Shadowdale: The Scouring of the Land

[John Cooper]

SHADOWDALE: THE SCOURING OF THE LAND
By Richard Baker, Eric L. Boyd, and Thomas M. Reid
Wizards of the Coast product number 955697200
$29.95, 160 pages

SPOILER ALERT: As always, it's difficult to review an adventure without giving away parts of the plot. If you intend to run a PC through this adventure, please don't read any further.

Shadowdale: The Scouring of the Land is the second adventure in a trilogy that began with Cormyr: The Tearing of the Weave. It's intended for four 9th-level PCs, and while a sequel, can be played as a standalone adventure.

The cover artwork, by William O'Connor, depicts a group of pegasi-mounted archers attacking a caravan on a bridge and wraps around to the back of the book. It's a shame that the picture is so dark, because it makes it difficult to make out much detail. The main detail I did like was the fact that the feathers on the pegasi's wings are banded.

The interior artwork consists of 20 full-color illustrations by five different artists, and 60 color maps by Kyle Hunter. The artwork was about average overall, but I did rather like Eva Widermann's midair battle between a lance-wielding warrior on a pegasus against a sword-wielding, leather-clad woman on an albino nightmare and her erinyes ally on page 123, and Miguel Coimbra's portrait of Preceptress Eressea Ambergyles of Arrabar on page 147 was regally done.

If you ran through Cormyr: The Tearing of the Weave (or read a description of it), you'll recall that the worshipers of Shar were up to no good, attempting to create a tear in the Weave that runs arcane magic in the Forgotten Realms. Whether the PCs were successful in that adventure or not (or even if you didn't run that one at all), now the followers of Shar are allied with followers of Bane, the Zhentarim, and the drow from the city of Maerimydra and have successfully started an increasingly expanding tear in the Weave in the area around Shadowdale. This managed to destroy Elminster's tower and tangle up most (if not all) of the heavy-hitters that generally hang around Shadowdale (most of them Chosen of Mystra, the goddess of magic), so it's up to the band of 9th-level PCs to fight against the oppressors and lead a rebellion to free Shadowdale.

The adventure is split up into five different chapters, wherein the PCs will:

• Arrive in Shadowdale, see what's happening, and free Syluné (a Chosen of Mystra) from a nishruu
• Destroy a portal that allows the Zhentarim and Banites to quickly send in reinforcements to Shadowdale
• Stop a ritual that will expand the tear in the Weave around Shadowdale
• Defeat the drow of House Dhuurniv and reclaim a magic pendant that shows the true ruler of Shadowdale (a big morale booster for any attempted uprising)
• Lead a rebellion and drive off the occupying army

As written, it's a pretty good mix of strategic and tactical goals, with a variety of creatures to fight off. My favorite section was the third chapter, as the ritual is taking place in a lich's lair with some really cool features, like a band of floating and crashing rocks (pretty much a self-contained asteroid field!) that the PCs must cross or otherwise overcome.

Of course, the stats in this adventure are not all they could be. I won't even attempt to evidence any surprise or disappointment at this late stage of the game, but merely record my recommended fixes:

