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Message: <blockquote data-quote="RealAlHazred" data-source="post: 8231673" data-attributes="member: 25818">LAIR ASSAULT SERIES:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><a href="https://rpggeek.com/rpgitem/108666/forge-dawn-titan" target="_blank">Season 1: Forge of the Dawn Titan</a> (September 2011): Outside the city of Neverwintcr, fiendish cultists conspire t.o unlock the power of a fiery primordial. Gods help the city if they succeed! This was meant to tie loosely into Lost Crown of Neverwinter, being released during that module's run, but it has no real hooks into the module (or vice versa), just using some similar characters (i.e., Asmodeus cultists). The battle takes place in a dungeon full of lava pools, where a primordial stirs in its prison.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><a href="https://rpggeek.com/rpgitem/127746/talon-umberlee" target="_blank">Season 2: Talon of Umberlee</a> (December 2011): It's "kill or be killed" as brave heroes test their mettle against drunken Tidescourge pirates and the wicked servants of the sea goddess Umberlee. ARRR! This one also took place near Neverwinter, but had no ties to any module. The double-sided map has a ship on one side and a pirate hideout on the other; after a single scenario with their "twist in the middle" idea, they went with a scenario where the first part was an attack on a ship and the second was assault on a pirate lair.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><a href="https://rpggeek.com/rpgitem/127745/attack-tyrantclaw" target="_blank">Season 3: Attack of the Tyrantclaw</a> (March 2012): A dryad druid named Hyacinth has recently learned of a mined village called Tanaroa on the shores of the mysterious Isle of Dread. Now she hopes to land there and delve into the ruins of this long-ago society. She has chartered a ship to the island and hired adventurers to protect her. The job won't be easy, for a savage clan of orcs called the Tyrantclaw dwells on the island, along with great reptilian beasts. This one was the second most interesting Lair Assault. In this one, there is a major twist halfway through the combat, and there's the potential for a great roleplay moment if the party has grown attached to their patron. I mean, the module only covers the very end of what should have been an epic journey filled with adventure, but what do you expect in 16 pages, of which half are stats?</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><a href="https://rpggeek.com/rpgitem/127747/spiderkiller" target="_blank">Season 4: Spiderkiller</a> (June 2012): Somewhere in the Lost Level of Undermountain, a fallen drow matron schemes to open a way to the Demonweb. Should she succeed, can anything stop Lolth's faithful? Don't be fooled by the throwaway reference to Undermountain in the blurb, you're only going down a waterfall into the tiniest 4-room "dungeon." It's drow again! This time, you have three major fights, and it's timed because you have to get to the boss before a timer counts down. The setup is that you're doing this as a favor for Vajra Safhar, the Blackstaff, so I was going to use this as one of the missions in my table's run of Dragon Heist, but the players lost interest before I could get that far. The scenario uses elements from a bunch of modules from previous editions -- Undermountain Adventures: the River Sargauth (2005); Undermountain: The Lost Level (1996); and, Expedition to Undermountain (2007).</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><a href="https://rpggeek.com/rpgitem/134560/kill-wizard" target="_blank">Season 5: Kill the Wizard</a> (September 2012): An elf wizard has built a construct with a single purpose: the destruction of the drow. This discovery has led the drow houses of Menzoberranzan to forge an alliance and send a "murder squad" to kill the wizard and destroy his sinister creation! This one felt like a missed opportunity. The D&D Encounters module running when this released was Council of Spiders, where the party is (presumably) a bunch of drow. This could have easily been a mission they had to do for their masters, but it doesn't make sense in context; I feel like a little editing would have left a spot somewhere in that module to fit this encounter. It's a visit to a wizard's 8-room tower and 9-room dungeon, where you have to destroy his magic death machine. I actually got several groups to try this one, by telling them the "wizard" of the title was Elminster; nobody liked that blowhard.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><a href="https://rpggeek.com/rpgitem/135195/temple-sky-god" target="_blank">Season 6: Temple of the Sky God</a> (December 2012):  Astride the legendary Mounts of Wind, the brave heroes venture into a corrupted temple in the clouds. Will the party survive the battle with the dark force that dwells there, or will they fall before the might of the temple’s new master? This one was my favorite. It effectively uses the "twist in the middle" hook of the series (that they really only used in 3 of the 7 encounters), and had an evocative setting. The location is a mystical temple floating in the clouds, inhabited by a legendary oracle. You could easily drop this into a campaign as a place the players have to get to in order to learn a key piece of information. It's eminently reusable, and has some really fun bits to it. The Mounts of the Wind are Sarala the Silver Arrow and Telosi the White Sun (pegasi); Shiriki Sharpbeak and Orien the Golden Lion (griffons); Garogg of the North Wind and Tulanni the Indomitable (hippogriffs); and, Borsok Mightyspikes and Maura Raincloud (manticores). Each mount has a different special ability they give the rider, and the module makes excellent use of mounted combat.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><a href="https://rpggeek.com/rpgitem/143785/pit-madness" target="_blank">Season 7: Into the Pit of Madness</a> (April 2013): Mad cultists have located the Forgotten Temple of Tharizdun and sounded the dark god’s iron horn, the Wailer of Tharizdun. Now the ground trembles as the Chained God’s aspect struggles to escape. When it does, the Chained God will follow, plunging the world into Eternal Darkness. Based on Gary Gygax’s The Forgotten Temple of Tharizdun and The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth, as well as Monte Cook’s Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil, this scenario uses two main locations from the Forbidden Temple: the upper chamber from the beginning and the Black Cyst from the end. The party can also visit five elemental nodes from the Temple of Elemental Evil. As a fan of those other modules, this disappointed me greatly, since it felt like you were just rushing through all kinds of interesting details to get to the fight.</li> </ul>The groups I ran these for at the local hobby shop weren't really enthused. They were basically intricate tactical combat challenges, and my players were more interested in roleplaying and exploration. For some tables, I expect these Lair Assaults are exactly the ticket: challenging encounters that reward tactical thinking. Others will find them lifeless slogs. In any case, these sometimes also show up on eBay, and I think they're usually much cheaper than the D&D Encounters modules, but keep in mind you're getting much less for your money -- a map, a 16- or 24-page booklet, a tactical map, and maybe some extras (Mount Cards for Temple of the Sky God, for example).Not going to lie, seeing how much some of these are currently going for, I kind of wish I'd kept my extras...</blockquote>

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