Beneath the Twisted Tower

[Torchiest]

Has anyone ever run this adventure? What did you think of it? My group started it in our last session, and got to the big room with the altar and pool. The PCs had a hell of a time get past the chimney section, and I was just wondering what other DMs' or players' experience with this adventure have been. Did you enjoy it? We had fun, like we always do, but some of the traps and situations seem way too deadly for a group of 1st level characters, which is why I waited until most of the PCs had leveled up before trying this. Thoughts?

 

[Rhun]

It sounds vaguely familiar, but I don't think I have ever DMed/played it.

 

[Torchiest]

The chimney section, in my opinion, is ridiculous. There is a chamber that has a permanent illusion of a cave-in that hides a secret door. The entire party failed their saving throws, and even if they search the rubble, it feels real. The only other way out of the room is a group of three "chimneys", 100ft tall tubes leading straight up from the room.

The module says the climb "is not terribly technically difficult", but then says that climbing checks with a +15% bonus or dexterity checks with +4 must be made every 10ft. That's ten checks to get all the way up. Also, every 40ft, a strength check must be made. So that means twelve checks must be made to get all the way up the chimney.

For most characters, that comes out to maybe a 10% of making all the checks, hardly easy. In addition, two of the three chimneys are trapped and impassable, meaning that even more checks will be made if you pick the wrong chimney the first time, which the party did. They were able to come up with some other ideas and finally make it, but it took probably an hour, and seemed pretty tough for a supposedly introductory adventure.

 

[Rhun]

The chimney section sounds pretty ridiculous. Sounds like it ended up being a big waste of time as opposed to an obstacle for enterprising players to overcome.

 

[Torchiest]

Yeah, I kinda regret not modifying it, because I had misgivings about it when I pre-read the module. Oh well, live and learn, I suppose. I'm curious how other DMs handled that part, and how they played out the rest of the adventure, as it ends with a powerful mage who can escape the final battle and become a potential recurring villain, which I'm planning to do. I think I'm going to dovetail this adventure into my overarching Swords of Power storyline, with the mage being one of the people hunting for Swords.