The Sunless Citadel: 4 Good
----Spoilers----
I picked this module up when it first came out and have DMed it several times since then.
The art is good, the production is good, the map placement is good, and I photocopy the creature pages in the back so that I have them ready and lose during play.
Having run this module several times I can say that my players have always enjoyed it. I've also found it to be easily adaptable. In the current running I am DMing now I replaced the Kobolds with Slitheren (just because I have many Skaven figures and only 1 koblod figure). I then gave the Goblins a "rat bane" toxin that they smear on their weapons to keep the balance between the two races.
I've also run this adventure with a party of 3 Commoners, 1 Expert and 1 Warrior as a way to start characters off from the very beginning.
The delve into the complex dungeon crawl environment has always pleased my players and in different playings the players have focused on different aspects of the story.
You have the Dragon cult/Vampire thread which I've expanded out to include
Vampire/Dragon cult thread
WotC: The Sunless Citadel: 1-3 --- Explore ruins in rift. Temple of Dragon cult. Grove
of dark druid who tends the Gulthias Tree that was once a stake through the heart of the vampire Gulthias
Kenzer & Co.: Harvest of Darkness: 4-6 ---Go with wizard to slay a dragon. Wizard leaves party to recover spell book and accidentally releases a vampire who was trapped by a spell. -Make Vampire Gulthias
I then ran Guildhouse Games: Red or White as a red haring adventure with the vamp in that town not being Gulthias
WotC: Heart of Night Fang Spire: 10 --- Explore ruined tower in rift. Vampire Gulthias
leading Dragon cult revival. See Sunless Citadel
One party wiped out the kobolds, but most try to recover the dragon and aid the kobolds against the goblins instead of fighting their whole way through.
I usually play the dragon as having developed its breath weapon after being stolen from the Kobolds. This usually plays out with the party delivering a very unconscious baby white Dragon to the kobolds and Meepo staying with the party instead of having to deal with the dragon when it wakes up.
I ran a session once where I let a player play the dragon once it woke up. The player had a ball attacking the kobolds. Next time I think I'll have one player play the dragon and let the others play the kobolds.
Erky Timbers has always joined the party and become a PC. In one game world he retired as a Fighter8/Cleric 8.
The only problems that I've found with the adventure are that the Dragon priest/troll and the final encounter with the druid are too hard for the level of the character level the module is written for. The Dragon priest is usually encountered by the party at first level and the only times the party has defeated the troll on their first encounter with it was when the party included 2 Sorcerer "Magic Missile Machineguns". That's not to bad though, and most parties learn the lesson that sometimes you run away to fight another day, or to spike the door and never return to the area. I did have a TPK with this encounter with a particularly weakened party, so DM beware.
The final encounter I have more trouble with. The characters are supposed to be able to beat the final bad guys in an adventure of this type. The level 4 Druid with his wand of 'Entangle', spells 'Heat Metal' and 'Flaming Sphere' has always just raped every party that approached him. Add in his allies, Wizard 1 (AC16), Paladin 1 (AC20), and giant tree frog as well as a few twig blights and the encounter will probably go TPK every time. If you have the Wizard use her spells in an offensive manner instead of counter spelling as recommended made the TPK even more certain.
I recommend having the party at full strength when the move into this last encounter and taking away the Druid's wand. It will still be a tough fight, because his 'Heat Metal' is likely to kill any second level character in metal armor it is targeted against. (I usually allow a character targeted to cut the straps on their armor to get out faster, but this still usually leaves a very hurt an now unarmored character. Even without the wand, the Druid has an 'Entangle' spell ready. If he entangles someone and then drops the flaming sphere on that PC there is a good chance that that PC is a mort as well.
One party recruited the Kobolds to join the attack and the battle played out well with the Kobolds being a good source of fodder.
Having the Paladin make sundering attacks makes it easier for the party since they will last a bit longer with their weapons being attacked instead of their bodies.
I rarely use the adventure hooks that come in the module, but the search for the adventurers that haven't come out isn't bad
In all, this module has proved its worth several times over and made for several dozen hours of play. I'd give it a 5 except for the overly powerful foes at the end, which must be modified or handled with care.
