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Message: <blockquote data-quote="MerricB" data-source="post: 2661967" data-attributes="member: 3586">Temple Level (areas 14-26, 4 pages)More stairs, more Emerald Claw guards. To deter those who'd want to just fly up here, there are dire apes wandering about the exterior as well. At this point, the PCs run into the main group of the Emerald Claw forces, including some of their leaders (a mummy sorcerer 2!). Plenty of space is given to helping the DM with their tactics.The rest of the level has more areas to explore - some already explored by the Emerald Claw, and some trap-filled areas that haven't been. This also has one of the deadliest traps of the adventure - a weakened wail of the banshee that will affect just one more person, having already wiped out five Emerald Claw soldiers. This is a really nice trap, because the PCs have plenty of warning. If they do brave the trap, they can gain a minor artifact - not necessary for the adventure's conclusion. (If you're wondering what my group did: they took the better part of valour and avoided the trap).Observatory Level (areas 27-39)At last, the PCs can find out what the leader of the Emerald Claw taskforce is up to... well, they could if they knew who he was. This level contains traps, monsters, Emerald Claw soldiers, treasure, and a giant throne.The throne is the centerpiece of the level. To the PCs, it will appear that a captured scholar is examining it, but it's really Garrow (first encountered in Shadows of the Last War), the leader of the Emerald Claw taskforce. At this point, the adventure can go seriously wrong. Garrow is meant to delay the PCs for a while, get them into a fight with the remaining Emerald Claw forces, then activate a magic portal and disappear into the Vault area. Unfortunately, it's quite possible that the PCs will disrupt this somehow. If so, you'll have to adapt what occurs here. It's the one bit of possible railroading in the adventure.The PCs will have to follow Garrow. They can either do this immediately, stepping through the portal, or later, in which case they'll need to gather clues from the previous two levels.The Vault LevelAt last, the conclusion of the schema plotline! It seems the giants were experimenting with Warforged themselves (this clears up some backstory as to where House Cannith got the idea during the Last War...) They created a sentient creation pattern, and it wants to get back together. And Garrow (or the PCs) have just brought the missing pieces...This basically boils down to two fights: one against Garrow, and one against the released Xulo. The latter is *extremely* difficult. Construct, 142 hp, AC 26, DR 5/-, Full Atk +16/+11/+6 (2d10+7, slam). Little wonder that one of my PCs died during it; and the rest had to escape before coming back.The entire ruin has some nice areas in it, and a few areas of wonder. All in all, it's a pretty fun (and unusual) dungeon layout. It also brings to an end the original series of Eberron adventures.Merric's ConclusionGrasp of the Emerald Claw is a pretty solid adventure, despite a couple of encounters that seem inappropriately difficult, and the one bit of required NPC action that could (and did, in my game) go so badly wrong. It ends with some really enjoyable pulp action. "I... am... complete! Xulo is... whole!" Perhaps the last word should go to one of my players in the Eberron campaign, and his thoughts about the adventure: "This was the first 'module' game that I have ever played that I really enjoyed. There is a plot and it is of course important to follow it, but I think the key to a good game is making it feel less like a choose your own adventure and I feel that was the case with this adventure. [It] felt a lot more spontaneous, like we were really in control of what was happening."4/5</blockquote>

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