Ran through the first parts of the adventure with a small group of players. They liked the Pechs, as I was able to give them a nice mystical air, and a slightly threatening vibe after they saw one walk backwards in to a wall.
The Wormwrithings were enjoyable, and the traps that the kobolds set were of the sort that I would expect of kobolds. Fairly crude, and based around the idea of distracting the players and disadvantaging them while the kobolds make use of it to attack in force. I also liked that there was a note that the kobolds would flee if they lost more than half their numbers in any encounter.
The second feature I found interesting in this segment, however, was the potential encounter with the purple worm. The reason I found this one interesting was that it was a potential TPK, reliant on luck should the players decide not to run (as players so often do). Mine didn't have the guide with them as they had opted to head for the Wormwrithings before going back to talk with the gnomes. Purple worm came through, Reflexes were rolled. Reflexes were failed and the party was eaten.
A rather tragic end. The players actually liked that the encounter was present though as it showed that D&D next had encounters that presented actual threats and very real dangers. The combats were usually fairly quick, even against large numbers of kobolds supporting Giant Centipedes, but they carried an element of danger with them (though not too much, just enough to show that this is dangerous)
Does anyone else have opinions on the purple worm? Did your party encounter it?
