Using Crypt of the Eternal Flame after BB

[Ravenbow]

I probably posted in the wrong area but some questions:

Moving on from the BB I thought it would be easy to just jump into the "EFlame" module, but I read through it yesterday and I was completely staggered by the amount of "huh" and "wtheck" moments.

I will hide them behind spoiler buttons

Question 1:

The guy in area 3.. (I do not have module with me this is from memory) How did he get there? Flavor text says he ran here when the skels attacked. How? It is beyond a 3 person combination trap he could not have bypassed alone.

Question 2:

Area 4 Where do the stairs go? They are not even mentioned.

Question 3:

Area 5 The fire. I do not have details on me but it says the shadow is the result of the guy being afraid of fire and raising from that death... yet it said they were killed then burned. Huh? Also later the corridor with swords wrapped in padding.. the unused leather was burned up here? Did the writer even look at the map? What sane villager would tote goods and leather all the way over here, light a fire nowhere near where they needed to do anything then drag back leather to the corridor with the statues? You would think they would drop stuff in the usually safe entry chamber and sort and drag from there what was needed to prep the dungeon.

Question 4:

I think it was the frog area. There is a half eaten corpse of a bandit killed by frogs... the same frogs who were not there? The bandits broke in and pillaged the crypt below releasing some sort of necro energy blast which ruptures the ceiling and allowed tad poles to drip into the chamber where some frogs grew large and that's what players find. How could the bandit be killed by the tad poles who were swimming around above when the fleeing happened?

Question 5:

The skeletons came up and killed the villagers in the entry room. How did they get past the arrow trap room loaded with blunt arrows firing for 10 rounds?

Overall it felt very much like someone was tasked with a "Here is a task, write a beginner level adventure using this flip mat layout" which is sad because many of the interesting looking locations are just given a cursory write up or ignored altogether *cough* random stairs.

There were some other issues but without the module in front of me I can't think of them. Anyways, warnings that this might not be the best adventure to use as a follow up to the very well done Beginner's Box.

[Jason Bulmahn]

Ravenbow wrote:

I probably posted in the wrong area but some questions:

Moving on from the BB I thought it would be easy to just jump into the "EFlame" module, but I read through it yesterday and I was completely staggered by the amount of "huh" and "wtheck" moments.

I will hide them behind spoiler buttons

Question #1:

Spoiler:

Roldare's group helped to set up the traps in the previous rooms and in his madness, he set them as he fled to this chamber.

Question #2:

Spoiler:

The stairs from Area 4 lead to a short passageway that then ends in stairs that lead down to Area 9.

Question #3:

Spoiler:

The guy who turned into a shadow was terrified of fire, and burning his body did not allow his spirit to rest easy. It did not matter that he was already dead. As for the gear all over the place, the villagers were a bit chaotic in their prep and the attack did not help matters any.

Question #4:

Spoiler:

This chamber was actually ruined before the earthquake and the frogs have been living here for quite some time. The earthquake did make it worse, but not significantly so.

Question #5:

Spoiler:

The trap only activates when the door on the west side is opened, the skeletons exited through the east door, which did not set off the trap.

Hope that helps sort out some of the more tricky background parts of the module.

Jason Bulmahn
Lead Designer
Paizo Publishing

[Caedwyr]

I believe there's also a missing key to one of the rooms, and no way to get past a door you need to pass to continue the adventure. I know something of that nature has been raised before about this module.

[Ravenbow]

Jason Bulmahn wrote:

Ravenbow wrote:

I probably posted in the wrong area but some questions:

Moving on from the BB I thought it would be easy to just jump into the "EFlame" module, but I read through it yesterday and I was completely staggered by the amount of "huh" and "wtheck" moments.

I will hide them behind spoiler buttons

Question #1:

** spoiler omitted **

Question #2:
** spoiler omitted **

Question #3:
** spoiler omitted **

Question #4:
** spoiler omitted **

Question #5:
** spoiler omitted **

Hope that helps sort out some of the more tricky background parts of the module.

Jason Bulmahn
Lead Designer
Paizo Publishing

Thank you for the follow up. I will include these points as an addendum PDF I will print out and stick in the back. I really enjoy the module overall, especially the small town. One of my new players wants to try her hand at DMing this weekend and I am going to give her my module and flipmat and see what she does with it.

[deinol]

Caedwyr wrote:

I believe there's also a missing key to one of the rooms, and no way to get past a door you need to pass to continue the adventure. I know something of that nature has been raised before about this module.

Isn't that key in the room with the shadows? My players just picked it up.