Shattered Gates of Slaughtergarde

[delericho]

One of the most interesting things about this adventure, for me at least, is seeing how all the developments hinted at in "Design & Development" have been implemented in a real product. Things like the more interesting trap encounters, the classed drow (haven't seen those Gnoll Clerics yet, though - but I haven't finished yet), and the Delve format.

My impressions have been a mixed bag. Some of the traps work for me, others don't (generally, if the trap is the encounter, I'm unimpressed, but if the trap is a feature of the encounter I like the way it's handled). The classed Drow don't seem any different from how they would have been before the column. The Delve format seems really good for some encounters, but overkill for a lot of them, which seem rather too simple to warrant the extra space required.

As an aside, I find myself wondering whether the Delve format, or something very similar, could be used to produce a pregenerated adventure that could be run without any prior preparation on the part of the DM. My thinking there is that one could produce a set of very short adventures intended for a single night's play, to be run with pregenerated characters, and intended for those times when you want to play on extremely short notice.

 

[delericho]

Oh, I forgot to mention: about "Shattered Gates of Slaughtergarde" itself - I like it. It's not the greatest adventure ever, but it's pretty solid, and I imagine it would be a lot of fun to run, especially with relatively fresh players.

I'm also inclined to think that it represents a 'first step' in the recent evolution of adventure design, and that we might see something really special in a year or two.

 

[Bad Paper]

I just finished reading the whole thing. I'm uneasy about the statblocks (haven't doublechecked them, likely won't bother), because there are so many errors in the text! Spelling! Grammar! Obvious cut-and-paste! Didn't they hire an editor? What the heck do they pay Chris Sims for, anyway?

 

[jdrakeh]

Out of curiosity, what does the Fluff:Crunch ration look like in the module. Also, is the crunch primarily limited to stat blocks for encounters (e.g., monsters, traps, etc) or is there a lot in the way of new feats, prestige classes, etc?

 

[Beckett]

Out of curiosity, what does the Fluff:Crunch ration look like in the module. Also, is the crunch primarily limited to stat blocks for encounters (e.g., monsters, traps, etc) or is there a lot in the way of new feats, prestige classes, etc?

There are two affiliations in the setting, one good and one amoral, and two prestige classes to go with each affiliation. However, it looks like to qualify for any of the classes, your affiliation score has to be high enough that you're pretty much done with the adventure.

 

[Bad Paper]

There are two affiliations in the setting, one good and one amoral, and two prestige classes to go with each affiliation. However, it looks like to qualify for any of the classes, your affiliation score has to be high enough that you're pretty much done with the adventure.

yeah, this is what I thought was the most dunderheaded. You can't get into the PrCs until 7th-10th level, and the adventure is 1st-6th or 7th. There does not appear to be any sort of sequel to this mod coming out, so ... then you're stuck with these PrCs in campaigns where they may not particularly fit. Solar Channeller in Ravenloft?

Also, I won't show the PCs the "Player's Guide." There's a lot of stuff in there that should be gradually revealed by the DM, or not revealed at all (new magic items). Yet the design of the mod is to just hand the players this thing and say, "OK, there's no more exposition."

 

[jdrakeh]

There are two affiliations in the setting, one good and one amoral, and two prestige classes to go with each affiliation. However, it looks like to qualify for any of the classes, your affiliation score has to be high enough that you're pretty much done with the adventure.

That seems odd. Makes you wonder why they included them at all, really. Other than the two PrCs, is the crunch limited primarily to the adventure encounters and corresponding stat blocks?

 

[Ry]

I'm just going through my copy now, so I'm late to the party (I'm breaking it down into its component parts for reassembly as my campaign requires). I see the 2 prestige classes almost as story awards for getting involved in the non-dungeon aspects of the setting.

 

[hong]

Instead of dozens of rooms with a few monsters in each, I'd have liked to have seen a few rooms with dozens of monsters. Yeah, I know it's a low-level adventure, but it should still be doable....

 

[Stormborn]

We are currently playing through Slaughterguard and I am having a lot of fun as a player, something I dont often get to be. It has a good DnD feel to me, and is a change of pace for our group. I see lots of complaints about the boring dungeoncrawl aspect of the game and some of the behavior of the inhabitants. First, I don't think that these are huge problems even running the game as is, especially if you have a group like mine that hardly ever does straight dungeoncrawling; and second, all it takes is the tiniest amount of planning to have run the dungeons more "realistically" if desired. Also, given the suggested levels for the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd dungeons some additional material is really needed to get PCs to the appropriate level, opening the possibility for more intrigue and roleplay based encounters using the abundant setting plot hooks available. Even better if the one or more of the PCs has specific connections to the setting. I also agree that the PrC and the related affiliations are story awards for getting involved in the setting. In out game the cleric has joined the Luminous Order at the rank of Captain, and once the final section is done will likely rise to the rank of Champion. I doubt he will take the associated PrC but this involvement does make the game more interesting. There are some layout concerns, and exactly why certain material was put in the Player's Guide and other stuff wasn't is abit confusing, but over all its a really excellent module. I should also note that the person running the game is an editor and has had little or no complaints about the quality of the text and editing.