Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="trancejeremy" data-source="post: 2008967" data-attributes="member: 924">This is a relatively old (for d20) adventure module. Came out in 2000, according to the copyright date. It was always on my to buy list, and I finally got it on Ebay for relatively cheap.  It's 32 pages (plus an insert and a sheet of counters) and retails for $9.95. I got it on Ebay for $3.99 + $4 shipping (and the guy sent it book rate for $1, which annoyed me). The insert has color illustrations on one side, and a square grid on the other (the downside is, it's a bit flimsy to use as a mat.The cover is somewhat striking - it looks like an Umber Hulk. It turns out it's not an Umber Hulk, but a new monster that is a lot like an Umber Hulk, only weaker. The interior artwork is decent enough, and does a good job of fitting the text (illustrating various monsters and such).It's for low level (1st - 3rd) characters, and is actually aimed for begining players.  The premise is perfect for bringing together PCs from varying background - basically, the holders of a silver key are the heirs of this noble's will. (Why? Because he had no offspring. And in part because he wants some sort of absolution for a crime he committed.) The keys will open his family's 'Vault', which is basically a dungeon in the D&D sense (not real sense). Sort of an underground complex with several different functions originally, now falling apart. Presumably the PCs will then explore it, to claim their inheritence.The dungeon itself is quite good. It reminds me of the better dungeons from TSR in the early days. There's a mixture of puzzles , monsters (mostly undead & hobgoblins), and traps. Not deadly traps, more like obstacles. Also a few new magic items. On the down side, no role-playing or character interaction w/ NPCs in the dungeon (though presumably the PCs could parley with the Hobgoblins).There's also a downloadable PDF on their web site that has a small follow up adventure to this. Also pretty good. All in all, this is an excellent module. One of the best ever? No. But very very good. They also did a good job of making it easy for the DM to run, and provide numerous DCs for various things PCs might do (or know). I'm very very happy with my purchase, and thought it was easily worth the money.The only real downside is that the backstory might not fit in all campaigns. But it doesn't take much to alter it, and it would fit into most D&D settings that I have (Kalamar, FR, Greyhawk, not sure about the Scarred Lands). I think it's closest to a 4 1/2, but since I enjoyed it so much, particularly the suggestion for using a hobgoblin to get the magic sword, and since there are web enhancements for it, I'll round up to 5.</blockquote>

Verification