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Message: <blockquote data-quote="olshanski" data-source="post: 2009678" data-attributes="member: 7441">Tomb of AbyssthorWritten by Clark Peterson and Bill WebbThe criteria I use to evaluate a d20 adventure includes the following:1.  Interesting and varied encounters:  I look for unique encounters, allowing for a variety of role and roll playing.2.  Motivations for NPCs and Monsters: or some detail of how they interact with their environment or neighbors.  3.  Logical: the adventure should obey a sense of logic that clever players can use to their advantage.4.  Writing Quality: this includes foreshadowing, mystery, and descriptions that bring locations and NPCs to life.5.  Ease of DMing:  Clear maps, friendly stat blocks, skill check numbers, player handouts and illustrations.I don't give much weight to text density and cost per page... I'd rather pay a lot for a small clever mystery than pay a little for a huge repetitive monster bash.I don't give much weight to new monsters, prestige classes, and magic items... they can add a little variety to an adventure, but I consider them to be only decoration.THE BASICS: (not exactly spoilers)The adventure is 96 pages long, cover price of $11.95 American.3 pages of credits/legal/advertising4 pages of wilderness adventure77 pages of site-based, underground adventure (read: dungeon crawl)9 pages of monster statistics2 pages of new magic items and spells.The adventure is designed for 4-6 characters of levels 2-8+.  The adventure consists of a gigantic underground complex, (9 levels!) of mostly natural caverns with some worked and developed areas.  There are several factions competing for power in what was once a series of burial caves and a nexus of ancient magic. In my estimation, the adventure breaks down into:Approximately 82 combat encountersApproximately 2 non-combat or role play encountersApproximately 19 trap encountersApproximately 17 trick/puzzle encountersApproximately 23 environment encounters (things to examine)The encounters range from easy to the incredibly difficult, They are heavily weighed towards the difficult end of the scale.  Many encounters are likely to completely wipe out the party unless the DM is foolish or generous:  e.g. 3 encounters have an EC of 11-13 on the first 3 levels.  The next 3 levels have 5 encounters with an EC of 12-16, the final 3 levels contain 4 encounters with EC of 14-20.  The players are expected to avoid or retreat from many of these encounters, which is not always possible, and in some cases the party will be in over thier heads before they realize thier mistake.  I should also mention that persistent party may be able to parley with a few of the opponents, which would bring up the possible number of role-play encounters.The adventure is fairly setting neutral and could be dropped into any world, though will require some DM adjusting for specific gods and locations.  Early on in the adventure, several puzzles rely on very specific gods which will likely have to be modified to fit in your campaign.  There are references to items, and spells in the d20 book by Sword and Sorcery studios "Relics and Rituals," There are also some references to custom monsters which are likely appearing in upcoming "Tome of Horrors" by Necromancer Games.  There adventure has sufficient stats to play the monsters, but some spells will have to be re-written or improvised if the DM does not have "Relics and Rituals".The authors, Clark Peterson and Bill Webb, suggest that a dungeon is a location for high adventure, and that the DM should tailor appropriate quests for the players.  Some quests ideas become evident in reading the adventure.  What the DM is left with is a huge complex, some of which the players will need to explore, while other vast sections are simply encounters without advancing characters goals.I prefer adventures which are tightly written, with most scripted encounter serving as plot development or providing essential clues for the party.  Tomb of Abyssthor is more of a sprawling collection of encounters, only some of which will be useful to the party.  The authors have on thier website expressed disdain for the "clear the level" style of play encouraged by videogames.  People who are accustomed to "clearing the level" will certainly be doomed to fail in this adventure--some puzzles cannot be solved, and many encounters cannot be overcome.  I feel that unbeatable challenges are entertaining to read, but disappointing to play.  If you don't mind large sprawling non-linear dungeons with a smattering of very difficult run-or-die encounters, then you should ignore the numeric values of my ratings below... you will probably greatly enjoy this adventure. (as did the previous reviewers who have given this a 5/5).THE SPECIFICS: (Some Spoilers Follow)1.  Interesting and varied encounters: (2/5)  The adventure  contains a Huge number of encounters... some of the encounters are unique, but the vast majority of them are with a limited collection of vermin and undead.  There is almost no opportunity for role playing.  There is a great deal of repition among the natural caverns and even with the traps that are encountered.  Each level has about 2 unique encounters, 4 slightly different and interesting encounters, and 10 repetitive encounters with something the party has previously seen.  There is little or no use for druids, bards, or rangers.  And little opportunity for a rogue to do anyting but set off a few glyphs of warding.  