Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="JoeGKushner" data-source="post: 2010471" data-attributes="member: 1129">When I first heard about the Grey Citadel, I was excited for one reason. It takes place in a city. Now almost every module and adventure out on the market now takes place in a small frontier town. There are exceptions of course like Freeport and Bluffside but those are settings in and of themselves that are well supported. To have an actual module by Necromancer Games take place in a city, and not take place in the near mythical Bard's Gate, is an amazing thing.But is it a good adventure?Part sourcebook on Dun Eamon, the Grey Citadel, and part adventure, this module for 4-6 characters of 5th level and above does an excellent job of bringing together the necessary elements not only to get several sessions worth out of the adventure, but months of worth out of the city and its surrounding environments.It can all start before the characters even get to the city. There are numerous encounters prepared for the party out on the road that involve the standard bandits, and the not so standard Ranger Nymph who hates slavers. There's a lizard man, oh, excuse me, lizard folk, valley where the party can barter or battle, as well as several other encounters, like that of a caravan, that can be added to bring some real depth to the campaign. The only bad thing about these encounters is that they're listed at the bad of the book so impatient GMs may rob themselves of several encounters that can help set the tone and pace of the adventure.Once at the city, the party discovers a number of issues going on. There's an increase in thieving activity. There's a missing wizard. There's demons wandering the streets. Strange changes in people's behavior. Can the party help the city?The adventure itself is laid out in a manner that helps GMs handle the depth and scope of the module. While the introduction contains the standard background material and information on how to use the book and chapter one, an overview of the city, provides basic details of the city, it's really in chapter two and chapter three, where the adventure setup comes together.Unlike standard adventurers, this one has a lot of timed encounters in Chapter Two. A timed encounter is something that doesn't rely on the players to go get it so they add a lot of spice and depth to the campaign. The bad news though, is that the GM has to read all of them and decide ahead of time when and how he'll use them. It's not a map where you just go from point A to point B. Another thing the GM has to decide is will he run the material as presented. There are two encounters that are very dangerous. I personally think it's a good thing as the enemies the party is making here aren't foolish or stupid and the encounters work as listed but if the GM is trying long term campaigning, he'll have to decide if it's worth the risk of killing party members or modifying the encounters.Chapter Three lists the Grey Citadel Encounter areas where the party can gain more information and outfit themselves. There are even some events that don't relate directly to the party like the cursed Weck whose been transformed into a horse and a lizard folk child in the outskirts of the city. This is one of the meaty sections of the adventure as the party gets to investigate different people and see how the city works.Chapters four through seven are more traditional offerings in that they cover the 'dungeon' levels of the city, the areas underneath the city proper. These encounters are dangerous and deadly, the standard for the Necromancer Games company and unwise players may find themselves wishing they'd brought along more thieves and clerics. The main antagonist is clever and isn't a static target and GMs will get the most out of the module by playing her as such. One of the interesting turns though, is not all encounters are designed to 'crush' the players as several of them are easy enough for a party to walk though, but make sense to be in the adventure.Many of the strengths of the adventure require the GM to know the material and handle a lot of NPCs. For example, there is a rival band of adventurers in the city, the Band of the Crimson Mantle. Played properly, these characters can become enemies or perhaps friendly rivals. Those who've suffered from the demonic infestation and the recent uprising of thieves will be willing to aid the party in the future. This requires the GM to wear many hats, more so than perhaps any other adventure I've read recently save for the Banewarrens.The book has standard two column layout. Art is done by long time Necromancer Games artists Brian Leblanc but this time he's joined by Tyler Walpole. Now if you've read any previous Necromancer Games product, you know Brian does a good job with his material  while Tyler brings a different style. His illustrations are sharp and crisp but perhaps a little too dark for detailed viewing. Take his rendition of a party of adventurers battling a giant squid. Awesome detail, but difficult to look at for long due to the dark nature. His Abyssal Minotaur is also dark but impressive looking. In all these cases, much of it may simply be the nature of the beast. I'm looking forward to seeing more of his art. Ed Bourelle handles the maps which means two things. First, the maps are of high quality whether it's the citadel itself or the dungeons the party goes through. Second, there are no map keys.Are there flaws in the book?  I don't like the excessive advertising common in White Wolf products, which includes Necromancer Games as there are three pages of ads in this book. Interior covers aren't used and for the city, and environment surrounding, that might've allowed a slightly larger scale. Several game stats are off on the NPCs. There is neither a table of contents nor an index so finding things relies on the reader's memory. Another pass by an editor would've caught an item or two in the text.To get the most out of this adventure, you must visit <a href="http://www.darkloch.com/index.php" target="_blank">Darkloch</a> as it has NPC's, Prestige Classes, links to reviews, forums, and other useful material, all tied into and relating to the area surrounding and involving the Grey Citadel. With that, you've got the potential for a full fledged campaign.The Grey Citadel provides you with role playing, investigation and of course, good old fashioned dungeon crawling. It's my hope that we'll see another module based in the city or in the surrounding land scapes and that the dreary Grey Citadel support site, continues to grow. The Grey Citadel provides a quality adventure and setting material worthy for inclusion into almost any campaign world.</blockquote>

Verification