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<blockquote data-quote="Messageboard Golem" data-source="post: 2008390" data-attributes="member: 18387"><p>(Mostly spoiler-free)</p><p></p><p>After reading so many great reviews on other sites, perhaps I was expecting too much from this adventure. Unfortunately, in the end it just didn't deliver what I'd hoped for.</p><p></p><p>First, the good points:</p><p>----------------------------</p><p>The setup/hook: Inspired. Rather than the typical "you meet in a pub.." or "you're wandering through town when suddenly...", it has a well thought-out, (semi-) believable premise.</p><p></p><p>The history/NPC's: Rich and well-defined. Rather than simply throwing together some convenient ideas and characters, the authors really seem to have thought things out and put together something that makes sense, a rare thing among standard d20 adventures. A detailed history that has a genuine atmosphere, and possibilities for further campaign adventures. Well done.</p><p></p><p>The setting/dungeon itself: Again, well thought-out. The writers took pains to make sure everything interconnected well and makes sense; not satisfied with simple dry descriptions, they describe the atmosphere in more emotional and tactile ways, and are especially good at emoting the "feel" of the different locations. Some cool visuals, traps and puzzles, too. A few extremely grisly and visceral discoveries.</p><p></p><p>And now, the bad:</p><p>-----------------------</p><p>The artwork: P.U.! Sorry to be harsh, but it varies from typical (though uninspired) to merely amateurish. Some graphics (particularly the counters - which I didn't use) honestly looked like something I'd see doodled in the white space of a bored high-schooler's notebook than a professional publication. The dungeon maps look like they were drawn in pencil on graph paper and photocopied; fine in 1978, but inexcusable if you have a PC on your desk with Photoshop or even Paintbrush. And that cover...yeesh. Extremely garish. Some of the black-and-white interior sketches were OK, but others were horrible. </p><p></p><p>The treasure: Overly generous, to the point of being nearly obscene. So many magic items I actually needed to put them on a separate spreadsheet just to track them, and so much treasure that the young adventurers could retire on this 1st level module alone. Not to mention the "big score" at the end... I understand the author's excuse that "it's supposed to be a vault", but this is waaaaay too much for a low-level party.</p><p></p><p>The adventure itself: Eh... ok. With the exception of a couple of rooms, nothing to write home about. Rather boring, actually. The single hallway design leaves little doubt that yo're being "guided" from beginning to end (although there is a bit of side-work in the attached caves, even this is forced). And as cool as some of the more interesting traps and puzzles were, a few seemed rather "out of place" in a dungeon vault.</p><p></p><p>Summary:</p><p>------------</p><p>It's a decent enough adventure for $10, but just don't expect too much. If they had just made it look a little more polished, chopped about half the treasure out, and threw in a few more twists and interesting encounters it would have been much better. Still, the overall content somewhat makes up for these faults, and with a little jury-rigging and DM fiddling, it's fine; I half-heartedly recommend it.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Messageboard Golem, post: 2008390, member: 18387"] (Mostly spoiler-free) After reading so many great reviews on other sites, perhaps I was expecting too much from this adventure. Unfortunately, in the end it just didn't deliver what I'd hoped for. First, the good points: ---------------------------- The setup/hook: Inspired. Rather than the typical "you meet in a pub.." or "you're wandering through town when suddenly...", it has a well thought-out, (semi-) believable premise. The history/NPC's: Rich and well-defined. Rather than simply throwing together some convenient ideas and characters, the authors really seem to have thought things out and put together something that makes sense, a rare thing among standard d20 adventures. A detailed history that has a genuine atmosphere, and possibilities for further campaign adventures. Well done. The setting/dungeon itself: Again, well thought-out. The writers took pains to make sure everything interconnected well and makes sense; not satisfied with simple dry descriptions, they describe the atmosphere in more emotional and tactile ways, and are especially good at emoting the "feel" of the different locations. Some cool visuals, traps and puzzles, too. A few extremely grisly and visceral discoveries. And now, the bad: ----------------------- The artwork: P.U.! Sorry to be harsh, but it varies from typical (though uninspired) to merely amateurish. Some graphics (particularly the counters - which I didn't use) honestly looked like something I'd see doodled in the white space of a bored high-schooler's notebook than a professional publication. The dungeon maps look like they were drawn in pencil on graph paper and photocopied; fine in 1978, but inexcusable if you have a PC on your desk with Photoshop or even Paintbrush. And that cover...yeesh. Extremely garish. Some of the black-and-white interior sketches were OK, but others were horrible. The treasure: Overly generous, to the point of being nearly obscene. So many magic items I actually needed to put them on a separate spreadsheet just to track them, and so much treasure that the young adventurers could retire on this 1st level module alone. Not to mention the "big score" at the end... I understand the author's excuse that "it's supposed to be a vault", but this is waaaaay too much for a low-level party. The adventure itself: Eh... ok. With the exception of a couple of rooms, nothing to write home about. Rather boring, actually. The single hallway design leaves little doubt that yo're being "guided" from beginning to end (although there is a bit of side-work in the attached caves, even this is forced). And as cool as some of the more interesting traps and puzzles were, a few seemed rather "out of place" in a dungeon vault. Summary: ------------ It's a decent enough adventure for $10, but just don't expect too much. If they had just made it look a little more polished, chopped about half the treasure out, and threw in a few more twists and interesting encounters it would have been much better. Still, the overall content somewhat makes up for these faults, and with a little jury-rigging and DM fiddling, it's fine; I half-heartedly recommend it. [/QUOTE]
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