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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Sir Whiskers" data-source="post: 398450" data-attributes="member: 6941">I played with a group that recently finished  the module and here are a few observations:1) The whole thing is just too big to be run as is. Use it as part of a campaign, where the characters can do other things, so long as they keep coming back (if they don't, bad things happen). This can break up the monotony of what is, essentially, a huge slugfest.2) Make the module dynamic! We spent something like a game year going through it, but very little changed from what was written in the book. In fact, the best curves the DM threw at us happened when he decided to change things, just for heck of it. More of that would have made the module more memorable.3) Watch out for the challenge levels between areas. Going from the moathouse to Nulb almost got our party wiped out. We quickly learned to race through Nulb, before all those undead (whom we were too low level to defeat) could wipe us out. Similarly, the difference in challenges between the mines and the Outer Fane, and the Outer Fane and the Inner Fane is significant. Our party was trashing everything in the mine area, then were almost wiped out during our first foray into the Outer Fane. We only avoided TPK during our first combat with the First by running with our tails between our legs. Give the players a little warning, so at least they're not going in overconfident.4) PC deaths can spiral out of control. As I said in point 3, the challenges can ramp up quickly. Once PC's start dying (thereby losing levels) they will have a difficult time surviving future encounters, leading to more deaths, more lost levels, etc. Our GM only solved the problem by providing other encounters (not in the module) of the appropriate level to allow us to build the characters back up to survivable levels. Those quests also served to give us a break from the module, which was appreciated.5) We missed so much! Once we finished, I read through the module and can't believe how much was going on in Hommlet that we would have enjoyed, but after the first couple sessions, Hommlet was just a place to rest up and sell stuff. Also, we never did learn most of the back story. I recommend using the npc's to correct this - I personally spent most of the module wanting more info, but I just didn't know how to get it. Having Y'dey, Spugnoir, and others relate some of the old tales would have helped a lot. Having the villains offer more info (perhaps hoping to use the PC's to their advantage) is another viable option. Of course, having a paladin in our party didn't make that easy, but as others have said, lawful good doesn't mean lawful stupid.Final note: The module has a lot of good stuff in it, just don't be afraid to change it to suit your players.  Down with the Doomdreamers!</blockquote>

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