This was an okay scenario but the dungeon layout left something to be desired--the optional encounter was avoided by seeing it a mile away and going "nah, let's skip that." Also the BBEG was kind of a lame encounter.

The lore for this scenario is amazing, but the mechanics are absolutely terrible. The encounters are absolutely BRUTAL for a Tier 1-2 party, but they are a cakewalk for Tier 3-4. Why? Because they're the same encounters with 2 mites added. Mites with 3 hp, +0 on attacks an deal 1d3-1 damage. Somehow this raises all the CRs by 2...

Point of View: Player (Tier 3-4) <---Rare for me

Roleplay: The roleplay presented through the lost survivor dwarf was well done and interesting. I made sure to stop and listen to the GM when this character spoke. Though his take on it made me think the dwarf was more of a stoner than anything.

Combat: Combat overall was pretty boring. The only fight that really grabbed at me was the one with the final boss, and even then she seemed to be a one trick pony.

Originality: The non-linear dungeon, and the weird "final" room, stuck out at me as very original. Somehow, by pure luck, we managed to go to the "last" room last. This is worth a play through, but I wouldn't take more than 4 players through it to keep it challenging combat wise.

So, having now played and GM-ed this scenario, I honestly like it. It's a very well thought-out dungeon crawl that doesn't even need to be completed in a linear fashion (though completionist PCs will always map every square). The story's solid, stocked with memorable characters aside from the fairly flavorless end-boss. Faction missions are also pretty neat.

My only real gripe is the tiers. Tier 3-4 fights some pretty weak stuff (an orc with 6 hp among them), straight through to the end-boss, who still goes down pretty quickly if the party focuses fire. Really felt like tier 3-4 was basically "tier 1-2, but add two more of the wimpy dudes". However, going up to tier 6-7 looks pretty dang frightening.

(SPOILER: Lots of secret doors in this one. They substantially change the flow/difficulty of the whole mod.)

Overall, quite solid. Avoid running it at tier 3-4 if you can, it's boring with an even moderately-prepared party.

The Begger's Pearl is not the most difficult of modules, or the most glamorous of modules, or even the most exciting module, but it is a well written dungeon crawl with a good premise and some fun encounters.

I agree with previous reviewers that the final fight is not the most difficult of encounters, but the module does have a really nice feel to it, and you do get the sense of delving through an old Dwarven keep. The module has a few minor flaws, mostly related to a lot of empty rooms which could have at least been flavor and background encounters, so it does have its flaws, but The Beggar's Pearl is a good romp with some interesting encounters and a good premise which I do recommend to anybody going for a low-to-mid level module.