• p. 16, Sergeant Borgan Selgard, male Chondathan human fighter 7: Spent 19 of 20 skill points.
• p. 17, Teeth Mercenaries (raging), male ogre barbarian 2: Fort should be +11, not +12 (+4 as a 4-HD giant, +3 as a Bbn2, +4 Con). Ref should be +1, not +2 (+1 as a 4-HD giant, +0 as a Bbn2, +0 Dex). Will should be +3, not +1 (+1 as a 4-HD giant, +0 as a Bbn2, +0 Wis, +2 raging). AC should be 17, not 19 (-1 size, +0 Dex, +5 natural, +5 +2 hide armor, -2 raging). Touch AC should be 7, not 9 (-1 size, -2 raging). Flat-footed AC should be 17, not 19. Spent 14 of 13 skill points.
• p. 18, Istivin Naerindyth, male Vaasan human wizard 5/Zhentarim skymage 4: I don't have Lords of Darkness to verify for myself, but it seems to me that 4 levels of Zhentarim skymage should grant either a +1 (if a poor save) or +4 (if a good save) bonus to Will saves, so his Will should be either +7 (+4 as Wiz5, +1 as ZSM4, +0 Wis, +2 Iron Will) or +10 (+4 as a Wiz5, +4 as a ZSM4, +0 Wis, +2 Iron Will), not +8 as listed. Concentration can't be +14; as a 9th-level character, he can only have a maximum of 12 skill points spent on it, and with a +1 Con bonus (and no relevant Skill Focus feat), that makes +13 his upper limit. Feats aren't alphabetized. With only 4 points spent on Knowledge (geography), he shouldn't get the +2 synergy bonus to Survival checks to avoid getting lost and natural hazards. "Spot +2" is listed in Skills but "Listen +2" is not, even though he spent no points on either skill.
• p. 19, Istivin's Steed, advanced foulwing: With 8 HD, it should have 3 feats, not 2 and a bonus feat. Also, either foulwings get a +8 racial bonus to Spot (can anybody with a copy of Lost Empires of Faerûn verify?), or it overspent its skill point allocation by 8 points.
• p. 21, Syluné's Warden, advanced nishruu: Senses lists Listen and Spot at +16 each, yet Skills has each at +22. (+22 is correct.) "Survival +2" should be followed by not only "(+4 on other planes)" - which it is, correctly - but also "(+4 following tracks)" due to a +2 synergy bonus from Search.
• p. 22, Naug-Adars, male Vaasan human wizard 7: Spent 45 of 60 skill points.
• p. 23, Rat Familiars: Bite attacks should be at +7 melee, not +5 (+3 BAB, +2 size, +2 Dex with Weapon Finesse).
• p. 23, Bloodthorn Mercenaries, male half-orc fighter 5: No Skills, Feats, or Possessions provided in the stat block; we can deduce Improved Initiative, Power Attack, Weapon Focus (falchion), and Weapon Specialization (falchion) as four of their five feats and we know they're wearing half-plate armor and wielding falchions and at least one javelin each, but beyond that it's all guesswork.
• p. 37, Maug Fighters, maug fighter 5: Skills should include Appraise +1 (+3 blacksmithed or stonemasonry items) [0 ranks, +1 Int, +2 synergy bonus from Craft (blacksmithing) and Craft (stonemasonry)].
• p. 38, Nazrym, male human cleric 6 of Bane: Caster Level should be 6th, not 4th. Skills should include Diplomacy +1 [0 ranks, -1 Cha, +2 synergy bonus from Sense Motive]. Rebuke undead checks should be 1d20+1, not 1d20-1 [-1 Cha, +2 synergy bonus from Knowledge (religion)].
• p. 40, Beast of Bane Shadow Mastiffs: "Survival +9*" should be "Survival +9 (+13 tracking by scent)" - especially since the apostrophe is not otherwise explained.
• p. 41, Tolar, male human fighter 7/kensai 3: Since he can speak only 2 languages, they should be Common and Gnoll instead of Common and Infernal, since his gnoll mercenaries speak only Gnoll and he's not only their boss, but also is described as playing cards with them. (Either that, or I'd expect quite a few ranks in Perform (pantomime)!)
• p. 43, Dread Warriors (raging), male dread warrior human barbarian 6: Senses lists Listen at +0, but Skills has it at +9. (I'll assume +0 is correct.) With 6 HD, they should have 3 feats each, not 4 (unless one is an unannotated bonus feat from the dread warrior template, from Lost Empires of Faerûn).
• p. 44, Beast of Bane Shadow Mastiffs: "Survival +9*" should be "Survival +9 (+13 tracking by scent)" - especially since the apostrophe is not otherwise explained.
• p. 45, Amnizus: With 9 HD, they should have 4 feats, not just 3. Spent 130 of 132 skill points. Skills should include Survival +2 (+4 secret doors and on other planes) [0 ranks, +2 Wis, +2 synergy bonuses from Knowledge (the planes) and Search].
• p. 46, Human Warrior Skeleton: No mention of their heavy steel shields. The question's liable to come up when the "looting of the stiffs" commences after the fight.
• p. 48, Shadowslain Basilisks: Initiative should be -1, not +1 (-1 Dex). Senses lists Listen +11, Spot +10, but Skills has both at +9. (Skills is correct.) Bite damage should be 2d6+7, not 2d6+9 (1.5 times +5 Str bonus = +7).
• p. 63, Longjaws, advanced dark behir: The internal AC of its gizzard should be 16, not 15 (half of a +12 natural armor bonus is +6).
• p. 64, Stone Watchers, advanced spellwarped gargoyles: +2 flaming bolt with masterwork light crossbow attacks should be at +12 ranged, not +13 (+6 BAB, +3 Dex, +1 Weapon Focus, +2 magic weapon - the masterwork quality of the light crossbow doesn't stack with the +2 magic weapon bonus). The same goes for the screaming bolt attacks, which are also +2 magic weapons. Masterwork light crossbow attacks (with normal ammunition) should be at +11 ranged, not +12. When using the Agility benefit from their spell absorption, standard ranged attacks should be at +13 ranged, not +14.
