Simon Collins
Explorer
Beware! This review contains major spoilers.
The Spear Of The Lohgin is an adventure module for 4-6 characters of 4th-6th level. It costs $9.99.
Production & Presentation: This is a softcover 32-page module. The front cover is an average piece of colour artwork. The back cover introduces the module and outlines its features. The front inside cover and back inside cover contain basic computer-generated maps – the area around Ashvan, the town of Ashvan and the Stronghold of the Lohgin (an area view and unscaled room map). The first page contains credits and some OGL stuff, continued on the penultimate page; the final page has advertising. The general text is well-defined and clear, making it easy to read, though the boxed text to be read to the players is on a textured background. The text takes up 9/10 of each page in a familiar two-column layout – the edge of each page is bordered by a drawing of a skeletal knight. There are several pieces of pencil-sketch internal black & white artwork by five different artists – some of the art is poor, much good, some excellent (Jim Pavelec’s work). All the art is relevant to the adventure and helps to picture the NPCs, creatures or setting.
The Story: The module begins with an overview of the adventure, and an explanation of Paradigm’s concept of scenes within the plot being attributed Hard Points and Soft Points – Hard Point scenes are essential to the main plotline, Soft Point scenes are subplots or chances to extend the adventure through background information or atmosphere-building. The GM’s Background gives the story that leads up to the events in the adventure – the Lohgin family was dedicated to a god who entrusted them with his magical spear. A deformed son of the family, Jude, turned to worship a dark god, stole the spear, and summoned a demon in the family stronghold. Jude’s brother, Vir, caught Jude during the summoning, impaled Jude with the spear, just as the demon arrived to possess Jude’s body. The demon was trapped half way in the material plane, half out. The spear snapped and Vir ran off with the haft, leaving the demon trapped. Vir built a new village, Ashvan, far away. The demon corrupted the area around the stronghold, turning it into a swamp. The haft of the spear remained the property of the church in Ashvan. Centuries later, an evil priest discovered this and hires brigands to steal it from the church after weakening the village with a plague. However, the brigands capitulate on their deal with the evil priest and take the spear haft into the swamp surrounding the Lohgin’s old stronghold where the demon is trapped. The demon seeks to draw the haft back to itself in order to escape its imprisonment. The PCs are asked to help return the spear haft to Ashvan. The hard points of the plot are summarised and a glossary of terms then given (the adventure is set in Paradigm Concept’s Arcanis, the world of Shattered Empires and the glossary serves as a basic overview of relevant aspects). In the town of Ashvan, there are several roleplaying and combat opportunities that can be used to introduce the PCs to the situation in the town or provide background information. A few of the brigands set a house on fire and stir up trouble to draw attention from the robbery of the spear haft. The PCs follow the trail of the bandits towards the swamp – several ‘soft’ roleplaying and combat scenes are provided en route. The PCs enter the blighted mires, learning about the setting through further optional encounters. They finally come across the ruined Lohgin stronghold which is now haunted by undead, including a cursed ‘pyre knight’ who is actually Vir, now an undead lawful good ex-paladin, risen from the grave when the spear was stolen. The PCs enter the stronghold. They must cross a pool that has risen up through the floor of the house whilst deep below some unknown horror seeks to suck them down into the blackness. They come across a delusion witch, a form of undead wrapped in an illusion of her past, which pulls in the minds of the PCs into her insane delusion. Other creatures in the stronghold include maggot men, a tortured thrall of the demon, a skeletal conglomerate created by the evil priest who mistakenly believes the PCs to be the brigands come to deliver the spear haft, the imp of Jude Lohgin, undead infants with a cold draining touch, shadow fetches and another pyre knight. The PCs can also come across a battle between two skeletal armies, which they can become embroiled in. Clues can be found that may help them in the finale and give further background information. In the final section, the PCs must face the evil necromantic priest before going on to battle the demon, which has amalgamated Jude’s body with several more thralls and other unfortunates who have come too near. The text gives advice on running the finale as a standalone adventure, or linking it in to the next stage of the adventure, The Blood Reign Of Nishanpur. The final pages are dedicated to statistics for creatures, NPCs and magical items. Each of the creatures and NPCs has a description and an outline of their motives, to aid in roleplaying. There are several new creatures, and three fairly powerful magical items.
The High Points: A fascinating background, an extremely adaptable plotline, information on roleplaying both creatures and NPCs, opportunities to solve a mystery, intelligent tactics and creative monsters, a wicked trap, evocative setting descriptions, and a tough finale that needs brain and brawn to win. I need say no more.
The Low Points: The boxed text is not really meant to be read out to the players, they are more a guideline description of the setting. This is not made clear in the introduction and caused me to frown a few times before I finally worked it out. There are a few typos and the stats could be better laid out.
Conclusion: An excellent adventure with some really atmospheric creatures. It is easily adaptable to a home campaign, despite its specific setting. Like the best of novels, it is hard to do justice to the creativity here and the module defies accurate representation of its structure. To my mind, probably the best D20 adventure out there at the moment (except maybe In The Belly of the Beast), despite the initial problems with boxed text.
