txwad's page

See, just like a summoning spell. Try to draw attention away from Nick and bam! (as Emeril would say) Logue doth appear. Imagine if Pett had posted how quickly that handlebar moustache signature character would have appeared.

Has anyone else noticed how Logue just follows Pett around in all of these threads (envy)? Also, i've noticed that anytime someone praises his (very good) work, he appears as if by magic within seconds (its as if he devours these posts) -- I mean seriously post praise for Logue and then try to make a second post and before you can complete your first sentence, Logue will appear by magic? I'm trying to decide whether Logue is the Runelord of Envy or the Runelord of Gluttony - I'm developing a theory that Logue is the last survivor of ancient Thassilon.

So how do you vote? Envy or Gluttony?

I guess I disagree with Erik and James about where they ought to go in terms of what our society views as "adult" themes. I'd always thought of classic adult themes as love, betrayal, revenge, difficult choices in a difficult situation, etc but what can you say, its their money.

Man, a black sheriff. I'm waiting to see how James handles the clevon little tactic of sticking a crossbow to his head and saying "one more step and the n---er gets it." Does that provoke an AoO?

Seriously, this thread has legs. All we need is for takasi to stroll by.

A previous poster made an interesting comment about violence and displays of body parts being/not being as objectionable as abortion and homosexual themes. Debatable point to be sure but I guess it goes back to what is portrayed as good or the societal norm. For example, goblins are clearly evil, so if they do something evil, well then big deal, what the hell does evil mean! For example, Erik may have forgotten but there were some really nasty comments online about one of his LG modules (the xvart one). I thought it was a great module and the scenes didnt bother me especially since he was a bit vague about what actually happened - evil creatures were trying/doing evil acts. Thats why there was a need for good adventurers to kill the goblins. I mean seriously, I remember seeing a tad of a pbs special on the killing fields in cambodia as a kid so its only a matter of time before even really young kids notice that evil people do incredibly bad violent things in the real world. I understood that long before I clearly understood sex, much less abortion.

Having a sample set of three young kids, if you asked me to generalize my personal beliefs, I'd imagine parents and/or religious people to the extent that they are sensitive about anything are probably more sensitive about what is portrayed as good behavior then the atrocities that evil people do. If you let your kids play D&D or video games or box or play football for that matter, its kind of a given that there will be some violence.

Again, let me be clear that it isnt so much that I don't like adult themes, I just wonder whether they are a good business decision for Paizo and second, why bother to do them unless you do something really interesting (like make it a subplot to the module and really put some oomph into it) - especially since we are dealing with the seven deadly sins in this AP?

Maybe the audience has changed a lot since I was a kid but James is your audience really that old? I mean sure there are grognards like you and me but when I was a kid, it seemed like every kid I knew played d&d. Is that no longer the case? Are video games the culprit, leaving d&d and paizo marketing a "buick" (buick makes much improved cars but their customers are old and dying)? I'm sure you guys know your business pretty well, but that is not what I would guess.

When I was a kid, it was fun to read Lord of the Rings with my dad or play some board game or even get my dad to play once in a blue moon. Is that sort of thing not common anymore? Most parents didnt seem to object to classic good vs. evil themes.

Incidentally, a previous poster seems to state that I am saying that Paizo is using a gratuitous attack on Christianity. I never said or implied that. Im saying it sounds a bit like a gratuitous usage of an adult theme that doesnt seem to be a core part of the plot (and hence have some serious redeeming value imho). So why do it? If you want art with a homosexual tangent in it, do something classic like the Sacred Band or something.

First, let me say that I have read every scrap of information about this module and eagerly await it like I do 90% of Paizo d&d products. I am very excited about the AP and the new goblins, etc. I'd bet I'll like 95% of the module.

However, let me offer three perspectives in descending order of your probable interest based on the foregoing why I think Paizo is making a decent mistake with a gratuitous insertion of an abortion clinic and homosexuality.

