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GameMastery Module D1: Crown of the Kobold King (OGL) Print Edition
Paizo Publishing, LLC
A dungeon adventure for 2nd-level characters.
The crown of the kobold king
will be anointed in blood.
Five children from the town of Falcon’s Hollow
have gone missing, dragged off into ruins
underneath a cursed dwarven monastery. Soon
they will be sacrificed to the crown, all to the
glory of the twisted King of the Kobolds. If they
are to be saved from this gruesome fate, brave
heroes must follow their trail to the monastery and
plumb the depths of its trap-laden and monster-infested
halls.
This dungeon adventure, compatible
with the world’s most popular fantasy
roleplaying game, includes
details on the town of Falcon’s Hollow
and the deadly dungeons underneath
a nearby ruined monastery. There are
terrible dangers waiting for your players
in the halls of the king, but they must be
overcome if the player characters are to save
the children.
This adventure can also be run as a sequel
to GameMastery Module D0: Hollow’s Last
Hope.
Written by fan-favorite author Nicolas Logue, Module D1 will be the backdrop for a huge, three-dimensional "delve" event premiering at Origins 2007.
GameMastery Modules are 32-page, high-quality, full-color, OGL-compatible adventures for use with the world's most popular fantasy RPG. All GameMastery Modules include four pre-made characters so players can jump right into the action, and full-color maps to enhance play.
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Product Reviews
Average product rating:
   
(4.7)
based on
21
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review.
this was really fun. even though it took a little longer to get through than i expected, it was well worth it. the traps were pretty scary, and i thought there would be a tpk a few times.
the story was really fun. lots of RP opportunities.
I started a Falcon's Hollow Campaign over a year ago. At the end of D0 we switched to the Pathfinder ruleset. It is a wonderful story, that is farily easy to integrate with D0. I did not ditch the disease from D0, but the party made an additional enquiry about who is responsibvle for putting Blackscour into the well and found the sign of Urgathoa nearby. Intro into D1 was also done without much ado. The sister of Hollin (the one working for the half-orc) was struck by the disease and got better in time, because the party brought the ingredients for the recipe. Hollin carved them small wooden statues in their likeness as a thank you for saving his sister...
Small things, that are not perfect:
1) The connection to the Dungeon Delve at Origins 2007 is clearly visible for the upper level. It is VERY deadly.
2) There is no "antidote" against one of the "traps" in the dungeon. I'd suggest placing the necessary scrolls with a victim of the previous group with some monsters, that would take an "interest" in him/her.
3) I would have wished a better explanation of the fate of the previous group... and what happened to the rest of them. There is at least one, that isn't mentioned (the other is/was the party cleric carrying the scrolls from above). This'll be important for events in later adventures and a hint would have been nice.
I asked my group, how they would rate this adventure. 2 of them said 5 stars, two of them 4 stars, and one of them 3 stars, because of the missing help against one of the possible repercussions from one of the encounters and the overall deadliness of the upper part.
What can I say... we had oodles of fun, it was a pleasure to DM, the tactics and morale entries with the new stat block format really helped to shape the encounters.
Great work Nick Logue and the Paizo crew!
Though this module took a bit more effort to get through than D0, it was also very well done. This is another nice package for low level players with a considerable number of very dangerous challenges for low level characters. The dungeon can be dangerous, but there are plenty of opportunities for doing something other than killing things and taking their stuff. Another well done module from Paizo!
From the first words of the Adventure Background, you are drawn into a vivid world, the ruinous reign of a kobold king who has been blighted from the outset... but worse is to befall him in the shape of your characters!
Although presented as a simple search for some missing children, there are a lot of things going on in and around the township of Falcon's Hollow which will make the characters' task far more complex... and the adventure a rich and entertaining one. All the 'random encounters' which the characters might have in their travels are detailed, with the monsters or NPCs that they might meet having good reasons to be where they are, rather than just being combat-fodder. Likewise, once in to the dungeon where their quest leads them, there's a reason for everything and everyone they meet.
Despite the complexity, everything is presented clearly with all necessary information well-placed to facilitate the smooth running of the adventure. Moreover, there is extra detail about the township, the people in it and the likely aftermath of the adventure to enable you to kickstart a whole campaign if that's your wish - even down to the longterm effects of this episode on the children, should the party succeed in rescuing them. Overall, an excellent low-level adventure with plenty of challenge and excitement.
My group just finished this one, and man was it close! There are 2 or 3 really tough encounters that very nearly resulted in a TPK. One hinderance; if no one in the party speaks Draconic, they'll miss out on a bit of the story and a couple chances to avoid fights. Otherwise, I positively loved the adventure.
This was good fun, my group included a dwarf who found the forge spirit especially concerning. I found this module rather nostalgic since the plot was very, very similar to an adventure run by my English teacher six or seven years ago, almost to the point where I was wondering if he landed a job writing modules under a pen name.
I ran my players through this one after Hollow's Last Hope. We had a great time returning to the Dwarven Monastery and delving into the dungeon beneath it.
