Reply to thread

Message

<blockquote data-quote="Celebrim" data-source="post: 3657478" data-attributes="member: 4937">Plenty of discussion of all of them.&nbsp; I'm only personally familiar with a few.1) Return to the Tomb of Horrors: A well-written mega-module that doesn't depend on a single potentially redundant dungeon.&nbsp; I've never had much of any desire to run it though.&nbsp; First, because it is a meat-grinder, and secondly because its a very different sort of meat grinder than the original tomb.&nbsp; To understand what I mean, consider this difference:Original ToH: DM: &quot;You touched something, now you dead.&quot;Player: &quot;Don't I get a saving throw?&quot;DM: &quot;Of course not.&quot;New ToH:DM: &quot;Something touched you, now you are dead.&quot;Player: &quot;Don't I get a saving throw?&quot;DM: &quot;Of course not.&quot;That's a parody, and as such it over simplifies, but it is still to me basically true.&nbsp; Still, with the right group of players who were willing to use disposable characters, this could be alot of fun and I've heard alot of good reports about running it.&nbsp; Definately worth owning.2) Axe of the Dwarven Lords:&nbsp; Definately written by someone who knows how to abuse the eccentricies of the old monster manuals.&nbsp; It's a well written imaginative mega-dungeon written by a RBDM who really knows how to bury what we'd now call 'CR'.&nbsp; However, I've never felt a desire to actually run it.&nbsp; The problem with it is that the peices are far better than the whole.&nbsp; The dungeon is too big.&nbsp; The encounters too redundant in places.&nbsp; In particular, I think - and have heard - that the whole 'Tucker's Kobolds' syndrome (only in this case with goblins) pretty much takes the fun out of it.&nbsp; Not only is 600 goblins divided out into scores of encounters going to be boring after the first couple hours of play, but its one of the worst cases of NPC favoritism I've ever seen in a published text.&nbsp; Basically, the rules that apply to the goblins and the rules that apply to the PC's are so completely different, that they don't even use the same mechanics.&nbsp; Missile fire, item creation, opening doors, you name it - the world the goblins inhabit is a different one than the PC's inhabit.&nbsp; The designer wants to pretend that the goblins are so clever (and therefore so is he), but really he's just cheating.&nbsp; Ruined the whole read for me.&nbsp;&nbsp; Lots of things I would take from this module (and for that matter have), but I'd never run it as written.Night Below: Never read it.&nbsp; Can't comment.Rod of Seven Parts: I remember skimming through it and being very unimpressed.&nbsp; Dragon Mountain:&nbsp; Never read it either.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Celebrim, post: 3657478, member: 4937"] Plenty of discussion of all of them. I'm only personally familiar with a few. 1) Return to the Tomb of Horrors: A well-written mega-module that doesn't depend on a single potentially redundant dungeon. I've never had much of any desire to run it though. First, because it is a meat-grinder, and secondly because its a very different sort of meat grinder than the original tomb. To understand what I mean, consider this difference: Original ToH: DM: "You touched something, now you dead." Player: "Don't I get a saving throw?" DM: "Of course not." New ToH: DM: "Something touched you, now you are dead." Player: "Don't I get a saving throw?" DM: "Of course not." That's a parody, and as such it over simplifies, but it is still to me basically true. Still, with the right group of players who were willing to use disposable characters, this could be alot of fun and I've heard alot of good reports about running it. Definately worth owning. 2) Axe of the Dwarven Lords: Definately written by someone who knows how to abuse the eccentricies of the old monster manuals. It's a well written imaginative mega-dungeon written by a RBDM who really knows how to bury what we'd now call 'CR'. However, I've never felt a desire to actually run it. The problem with it is that the peices are far better than the whole. The dungeon is too big. The encounters too redundant in places. In particular, I think - and have heard - that the whole 'Tucker's Kobolds' syndrome (only in this case with goblins) pretty much takes the fun out of it. Not only is 600 goblins divided out into scores of encounters going to be boring after the first couple hours of play, but its one of the worst cases of NPC favoritism I've ever seen in a published text. Basically, the rules that apply to the goblins and the rules that apply to the PC's are so completely different, that they don't even use the same mechanics. Missile fire, item creation, opening doors, you name it - the world the goblins inhabit is a different one than the PC's inhabit. The designer wants to pretend that the goblins are so clever (and therefore so is he), but really he's just cheating. Ruined the whole read for me. Lots of things I would take from this module (and for that matter have), but I'd never run it as written. Night Below: Never read it. Can't comment. Rod of Seven Parts: I remember skimming through it and being very unimpressed. Dragon Mountain: Never read it either. [/QUOTE]

Verification