• p. 66, Drow Skirmishers, drow rogue 2/fighter 4: Skills should include Survival +1 (+3 following tracks) [0 ranks, +1 Wis, +2 synergy bonus from Search].
• p. 67, Pack Lizards: Senses lists Listen and Spot at +4 each, but Skills has them at +5 each. (Skills is correct.)
• p. 70, Urduthar, male shadowslain human Chondathan cleric 10 of Shar: Touch AC should be 14, not 12 (+2 Dex, +2 deflection). Flat-footed AC should be 21, not 23 (+2 deflection, +6 +1 mithral breastplate, +3 +1 heavy steel shield). Masterwork chakram attacks should be at +12 ranged, not +10 (+7 BAB, +2 Dex, +1 masterwork, +2 bonus from descrate spell). Spent 44 of 52 skill points.
• p. 71, Lashan, Nycaloth: Intimidate cannot equal +24, as it can only have spent a maximum of 17 skill points on it (he has 14 HD), and with a +3 Charisma bonus and a +2 synergy bonus from Bluff, that makes +22. Skills should include Disguise +3 (+5 acting) [0 ranks, +3 Cha, +2 synergy bonus from Bluff] and Survival +0 (+2 on other planes and following tracks) [0 ranks, +0 Wis, +2 synergy bonuses from Knowledge (the planes) and Search].
• p. 72, Irphiina, shade necromancer 9: Skills should include Survival -1 (+1 other planes) [0 ranks, -1 Wis, +2 synergy bonus from Knowledge (other planes)]. No mention as to whether or not she has a familiar.
• p. 73, Shadovar Guards, male human fighter 6/sorcerer 1: Spent 16 of 20 skill points.
• p. 76, Esvele Graycastle, female Chondathan human cleric 13 of Shar: Spent 44 of 48 skill points.
• p. 77, Ritual Guardians, male shadowslain human fighter 8: Initiative should be +1, not +2 (+1 Dex). Touch AC should be 13, not 12 (+1 Dex, +2 deflection). Despite verbiage that says 2 points of Combat Expertise are already factored into the stats, they aren't; doing the calculations, we find the following: AC should be 24, not 22 (+1 Dex, +2 deflection, +9 +1 full-plate, +2 Combat Expertise); touch AC should be 15, not 13 (or 12); flat-footed AC should be 23, not 21; +1 shock heavy flail attacks should be at +15/+10 melee, not +17/+12 (+8 BAB, +6 Str, +1 magic weapon, +1 Weapon Focus, +1 desecrate spell, -2 Combat Expertise); and masterwork chakram attacks should be at +9/+4 ranged, not +11/+6 (+8 BAB, +1 Dex, +1 masterwork, +1 desecrate spell, -2 Combat Expertise). +1 shock heavy flail base damage should be 1d10+13, not 1d10+12 (1.5 times a +6 Str bonus for a two-handed weapon = +9, +1 magic weapon, +1 desecrate spell, +2 Weapon Specialization).
• p. 77, Wights: Hit points should be 30, not 26, due to the effects of the desecrate spell. Each of their saves is short by one point, also due to the desecrate spell; Fort should be +2, not +1; Ref should be +3, not +2; Will should be +6, not +5. Similarly, slam attacks should be at +4 melee, not +3, and damage should be 1d4+2 plus energy drain, not 1d4+1 plus energy drain. Spent 22 of 28 skill points. Missing create spawn special attack.
• p. 78, Alokkair, male human lich wizard 13: Skills not alphabetized.
• p. 79, Stone Watchers, advanced spellwarped gargoyles: Masterwork light crossbow attacks should be at +11 ranged, not +12 (+6 BAB, +3 Dex, +1 Weapon Focus, +1 masterwork). When using the Agility benefit from their spell absorption, standard ranged attacks should be at +13 ranged, not +14.
• p. 95, Shadow Spider: There's no need for Improved Overrun to be a bonus feat, since a 13-HD creature should have 5 feats; if it was intended as a bonus feat, then it's missing its normal fifth feat. Spent 17 of 16 skill points.
• p. 96, Hairy Spider Familiar: No feat listed. Bite attacks should be at +6 melee (+3 BAB, +8 size, -5 Str) or +13 melee (+3 BAB, +8 size, +2 Dex if we assume its feat is Weapon Finesse), not +5. Poison Fort save should be DC 10, not DC 11 (10 + 1/2 base HD + Con bonus = 10 + 0 + 0 = 10).
• p. 96, Lirdnolu Dhuurniv, female drow cleric 6 of Lolth: Spent 26 of 27 skill points. Spell-like abilities aren't alphabetized.
• p. 97, Duagloth Seerear, male drow sorcerer 6: Spell-like abilities not alphabetized.
• p. 97, Dhuurniv Scouts, male drow scout 4: Flat-footed AC should be 19, not 15, due to uncanny dodge. Even with 0 ranks, Jump should be +7, not +3 [+1 Str, +4 speed, +2 synergy bonus from Tumble]. Balance should be +13, not +11 [7 ranks, +4 Dex, +2 synergy bonus from Tumble]. Tumble should be +11, not +10 [7 ranks, +4 Dex].
• p. 99, Shadowfang, male shadowslain adult fang dragon: Disguise should be +1 (+3 acting), not +2 [0 ranks, +1 Cha, +2 synergy bonus from Bluff]. Diplomacy should be +5, not +3 [0 ranks, +1 Cha, +2 synergy bonuses from Bluff and Sense Motive]. "Speed 60 ft." should be followed by "(12 squares)."
• p. 100, Xullrae Dhuurniv, female drow cleric 5 (Lolth)/elemental savant 4: As a drow, she should speak Elven as an automatic language.
• p. 102, Azmaer Dhuurniv, male mummified drow fighter 6: Skills should include Search +0 [0 ranks, -2 Int, +2 racial]. Listen and Spot should both be +4, not +2, due to a +2 racial bonus.
• p. 103, Greyanna Dhuurniv, female drow cleric 3 (Lolth)/wizard 3/mystic theurge 3: Cleric spells should be at caster level 10th, not 9th (3 as Clr3, +3 as MTh3, +4 from Practiced Spellcaster feat). No mention of a familiar. Also, she is referred to as "it" on two separate occasions - that's rather rude!
