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Review of The Scouring of Gate Pass (Spoilers)
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<blockquote data-quote="EugeneZ" data-source="post: 4878007" data-attributes="member: 83605"><p>I re-read my review and I put a lot of emphasis on the negative criticism but just gloss over the things that make the adventure good. Partly, that's because most people reading this probably already know, or can see all the praise that has been deservedly heaped upon it by DMs. And my review is too long as it is. But I figured I'd double post (I hope no one minds) and add some detail about what I really liked about the adventure, in all fairness.</p><p></p><p>The first moment at which the group and I noticed that we were playing a really special adventure was the resolution of Larion's deception in the repository tower. My players first felt slighted in a way, since they felt they had been railroaded into letting this guy escape. After all, he scaled the tower in two rounds and leaped across and away. That hardly seems fair. I don't like to talk about this kind of thing with players, but I made it clear that if they had picked up on the fairly obvious dialog clue that Larion was not who he seemed, they had a perfect chance to nab him before the climb to the second floor. That decision (to make the slip of the tongue happen on the first floor) is pure brilliance by the writers. The whole encounter is great. The PCs saw that this guy got away, and they had a chance to get him; not with swords and magic but with wit.</p><p></p><p>The Flaganus Mortus encounter was interesting too, and just like the repository, it showed us that we were in for a unique ride. This encounter packs an emotional punch and sets the stage for some difficult moral choices. Almost seeming to oddly echo some later choices, this encounter features a downed Ragesian soldier who is looking to escape and takes a small child hostage. The players can choose to ignore the hostage or to let him escape; either way, the soldier ruthlessly kills the child. The players made a choice, but it did not affect the outcome, except they've made their position on these types of issues, as a character, clear.</p><p></p><p>Later encounters mirror this in a way where the actions players take DO have an effect on the outcome. One of the spies who the players chase can actually be befriended. The PCs, if clever and diplomatic, can turn a number of combat encounters into social encounters. The reasons behind this make sense and the authors of this adventure do not hesitate to let PCs slide if their words make sense.</p><p></p><p>Each encounter has some good things to be said of it. I bashed "The Gauntlet" in my review above, but the flavor works really well here. Even the somewhat botched version of the rules that I ended up running turned out to at least sound good in our heads, if we abstracted the rules away and looked at the events as they unfolded. Mercenaries chasing the PCs down a valley and into a trap is a cool idea and if the mechanics are ignored, this was a great encounter.</p><p></p><p>Like I said, good things can be said about many things in this adventure, it is truly a very, very good adventure. I hope this post helps to balance the negativity of my first review.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="EugeneZ, post: 4878007, member: 83605"] I re-read my review and I put a lot of emphasis on the negative criticism but just gloss over the things that make the adventure good. Partly, that's because most people reading this probably already know, or can see all the praise that has been deservedly heaped upon it by DMs. And my review is too long as it is. But I figured I'd double post (I hope no one minds) and add some detail about what I really liked about the adventure, in all fairness. The first moment at which the group and I noticed that we were playing a really special adventure was the resolution of Larion's deception in the repository tower. My players first felt slighted in a way, since they felt they had been railroaded into letting this guy escape. After all, he scaled the tower in two rounds and leaped across and away. That hardly seems fair. I don't like to talk about this kind of thing with players, but I made it clear that if they had picked up on the fairly obvious dialog clue that Larion was not who he seemed, they had a perfect chance to nab him before the climb to the second floor. That decision (to make the slip of the tongue happen on the first floor) is pure brilliance by the writers. The whole encounter is great. The PCs saw that this guy got away, and they had a chance to get him; not with swords and magic but with wit. The Flaganus Mortus encounter was interesting too, and just like the repository, it showed us that we were in for a unique ride. This encounter packs an emotional punch and sets the stage for some difficult moral choices. Almost seeming to oddly echo some later choices, this encounter features a downed Ragesian soldier who is looking to escape and takes a small child hostage. The players can choose to ignore the hostage or to let him escape; either way, the soldier ruthlessly kills the child. The players made a choice, but it did not affect the outcome, except they've made their position on these types of issues, as a character, clear. Later encounters mirror this in a way where the actions players take DO have an effect on the outcome. One of the spies who the players chase can actually be befriended. The PCs, if clever and diplomatic, can turn a number of combat encounters into social encounters. The reasons behind this make sense and the authors of this adventure do not hesitate to let PCs slide if their words make sense. Each encounter has some good things to be said of it. I bashed "The Gauntlet" in my review above, but the flavor works really well here. Even the somewhat botched version of the rules that I ended up running turned out to at least sound good in our heads, if we abstracted the rules away and looked at the events as they unfolded. Mercenaries chasing the PCs down a valley and into a trap is a cool idea and if the mechanics are ignored, this was a great encounter. Like I said, good things can be said about many things in this adventure, it is truly a very, very good adventure. I hope this post helps to balance the negativity of my first review. [/QUOTE]
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