The players will need to exercise judgement on when to flee, and there are times when combat tactics will be important.  I would have rated this a 1 for sheer repitition, however the few unique encounters were very creative and redeemed the adventure.2.  Motivations for monsters and NPCs: (3/5)  In the cases in which enemies were intellegent, their motivations were well defined and logical.  The authors often took care in writing plans of attack for the monsters and details of thier relationship with other intellegent beings in the complex.  The large number of mindless undead and vermin brought down my rating in this category.3.  Logical: (3/5)  The ecology of the wilderness and cave complex was consistent and believable.  Various clues will assist the party in determining what sorts of opponents they are up against, as well as defining the territories of major competing factions.  Small details were nice--for example, intellegent creatures are stealing treasure from the mindless ones.  On the other hand, some of the opponents seemed a little out of place, (a drow sorceress, a gynosphinx, and various su-monsters).  There were also some things that didn't "add up" if this was once a series of burial chambers above a nexus of magic... for example, the magician's laboratory on level 3 and the temple on level 5 both seemed a out of place... in that they seemed to have existed undisturbed for a great deal of time.4.  Writing Quality: (3/5)  The quality of the writing is mixed.  There are extremely well written sections next to very sparse sections.  Some lairs, like those of Gorbash, Draeligor, Natasha, Alaric, and Balcoth get very detailed descriptions, while other rooms list little more than monster stats.  I was entertained throughout the book and was happy with my purchase--unfortunately some of the entertainment was at the chutzpah of the authors who included such high EL encounters that would be certain to slay most adventurers.  Many encounters were given only the briefest writeup, and would needed to have been more detailed to increase the rating I gave for this category, also the vast number of uninteresting empty rooms or looted graves brought down the rating for this category.5.  Ease of DMing: (2/5)  The maps are difficult to read, but cleaner maps are available for download.  The solution to one puzzle was to cast a spell which does not appear in a core rulebook, and must somehow have been introduced to the party.  Other puzzles require casting several high level spells that the party will not have access to, and no indication that a solution is even possible (I am referring to the major feature on the ground level).  The erratic nature of the encounter levels is also reflected in my giving this a very low rating.  Some of the encounter levels are a little suspect... such as the Su-Monsters given a CR of 3, even though they have a devestating DC17 mind blast attack.  There are no player handouts, no boxed text, and little sample dialogue in case players were to try to negotiate with any beings in the dungeon.PLAYTEST RESULTS: (Major spoilers)One player was a paladin of Muir (a godess specific to the adventure), and was on a quest for a holy relic so that he could one day enter a prestige class.  Another player was a druid/barbarian in search of the source of pollution that tainted the crystal lake.My players had mixed feelings about this adventure.  The players were awed by the sheer size of the adventure, with corridors leading deeper and further into the dungeon... Several spoke to me in private about how amazed they were that the place "kept going on and on."  We played for 9 sessions averaging 4.5 hours each, and the party encountered only about 1/4 of the available adventure.  Some of the battles created high levels of tension and excitement, but at other times the group was feeling the repitition.  My group likes a portion of mystery, conversation, and intrigue with thier adventures.  The players enjoyed the challenge of the fountain of blood, and the basalisk hunt, but mainly they were glad to leave...   Our group has 4 men and 2 women in thier mid 30s.  The dungeon crawl aspects of the adventure would have entertained us in our teens, but now we prefer more variety in our encounters.I had to be heavy handed at a few points to discourage the group from too closely examining a "dreadful" door on the first level, and a statue of a Vrock a little bit deeper.   Unless you enjoy total party kills, you should plan to be heavy handed as well.FINAL WORD:I enjoyed reading the adventure, and was very satisfied with my purchase.  I had looked forward to playing this adventure and had planted adventure hooks since our group started with an earlier Necromancer Games product called "Crucible of Freya".  The flaws in the adventure (the repitition of encounters, the aimless slogging through rooms) became evident only after we had played for several sessions.  When reading the book, the repetitive sections were easily skimmed, but having to play out every glyph of warding, every wandering su-monster, and every dire rat nest became a bit tedius.  People who have a lot of time to play, who like combat without the conversation, and who are persistent with thier quest (but know when to flee) will definitely have a good time with this adventure.  If you enjoy reading adventures whether or not you would play them, I would give this a 4 or 5... but for playability I have to give this adventure a 3.  I'll split the difference and rate it a very high 3.</blockquote>

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