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Raiders of the Serpent Sea - Third Party 5E Review
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<blockquote data-quote="Sparky McDibben" data-source="post: 9205718" data-attributes="member: 7041430"><p>Thanks!</p><p></p><p>I appreciate the feedback, and thanks! If you'd like to PM me the link for your product on DriveThru, I'll purchase it there and let you know.</p><p></p><p>Alright, friends, now lets get on with "Under the Ash," wherein the PCs find a settlement buried by hardened lava!</p><p></p><p>The motivation for going here is either</p><ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Hey, look at that big explosion in the distance! Let's check it out!</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">We need to get a clan banner so no one thinks we're mercenaries</li> </ol><p>I have a couple problems with these - for example, why the hell can't the PCs just go to the volv and get a volv banner, declaring them volv-o's or something? I mean, they had a banner like that at the start. There was a whole scene about it.</p><p></p><p>So we have a weak intro here, but a good DM can always seed calls for aid from survivors who've escaped. I can work with this.</p><p></p><p>The setup is thus: An ironthrall (someone who's been completely dominated by the Ironwood Witches) wizard caused the eruption. I can't find out exactly how, but it's implied that they opened a portal to the Plane of Fire. The raiders they brought with them devastated and raided the native Orn clan, stealing quite a lot of stuff. While the raiders feel distaste for the ironthrall's tactics, they're like, "Well, we're here anyway," and started pillaging.</p><p></p><p>Stay classy, guys.</p><p></p><p>After some shenanigans on the surface that include a flock of axe beaks, the PCs delve into the buried town, navigating in a diegetic pointcrawl!</p><p></p><p>Here's the map:</p><p style="text-align: center"><img src="https://i.imgur.com/ESyiX6o.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p>We even have a loop or two thrown in here! Huzzah! Now all we need is a random encounter table, an adversary roster, and an encounter die system and we are cooking with Crisco! Or lava!</p><p></p><p>The pointcrawl is effective in delivering some useful items to the players, and effectively communicates that this whole (powerful) clan has been wiped out. The one thing I wish was placed better is an encounter with a wicker scout named Phrine. Phrine was summoned (along with like, all the other wickers) to where the gods (the ones who've been turned to stone) live, and saw a rainbow spear. Something happened with an emerald (I'm not being deliberately vague; the adventure doesn't give you much), and a massive light took hold in the sky. If the PCs try to line up dates, they can find out that this was the exact time that Siddhe was pulled to the Misplaced Tower.</p><p></p><p>So it sucks that the PCs can saunter right on by this content.</p><p></p><p>I'd recommend moving this encounter from T12 (where it currently sits) to T22 (to make sure the PCs see it).</p><p></p><p>The PCs, after clearing the town, encounter the thoroughly insane ironthrall wizard (who is equipped with <em>gauntlets of ogre power)</em>, and can question or fight him. If they fight, magma mephits keep interfering, but otherwise it's not terrible (the wizard is a beefy CR 7, but against a 4th or 5th level party, he's going down fast).</p><p></p><p>The PCs can then move on and clear the Orn keep, fighting foreign raiders, and a loose salamander to rescue the (half-dozen) survivors.</p><p></p><p>And that's it. Nice little pointcrawl, fun little dozen-room dungeon. All in all, not bad. They get docked a few points for obfuscating some stuff, but otherwise, I'd say this is a solid 7.5 / 10.</p><p></p><p>Next up, the Well of Wisdom.</p><p></p><p>Content warning: human sacrifice. No, I am not kidding.</p><p></p><p>The setup for this location is that this is where the volv normally reside, so the PCs are bringing Siddhe to the volv, and reporting their mission. Unfortunately, a frost giant and a band of tussers (Yoten-descended individuals) have slain almost everyone here and drowned the area in a perpetual winter storm. This forced the rest of the volv to put out to sea, heading for Drifthall (we'll get to it).</p><p></p><p>So I guess the PCs had the option to ditch Hrolf this whole time, but if he was ditched, he shows back up here, camped out on the volv's doorstep. The PC's can start piecing together that something is very wrong from the jump. They get attacked by sabre-toothed tigers and tusser bandits.</p><p></p><p>And then, there's Jul.