Howling Void AL module (spoilers)

[Alphastream]

That said, like I said, I don't think we ever understood what we were doing, or what we were supposed to be doing, at any stage of the module.

I'm really sorry that it played out that way! As the author, I'm responsible for anything I didn't write that still ends up in the adventure. Just about everything that happens before you enter the air node is something that was added in development. I have to own that, because I clearly didn't make the intro feel right for developers. My objective when I wrote it was to get you straight into the air node so you could have maximum fun. The intro was really just an explanation of exactly why you are here, clarity on what you need to do, now go! I didn't write that well enough, so a Part One was added.

The changes unfortunately turn the start into a mystery of "why is there this air node and what is the cult doing". I don't think that initial mystery/confusion makes the adventure better. However, the DM is provided with very clear sections entitled "Goals of the Cult of the Howling Void" and the first two encounters in the air node are the same for all parties and include NPCs who tell you what you must do (stop the storm ritual that will summon hordes of elemental evil to destroy Mulmaster, Cult is going around to different sites to gather the following things for the ritual and then they will go to the center, monks are being corrupted and their energy used to power the ritual, do what you can to gather parts or help monks until you have to go to the ritual).

I accept all responsibility for the finished work. But, I think the DM may not have been very prepared because the information on goals should be really clear and there are many places where the information can be given to the PCs.

One other thing lost in the development pass was information to the DM encouraging sharing with the party that they will be unlikely to visit all the places. That sets expectations better, letting the party know that they get to choose, but won't visit every location. I do encourage DMs who run this adventure to share this information in the very first air node encounter.

The good news: the next AL adventure you will see from me is much simpler in approach!

 

[Motorskills]

Firstly, I am simply grateful that folks write these things at all. I know how much work goes into them when I am behind the screen, let alone writing for DMs I'll never meet, and players that don't know each other!

So, kudos.


Secondly, it's great that you are so open to constructive criticism. A lot of people can't differentiate between that stuff.



My hazy recollection is:

"Something, something, monastery"
"Something, something, missing monks"
"Something, something, Air Cultists"
"Something, something, holy hell Toto, we're not in Kansas any more!"

All that was great. And the central amphitheatre hub thing was cool too.

We then had a series of non-sequitur puzzles involving freeing marble-entrapped coma-monks who were obviously powering the DOOM ENGINE OF DOOM.

That was kinda bwuh, but gonzo is fine (IMO), as long as it is in support of something larger. And this clearly was.

Apparently the puzzles were related to Corrupted Tests of Purity or somesuch. Didn't understand the theme then, still don't now, nor how working out that theme was supposed to help us solve the subsequent puzzles.


The place was noisy, so it was hard to hear the DM some of the time. My being tired and having a headache by the end of the night didn't help things either, for certain.
But I'm unclear if those symptoms were the cause of my sub-par experience or the result of it!



I wish I could be clearer in the feedback that I could give, but at this point I don't want to read the module, I am actually intrigued at the possibility of playing it again, seeing if my experience is totally different a second time around, and giving you some more concrete feedback that can be used to strengthen the existing document and give you tools for future offerings.

Was it the module, was it the DM, was it me, was it our group? (Likelihood, some melange of all four.)

 

[Alphastream]

No worries, and thanks! I try to approach every project on its own, with a goal or two based on what I want to try or what I think the admins want (or both). The admins wanted sandbox-style play, where there were many choices with different outcomes. The air node is all about chaos, so I wanted to create something that had the feeling of motion, of chaos, and of many different opportunities - something larger than the PCs themselves. But, I knew I was giving DMs a lot to deal with. You have to prep almost twice the number of encounters you will run. While the page count is reasonable, the adventure requires a high amount of thought for a DM to be really prepared and make each scene memorable.

Sometimes I try to design something I think will consistently provide tables with a "solid" to "great" experience. Candlekeep was like that. Other times I try to do something really crazy, like this, but I know it will really fall flat at some tables and be really great at others. (For some tables, Howling Void will provide a level of experience that the safer Candlekeep could never provide.) I learn a lot from these crazier attempts (and I think DMs do too), but I am always very sorry for the tables where it doesn't go right. It pains me as I write, even, because I can feel that difference. Hopefully, I'll get better at reducing that pain % while still innovating. Thanks for bearing with me!

 

[RealAlHazred]

Somehow, despite the fact that I have been running D&D continuously for years now, I missed running this the first time around. Nevertheless, I'm running it today for a local group, and so I read it yesterday.

[sblock]My one issue is that, in a world where we have people being sacrificed to open portals every Friday, it seemed jarring to me that this particular one required the corruption for four monks. Why? They're nothing special, and corruption is time-consuming. I have no problem with the nature of the golden bubbles -- if they're going to corrupt the monks, then of course they need some easy way inside their minds. But why corrupt them‽ It seems illogical.

While I was ruminating last night, I came up with an idea. Maybe the monks are genasi, with a strong link to the Elemental Princes? Maybe they could (if they were able) trace their descent to Yan-C-Bin, millennia ago? Then the corruption makes some sort of sense -- Yan-C-Bin isn't just trying to open a permanent portal to the Elemental Plane of AIr, he's trying to link himself to it in such a way that he can't be banished back home. He has seen (well, not personally, but he heard the news from underlings) about what happened with Tiamat, and he doesn't want to be sent back -- if he can "fool" Toril into thinking he "belongs" there, that anchors him in reality in a way that isn't so easy to undo. This way requires him to use his descendants, but he has to corrupt them body and soul to do so. He uses four monks to maximize how "much" of himself he will be able to keep in Faerun.

I would also modify Periwinkle Shin's statements, to the effect that all four are orphans who were brought to the Monastery of the Yellow Rose -- this was the work of Yan-C-Bin's agents decades ago, scouring the countryside for Yan-C-Bin's descendants in order to enable this undertaking.[/sblock]

Anyway, if you run it at home as part of an ongoing campaign, I would use this method to tie up some of the vague parts of the backstory.

 

[Alphastream]

Anyway, if you run it at home as part of an ongoing campaign, I would use this method to tie up some of the vague parts of the backstory.

Those are cool thoughts. I always saw the canon of this monastery of being one that was very special, with very special monks who follow a very exacting and difficult process to purify themselves and become monks. It seemed to me there should be potent magic in undoing that. As Air is based on chaos, undoing/reversing the "order" and principles of their training seemed like a plausible concept for a difficult ritual.

I do like your concept and see no reason why the monks couldn't be of that race. Go with it!