#1 - Business. Many who play D&D are minors or christians. Do you think their parents want a 10 year old to explore an abortion or shack up with a homosexual and learn those terms from you? Do you think it will hurt sales? Let me give you an example from when I was 10 or 11 and my mom walked into our (Gygaxian) game. "Hey mom, we defeated some evil hill giant raiders and we are now exploring vast underground caverns where evil elves and their spider-demoness goddess are wreaking evil schemes." "Oh ok, honey I hope you kill the evil spider-goddess." Fast forward to today, "hey mom, we just investigated the abortion clinic in this good town and now Jane is going to go shack up with this lesbian woman." "WHAT!" I've played d&d for 30 years and this hits home to me because I wouldn't let my four year old play this at age 10 or 11 and if he came home with it, I'd have to take it away and review all Paizo material for a few years. Finally, why give gratuitous offense to your Christian audience except if you can claim this is a "heavy" artistic theme.

#2 - Art. If you want to offer the "artistic" defense, thats ok if these encounters have really serious value - hell I might even allow a 10 year old to hear it if it led him to the Iliad. It sure doesn't sound like you do in this module, James and Erik. And frankly I'm disappointed, because you guys have the writing skills and (probably) the historical knowledge to do it. If you want to explore homosexuality in the context of the Theban Sacred Band (i.e. an elite band of homosexual warriors) or in the context of Achilles and Patroclus or portray utter depravity in the form of the turks "turking" lawrence of arabia or in the form of a people sacrificing their children to their fire gods moloch and baal , I'd give you a pass. If you wanted your abortion clinic to cause a schism in the local good church because the chaotic good guys want to burn it to the ground, and the lawful types argue that abortion is legal, that might be an interesting backdrop for the PCs to have to diplomatically patch up the town under goblin assault. If you aren't exploring a really good artistic theme, why do it at all?

#3 - Morality. So is Sandpoint a good town? If it is, is abortion good? So no good person in Sandpoint finds the clinic objectionable? Is there friction about it? If there isn't friction, everyone understands there weren't abortion clinics in the ancient world, are you making a normative statement? Actually, if you wanted to show a classical theme, the Imperial Roman pagans were even bigger on abortion than cosmopolitan modern Russians and Americans. One of their biggest differences with the Christians at that time was over abortion in fact. Are you showing moralistic consequences or is this just a gratuitous insertion (ie a display of politically correct bravado)?

Thanks. I look forward to this and your other products. I just think you made a gratuitous mistake thats all.

What if you made all of the human PCs Lavinia's cousins? The demi humans could be associates/family friends/mercenaries. Then, simply have one kidnapped for Into the Serpents Maw

I dont want to wait for a hardcopy. How do I order the pdf NOW? Can I get a link please!

SPOILER BELOW

The issue at hand is this chap's complaint about friction in group over what people are terming 'juvenile antics' (hey and I thought d&d was a joint effort in juvenile make believe).

While all concerned including me, think it is a poor idea to have out of character attacks, exceptionally heavy drinking etc., I disagree with the preceding five or six posters with respect to the desirability of a few pratfalls. As Ive pointed out, and has been studiously avoided by those who are aghast at juvenile antics, various juvenile or vengeful antics have a long and distinguished pedigree in the game. Ive given examples of such in two of howard's conan stories as well as one of terry kuntz's characters in gygax's game. Good god, gygax and kuntz got blind drunk and sent Luke's favorite character with two vorpal swords into the abyss as a demonaic slave -- oh the horror! Oh and good heavens, using an evil cleric's altar as a urinal (evidently the mere statement of this "offended" a previous poster, and a later delicate soul finds this "misogynist(ic)"). I guess I shouldnt tell you about the gamer that I know that played a barbarian who collected beholder eyestalks and dangled them over the shoulders of his armor like a set of epaulets. Alas, poor Vhalantru, I knew him well...

In what post-Gygaxian, post-REH world did gamers become so dreadfully serious? Im guessing it was in the 1e/2e transition when "brazen strumpets" disappeared from the DMG city encounter tables and demons and devils became tanari and baatezu. Its just a game! I doubt if a successful campaign can be nothing but sideshow bob antics, thus I do not want some puritan from Boston to infer that I am recommending 100% levity, but I believe the original poster might be overreacting to a modicum of such juvenile displays particularly given that he sounds hard up for gaming companions. Give the troublemaker a limit of one pee or other juvenile antic per adventure and you both might be happy.

