Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
H2 Thunderspire Labyrinth
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="MerricB" data-source="post: 4514346" data-attributes="member: 3586"><p><em>H2 Thunderspire Labyrinth</em> is the second heroic-tier adventure for D&D 4th edition by Wizards of the Coast, and a loose sequel to <em>H1 Keep on the Shadowfell</em>. The adventure takes place in the Labyrinth beneath Thunderspire Peak, once the capital of a minotaur kingdom, but now inhabited by many different groups of humanoids and monsters. An enclave of traders in the Seven-Pillared Hall operates under the watchful eyes of the Mages of Saruun, providing a meeting place between the surface world and the Underdark.</p><p></p><p>This adventure is presented in two books. Adventure Book 1 (32 pages) provides an overview of the adventure, four suggested hooks & quests for the PCs, a description of the likely home base for the PCs during the adventure - the aforementioned Seven-Pillared Hall - five new monsters, and a collection of illustrations. Adventure Book 2 (64 pages) contains the encounters of the four "dungeon" areas of the adventure. These booklets are contained in a cardboard folder which also has a double-sided poster map for use with miniatures that depicts three combat areas.</p><p></p><p><em>Thunderspire Labyrinth</em> may be run in one of two fashions, depending on the desires of the Dungeon Master. The first is as a fairly linear quest, with hooks in each adventure area leading onto the next. This way of running the adventure begins with the "Investigate the Bloodreavers" or "Slave Rescue" hooks, where the PCs are sent to rescue villagers taken by a group of hobgoblin slavers. After dealing with the slavers ("The Chamber of Eyes"), they need to find the duergar that have bought the slaves ("The Horned Hold"). Two further slaves were bought by gnolls and must be rescued ("The Well of Demons"). Finally, the PCs might choose to brave the hold of a renegade mage who has been proving troublesome for them ("The Shrine of Vecna").</p><p></p><p>The second fashion, which needs more work from the DM, allows the PCs to go where they will in the Labyrinth, perhaps taking on quests from the inhabitants of the Seven-Pillared Hall; several such quests are suggested in the adventure. If this method is chosen, it's likely the DM will need to design additional areas in the Labyrinth. Help for doing so is given in the adventure, as well as in <a href="http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/dufe/20080730a" target="_blank">Dungeon #156</a>.</p><p></p><p>This adventure is another fairly good one from Wizards. It is somewhat heavy on the combat, but the adventure areas get more and more interesting as you progress through the adventure. The "Well of Demons" has a number of interesting tricks and traps that require at least some problem-solving ability on the part of the players. There is a great deal of role-playing potential in the Hall of Seven Pillars, with a number of pre-existing rivalries detailed, along with quite a number of NPCs to interact with. Some of the dungeon areas also permit role-playing as an alternative method of bypassing encounter or at least of making them easier.</p><p></p><p>Splitting the adventure into four smaller sections (as well as a couple of interludes) is also a good way of keeping things managable. There are 28 encounters described in all (not counting random events or interactions in the Seven Pillared Hall), which will take the average group about 5-7 four-hour sessions to play through.</p><p></p><p>One problem in the adventure comes from "The Horned Hold" section, which describes a duergar stronghold. At eight encounter areas, it is exceedingly likely that a party will be unable to clear it out in one attempt, but very little mention is given of the tactics the duergar will use if they come under repeated assault. How quickly do they replace fallen allies? How do they redistribute their forces? This isn't completely ignored (the entry room gets restocked), but I would have preferred more discussion of what occurs here, as well as the reaction of the duergar trading post in the Seven Pillared Hall if they're not dealt with first.</p><p></p><p>Physically, the booklets are on a much superior quality of paper than was used in <em>H1 Keep on the Shadowfell</em>, and have been holding up pretty well to their recent usage in my campaign. The way information is presented in the books is also done very well, with a short overview of each adventure area before the details of the encounters therein. Again, the tactical format is used in this adventure.</p><p></p><p>Overall, I'm fairly pleased with <em>Thunderspire Labyrinth</em>, although it doesn't quite hit the heights of great adventure design. There's plenty of opportunity for the DM to make it his or her own and expand on the material that is already here. In many ways, it hearkens back to old-school design; despite the ability to run it as a mostly linear adventure, you can also run it as a much more free-form adventure. A good, solid adventure.