The only reason I don't give it 5 stars is due to some typos in the stat blocks. One in particular to watch out for is the Forge Spurned's damage. IIRC, it is listed as 2d4+10 with its chain. It should read 2d4+1. That particular typo TPK'd my group and brought the adventure to an unceremonious end.
Still, we loved the adventure up to that point and I'm sure we would have had a great time beyond it as well. And even when the players had been slaughtered they still said they had a good time.
One thing that may bug people is the children in the dungeon. If your group takes a long time getting to them, their survival becomes a bit suspect and you may need to address that. Some of the rooms come off too obvious as moments suspended in time that only activate when player characters enter the area.
That's a necessary evil in most RPG design, but be aware that it's there and you may need to tweak it just a tad so you don't have to push your players' suspension of disbelief too far.
Overall, great module and one I'd recommend to any group starting off. The kind of stuff I've come to expect from the Young Master. :)
This module goes a long way to establishing elements of the setting. The kobolds are covered in great depth, and details for the town and wilderness are welcome.
The concerns I have are what hurts it.
Firstly, it has the 'bugbear next to the trolls next to the liche' syndrome to the dungeon encounters. Totally unrelated monsters less than 50' from each other always rubs me the wrong way, no matter how much a trope of the dungeon setting it is.
Secondly, there are some utterly evil encounters... Far too tough for beginning heroes, unless there's maybe 7-8 of them and they're okay with casualties. I do suggest to anyone planning on being DM for this module that you carefully weigh up what your players can and can't deal with.
Otherwise, it is a strong product, as pretty as all the Paizo ones and far better laid out than the WotC ones that use the tactical encounter set-up.
This pink-skin thinks the kobold king is pretty scary, his servants pretty ruthless, and the encounters... sadly somewhat overpowered. Don't get me wrong, it's an excellent module and Logue delivers his usual fantastic storytelling along with it. The villians are imaginative, and the treasure something more interesting than a +1 sword - things that matter to me immensely in the cookie cutter world of 3.5 adventures. I love the idea of having to wander a dungeon with kids in tow... the added element of having to keep some overly brave children safe would make me panic as a player, and I rather expect the same of my players when I DM the adventure. But I also feel that too many of the encounters are, frankly, TPKs waiting to happen. That said, I'm still going to give this adventure five stars - the back matter, including descriptions of the town and what if scenarios of the surviving kids, is just too good. I may have to "adjust" an encounter or two, but this adventure will find a welcome home at my table.
I liked this module the best so far (I got Conquest of Bloodsworn Vale and Sevens Swords of Sin as well as Burnt Offerings).
Good artwork, excellent layout, cool monsters, gripping story... yeah it's good stuff! Keep it coming.
Product Discussion
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Just read this today after picking it up at Origins. What an excellent adventure all round. A beautiful integration of well-designed challenges and thoughtful storytelling.
I am particularly happy with the flavour of the unique magic items throughout. Lots of stuff that is so much cooler than a +1 sword.
I'll definitely tie this to D0 when I run it. Someone suggested having the kids be motivated by the heroism of the PCs in Hollow's Last Hope to set things rolling in D1. Beautiful idea that I will completely steal.
Good Job Nick!
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Rambling Scribe wrote:
Just read this today after picking it up at Origins. What an excellent adventure all round. A beautiful integration of well-designed challenges and thoughtful storytelling.
I am particularly happy with the flavour of the unique magic items throughout. Lots of stuff that is so much cooler than a +1 sword.
I'll definitely tie this to D0 when I run it. Someone suggested having the kids be motivated by the heroism of the PCs in Hollow's Last Hope to set things rolling in D1. Beautiful idea that I will completely steal.
Good Job Nick!
Yes, but does it have 'Diamond D'?
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Rambling Scribe wrote:
Just read this today after picking it up at Origins. What an excellent adventure all round. A beautiful integration of well-designed challenges and thoughtful storytelling.
I am particularly happy with the flavour of the unique magic items throughout. Lots of stuff that is so much cooler than a +1 sword.
I'll definitely tie this to D0 when I run it. Someone suggested having the kids be motivated by the heroism of the PCs in Hollow's Last Hope to set things rolling in D1. Beautiful idea that I will completely steal.
Good Job Nick!
Thanks Scribe!!! Coming from you that's high praise my man! Glad you enjoyed it! Hope it works out great for your group! Slay a man with your rapier for me Craig!
Ungoded wrote:
But does it have "Diamond D"?
Diamond D, while choice, does not make an appearance in D1. Though he could be coming to a Shadowrun gaming table near you in the future!!! :-)
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I just recieved my physical copy of D1, and may i just say that the quality is excellent. I had already perused through my pdf file of it, and thoroughly enjoyed the adventure, having it actually in my hands has made it so much more appealing. It almost made me want to throw away my printer.
Applause and congratulations to you Nicholas Logue for a great adventure, and thanks to Paizo for an excellent product.
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Rambling Scribe wrote:
I am particularly happy with the flavour of the unique magic items throughout. Lots of stuff that is so much cooler than a +1 sword.
I bought the adventure the other day at a FLGS, and while I really liked the flavorful magic items, they seemed a bit overpowered/expensive (even with their drawbacks) for an adventure that takes a characters from 2nd to 4-5th level.
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