Dungeon 112: Castle Maure comments?

[d20Dwarf]

This module had a lot of plot, well developed characters, and enough backstory to fill 2 or 3 campaigns. It also had very interesting monsters, creative puzzles and traps, and a surprisingly well developed dungeon ecology (for those that are into that type of thing).

In short, read it.

 

[Esteban]

Great Adventure

I would have to agree with an earlier thread that this is one of the best adventures ever published in Dungeon magazine. Everything seems to have a reason for being there (I really appreciate the conflict between the Gnolls and the cultists and Eli summoning the Nalfeshnee demon to keep the conflict under control). The artwork is first rate.

My only complaint (and it's a quibble) are the maps. My characters map when they are in a dungeon and trying to describe the odd shaped rooms and multiple twisting corridors is going to be difficult and may bog down play - at least for me. How does everyone else handle this? I'll probably wind up remapping much of the Dungeon.

I have a short adventure planned for my group next month, but then it's off to Castle Maure.

 

[Cassander]

Hmmm, given the level of plotting, interesting characters, and possibilities for storyline expansion in the original WG5---and from what I understand the new Dungeon version goes well beyond the original [but I don't know because my subscription copy still hasn't arrived yet]---I'm curious to hear what constitutes an innovative, well-executed plot IYO Cassander. I'm not trying to be picky/prickly/offensive, I'm honestly curious

Well, as I refered to earlier, my prime example would be Ailamere's lair. It has a few alignment and story issues that are easily fixed, but basically it is a 100% open-ended adventure wherein the PCs are hired to find out as much as possible about a mysterious dragon by a sage. The goal of the adventure, essentially, is to fill out a 2e monster manual page, with more information yeilding a greater reward from the sage. There is also some other interesting things going on with this mysterious dragon as well. A top notch adventure.

There was a decent Alternity adventure called Convergance which I liked cause it was well laid out and it was very easy to fail the adventure without dying. There isnt nearly enough of that in D&D adventures.

I liked the early Challenge of Champions adventures once I read them. At first I thought they'd be cheesy and boring, but the puzzle design was excellent. Alas, the first 3e one wasn't anywhere near as good.. havent read the 2nd 3e one.

I liked Natural Selection cause of the interesting moral dilemmas presented and the way the key skill to "win" the adventure is basically diplomacy, not combat skills. The end of that adventure presents some fantasic role-playing opportunities. And the exploration phase is a good search and rescue with unfortunately depressing results. An adventure that is dark in a different way from the gothic stuff.

I like stuff like Enormously Inconvenient which has a nice little hook (all the creatures in an area are giant sized and the PCs have to find out why in order to save a dryad among other reasons. And the end result provides some cool magic items as well.

I liked Welcome to the Krypthome for the way it made goblins adversaries without giving them extra levels and in general its fun wild magic.

I liked Fortune Favors the Dead for its great sprawling spanish flavored adventure as well it's awesome title Best adventure name.

I like some of the very interesting ideas in 3e advens like the "mad ranger goes wild for funky fungus" (forget the title) and The Elfwhisperer and then the 2e Thirds of Porloined Vellum (was it 3e?) even if they didnt live up to the initial hooks.

I liked playing Mysterious Ways cause my DM really dragged it out and made it into a really epic adventure with lots of twists and great villians. Decently written as well with lots of room to expand if you avoid the railroading.

And inspite of its dungeon crawliness, I did like Anvil of Time (of course I helped edit it, so I'm biased) cause indeed it did have great use of time travel and some awesome encounters. So I suppose this adven could be good in that way, but recounting these adventures makes me long for the days of 2e Dungeon when the font and statblocks were smaller and the magazine was crammed full of 4-6 interesting adventures.

 

[Gizzard]

So, was Castle Maure originally published as an entire module in 1E? Or was this never published, and only resurrected from Gygax's campaign notes?

(It was plenty fun reading the levels included in Dungeon 112, fun enough that I wonder if we'll see additional levels in future Dungeons. Certainly the ecomonics of converting "classic" modules and re-publishing them must be favorable to writing all new material.

Hmm, perhaps thats an idea for the new Poly-less Dungeon --- a "Classic Conversion Corner". )

 

[Wycen]

So, was Castle Maure originally published as an entire module in 1E? Or was this never published, and only resurrected from Gygax's campaign notes?

(It was plenty fun reading the levels included in Dungeon 112, fun enough that I wonder if we'll see additional levels in future Dungeons. Certainly the ecomonics of converting "classic" modules and re-publishing them must be favorable to writing all new material.

Hmm, perhaps thats an idea for the new Poly-less Dungeon --- a "Classic Conversion Corner". )

The 3 top levels are the basis for WG5, Mordenkainen's Fantastic Adventure. The party gets into the dungeon, finding Eli and his minions and defeats them, or possibly get's eaten by Kerzit like my character did. I don't recall if there was a hook or suggestion on how to get the party involved, I think the idea was they just decided to adventure in the dungeon.

 

[BOZ]

That's basically it. What makes it great is that the monsters are innovative.

even if they are something like 20 years old.

 

[Monte At Home]

I liked it too. While the whole thing doesn't fit my campaign, I'd happily steal some of the encounters and whatnot here and there, except of course for the fact that Erik Mona's a player in my game.

And as for the strangely shaped passages and rooms, I know what you mean. Personally, I love them, but that kind of dungeon design a number of us refer to--with all due sincere respect--as "Gygaxian." They're easy enough to deal with if you use a battlemat or dwarven forge. But to verbally describe, they can indeed slow the game down. While they're not terribly realistic, they are a part of the "D&D feel" for me. They make a dungeon map into almost its own kind of art form rather than just some squares on a piece of graph paper (for an example of this, look at the lowest level of the original Temple of Elemental Evil--it has a wonderful sense of style).

 

[Erik Mona]

While the whole thing doesn't fit my campaign, I'd happily steal some of the encounters and whatnot here and there, except of course for the fact that Erik Mona's a player in my game.

Don't let that stop you!

--Erik

 

[BOZ]

my DM wants to run this, but i've already spent a fair amount of time looking at Mordenkainen's Fantastic Adventure. of course, the fact that Erik had a hand in the new version means that Monte will have to work even harder to keep him surprised.

 

[Emirikol]

Could a dungeon crawl ever be greater than an innovative classic like Ailamere's Lair? Or in 3e, the pure epicness of Mysterious ways and the cold naturalism of Natural Selection?

Issue #51
Nbod’s Room (SOLO; 4-5) Just one door, but lots of exits.**
Ailamere’s Lair (6-9) The sage’s deal is simple: The more you learn about the dragon, the richer you get.**
The Bandits of Bunglewood (1-2) No one will admit who the bandits really are.**
The Last Oasis (AL-QUADIM; 1-4) When your shadow vanishes, it’s too late! **
The Witch of Windcrag (bD&D S.Trek; 2-3) Guaranteed to ruffle your feathers.
Journey ot the Center-of-the-World (S.Trek 8-10) A crater that holds the bones of a thousand generations.**