Tomb of Abysthor
WARNING: Spoilers within! Proceed at your own risk!
Some deals are simply too good to pass up. Tomb of Abysthor, a dungeon module from Necromancer Games is one of these deals – for $11.95, you get several nights of adventuring (in my case, about 8 sessions, or 64 hours total), new monsters, spells and magic items (additional online support includes a „Rumors Table” and a new prestige class in case you don’t have enough). It is also the first of Necromancer’s „mini-campaigns”, in that it is intended to encompass about four-five levels of character advancement (3rd-8th), all the while giving you incentives to come back on higher levels as well. The presentation is professional, with cover art by Talon Dunning and interior illustrations by Brian LeBlanc. The editing is fine, but there are a few errors – a misplaced piece of a stat block, somewhat crowded headers (this is due to a font used in the product), but nothing that would hinder a DM from using the module as intended.
Tomb of Abysthor revolves around a large, multi-level dungeon inhabited by several groups of nasties. Originally a site of great power, its upper levels were converted into a series of tombs and catacombs by the priests of two Lawful Good gods – Muir, godess of Paladins and Thyr, god of Justice (these gods are easily replaced by other Lawful Good deities, as I did for my campaign). Later, as the orders waned in power, the caverns were abandoned. Somewhat later, Abysthor, a high priest of Thyr received a holy vision to destroy some great evil at the site. He set out but didn’t return and it was assumed he died in the dungeon. This, however, was incorrect: Abysthor’s quest failed but he was left alive, trapped by the very evil he wanted to destroy.
There are several plot hooks that could be used to lure PCs to the Stoneheart Dungeon (as it is called now). They could be on a holy mission to rescue sacred writings, they could be searching for the advice of long dead paladins entombed withtin, or even seek the fate of Abysthor himself. They could also be looking for treasure. This, of course, means that they will likely miss some of the good stuff – the module assumes and rewards good characters, while providing opportunities for neutrals or even evildoers – there are multiple factions within the dungeon, and none of these particularly likes the others. Thus, antiheroes could get involved in dungeon politics, or just doublecross all others to achieve their own goals.
The first part of the adventure is the wilderness section. Unlike previous Necromancer offerings, it was incorporated into the book. It describes the „Valley of the Shrines”, where the dungeon is situated. There are monster lairs (all of them dangerous for PCs of this level – a cocky PC in my game found a cave and decided to clean it all by himself, even though he heard about a beholder lurking in the vicinity...) and two ruined temples, which pretty well drive it home that „all is not well”. Many locations must be fleshed out before use, but the ideas are all sound and interesting, and gave me a basis to expand the module by adding a new dungeon level, etc.
Stoneheart itself is divided into seven main levels and two sublevels. All of these save the first are caverns, and have multiple connections – in fact, you could skip many of them or arrive at them from below. The party could also locate alternate exits and entrances or get to places they shouldn’t – as with everything Necromancer, running away is pretty much required for survival. While my group of 6-8 4-5th level PCs (plus animal companions) managed to do well, there were many instances when they could have all been killed if they weren’t cautious. Clearing out levels is completely hopeless, and any group that tries to tackle everything they encounter will get crushed fast. On the other hand, Tomb is a lot more forgiving than Rappan Athuk, and could easily serve as a traing ground for the same. There are few unfair „gotcha” encounters – most of the time, a party can negotiate or flee before they are gobbled up or subdued and sacrificed by evil clerics. Of course, if you are desperate to be killed, you will be very, very happy, as such opportunities are numerous and quite entertaining...
The levels are as follows:
-Entrance level: this is a smallish level dominated by „the Font of Bones”, an evil magical well that is flowing with (unlimited) skeletons. Judging by the stories on the Necromancer Boards (and my own experiences), this is where the least cautious parties will be annihilated. On the other hand, it is easy to bypass the place and proceed down. The level also has a connection to level four, the Temple of Orcus, but there are clear hints that going this way may not be a good idea...
-Level I is inhabited by a large ogre, undead and unintelligent monsters. It also has stairs to the Temple of Orcus and the Temple of The Frog, among others.
-Level II is a lot more dangerous – some parts more than others, but definitely worse than I. The main attraction here is Dark Natasha, a renegade drow sorceress-priest.
-Level IIA is the first of the sublevels. It contains the lair of Balcoth, a wraith-wizard. Balcoth could become an ally or even a patron for evil parties, as long as they keep their distance. I also found he was just the perfect NPC to intimidate exhausted heroes to part with their more powerful magical items.
-Level III contains the tombs of fallen heroes and an abandoned laboratory. The main danger here is the multitude of unintelligent monsters – they aren’t just strong, but numerous as well.
-Level IV, the Temple of Orcus, is the place most low-level parties should avoid. The high priest and his lackeys are essentially the most active force in the whole place (albeit granted, not the most powerful) and a frontal assault will likely result in a TPK. The place also contains one of the biggest errors in the whole module – there are supposed to be three entrances to this level, but the map only shows two – easily remedied but still annoying. The art to this level is easily the best in the whole book, or in any Necromancer module before Necropolis.
-Level V is another evil temple, the Temple of the Frog. The vile worshippers of Tsathoggua, the froglike tsathar dwell here, not to mention the multitudes of various frogs (dire, killer, abyssal dire, poisonous, etc.). Actually, this is my favourite level of all (although this preference may be affected by my unnatural love of giant frogs and froglike monsters, or just simple IRL frogs). It is a very eery and alien place (my players wanted to get out as soon as they saw the frog-priests worshipping the giant idol in the central cavern!), not to mention extremely dangerous – taking on the temple is suicidal, even for high level parties. Maintaining a low profile is recommended.
-Level VA is where Abysthor found the source of the evil in Stoneheart, not to mention a place that holds the very power of the mountains itself. Unfortunately, while many great ideas are contained herein, there are several arbitrary „step here and die” traps, not to mention the linerarity of the whole section. It all felt out of place and after my players (who complimented the rest of the module, which they rarely do) accidentally discovered and „solved” it, they came away somewhat let-down and unsatisfied. Which is too bad, since, again, the rest was so good.
-Level VI is the last – it is really deep down, and contains many extremely nasty surprises – a psionic su-monster horde, a behir, a lich and more. While unrelated to the main „theme” of the module, it served as a good reminder why avoiding lower levels could be a good idea (and, additionally, a lot of fun for me when the clerics of Orcus destroyed the main dungeon entrance and the party had to go through the place again).
Why is Tomb of Abysthor so much fun? In my opinion, this success could be attributed to the following factors:
a) it has a clear, evocative theme and several smaller „sub-themes”. Unlike many other modules (even by WotC, *cough* Return to the Endless Crater Ridge Mines *cough*), the players encounter lots of different and interesting areas/encounters.
b) the dungeon feels more „realistic” (I know, here comes the „R-word”...) due to the squabbling factions (who could be exploited by a clever party – or who could exploit a less clever one, like mine) and the fact that the levels don’t feel isolated. By the time we finished, my players really hated Orcus and his clergy – I have the feeling they will return in time to take their revenge and get killed horribly...
c) while the emphasis is on action and exploration, there are opportunities for puzzle-solving or interacting with the denizens.
d) the size of the whole place isn’t as intimidating as Rappan Athuk (which is also fine, by the way), but offers enough room to feel large and maintain the mystery of unexplored depths.
I would venture to say it is actually better than most first edition adventures, while paying homage to them. It is all the coolness you remember about the old days, only without rose coloured glasses. In conclusion, I would recommend Tomb of Abysthor to everyone who likes well done dungeon crawls – for this is certainly one of them.
