Queen of the Demonweb Pits...anyone?

[Markn]

I'm about halfway through reading this adventure and so far I am of mixed emotions. On one hand, there are some particularly cool ideas and set pieces that I like. For instance, the inclusion of Sigil and the PC's wading into a meeting between a bunch of demon lord aspects is pretty wild and as a player I'd be psyched up for this. On the other hand, to me, the execution seems pretty poor. Some sections of it seem short and choppy (here, fight a few drow and then hop over to Sigil - this could have been expanded to make an early mystery hunt before throwing the party to Sigil). Rule of Three is a pretty cool NPC but having him basically send the PC's on quest after quest is not very ingenous or exciting to DM or to be a player for.

Overall, the module sets a grand adventure that if pulled off could be possibly one of the best to come out. Unfortunately, some of the plot is too stretched and without some DM editing I believe it is not believeable. Some space is wasted on encounters that are not likely to happen and there is the occaisional error from time to time. All in all, I will be running it as I am a sucker for a grand scale adventure and this is definately that but I certainly think it could have been pulled off much better than it has been.

 

[Gold Roger]

Personally I think it pretty much sucks as an adventure and wouldn't let myself be caught dead running this streight out of the book.

However, it is extremely salvagable. Some of the individual encounters, sidetrecks and main-story arcs are fantastic. So I recommend it as a toolbox for everyone running planar adventures. I just love the Zalatar chapter for example.

 

[Kae'Yoss]

In Greyhawk, Lolth is a demon queen and not a goddess. This is a Greyhawk adventure and sequel to a Greyhawk adventure.

I didn't know that. I did know that in Core D&D 3e, Lolth is a deity. I also know that this module is a Core D&D 3e module, so it follows COre D&D 3e, not any older material that has been superseded now.

Can someone summarize the plot if it's not forbidden?

Let me try:

Graz'zt wants to execute a plan where many demon lords sign a Demonic Pact in which they guarantee to send troops to a allied army which will then assault the hells and heavens. He plans to use Lolth's divine power to make the Pact supernaturally binding for everone who signs. If the pact comes to pass, it might prove disastrous, as the unified forces of the Abyss might very well be able to overcome the Devils and/or Celestials, which would result in a major power shift in the multiverse. Orcus, an old foe of Graz'zt's, wants to prevent the plan from happening.

Enter the PCs: Through a night-time raid by drow, they find out about increased activity by the drow. It seems that Lolth plans to take over the world, and her followers are whipped into a frenzy (actually, that's all a ploy by a certain demon to ensnare the players into his plan).

They follow the Drow's tracks which lead into Sigil, where they meet a Githyanki Scholar named Rule-Of-Three (actually the cambion son of Graz'zt) who tells them about the Drow threat and sends them to Three missions (a lot of things about Rule-of-Three are about threes). First, they're supposed to get a prophecy from an oracle (which is of olympian nature and doesn't grant prophecies to CE beings, so the demon needs some dupes to get it for him). Second, they are supposed to meet an ambassador of Orcus in Graz'zt's own Capital (a Bone Naga. Of course, their visit to that abyssal city goes wrong and the players have to get the hells out of there), and finally, they are to travel to the demonweb pits themselves to stop the pact from being signed.

That's not all that happens, there's another one or two visits to Lolth's layer of the Abyss, and the players can retreive two powerful demon-bane weapons.

Go to some other messageboards then.

Complaining to our mild reproach against the cambion because of other people's complaints doesn't seem fair.

 

[dcas]

In old school GH, Lolth was both a demi-goddess and a demon queen and had powers appropriate to both classes.

 

[teitan]

Dude, if I complained every time someone went off the handle on the WotC site... well, I'd have a lot of handle-flying-off to report.

LOL, true that Psion!! Sometimes it is like going to war over there. You can get more serviceable opinions of WOTC product on Dragonsfoot than on WOTC sometimes.

 

[DM_Jeff]

So far I'm liking what I read. I read up to page 10, then went through and delved through the new rules and game stuff in the big appendix (prestige classes, Weapons of Legacy, Monsters) and I'm enjoying it. I did see in the intro how it's set for the 'core D&D world' (as if saying "Greyhawk" will unleash a terrible evil) or the Forgotten Realms, which is where I'd run it from. But from what little I read, I didn't see any support to help FR DM's from making the necessary switches. Anyone come across that yet?

-DM Jeff

 

[klofft]

I think I'm going to pick this up just to read it - I love fiendish stuff in general.

However, I can't get a read from previous posters about its Planescape-y-ness. There are mixed opinion on the answer to the question: Does it have a genuine "Planescape" feel or not? Personally, I think PS is a great setting in itself, but I would never do planar politics that way in my "regular" game. If it does have a genuine PS feel, it might make a good read; but if it has more of a "faux PS" feel, or no PS feel at all, I might actually get to use it.

C

 

[Ripzerai]

So far I'm liking what I read. I read up to page 10, then went through and delved through the new rules and game stuff in the big appendix (prestige classes, Weapons of Legacy, Monsters) and I'm enjoying it. I did see in the intro how it's set for the 'core D&D world' (as if saying "Greyhawk" will unleash a terrible evil) or the Forgotten Realms, which is where I'd run it from. But from what little I read, I didn't see any support to help FR DM's from making the necessary switches. Anyone come across that yet?

Demonweb = Demonweb (its own plane)
Azzagrat = Azzagrat (part of the Abyss)
Beastlands = House of Nature
Plane of Mirrors = Plane of Mirrors
Yggdrasil = Great Tree that connects the planes

 

[Felon]

I think I'm going to pick this up just to read it - I love fiendish stuff in general.

However, I can't get a read from previous posters about its Planescape-y-ness. There are mixed opinion on the answer to the question: Does it have a genuine "Planescape" feel or not? Personally, I think PS is a great setting in itself, but I would never do planar politics that way in my "regular" game. If it does have a genuine PS feel, it might make a good read; but if it has more of a "faux PS" feel, or no PS feel at all, I might actually get to use it.

The politics got sort of ground out of Sigil when the factions went to war and the Lady of Pain resolved it by banning them all.

So, that element that made Sigil seem so user-unfriendly is gone, as is the cant. The downside of that is that the factions were the chief justification as to why Sigil wasn't a DMZ embroiled in nonstop battle between all of these outsiders who are polar opposites of each other, and nothing currently fills that vacum.

I'm not discounting the Lady as a deterrent, but she does not aggressively police the city. While she might put a stop to wars, that still leaves room for isolated, disorganized violence running unchecked. Don't know about you guys, but I can't help but think that angels and demons do need a little chaperoning to prevent their natures from taking over.

 

[Psion]

The politics got sort of ground out of Sigil when the factions went to war and the Lady of Pain resolved it by banning them all.

So, that element that made Sigil seem so user-unfriendly is gone, as is the cant. The downside of that is that the factions were the chief justification as to why Sigil wasn't a DMZ embroiled in nonstop battle between all of these outsiders who are polar opposites of each other, and nothing currently fills that vacum.

I'm not discounting the Lady as a deterrent, but she does not aggressively police the city. While she might put a stop to wars, that still leaves room for isolated, disorganized violence running unchecked. Don't know about you guys, but I can't help but think that angels and demons do need a little chaperoning to prevent their natures from taking over.

According to Monte, the original plan was to restore things somewhat.

I personally proceed along those lines IMC.