• p. 104, Delgithnar, male quaggoth druid 5/vermin keeper 3: Spent 34 of 30 skill points. Skills should include Ride +2 [0 ranks, +0 Dex, +2 synergy bonus from Handle Animal]. There's no reason for his Listen to jump to +6 (as it's listed under Senses, but not Skills) when he wild shapes into Small monstrous spider form. As a Small monstrous spider, touch AC should be 14, not 13 (+1 size, +3 Dex) and Climb should be +11, not +6 [0 ranks, +8 racial, +3 Dex, which he uses instead of Str as a spider].
• p. 105, Large Monstrous Hunting Spider: "N Large monstrous spider" should be "N Large vermin" to describe its creature type. Bite damage should be 1d8+4 plus poison, not 1d8+3 plus poison (1.5 times its +3 Str = +4, as it's the creature's sole attack). Poison Fort save should be DC 14, not DC 13 (10 + 1/2 HD + Con bonus = 10 + 3 + 1 = 14).
• p. 106, Abyssian Ocean Spiders, fiendish Huge monstrous diving spider: Odd that Skills are listed before Feats, like is standard. Should have the "augmented vermin" subtype. Bite attacks should be at +9 melee, not +10 (+6 BAB, -2 size, +4 Str, +1 Weapon Focus).
• p. 106, Kuo-Toa Slaves, male kuo-toa fighter 2: Initiative should be +5, not +4 (+1 Dex, +4 Improved Initiative). Spent 15 of 21 skill points.
• p. 109, Spiderfangs, male quaggoth barbarian 5: Flat-footed AC should be 21, not 20, due to uncanny dodge. 30 ft. does not equal 4 squares; that should read "Speed 30 ft. (6 squares) in hide armor, base speed 40 ft.; climb 30 ft." Spent 33 of 32 skill points. When voluntarily raging, flat-footed AC should be 19, not 18 (due to uncanny dodge) and Will should be +7, not +8 (+3 as a 3-HD monstrous humanoid, +1 as a Bbn5, +1 Wis, +2 rage).
• p. 110, Qiltox the Beholder: Why does it only have caster level 13th on its eye rays, when the beholder entry in the Monster manual has it as caster level 14th? And why does it only get 3 eye rays as a ranged touch attack, when beholders can shoot all 10 eye rays each round as long as they only have up to 3 in each 90-degree firing arc? Did somebody forget that 4E isn't here yet?
• p. 111, Dhuurniv Marauder, advanced Lolth-touched lodestone marauder: Initiative should be +6, not +5 (+2 Dex, +4 Improved Initiative).
• p. 125, Frostbite, advanced winter wolf of legend: Senses lists Listen +15, but Skills lists Listen +12. (+12 is correct.) Spent 43 of 42 skill points.
• p. 125, Legendary Wolves: Trip attacks should be at a +7 check modifier, not +11 (they only get the +4 bonus for having four legs when defending).
• p. 127, The Susurrus, female wendigo Lolth-touched fiendish Gargantuan monstrous hunting spider: With 16 HD, she should have 6 feats, not 5 (plus the bonus Track feat from the wendigo template). Ranks in Climb and Jump seem superfluous since its only movement mode is flight.
• p. 127, Azalar Falconhand, male feytouched ranger 7: +1 longsword damage should be 1d8+4/19-20, not 1d8+3/19-20 (+3 Str, +1 magic weapon). +1 short sword damage should be 1d6+2/19-20, not 1d6+1/19-20 (1/2 of a +3 Str bonus = +1, +1 magic weapon).
• p. 128, Forthar Helvenstron, male Vaasan human fighter 2/marshal 8: Senses lists Listen and Spot at +7 each, but Skills has each at +9 - which is it? (I'm not sure how many skill points a marshal has, so I can't work it out for myself.)
• p. 129, Zhentilar Archers, male Vaasan human fighter 6: Will should be +3, not +5 (+2 as Ftr6, +1 Wis). +1 composite longbow damage should be 1d8+5/×3, not 1d8+4/×3 (+2 Str, +1 magic weapon, +2 Weapon Specialization). Spent 19 of 27 skill points.
• p. 130, Zvopua the Fouldrake, half-black dragon advanced foulwing: Senses lists Listen +5, but Skills lists Listen +10. (Presumably, +5 is correct.) With 8 HD, it should have 3 feats, not 2 plus a bonus feat. Spent 58 of 55 skill points, unless it has an unlisted racial bonus - the quickest fix is to drop Climb down to +24, since it overspent its maximum there by 3 points in any case. Skills should include Diplomacy +0 [0 ranks, -2 Cha, +2 synergy bonus from Sense Motive].
• p. 131, Eregul the Freestave, male Vaasan human wizard 7/Zhentarim shymage 5: Senses lists Spot +8, but Skills has Spot +6 - which is it? Flat-footed AC should be 16, not 15 (+6 +2 mithral shirt).
• p. 133, Direguards: Concentration should be +1 (+5 casting defensively), not +0 (+4 casting defensively) - undead use their Charisma modifiers for Concentration checks, not their Constitution modifiers.
• p. 135, Jezz the Lame, male drow scout 7/sorcerer 6: Flat-footed AC should be 24, not 19, due to uncanny dodge. Skills should include Survival +2 (+4 following tracks) [0 ranks, +2 Wis, +2 synergy bonus from Search].
• p. 135, Viper Familiar: No skills listed. (The "n/a" listed is inaccurate.) Bite attacks should be at +13 melee, not +11 (+8 BAB, +2 size, +3 Dex with Weapon Finesse).
• p. 136, Scyllua Darkhope, female Chondathan human fallen paladin 5/ranger 4/blackguard 6 (Bane): Wild empathy checks should be +9 (+5 magical beasts), not +12 (+8 magical beasts) (Rgr4 + 3 Cha + 2 synergy bonus from Handle Animal = +9). She should have a total of 10 feats, not 11 (6 as a 15th-level character, +1 human bonus feat, +3 bonus feats as a Rgr4).

