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Message: <blockquote data-quote="(un)reason" data-source="post: 9159937" data-attributes="member: 27780">Dungeon Issue 87: Jul/Aug 2001part 6/6Side Treks - The Shalm's Dark Song: Even the short adventures are experiencing a bit of inflation in the new edition, as this is nearly a full 6 pages long. Pilgrims to a nearby shrine of Obad-Hai have been failing to return lately. Has it been taken over by monsters? Someone had better do something about that. The answer could be yes or no, depending on your perspective. The current cleric in residence is a NE one who’s been sacrificing people and creating bone constructs out of their bodies. But he’s still acting entirely within the tenets of his religion so he hasn’t lost his powers or otherwise been punished by his god. To get the good ending, you’ll need to beat him and his various animal minions, but in a way that doesn’t desecrate the shrine deliberately or accidentally. (fire magic in particular is a very bad idea when the whole place is made of wood) So this is another good example of how the one step rule for clerics in 3e works, allowing neutral gods to have evil worshippers and some quite vigorous ecumenical debate about the proper way to serve their portfolio without their master interfering. Like the larger adventure involving evil druids a couple of issues ago, it’s part of an active campaign to adapt people’s minds to the new paradigm as much as it is an adventure in itself. But it’s still a pretty decent scenario in it’s own right with a collection of creatures that fit together thematically so I don’t have a problem with that. Map of Mystery is a small segment of the underdark with multiple exits, easily placed anytime they’re on an extended expedition down there. Most of it is twisty natural cave shapes, then one bit is very obviously excavated by intelligent forces, looking like some kind of church. Given the alignment distribution of the average underdark dweller, that’s probably not good news for the PC’s. A second issue in quick succession that demonstrates that some of their worst adventures come from official members of staff who aren’t being judged and edited as strictly as they would a freelancer. Average quality is still higher than it was 5 years ago, but they’re not going in a positive direction at the moment and I suspect the editorial change may accelerate that. Let’s see if next issue will more of a sweet dream or a beautiful nightmare.</blockquote>

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