The best modules from Necromancer Games

[Treebore]

Cold terrain? not if it is seasonal changes. Otherwise you'll have to alter city history to fit being in a perpetually cold terrain.

 

[ssampier]

Darn. It would be mostly dry (some snow in Winter), but cold year 'round. How important is the city history to the plot?

 

[S'mon]

Lost City of Barakus could be set easily in a cold northern land, but it has a big forest in the area so unless you just used the dungeon it's not suitable for truly arctic terrain. I'd say it would work pretty well in a medieval-Norwegian type setting (with Endhome a Hanseatic-league type trading city), most Necromancer stuff has a rather northerly-European flavour anyway.

I'm gearing up to start running LCoB today. It looks very good to me; it needed some work to create eg a small village near the dungeon (for some reason there are no villages on the map, just a huge city & surrounding wilderness, hmm!), it looks very modular & easy to add stuff too, which I like doing.

Re XP - I'm not planning to reduce XP awarded, unless you expect your PCs to clear out every room in Barakus & dungeon on the map by 5th level I don't see the need. The scenario is full of encounters EL 6-9, I can't see any problem with challenging 7th level PCs and there are a couple (avoidable) ones around EL12+, I think it wouldn't take too much work to keep the setting playable up to 9th level; at 9th PCs get Raise Dead, Teleport & such and would prob be overpowered for the module.

 

[Malar's Cow]

I ran Wizard's Amulet and Crucible of Freya as the first adventure in my campaign. They were both resounding successes, and one player described it as the most epic low-level adventure he had ever experienced.

I'm currently running Tomb of Abysthor with the group, and it is going very well, although it is a very challenging adventure. The spread of encounter difficulties is all over the map here. The adventure is recommended for character levels 3-8, but very early in the adventure, one of the possible encounters on the very first level is with a CR 12 demon. TPK Happens. The ecology of the dungeon, and the interaction with the various forces inhabiting it creates an interesting dynamic, and offers the group a number of different options in overcoming the challenge.

I also own Rappan Athuk I, but decided against running it. As others have mentioned, it is a little too much of a meat-grinder for my tastes.

Based on what I have purchased, I think that Necromancer has done a great job in creating challenging modules with sensible plots and intelligent opponents. The mortality rate tends to be on the high side, so beware if you have players that are particularly attached to their characters. My current run of ToA has resulted in three PC deaths, and we're not even a third of the way through the adventure yet.

 

[ssampier]

Lost City of Barakus could be set easily in a cold northern land, but it has a big forest in the area so unless you just used the dungeon it's not suitable for truly arctic terrain. I'd say it would work pretty well in a medieval-Norwegian type setting (with Endhome a Hanseatic-league type trading city), most Necromancer stuff has a rather northerly-European flavour anyway.

My area environment is probably closer to Norway or Scandinavia (although more Renaissance). I was going for arctic feel originally, but I decided I like a variety of environments a little more.

I'm gearing up to start running LCoB today. It looks very good to me; it needed some work to create eg a small village near the dungeon (for some reason there are no villages on the map, just a huge city & surrounding wilderness, hmm!), it looks very modular & easy to add stuff too, which I like doing.

Re XP - I'm not planning to reduce XP awarded, unless you expect your PCs to clear out every room in Barakus & dungeon on the map by 5th level I don't see the need. The scenario is full of encounters EL 6-9, I can't see any problem with challenging 7th level PCs and there are a couple (avoidable) ones around EL12+, I think it wouldn't take too much work to keep the setting playable up to 9th level; at 9th PCs get Raise Dead, Teleport & such and would prob be overpowered for the module.

Sounds fun! I can easily add towns and villages to EndHome, since I've done that in my campaign already. The city I haven't detailed as much, however. I hoping the module will fill in some of the gaps. Plus, changing stuff is great for the "wandering eyes" player, "Wait there's not supposed to be wraith in here..."

That's good to know, as the reviews were stating that it was a serious concern. I would half XP as suggested, but I have difficult time seeing the players side of it. I'm glad such an adventure wouldn't stop around 7th level. I personally want characters to advance beyond EndHome, but I can see introducing those EL12+ NPCs monsters later when they are now EL15+.

I appreciate your thoughts. Thanks S'Mon.


Have fun storming the castle....

EDIT: I put a bid for LCoB on ebay. I hope I get it.

 

[Wraith Form]

I put a bid for LCoB on ebay. I hope I get it.

It's highly unlikely that you'll regret it, if you win!

 

[S'mon]

Ran my first session of LCoB today, with 6 players, 4 of them new to me. Despite a late start they explored a good chunk of the first level, defeating a variety of foes (spoilers)

Spoiler

Actually it was the 3 dire rats on the first steps down that most nearly killed a PC! They encountered the ghoul & defeated it easily, then went east. I had previously decided the ogre would be asleep, the party lead Rogue spotted its tripwire alarm so they were able to sneak up to it and CDG the poor guy (I counted this as a CR 1/2 + CR 2 encounter, just under what an awake CR 3 ogre would be). Continuing east they encountered the ratmen, I equipped the ratmen sentries with slings, which proved a major annoyance to the PCs (heh heh). The encounters so far seemed well balanced for a 1st level party of 6 playing smartly. The caves so far are perhaps not particularly atmospheric though, I need to think a bit about how to increase excitement. The PCs retreated when the ratmen had regrouped, on a 2nd go the ratmen will be smarter & more aggressive, and I think I'll use the Evil Adventuring Party soon, that should certainly up the tension....

Giving full XP, the 6 PCs netted 450 XP each, so probably 2 more sessions to reach 2nd level. That seemed reasonable - the rate of XP gain at 2nd level is unlikely to double so I suspect it will take around 4 sessions to get from 2nd to 3rd, by which time the PCs would likely be on the 2nd dungeon level (of 5).

 

[MonsterMash]

I've got and reviewed The Grey Citadel and Morrick Mansion which are both really good adventures.

I've been a player in the Wizards Amulet/Crucible of Freya and enjoyed those and am just about to start as a player in Lost City of Barakus.

 

[Treebore]

For those of you interested in LCoB, and other modules Necromancer did through Troll Lords Games, check out this sale!


trolllord.com/modules.htm

 

[Psion]

As much as I gave RA a hard review, it actually plays very well once you get past the rules hiccups, and it has a lot of neat, challenging areas in it. I am chomping at the bit for RA reloaded.