</p><p></p><p>Jul volunteered to be a human sacrifice, so that the volv could get their questions answered. This is what the adventure says about her:</p><p style="text-align: center"><img src="https://i.imgur.com/DoenLQ6.png?1" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p> <p style="text-align: center"></p> <p style="text-align: center"></p> <p style="text-align: center"><img src="https://media4.giphy.com/media/D62wUmR3sX2DsZJ9t1/200.gif" alt="Excuse Me What GIF by CBS" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p>Fun fact: the "Content Discussion" portion of the GM's Reference somehow omits the fact that <em>murdering a helpless non-combatant is a thing.</em> And not just a thing, a thing with a mechanical incentive attached! Brilliant job, boys!</p><p></p><p>If you had asked me to pick which was dumber, either a) enabling and incentivizing human sacrifice in a D&D game, or b) putting my...hand in a pencil sharpener, I would have chosen option a. Every time.</p><p></p><p>Look, this obviously ain't up my alley. But if you're going to include it, you need to a) let the DM know that it's there, preferably in flashing neon lights, and b) PUT IT IN THE CONTENT DISCUSSION section. This kind of crap, by the way, is the reason for the high snark ratio in this review. There's so much greatness here, but the devs can't get out of their own way. </p><p></p><p>Moving on from that delightful tidbit, we get into the icy caverns adjoining the Well of Wisdom. There's three polar bears, two hill giants, and a frost giant lurking about. Clever and careful heroes can defeat them in detail, and there's options for what they can tell the heroes if captured, too. All in all, good design there.</p><p></p><p>Then we get to the Well of Wisdom, where each PC gets a rune related to their Epic Background, and each one receives a minor benefit from it. The PCs can also choose to sacrifice to the Well - either up to 100 gp for inspiration, or a measure of their blood for one casting of <em>speak with dead.</em> Alternatively, if they sacrifice an eye to the Well, they get advantage on all Wisdom checks and saves, permanently.</p><p></p><p>Go big or go home, I guess. This is actually covered in the GM's Reference to call out self-injurious behavior. I'm OK with this part, because it's clearly communicated (Hrolf has actually sacrificed his eye here) and has non self-injurious options.</p><p></p><p>After that, we get a small bit about the Outpost of Lurx, relating to one of the bandit captains they could meet at Nowhere. This doesn't really go anywhere, so I'm skipping it.</p><p></p><p>3 / 10 for the Well of Wisdom. Some good material here, but that human sacrifice bit killed the attaboys for me.</p><p></p><p>Next time, though, we get into the Witch Shrine. Buckle up, ladies and gentlemen. This one's going to be a masterclass on how not to write a dungeon.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Sparky McDibben, post: 9205718, member: 7041430"] Thanks! I appreciate the feedback, and thanks! If you'd like to PM me the link for your product on DriveThru, I'll purchase it there and let you know. Alright, friends, now lets get on with "Under the Ash," wherein the PCs find a settlement buried by hardened lava! The motivation for going here is either [LIST=1] [*]Hey, look at that big explosion in the distance! Let's check it out! [*]We need to get a clan banner so no one thinks we're mercenaries [/LIST] I have a couple problems with these - for example, why the hell can't the PCs just go to the volv and get a volv banner, declaring them volv-o's or something? I mean, they had a banner like that at the start. There was a whole scene about it. So we have a weak intro here, but a good DM can always seed calls for aid from survivors who've escaped. I can work with this. The setup is thus: An ironthrall (someone who's been completely dominated by the Ironwood Witches) wizard caused the eruption. I can't find out exactly how, but it's implied that they opened a portal to the Plane of Fire. The raiders they brought with them devastated and raided the native Orn clan, stealing quite a lot of stuff. While the raiders feel distaste for the ironthrall's tactics, they're like, "Well, we're here anyway," and started pillaging. Stay classy, guys. After some shenanigans on the surface that include a flock of axe beaks, the PCs delve into the buried town, navigating in a diegetic pointcrawl! Here's the map: [CENTER][IMG]https://i.imgur.com/ESyiX6o.png[/IMG][/CENTER] We even have a loop or two thrown in here! Huzzah! Now all we need is a random encounter table, an adversary roster, and an encounter die system and we are cooking with Crisco! Or lava! The pointcrawl is effective in delivering some useful items to the players, and effectively communicates that this whole (powerful) clan has