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="MerricB, post: 4514346, member: 3586"] [i]H2 Thunderspire Labyrinth[/i] is the second heroic-tier adventure for D&D 4th edition by Wizards of the Coast, and a loose sequel to [i]H1 Keep on the Shadowfell[/i]. The adventure takes place in the Labyrinth beneath Thunderspire Peak, once the capital of a minotaur kingdom, but now inhabited by many different groups of humanoids and monsters. An enclave of traders in the Seven-Pillared Hall operates under the watchful eyes of the Mages of Saruun, providing a meeting place between the surface world and the Underdark. This adventure is presented in two books. Adventure Book 1 (32 pages) provides an overview of the adventure, four suggested hooks & quests for the PCs, a description of the likely home base for the PCs during the adventure - the aforementioned Seven-Pillared Hall - five new monsters, and a collection of illustrations. Adventure Book 2 (64 pages) contains the encounters of the four "dungeon" areas of the adventure. These booklets are contained in a cardboard folder which also has a double-sided poster map for use with miniatures that depicts three combat areas. [i]Thunderspire Labyrinth[/i] may be run in one of two fashions, depending on the desires of the Dungeon Master. The first is as a fairly linear quest, with hooks in each adventure area leading onto the next. This way of running the adventure begins with the "Investigate the Bloodreavers" or "Slave Rescue" hooks, where the PCs are sent to rescue villagers taken by a group of hobgoblin slavers. After dealing with the slavers ("The Chamber of Eyes"), they need to find the duergar that have bought the slaves ("The Horned Hold"). Two further slaves were bought by gnolls and must be rescued ("The Well of Demons"). Finally, the PCs might choose to brave the hold of a renegade mage who has been proving troublesome for them ("The Shrine of Vecna"). The second fashion, which needs more work from the DM, allows the PCs to go where they will in the Labyrinth, perhaps taking on quests from the inhabitants of the Seven-Pillared Hall; several such quests are suggested in the adventure. If this method is chosen, it's likely the DM will need to design additional areas in the Labyrinth. Help for doing so is given in the adventure, as well as in [url=http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/dufe/20080730a]Dungeon #156[/url]. This adventure is another fairly good one from Wizards. It is somewhat heavy on the combat, but the adventure areas get more and more interesting as you progress through the adventure. The "Well of Demons" has a number of interesting tricks and traps that require at least some problem-solving ability on the part of the players. There is a great deal of role-playing potential in the Hall of Seven Pillars, with a number of pre-existing rivalries detailed, along with quite a number of NPCs to interact with. Some of the dungeon areas also permit role-playing as an alternative method of bypassing encounter or at least of making them easier. Splitting the adventure into four smaller sections (as well as a couple of interludes) is also a good way of keeping things managable. There are 28 encounters described in all (not counting random events or interactions in the Seven Pillared Hall), which will take the average group about 5-7 four-hour sessions to play through. One problem in the adventure comes from "The Horned Hold" section, which describes a duergar stronghold. At eight encounter areas, it is exceedingly likely that a party will be unable to clear it out in one attempt, but very little mention is given of the tactics the duergar will use if they come under repeated assault. How quickly do they replace fallen allies? How do they redistribute their forces? This isn't completely ignored (the entry room gets restocked), but I would have preferred more discussion of what occurs here, as well as the reaction of the duergar trading post in the Seven Pillared Hall if they're not dealt with first. Physically, the booklets are on a much superior quality of paper than was used in [i]H1 Keep on the Shadowfell[/i], and have been holding up pretty well to their recent usage in my campaign. The way information is presented in the books is also done very well, with a short overview of each adventure area before the details of the encounters therein. Again, the tactical format is used in this adventure. Overall, I'm fairly pleased with [i]Thunderspire Labyrinth[/i], although it doesn't quite hit the heights of great adventure design. There's plenty of opportunity for the DM to make it his or her own and expand on the material that is already here. In many ways, it hearkens back to old-school design; despite the ability to run it as a mostly linear adventure, you can also run it as a much more free-form adventure. A good, solid adventure. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
H2 Thunderspire Labyrinth
Top