The Shattered Gates of Slaughtergard

[trollwad]

You can expect insightful summaries no doubt!

There was just almost nothing to recommend the module (other than 1 interesting encounter) imho. There is no real plot - the whole is extremely linear. The monsters are mostly neither old classics nor new curveballs for the players. The treasure isn't particularly interesting. The map isn't very interesting for the most part.

WOTCs production standards are decent enough that is hard for this to be an abomination like "puppets" or "gargoyle" but I just couldnt find anything interesting. Red Hand of Doom has a much better plot, is less railroady (the PCs actions MATTER), and has some interesting npcs. Some of the dungeoncrawl classics (such as demonfiend pact for $2) and Gygax's module The Hermit have interesting plot devices or some other redeeming feature. The new Ravenloft module might not do justice to Ravenloft's intricacies and is a bit too hack n slashy but it has a beautiful castle and many interesting encounters that can be borrowed. The Savage Tide and Cauldron series from Paizo are very linear as youd expect from a dungeon path but at least they have a very evocative backdrop (Isle of Dread, Scuttlecove, etc.) and have a boatload of new monsters, new environments, etc. Bottom line, Slaughtergarde is simply "bleh"

 

[Wik]

You can expect insightful summaries no doubt!

There was just almost nothing to recommend the module (other than 1 interesting encounter) imho. There is no real plot - the whole is extremely linear. The monsters are mostly neither old classics nor new curveballs for the players. The treasure isn't particularly interesting. The map isn't very interesting for the most part.

WOTCs production standards are decent enough that is hard for this to be an abomination like "puppets" or "gargoyle" but I just couldnt find anything interesting. Red Hand of Doom has a much better plot, is less railroady (the PCs actions MATTER), and has some interesting npcs. Some of the dungeoncrawl classics (such as demonfiend pact for $2) and Gygax's module The Hermit have interesting plot devices or some other redeeming feature. The new Ravenloft module might not do justice to Ravenloft's intricacies and is a bit too hack n slashy but it has a beautiful castle and many interesting encounters that can be borrowed. The Savage Tide and Cauldron series from Paizo are very linear as youd expect from a dungeon path but at least they have a very evocative backdrop (Isle of Dread, Scuttlecove, etc.) and have a boatload of new monsters, new environments, etc. Bottom line, Slaughtergarde is simply "bleh"

I would just like to say, right now, that I happened to LIKE "Gargoyle!".

...that is all.

 

[Davelozzi]

pay attention to each of the capsule descriptions of all the locations around the valley. They were written enough so as I read I "saw" them immediately. And each one is ripe with instant adventure hooks. Enough to keep the players busy a long time.

Yeah, the valley was pretty well done as a mini-campaign setting, though I think it could have been a little more "mini", considering that the idea is that you can drop it right into an existing setting. At more than 200 miles in diameter, the valley is hard to just drop in anywhere. I'm not sure about the Eberron scale off the top of my head, but it certainly seems like it wouldn't fit in the Realms in the suggested location. I think the size of the valley should be at least cut in half, possibly more. Still, that's a fix as easy as changing the scale on the map.