been wiped out. The one thing I wish was placed better is an encounter with a wicker scout named Phrine. Phrine was summoned (along with like, all the other wickers) to where the gods (the ones who've been turned to stone) live, and saw a rainbow spear. Something happened with an emerald (I'm not being deliberately vague; the adventure doesn't give you much), and a massive light took hold in the sky. If the PCs try to line up dates, they can find out that this was the exact time that Siddhe was pulled to the Misplaced Tower. So it sucks that the PCs can saunter right on by this content. I'd recommend moving this encounter from T12 (where it currently sits) to T22 (to make sure the PCs see it). The PCs, after clearing the town, encounter the thoroughly insane ironthrall wizard (who is equipped with [I]gauntlets of ogre power)[/I], and can question or fight him. If they fight, magma mephits keep interfering, but otherwise it's not terrible (the wizard is a beefy CR 7, but against a 4th or 5th level party, he's going down fast). The PCs can then move on and clear the Orn keep, fighting foreign raiders, and a loose salamander to rescue the (half-dozen) survivors. And that's it. Nice little pointcrawl, fun little dozen-room dungeon. All in all, not bad. They get docked a few points for obfuscating some stuff, but otherwise, I'd say this is a solid 7.5 / 10. Next up, the Well of Wisdom. Content warning: human sacrifice. No, I am not kidding. The setup for this location is that this is where the volv normally reside, so the PCs are bringing Siddhe to the volv, and reporting their mission. Unfortunately, a frost giant and a band of tussers (Yoten-descended individuals) have slain almost everyone here and drowned the area in a perpetual winter storm. This forced the rest of the volv to put out to sea, heading for Drifthall (we'll get to it). So I guess the PCs had the option to ditch Hrolf this whole time, but if he was ditched, he shows back up here, camped out on the volv's doorstep. The PC's can start piecing together that something is very wrong from the jump. They get attacked by sabre-toothed tigers and tusser bandits. And then, there's Jul. Jul volunteered to be a human sacrifice, so that the volv could get their questions answered. This is what the adventure says about her: [CENTER][IMG]https://i.imgur.com/DoenLQ6.png?1[/IMG] [IMG alt="Excuse Me What GIF by CBS"]https://media4.giphy.com/media/D62wUmR3sX2DsZJ9t1/200.gif[/IMG][/CENTER] Fun fact: the "Content Discussion" portion of the GM's Reference somehow omits the fact that [I]murdering a helpless non-combatant is a thing.[/I] And not just a thing, a thing with a mechanical incentive attached! Brilliant job, boys! If you had asked me to pick which was dumber, either a) enabling and incentivizing human sacrifice in a D&D game, or b) putting my...hand in a pencil sharpener, I would have chosen option a. Every time. Look, this obviously ain't up my alley. But if you're going to include it, you need to a) let the DM know that it's there, preferably in flashing neon lights, and b) PUT IT IN THE CONTENT DISCUSSION section. This kind of crap, by the way, is the reason for the high snark ratio in this review. There's so much greatness here, but the devs can't get out of their own way. Moving on from that delightful tidbit, we get into the icy caverns adjoining the Well of Wisdom. There's three polar bears, two hill giants, and a frost giant lurking about. Clever and careful heroes can defeat them in detail, and there's options for what they can tell the heroes if captured, too. All in all, good design there. Then we get to the Well of Wisdom, where each PC gets a rune related to their Epic Background, and each one receives a minor benefit from it. The PCs can also choose to sacrifice to the Well - either up to 100 gp for inspiration, or a measure of their blood for one casting of [I]speak with dead.[/I] Alternatively, if they sacrifice an eye to the Well, they get advantage on all Wisdom checks and saves, permanently. Go big or go home, I guess. This is actually covered in the GM's Reference to call out self-injurious behavior. I'm OK with this part, because it's clearly communicated (Hrolf has actually sacrificed his eye here) and has non self-injurious options. After that, we get a small bit about the Outpost of Lurx, relating to one of the bandit captains they could meet at Nowhere. This doesn't really go anywhere, so I'm skipping it. 3 / 10 for the Well of Wisdom. Some good material here, but that human sacrifice bit killed the attaboys for me. Next time, though, we get into the Witch Shrine. Buckle up, ladies and gentlemen. This one's going to be a masterclass on how not to write a dungeon. [/QUOTE]
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