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Message: <blockquote data-quote="incognito" data-source="post: 458955" data-attributes="member: 7008">In this adventure, Seasong has set up a classic case of slightly comical stereo type challenges;  Fire Giants, who are often seen as domineering and cruel (often Lawful evil), and Druids are usually not so meddlesome (that whole neutral sacred cow).  Happily, now that Druids can be any flavor of Neutral, we can see a lot of stuff like what Murielle is feeling – she is not your grandpa’s druid. Let’s take a look at seasong’s strong points.Good use of the ingredients.  I have to say, the Druid Dryad is now officially trite.  I do like the mobile dryad concept. Seasong does get points for carving the pipes from stone, rather than wood, which is the obvious ingredient material choice.  Use of the underground lake was so well blended, I had to go back to make sure he included the ingredient – very well done.  The imagery in this one is not to shabby either – very quickly we get an clean metal image of the druids demesnes.  Another thing to like in this scenario is the level seasong chose to introduce the PCs at.  They are not supposed to solve this with direct combat, and given their level (10), a CR 14 Dryad, and a CR 8 Animal companion are not easy challenges (nor is a CR 15 Fire Giant).  What makes this scenario playable is interest of the NPCs which are not to eliminate or do bad things to the party (now there’s a first!)So what’s missing?  I think this adventure has the potential to become silly, which, if not desired, will detract form the story quite a bit.  Also, we have some suspension of disbelief issues – the Dryad Druid is a bit too single minded, and the Fire Giants a bit too accommodating/stupid for my taste.  Most of seasongs NPCs are typically less one dimensional, and so I found myself wanting an ‘all is not what is seems’ plot twist.  Interestingly enough, another seasong strong point is hooks.  Although I like both sides approaching the PCs and asking for various types of help, to truly capture the PCs interest, I like tangential plot hooks (ones that hook the characters without realizing it).  I think that a character seeing the two parties at war with one another (per the 5th hook), is likely to devolve into a fantasy TV show viewing, with questions asked to the victor. The highlight of the hooks is that there are a lot of them.  We only have a one ingredients used badly.  Yes, you guessed it – a conflict of interest.  I am not going to post the definition again, but I have to say implied conflicts of interests simply do not end up cutting it.  It is too easy to call anything a conflict of interest if we take a liberal enough view! (ex the fire giants have a conflict of surviving contact with the dryad vs. their newfound desire to live in harmony with ‘nature’).  How about this for a conflict of interest – I had french fries for lunch, which is a conflict of interest with my desire to stay fit and live a healthy lifestyle.  I was looking for more, and so far, I have not critiqued a submission that has really nailed it.If this entry had gone against Wulf, it would’ve won – the issues in Wulfs were self contained.  If it has gone against Wicht, it is anybody’s guess.  Both adventures were more lighthearted.  Wicht’s because of the game like nature of his adventure, and seasong’s due to the potential for comedy.</blockquote>

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