Not a very smooth set of stats, but about what I've come to expect.

Proofreading and editing weren't much better, though. Editors John Thompson, M. Alexander Jurkat, and Kim Mohan let quite a few things slip by them, and the fact that there seemed to be a whole lot of copying-and-pasting without verifying the accuracy of the source meant a lot of errors were compounded. (Either that, or there may have been some "global-find-and-replace" maneuvers that screwed up a bunch of stuff all at once.) For example, just about every time the word "spot" is used to describe the skill name (besides in the stats themselves, that is), it isn't capitalized. I counted at least 17 such instances, far too many for the mistake to have been a recurring string of individual errors. "Spellcraft" was also frequently not capitalized, although to nowhere as near of an extent, and every once in a while we'd get only one word of a two-word feat or skill capitalized, as in the case of "spring Attack," "spirited Charge," and "speak Language," or only part of an acronym would be capitalized, as in "Dc." The Spider domain was used quite a bit in the stats of the drow NPCs, and I don't think it was ever capitalized, despite being listed right next to another capitalized domain name. (This points heavily to "global find and replace" and limited or no editing after the fact.) At least one size category stubbornly remained lower-case as well. A few sentences even began without the first word capitalized. Perhaps to make up for such instances, every now and then a random word (like "ledge") would be capitalized in the middle of a sentence for no reason.

