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Message: <blockquote data-quote="WizarDru" data-source="post: 1645473" data-attributes="member: 151">Bastion's opening, with the Cathezar, played out poorly, for a start.  Cordell's weak 'plot twist' of throwing in a token super-NPC to save the group didn't sit well, so I abandoned it.  However, the resulting slaughter that occured left a sour taste in the group's mouth, and in-game reasons led to a lot of loud discussions about different RP-issues.  I was at fault as much as the module, not for deleting the NPC, but for not seeing how unhappy the party was at the setup letting the Cathezar do 26 melee attacks per round, and feeling extremely railroaded.  The rest of the module struck me as having some serious flaws, even if it had some interesting locations.  The classic 'deny players any use of divination' strategy that Bastion employs was quite unsatisfying, as well.  Presenting the PCs with moral 'no alternative' choices was another problem of several.  We just clicked our heels, I informed them that a powerful NPC used some serious mojo, and the adventure effectively only half-happened, with only one of the party having any real recollection of the events.  We moved on, and have had lots of fun, since.  I consider Bastion an example of how NOT to write a high-level module, and "Lich Queen's Beloved" from Dungeon # 100 to be a text-book example of the right way to do so.</blockquote>