The Spear Of The Lohgin is an adventure module for 4-6 characters of 4th-6th level. It costs $9.99.
Production & Presentation: This is a softcover 32-page module. The front cover is an average piece of colour artwork. The back cover introduces the module and outlines its features. The front inside cover and back inside cover contain basic computer-generated maps – the area around Ashvan, the town of Ashvan and the Stronghold of the Lohgin (an area view and unscaled room map). The first page contains credits and some OGL stuff, continued on the penultimate page; the final page has advertising. The general text is well-defined and clear, making it easy to read, though the boxed text to be read to the players is on a textured background. The text takes up 9/10 of each page in a familiar two-column layout – the edge of each page is bordered by a drawing of a skeletal knight. There are several pieces of pencil-sketch internal black & white artwork by five different artists – some of the art is poor, much good, some excellent (Jim Pavelec’s work). All the art is relevant to the adventure and helps to picture the NPCs, creatures or setting.
The Story: The module begins with an overview of the adventure, and an explanation of Paradigm’s concept of scenes within the plot being attributed Hard Points and Soft Points – Hard Point scenes are essential to the main plotline, Soft Point scenes are subplots or chances to extend the adventure through background information or atmosphere-building. The GM’s Background gives the story that leads up to the events in the adventure – the Lohgin family was dedicated to a god who entrusted them with his magical spear. A deformed son of the family, Jude, turned to worship a dark god, stole the spear, and summoned a demon in the family stronghold. Jude’s brother, Vir, caught Jude during the summoning, impaled Jude with the spear, just as the demon arrived to possess Jude’s body. The demon was trapped half way in the material plane, half out. The spear snapped and Vir ran off with the haft, leaving the demon trapped. Vir built a new village, Ashvan, far away. The demon corrupted the area around the stronghold, turning it into a swamp. The haft of the spear remained the property of the church in Ashvan. Centuries later, an evil priest discovered this and hires brigands to steal it from the church after weakening the village with a plague. However, the brigands capitulate on their deal with the evil priest and take the spear haft into the swamp surrounding the Lohgin’s old stronghold where the demon is trapped. The demon seeks to draw the haft back to itself in order to escape its imprisonment. The PCs are asked to help return the spear haft to Ashvan. The hard points of the plot are summarised and a glossary of terms then given (the adventure is set in Paradigm Concept’s Arcanis, the world of Shattered Empires and the glossary serves as a basic overview of relevant aspects). In the town of Ashvan, there are several roleplaying and combat opportunities that can be used to introduce the PCs to the situation in the town or provide background information. A few of the brigands set a house on fire and stir up trouble to draw attention from the robbery of the spear haft. The PCs follow the trail of the bandits towards the swamp – several ‘soft’ roleplaying and combat scenes are provided en route. The PCs enter the blighted mires, learning about the setting through further optional encounters. They finally come across the ruined Lohgin stronghold which is now haunted by undead, including a cursed ‘pyre knight’ who is actually Vir, now an undead lawful good ex-paladin, risen from the grave when the spear was stolen. The PCs enter the stronghold. They must cross a pool that has risen up through the floor of the house whilst deep below some unknown horror seeks to suck them down into the blackness. They come across a delusion witch, a form of undead wrapped in an illusion of her past, which pulls in the minds of the PCs into her insane delusion. Other creatures in the stronghold include maggot men, a tortured thrall of the demon, a skeletal conglomerate created by the evil priest who mistakenly believes the PCs to be the brigands come to deliver the spear haft, the imp of Jude Lohgin, undead infants with a cold draining touch, shadow fetches and another pyre knight. The PCs can also come across a battle between two skeletal armies, which they can become embroiled in. Clues can be found that may help them in the finale and give further background information. In the final section, the PCs must face the evil necromantic priest before going on to battle the demon, which has amalgamated Jude’s body with several more thralls and other unfortunates who have come too near. The text gives advice on running the finale as a standalone adventure, or linking it in to the next stage of the adventure, The Blood Reign Of Nishanpur. The final pages are dedicated to statistics for creatures, NPCs and magical items. Each of the creatures and NPCs has a description and an outline of their motives, to aid in roleplaying. There are several new creatures, and three fairly powerful magical items.
The High Points: A fascinating background, an extremely adaptable plotline, information on roleplaying both creatures and NPCs, opportunities to solve a mystery, intelligent tactics and creative monsters, a wicked trap, evocative setting descriptions, and a tough finale that needs brain and brawn to win. I need say no more.
The Low Points: The boxed text is not really meant to be read out to the players, they are more a guideline description of the setting. This is not made clear in the introduction and caused me to frown a few times before I finally worked it out. There are a few typos and the stats could be better laid out.
Conclusion: An excellent adventure with some really atmospheric creatures. It is easily adaptable to a home campaign, despite its specific setting. Like the best of novels, it is hard to do justice to the creativity here and the module defies accurate representation of its structure. To my mind, probably the best D20 adventure out there at the moment (except maybe In The Belly of the Beast), despite the initial problems with boxed text.