Besides capitalization issues, there were also some simple math errors in the descriptions (14 + 4 = 18, not 15), instances of spell names and magic items not being italicized, a slew of incorrect words ("beast" instead of "best," "bows" instead of "crossbows," "long bows" instead of "longbows"), misspelled words or typos ("Foye" instead of "Foyer," "dessicated" instead of "desiccated" [this once twice!], "blindess" instead of "blindness"), missing words (a winter wolf is referred to as a "winter" once), outdated game terms (shields are now "heavy," not "large" - and have been for years), punctuation abuse (apostrophes used for simple pluralization), and so on. The list of abbreviations for the other books referenced in this one was incomplete (it's missing "Sto" for Stormwrack), and there was an instance where the abbreviation wasn't in superscript font. "Castle Krag" - one of the locations in the adventure - is referred to as "Castle Crag" once. The first sentence in the Lore section of the House Dhuurniv insignia was copied and pasted directly from the Lore section of Aumry's staff of the night, as it's describing the staff word-for-word instead of having anything to do with an insignia. None of this strikes me as having been scrutinized sufficiently for a professional-level product.

As for the adventure itself, I was initially somewhat amused at the level of machinations that have to occur offstage before it's even possible to create a credible threat to the town of Shadowdale, what with all the high-level NPCs (Elminster, Seluné, the Knights of Myth Drannor) always hanging around. The authors get high marks for coming up with a threat that actually would keep all those other high muckety-mucks too busy to drive off a bunch of Zhent, drow, and Bane-worshipers from their homeland. They also did a good job of reaching out and using the various D&D supplements to widen the variety of creatures encountered, given that besides the three core D&D books and the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting (which are required), Shadowdale: The Scouring of the Land draws from 23 other books! Fortunately, none of those 23 are required to use the material used in this adventure; you really only need the three core rulebooks to run it, although the FRCS would definitely be a big help if you're running this adventure in a Forgotten Realms campaign. (It's not impossible to convert it, but a lot of Realms-specific material plays a big part in the adventure - most other campaigns don't have a Weave and Shadow Weave powering the magic of the world, for example.)

Overall, I give Shadowdale: The Scouring of the Land a low "4 (Good)." The errors - stats related and otherwise - were irritating, but the adventure itself was pretty good, with a variety of opponents and some interesting battle locations and setups that will cause the players to think. (One battle towards the end takes place on a bridge, with the Dalesfolk the PCs are trying to rescue interspersed throughout the enemies they need to destroy in order to free them, which makes area-effect damage spells somewhat problematic.) It'll be interesting to see them "crank the threat up a notch" in the third adventure of the trilogy, to see what they can do to challenge even higher-level PCs.

 

[Arnwyn]

as the ritual is taking place in a lich's lair with some really cool features, like a band of floating and crashing rocks (pretty much a self-contained asteroid field!) that the PCs must cross or otherwise overcome.

Ah, the lair of Alokkair, originally detailed and showcased way back in the 1e product REF5 Lords of Darkness.

