Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="KirayaTiDrekan" data-source="post: 6337411" data-attributes="member: 6755061">D2: Shrine of the Kuo-ToaOriginally published September, 1978Version being read and reviewed: <a href="http://www.dndclassics.com/product/17041/D12-Descent-into-the-Depths-of-the-Earth-1e?term=Descent&it=1" target="_blank">D1-2: Descent Into the Depths of the Earth</a> (PDF) (April, 1981; PDF added to <a href="http://www.dndclassics.com" target="_blank">www.dndclassics.com</a> January, 2013) by Gary GygaxFirst things first - SPOILER ALERT!!!!Still here?Ok, here we go.This is another filler adventure, albeit a more interesting one than D1.  The party is still on their way to find and deal with the drow and stumble onto a kuo-toa stronghold.  As there is still a lot of Underdark (or underworld as it is referred to here, the term Underdark having not been invented, yet) travel going on, wandering monsters take center stage again in the first part of this adventure, with the potential to encounter drow patrols, merchants, kuo-toa religious pilgrims, and a variety of other critters, all thematically appropriate to the setting.  The first set-piece encounter is with an unhinged kuo-toa "monitor" (basically a monk) ferryman who can get the party across a turbulent river.  Without him, the trip across is going to be much more difficult and the party will end up quite a distance downstream in the process.  After that, we get to meet the deep gnomes, aka Svirfneblin (good luck pronouncing that one right the first time).  These underground gnomes are potential allies against both the kuo-toa and the drow, though they do come across as a bit covetous when it comes to gems.Finally, the kuo-toa shrine.  Kuo-toa seem to be inspired by Lovecraft.  Evil cultish fish people just seems to be something straight out of the Cthulhu mythos.  There are a couple of instances in the shrine where a PC has a chance of being transported to the Elemental Plane of Water and coming face to lobster-face with Blibdoolpoolp, the kuo-toa's pseudo-deity.  That name is more than a little silly sounding, but one must pronounce it properly (and present an expensive offering of pearls) in the presence of the naked-human-female-with-lobster-hands-and-head in order to gain a favor and be transported back.  Not much story potential here, overall, though there are plenty of prisoners and slaves to liberate, including a paladin.  There are also a few seemingly worthless trinkets to collect that apparently have significance in the next adventure, Vault of the Drow.At the end of the module we have Monster Manual style entries for the Drow (repeated verbatim from G3), Jermlaine (rat-loving kobold wannabes), kuo-toa, and svirfneblin.Overall, D1 and D2 are mostly filler, but they do introduce most of the concepts we now consider definitive of the Underdark.  Next up: D3: Vault of the Drow</blockquote>

Verification