I ran our group through it, and we enjoyed it quite a bit. The CR broke down a little after the players had leveled up to 2nd, so I threw some extra monsters in. It got better after the critters figured out they were being invaded, and grouped together in large groups as compared to the smaller groups they are designed as. At one point, the party barbarian ended up as a pincushin...all in all, we liked it just fine.
Failings of the Sunless Citadel: Details Please!
- Thread starter VirgilCaine
- Start date
Plane Sailing
Astral Admin - Mwahahaha!
I think it is fine apart from the hooks to get the party involved which were a bit uninspiring. The one good thing about the "dragonpriest" was that it was a good introduction to the use of "reach" in combat (it was the first adventure we played)
Kalendraf
Explorer
diaglo said:
I just checked the errata page at the WotC site and saw no mention of this or any other modules. Can you point us to the proper link?
As for the original poster's question, I for one strongly disliked this adventure for a number of reasons. I submitted a review of it, which details most of the problems I had with this adventure. In retrospect, some of those issues may have been magnified by the particular campaign I was in at the time (player mix, DM style, etc). However, after obtaining a few other low-level published adventures, I maintain my rating of Sunless Citadel in comparison.
VirgilCaine
First Post
Kalendraf said:
Where was this review submitted? And why aren't you telling the details here?
On an another thread about the Citadel, someone mentioned that in the beginning it "was just dire rat, dire rat, dire rat." I took that to mean the encounters were mostly the same--i.e. repetitive.
Thanks for the replies.
d4
First Post
well yes, there are three dire rats in the first encounter...VirgilCaine said:
i wouldn't say they're too repetitive. the second encounter proper in the SC is usually the skeletons, and the only other dire rats are all up in a different area of the citadel, that you can't reach without going through the kobolds' area first. (and there's a chance for encountering twig blights before you even get to the citadel.)
i didn't find the encounters repetitive. as some others mention, i think the use of a lot of the same monsters (goblins, kobolds, bugbears, twig blights) gives the adventure a strong thematic touch.
VirgilCaine said:
Well, there's only so many monsters you can group up and still get an EL of 1 or lower. Sunless Citadel makes use of dire rats, kobolds, goblins, skeletons, and a new critter called a "twig blight" in that role, which doesn't strike me as overly repetitive. There's also some capable individual critters.
Since Sunless Citadel was designed as an intro to third edition, giving players a few shots at the same type of critter helps in teaching combat rules and tactics.
Kalendraf
Explorer
VirgilCaine said:
Sorry. I mistakenly assumed that since this was Enworld, everyone would know where to find Enworld reviews... But that's probably not a good assumption to make on my part. Here's a link to all the reviews for Sunless Citadel. You'll find mine (written by Kalendraf) among the rest here:
http://www.enworld.org/reviews/index.php?sub=yes&where=currentprod&which=TSC
stevelabny
Explorer
i went through the module/monsters and updated it to 3.48 and made very slight alterations otherwise.
Ran 4 mostly inexperienced players through it and they had a pretty easy time until they got to the end.
Certain situations (the dragon) and good rolling by the DM could be potentially dangerous (especially with so few hit points) BUT most parties should survive.
The level large? Theres two pretty large levels, but why would size of a level be a problem?
Repetetive bad guys? Theres a tribe of kobolds, a tribe of goblins, and a few other baddies (a few groups of skeletons, bugbears and hobgoblins with the goblins, the twig creatures) but I think theres just enough to make the small humanoids scary without making it seem like an endless boring army. Plus the kobolds can easily dealt with diplomatically, leaving only one large group of goblins. Sure there arent any wow-inducing creatures besides the baby dragon, but it IS a 1sty level module.
I have to agree that its a pretty good introductory to 3e and can be a fun few sessions.
Ran 4 mostly inexperienced players through it and they had a pretty easy time until they got to the end.
Certain situations (the dragon) and good rolling by the DM could be potentially dangerous (especially with so few hit points) BUT most parties should survive.
The level large? Theres two pretty large levels, but why would size of a level be a problem?
Repetetive bad guys? Theres a tribe of kobolds, a tribe of goblins, and a few other baddies (a few groups of skeletons, bugbears and hobgoblins with the goblins, the twig creatures) but I think theres just enough to make the small humanoids scary without making it seem like an endless boring army. Plus the kobolds can easily dealt with diplomatically, leaving only one large group of goblins. Sure there arent any wow-inducing creatures besides the baby dragon, but it IS a 1sty level module.
I have to agree that its a pretty good introductory to 3e and can be a fun few sessions.
ArcOfCorinth
First Post
I ran a solo campaign through it and enjoyed it very much. The solo player managed to play the kobolds and goblins each other for a while before fostering a truce between the tribes.
He never fought a single kobold and had a tendency to heal the goblins he injured. He ended up with two strong allies (he did kill off the hobgoblins though) in the Citadel.
We're a fourth of the way into RttToEE and Erky's still tagging along.
He never fought a single kobold and had a tendency to heal the goblins he injured. He ended up with two strong allies (he did kill off the hobgoblins though) in the Citadel.
We're a fourth of the way into RttToEE and Erky's still tagging along.