Good stuff, that.

 

[HandofMystra]

checking Lost Empires of Faerûn -
there is no racial bonus to Spot, though the foulwings do get skill focus (Spot) (the 6hd, 7 INT aberrations are Spot +8, Climb +20)
Dread Warriors have the same feats as base creature (except those for which they no longer qualify)

• p. 19, Istivin's Steed, advanced foulwing: With 8 HD, it should have 3 feats, not 2 and a bonus feat. Also, either foulwings get a +8 racial bonus to Spot (can anybody with a copy of Lost Empires of Faerûn verify?), or it overspent its skill point allocation by 8 points.
• p. 43, Dread Warriors (raging), male dread warrior human barbarian 6: Senses lists Listen at +0, but Skills has it at +9. (I'll assume +0 is correct.) With 6 HD, they should have 3 feats each, not 4 (unless one is an unannotated bonus feat from the dread warrior template, from Lost Empires of Faerûn).

 

[John Cooper]

Thanks for the confirmation, HandofMystra!

 

[Pygon]

Bless you for holding on to your reviews until the site allowed them again

 

[Shazman]

As odd as it might sound, the warhulk PrC does indeed give +0 BAB a level. Instead it increases strength by 2 per level. Since many of it's abilites involve attacking multiple opponents with one attack, it really doesn't need BAB with it's massive boosts to strength.

 

[John Cooper]

Thanks, Shazman! I've taken the Ogre War Hulks off of the recommended errata list, as their BAB oddity was the only thing that had them on it in the first place.

 

[Haggard]

Hello.

First of all, thanks for the review and the errate. Helped me alot

I got a question about the rite of unwinding. The info box at the beginning of the book says that chapters 2 and 3 occur under stage 2 of the rite, except the ritual chamber which occurs under stage 3.
The ecounters of chapter 1 all mention the effects of stage 1 for spellcasters. Chapters 2 and 3 are missing those informations for the encounter, and only encounter C9 in the temple of bane says something about the desecrate spell of Malathon, that it couldn't be cast within Shadowdale (for it's an evocation spell). But what about the other encounters? For example, encounter C2, courtyard by day. Nazrym will use his scroll of meld into stone when things go bad for him. But how could he use this scroll? Meld into stone is a transmutation spell and shouldn't work because of the rite, stage 2 (no evocation, transmutation and light spells).
Do i have to check all encounters with spellcasting npcs and delete / modify forbidden spells? Or has someone already done this? And could send me an errate for the spell lists?

Would be nice, if someone could help me with this.

Greetings from germany

 

[sungam]

Hi there,

nice review. I am impressed at all the stats errata!

My party are currently playing this adventure and are about to assault Castle Krag.

I am confused as to how they learn about Alokkairs lair and Fox Ridge though. The only mention they get is from Sylune who talks about the Grinding Gulf but presumably no-one in Shadowdale knows about this. They even earn noteriety points if they ask about Fox ridge, but why would they. Alokkair has hidden his lair so well that even Elminster didnt know about it.

Any advice on why they would go there would be greatly appreciated,

regards
Magnus

 

[Bruherd]

p. 38, Nazrym, male human cleric 6 of Bane: Caster Level should be 6th, not 4th. Skills should include Diplomacy +1 [0 ranks, -1 Cha, +2 synergy bonus from Sense Motive]. Rebuke undead checks should be 1d20+1, not 1d20-1 [-1 Cha, +2 synergy bonus from Knowledge (religion)].

Actually CL 4th is quite correct, 'cause the encounter is supposed to happen during stage 2 of the rite on Unwindling and all spells are at -2 caster level.

@Haggard: Unfortunately you'll have to review ALL the encounters of chap. 2 and 3 (possibly chap. 4 also, if your players explore the shadowdark before stopping the rite). For example the Amnizus in chap. 2 can't cast fireball and the tactics of the drows on the cavern floor in chap. 3 wont work (they cannot cast faerie fire) and the warmage will be utterly useless 'cause his spells wont work either (more or less all evocation and transmutation spells); also he should cast Evard's Black Tentacles...but he cannot cast 4th level spells (well, you can give him a scroll).

@sungam: Alokkair lair is a location well known by the dalesfolk, at least the first part, that leads ti the grinding gulf. The palyer's can learn a bit on the gulf by asking around (and attracting unwanted attention) .