jasper
Rotten DM
3 out of 5 After play review
Ok. Some background. I own and have dm/played in all the first edition adventures. I own and dm the third edition adventures. Dead in Thay was the first new adventure. I started running the book as adventure league (AL) in April and finished in December.
Maps. As other have stated the maps are too small to use most of the time. I have knocked off 1.5 stars for all the troubles I had with the maps. My other gripes with maps are as follows. Too much color which hide details. Scale of one square equals x was not updated. I suggest a dm buy copies of the original modules for the maps. The other half point comes from various small problems which add up.
Sunless Citadel. This was a good update but the magic sword needs to be redesign. 4/5.
Forge of Fury. Some of monster placement does not make sense but this a common design flaw. 4/5.
Hidden Shire of Tamoachan. Some of the monsters give out too much xp for damage dealt. 4/5
White Plume Mountain. Major problem here is wandering monster check is every ten minutes. This will cause problems with any rests in the adventure. I suggest after 2 positive checks during a rest a dm let the pcs have their rest. Also popping the mud balloon could listed some ideas.3/5
Dead in Thay. This should a separate mega module. Having players keep track of which of their keys open what area is a chore. The key placement seems to assume the players are entering from top of the map. The alert level can be a pain to keep up with. The demilich will rule the battle field if player dice are bad. 4/5.
Against the Giants. I suggest one square equal 20 feet on the map. Because in certain rooms you would have monsters too crowded to move. One room in the Hill Giant part had no door. The adventure also assumes a giant would not hear combat going on down the hall or in another room. 3/5
Tomb of Horrors. Some of the flavor text assumes how the traps are set off. This is totally outdated. 5/5.
Overall the book kept the flavor of the adventures which is a good and bad point but enough minor things made me grit my teeth and move on.
Ok. Some background. I own and have dm/played in all the first edition adventures. I own and dm the third edition adventures. Dead in Thay was the first new adventure. I started running the book as adventure league (AL) in April and finished in December.
Maps. As other have stated the maps are too small to use most of the time. I have knocked off 1.5 stars for all the troubles I had with the maps. My other gripes with maps are as follows. Too much color which hide details. Scale of one square equals x was not updated. I suggest a dm buy copies of the original modules for the maps. The other half point comes from various small problems which add up.
Sunless Citadel. This was a good update but the magic sword needs to be redesign. 4/5.
Forge of Fury. Some of monster placement does not make sense but this a common design flaw. 4/5.
Hidden Shire of Tamoachan. Some of the monsters give out too much xp for damage dealt. 4/5
White Plume Mountain. Major problem here is wandering monster check is every ten minutes. This will cause problems with any rests in the adventure. I suggest after 2 positive checks during a rest a dm let the pcs have their rest. Also popping the mud balloon could listed some ideas.3/5
Dead in Thay. This should a separate mega module. Having players keep track of which of their keys open what area is a chore. The key placement seems to assume the players are entering from top of the map. The alert level can be a pain to keep up with. The demilich will rule the battle field if player dice are bad. 4/5.
Against the Giants. I suggest one square equal 20 feet on the map. Because in certain rooms you would have monsters too crowded to move. One room in the Hill Giant part had no door. The adventure also assumes a giant would not hear combat going on down the hall or in another room. 3/5
Tomb of Horrors. Some of the flavor text assumes how the traps are set off. This is totally outdated. 5/5.
Overall the book kept the flavor of the adventures which is a good and bad point but enough minor things made me grit my teeth and move on.
