insists the PC's return to Zoa so he can continue with his research and begin to forge the coin.
The first ingredient the PCs are sent for is diamond touched by death. He recommends they go investigate a ruined manor house west of Zoa where it is rumored the last of the line to receive a proper burial, Adool, was buried with a large diamond. The journey to the crypt is mostly uneventful, and the crypt itself is largely barren save for an encounter with the some dire rats and a battle with the Thing that once was Adool. With its defeat the diamond can be recovered and returned to Zoa.
The second ingredient the PCs are to acquire is blue dragon's breath trapped in an iron rod. Halaan sends them to talk to Geolain about acquiring it and he directs them to the Kydoban Desert, and specifically a small village within the desert, to start searching for a dragon that supposedly lives in the area. The PCs have the option of going straight to the village by boat or sailing to a city to the north of the village and travelling there by land. The people are initially indifferent of the PCs but, once they help to fight off a giant octopus attack, they throw a feast in their honor and offer them four guides to help them in the desert. The trip to the dragon’s lair is eventful, with the potential to encounter a giant ant lion’s sinkhole, a taunting encounter with Daresh’s magic, some vampire cacti, and a ruined village filled with gnolls. The dragon itself is not immediately hostile, and is willing to provide the PCs with what they seek if they are willing to kill the mites who have been stealing bits and pieces of his treasure, and return the treasure. If they aren’t he eats them. Once they succeed he provides them with his blue dragon’s breath and they can return to Zoa
When the PCs return to Zoa they are asked to participate in the next portion of the ritual, with the opportunity to spot a spy from the Sentinels of the True Way from whom the PCs, if they participated in The Root of all Evil, or Geolain recovered some arcane books from. The PCs are then informed that the closest place that is known where they might be able to recover the final ingredient, a devil’s blood spilled by a coward and mixed with the blood of a coward, is by way of the wizard Milead who is known to have devil guardians. He lives in Xaarum, some seventy-five miles to the north. The journey to Xaarum is marred only by an ambush by a group of orcs led by a bugbear witch doctor. Within Xaarum both a coward and Milead are easy to find. Milead is not very helpful in granting the opportunity to spill devil’s blood however, and if the PCs wish to acquire the materials they need to sneak in at night and confront the hellcat he has guarding his tower.
Upon the PC’s return to Zoa they find that it appears that Halaan has been arrested for sedition, and that a large number of thugs demanding that they go with them. The quickest way to recover Halaan is to go with the men, where they gain the opportunity to negotiate with a local leader of the Sentinels of the True Way, Sergeant Sooloe of the Zoa city watch. He demands that they return the books that were taken from him before he will return Halaan. If the PCs decide they would rather fight the thugs and investigate on their own it is possible to discover that Halaan was never legally arrested and they have no record of him as a prisoner. Eventually Sooloe sends a messenger demanding the books in exchange for Halaan’s safe return. Once the PCs recover the books, Halaan is able to finish the ritual in a short period of time. Unfortunately, Daresh has decided she needs to disrupt the ritual resulting in an attack by a group of her mercenaries. If the PCs are able to prevent the disruption of the ritual by the mercenaries than the coin is created and the PCs have the tool they need to confront Daresh.
Presentation
The Root of All Evil, a standard laminated, stapled, booklet, is forty-eight pages long. The inside covers have maps on them. The margins are partially white and partially marbled and are an inch wide.
The cover illustration, by Hung Vinh Mac, depicts the blue dragon Frez’nal upon an outcropping and two adventurers cowering below him. The interior artwork is comprised of miniaturized versions of the module's ImageQuest illustrations found at the back of the module. They mostly depict scenes and creatures to be shown to the players.
There are maps covering all the major locations within the module. Each of them is informative and flavorful, with scaled grids and enough information to provide a good idea of the physical features of the mapped area.
Overview
The bulk of Forging Darkness details the adventure, but space is also provided for the standard Introduction, Synopsis, Background, and Adventure Hooks. Frequent sidebars provide additional flavor to what is going on in the adventure. The Appendixes provide NPC Statistics, a summary of special attacks and qualities, and a random encounter table for the Fautee Forest and the Western Deadlands. A glossary is also included. The module ends with fourteen pages of ImageQuest illustrations.
Analysis
Forging Darkness’s strengthens largely match those of The Root of All Evil, but its weaknesses are mostly different.
Its strengths primarily revolve around the depth of material and little details that make a module easier to run. It contains many of the items that made The Root of All Evil an easy-to-run module, quality maps, ImageQuest drawings, and random encounter charts. It provides the same depth of material within its pages, enough to keep a group busy, and interested, for a good deal of time. The additional setting material provided in this module is largely new, giving more details and depth to the Kalamar setting, and providing frequent hooks for further adventures.
Its weaknesses are disparate, pointing to individual problems in the module rather than any structural weakness. The main weakness, which it shares with The Root of All Evil, is that the adventure is not really complete without possessing its predecessor and its sequel. Several of its encounters would prove to be deadly for most parties, and some, such as the encounter with the hellcat, are impossible without magic items that the PCs probably will not have coming into the module, and probably will not have at the encounter unless they are lucky or extremely thorough. In addition the module provides more treasure than a PC should have at this level (assuming you are following the guidelines in the DMG). One encounter alone provides over 40,000 gps worth of magic items. Also, in the Hiereed Tomb when recovering the first ingredient, a door is mentioned in the flavor text, and referred to in a book that is acquired as treasure, but not further mention is made of it. It is even absent from the map. Particularly glaring are the actions of Daresh. In addition, when the PCs are travelling to get the Blue Dragon’s Breath there is an encounter that has some logic problems. Daresh, who is unsure of what they are doing but is paranoid and vengeful, torments them. Unfortunately it does not explain why Daresh, who is easily capable of eliminating the PCs and who apparently has time to do so, since she has time to torment them, does not just kill them out of hand.
Conclusion
Forging Darkness is a solid, if slightly more flawed sequel to The Root of All Evil. Its flaws are a bit more serious than those of The Root of All Evil are, but these flaws are not exceptionally difficult to remove, and the depth of the material makes up for it. Its total value is also hindered by its presence as the second of a trilogy. Though it is possible to run it without its sequel or predecessor, Forging Darkness will mean less without them. If you are running the trilogy started in The Root of All Evil, or if you just want to gather material for the Kingdoms of Kalamar setting, than Forging Darkness is an excellent buy. Otherwise, it depends on whether you feel whether its flaws are worth its $11.99 cover price.
Last edited by a moderator:
