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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mark Hope" data-source="post: 3273507" data-attributes="member: 27051">It's really interesting to see how many folks played this as a computer game.  This is how I first played it as well, and enjoyed it so much that I got the module.  (I also foolishly bought the Ruins of Adventure module as well, which I found needed huge amounts of work to knock into shape - although I know that for others it clicked right away).I found the module plenty of fun - some strong villains, good locations and interesting twists and turns along the way (the forced "assassination" of Wyvernspur, Ginali and his torture room, the beholder and Fzoul coming through the wall, the dragon at Haptooth hill and the dead avatar were all memorable encounters for all the groups I ran this for).I was a bit wary of the strong railroad elements in the adventure, but for me this adventure stood out from other "A to B to C to D to BBEG" modules in that its railroad hook (the eponymous bonds) was logical to the plot and that it managed to be compelling and enjoyable along the way.  The players really wanted to ride that railroad, just to get rid of the bloody bonds.  Not a plot device you could use more than once, but just the once did the trick.It was also the adventure that ended DM-controlled adventures for me forever.  At a certain point in the adventure, my players charged wildly off-track (in a fashion that made sense to them).  Their actions, while completely at odds with the plot, actually worked better than the printed adventure.  I embraced it wholeheartedly (after a few moments of blind panic) and the ramifications of that single encounter are still felt in my games today, 15 years later.  I had always favoured player choice over DM control before then, but the success of realising that "there is no spoon", so to speak, was a liberating experience of an unprecedented level.  Never going back.  Player control all the way, baby.</blockquote>

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