ASEO out
----Spoilers----
I picked this module up when it first came out and have DMed it several times since then.
The art is good, the production is good, the map placement is good, and I photocopy the creature pages in the back so that I have them ready and lose during play.
Having run this module several times I can say that my players have always enjoyed it. I've also found it to be easily adaptable. In the current running I am DMing now I replaced the Kobolds with Slitheren (just because I have many Skaven figures and only 1 koblod figure). I then gave the Goblins a "rat bane" toxin that they smear on their weapons to keep the balance between the two races.
I've also run this adventure with a party of 3 Commoners, 1 Expert and 1 Warrior as a way to start characters off from the very beginning.
The delve into the complex dungeon crawl environment has always pleased my players and in different playings the players have focused on different aspects of the story.
You have the Dragon cult/Vampire thread which I've expanded out to include
Vampire/Dragon cult thread
WotC: The Sunless Citadel: 1-3 --- Explore ruins in rift. Temple of Dragon cult. Grove
of dark druid who tends the Gulthias Tree that was once a stake through the heart of the vampire Gulthias
Kenzer & Co.: Harvest of Darkness: 4-6 ---Go with wizard to slay a dragon. Wizard leaves party to recover spell book and accidentally releases a vampire who was trapped by a spell. -Make Vampire Gulthias
I then ran Guildhouse Games: Red or White as a red haring adventure with the vamp in that town not being Gulthias
WotC: Heart of Night Fang Spire: 10 --- Explore ruined tower in rift. Vampire Gulthias
leading Dragon cult revival. See Sunless Citadel
One party wiped out the kobolds, but most try to recover the dragon and aid the kobolds against the goblins instead of fighting their whole way through.
I usually play the dragon as having developed its breath weapon after being stolen from the Kobolds. This usually plays out with the party delivering a very unconscious baby white Dragon to the kobolds and Meepo staying with the party instead of having to deal with the dragon when it wakes up.
I ran a session once where I let a player play the dragon once it woke up. The player had a ball attacking the kobolds. Next time I think I'll have one player play the dragon and let the others play the kobolds.
Erky Timbers has always joined the party and become a PC. In one game world he retired as a Fighter8/Cleric 8.
The only problems that I've found with the adventure are that the Dragon priest/troll and the final encounter with the druid are too hard for the level of the character level the module is written for. The Dragon priest is usually encountered by the party at first level and the only times the party has defeated the troll on their first encounter with it was when the party included 2 Sorcerer "Magic Missile Machineguns". That's not to bad though, and most parties learn the lesson that sometimes you run away to fight another day, or to spike the door and never return to the area. I did have a TPK with this encounter with a particularly weakened party, so DM beware.
The final encounter I have more trouble with. The characters are supposed to be able to beat the final bad guys in an adventure of this type. The level 4 Druid with his wand of 'Entangle', spells 'Heat Metal' and 'Flaming Sphere' has always just raped every party that approached him. Add in his allies, Wizard 1 (AC16), Paladin 1 (AC20), and giant tree frog as well as a few twig blights and the encounter will probably go TPK every time. If you have the Wizard use her spells in an offensive manner instead of counter spelling as recommended made the TPK even more certain.
I recommend having the party at full strength when the move into this last encounter and taking away the Druid's wand. It will still be a tough fight, because his 'Heat Metal' is likely to kill any second level character in metal armor it is targeted against. (I usually allow a character targeted to cut the straps on their armor to get out faster, but this still usually leaves a very hurt an now unarmored character. Even without the wand, the Druid has an 'Entangle' spell ready. If he entangles someone and then drops the flaming sphere on that PC there is a good chance that that PC is a mort as well.
One party recruited the Kobolds to join the attack and the battle played out well with the Kobolds being a good source of fodder.
Having the Paladin make sundering attacks makes it easier for the party since they will last a bit longer with their weapons being attacked instead of their bodies.
I rarely use the adventure hooks that come in the module, but the search for the adventurers that haven't come out isn't bad
In all, this module has proved its worth several times over and made for several dozen hours of play. I'd give it a 5 except for the overly powerful foes at the end, which must be modified or handled with care.
ASEO out
