Is The Sunless Citadel a well-designed adventure module?

[dougmander]

What's not to like? It's a classic dungeon crawl with a big fight at the end. That's a tried-and-true structure to hang an adventure on. I enjoyed DMing it, and that cute lil' gnome Erky Timbers stayed on with the party as an NPC for years to come.

As far as what designers can learn from it, it's a reminder that an adventure for 1st level characters has to be very gentle, with low hp monsters, opportunities to flee or rest, and friendly NPCs to lend a hand.

 

[GwydapLlew]

I really think that Sunless Citadel (and the sequel, Forge of Fury) were quite good at doing what they were supposed to do: walk DMs and players new to 3.0 through a pair of interesting low-level adventures.

I've always had fun running both of them, but it wasn't until I started annotating my copy of a Sunless Citadel for an online game that I realized exactly how much work was built into the encounters. Whether it was the explanation of trip attacks or Climb checks or the design example of having doors unlocked by turn checks, I really enjoyed it.

There were weaknesses to it - the final battle is a bit hard for a standard group of 1st- or 2nd-level PCs, and the twig blights were problematic - but I think overall it was a most excellent adventure.

 

[Flexor the Mighty!]

Yes. I DM'ed it when I was running 3e and it was fun for the players and me. The best 3e module I ran.

 

[Ourph]

I would give it a 7 out of 10. It was a nice dungeoncrawl with some interesting stuff in it. But it also had quite a bit of cheesiness and there were some layout problems that made the dungeon less usable. Definitely the best post-2000 WotC module so far.

 

[Dav]

Like El-Rammen, I have never played this so voted other. I voted so I could see the results.

Just click on "View Poll Results" to avoid voting, then.

 

[stevelabny]

Absolutely.

I haven't played/ran a lot of published modules, and I've only read a few more than that. BUT every adventure I read always has massive problems. This one doesn't.
Sunless Citadel...

-mostly makes sense
-had a plot hook that could easily be used to get everyone interested in the crawl
-offered an entire section that could be taken be force OR diplomacy OR stealth
-offered something for everyone (traps, undead, encounters with numerous low-hp critters, --encounters with bigger tougher creatures)
-had a personality-less 2hp NPC monster who has become a beloved icon. I think the EN World poll showed 50% of all Meepos somehow became inmportant to the party or campaign. There was just SOMETHING about the way he was presented.

The adventure was specifically designed for parties to try to use all of the new rules / classes / feats / skills and it shows. Also, the way they followed up on the Gulthias tree in Heart of Nightfang Spire was a great lesson on how to tie stuff together.

This module doesnt fall into the trap of having bad plot hooks, or making the rogue useless (or too important) or having incredibly silly monsters / traps / NPCs. Nor does it suffer from being completely boring and forgettable even if it is a level-1 adventure.

 

[Akrasia]

While not perfect, it was well put together. It was generic enough to fit into most campaign settings. The backstory was also pretty cool -- I liked the evil wood creatures.

 

[Sunderstone]

The module was perfect IMO, Stevelabny and GwydapLlew pretty much nailed it.

It did ease the DM transition into 3rd edition rules, which in turn made for smoother gameplay and a very enjoyable time. I dont recall any weird and zany creatures, and it allowed PCs to use diplomacy as well as standard combat, all this from a introductory module.

While I may be a big fan of Bruce Cordell, this module was perfect IMHO. This module ranks among my favorites of all time. Good Stuff.

 

[andrew_kenrick]

I like it a lot. It has it's problems, but it's mostly good.

We had a lot of fun with the white dragon too. The image of the characters trying to bludgeon it unconcious with table legs to get it back to Meepo haunted them all the way til epic level!

 

[Mycanid]

Sigh. Guess I'm with el-Remmen in voting "Other" as I have never read or played it....