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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Melan" data-source="post: 2010456" data-attributes="member: 1713">Maze of Zayene 3: Tower ChaosWARNING! SPOILERSTower Chaos was the last part of the Zayene series to be published through Necromancer Games. Since it was released after Rob Kuntz and Necromancer had a fallout, less attention was given to tiny things (like putting the map on the inner cover) and the whole adventure looks like a partial train wreck. It could be used with some work - but it falls flat without a fair amount of polish.What do we get? Essentially, a tower, which is supposed to be part of a large royal palace (not detailed because of what?). There are dozens and dozens of NPCs, from lowly scrubbers to chamberlains, tobacconists and other courtiers, not to mention royalty and (of course!) monsters, like a clay golem handling fine china. Even some strange places are present - a jungle-garden and a roost where an old black dragon (yikes!) dwells.Detailed timetables are given for all inhabitants, which is, unfortunately, not quite as hot an idea as you think. Au contraire, it is precisely what makes the module an ugly mess. We get codes for NPCs, which are then cross-referenced with a master table or with a table given for the various locations. This means the DM must be particularly good at timekeeping, not to mention have a photographic memory. And this is just the beginning. If there is a disturbance (say, the PCs do anything suspicious, an NPC doesn't show up at a location or something goes missing), all of this carefully consrtructed house of cards will come tumbling down and it will immediately be apparent why this module is called Tower Chaos. In some ways, I understand why Rob went with this method - I merely wonder how much playtesting went into the product... Especially since it was originally written for a tournament.The rest of the module isn't as bad as it sounds first: something is amiss in the palace - King Ovar has been acting strangely as of late, the Queen died under mysterious circumstances (she is still found in a sealed section of the tower) and the previously goodly monarch has been more and more like an evil despot. Therefore, the party must infiltrate the tower and assassinate their insane king, or find out what exactly happened to him. Alas, this is precisely the module that should have been part one of the Maze series: it wouldn't be hard to send the party on an assassination mission, let them be captured by the vile Zayene once they come dangerously close to the truth, and let them find out the real deal once they escape. There are clues about the real fate of Ovar, but they are (in my opinion) extremely obscure and found only through much exploration and random poking about.Tower Chaos is a partial train wreck. It is, on one hand, a partial train wreck... On the other hand, you could use it as an assassination quest (and even exchange Ovar with someone else) and it can be saved with work - and lots of it.Score: 2/5</blockquote>

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