Finally, there IS something special about humiliating your BBEG tormentor. Since we are in the Savage Tide thread, I would be greatly disappointed if someone by the end of this Adventure Path didnt want to roll Vanthus in honey and kick him into a pack of hungry bar-igaru (hey and that wouldnt even be deemed misogynistic; however, it does show signs of bias against the demonaically challenged).

Well, Im off to go and figure out the tensile strength of an adamantine hook that I can use to pierce the Overworm and do a little catfishing in the nyr dyv.

Re: the assasination, in character, there was absolutely no "reason." From the character's perspective, hed never even heard of wee jas. Thus, my comment that any "real person" would be enraged by such. Out of character, no doubt it is part of the machinations in Cauldron and the jassadin are probably linked to some bbeg that we will encounter.

With respect to mothman and others, I think your image of "real" is amusing. Of course, you are free to run whatever kind of candy ass game you want and I realize that many gamers have led a pretty cossetted life but the 'real' world even today, and god forbid you are talking historically or in fantasy literature, can be a pretty rough place with a great deal of jubilation at the defeat of one's foes. Obviously, this can get out of control and damage the game (and a good dm probably wants to stay at the PG-13 level to avoid a gross-out spiral) and obviously, such behavior isnt appropriate for a paladin, etc. but I'd submit that anyone whose character doesnt rejoice (even to slight excess) at crushing some bbeg or playing some juvenile prank on a clearly evil or an incredibly annoying enemy isnt doing much roleplaying. From Conan dropping a traitorous and vain wench in a cesspool from a three story height to leading the cannibals back to the room of a tongueless (courtesy of Conan) co-conspirator or Gary Gygax's campaign where the "monk with no name" paints the tower of his mage tormentor and then is chagrined at the mage's pleasure at being styled the striped mage, a certain amount of attempted revenge and humiliation is part of the game. Your mileage may vary but peeing on some arch foe is juvenile but not contemptible.

As Ive said before, I concur that out of game, ad hominem attacks are inappropriate as is drinking excessively.

In some ways I agree with you, in others I think you are too sensitive/controlling. Certainly out of game personal attacks are very bad and I have zero sympathy for him on this point of yours. Plus a certain amount of drinking is ok; heavy drinking is pretty obnoxious.

oh the other hand, in the cauldron series, my dwarven cleric got p____ed off when Wee Jas' clergy tried to have us assasinated (dont tell me why we are still playing the series) for no apparent reason. Therefore, after ransacking the temple, and before we set it on fire, I used stone shape to reconfigure the altar into a vulva and Im sure I p____ed on it too. Personally, I took great pleasure in engaging in that kind of retaliation on an enemy. Oh well, small pleasures! Id probably do the same (if had the power) in the real world if someone tried to kill me for no reason, so tbis could be pretty good roleplaying imho

the depths of the sea could be 'demogorgon's maw' somewhat logical since demogorgon is worshipped by some amedio savages, by ixitxachtil and by kopru and demogorgon's layer of the abyss is called gaping maw

on a lighter note, in the sea of dust gygax/gord book, gygax had a sailor swear by "procan's pearly pizzle."

my last idea is trying to tie in a little piece of one of my favorite all time dungeon adventures, nbod's room.

is there a way that you could tie that adventure, the leviathan dagger, or some other prequel or sequel of that adventure into this adventure path?

maybe the presumption could be that the inn that had the problems with Nbod's room is in Sasserine! Maybe lets assume that the adventure was successfully completed and the Leviathan Dagger returned to Sasserine only to be stolen a few years later by a freelancer or a member of the local thieves guild of sasserine. Maybe mysteriously when the dagger is stolen, the inn begins having problems with Nbod's Room again. This time it is a kopru or human tribal agents of the kopru seeking the dagger (maybe the hag was their ally). Maybe the furniture connects to an atoll that is one of the small islands surrounding the isle of dread! This would create an alternate, albeit unreliable means for PCs to travel to the Isle of Dread.

Maybe nbod was an alias ('nobody') often used by none other than Rory Barbarossa! Maybe the Leviathan Dagger has some kind of a linkage (it is a more powerful weapon than it first appears, perhaps if the current pearl in the pommel is replaced by one of the black pearls!). Maybe evil sea creatures unconciously (or in the case of the kopru, conciously) still feel the potential power of the blade.

Anyways, I always thought Nbod's Room was a short gem!

One other goofy idea is that you could recommend that the DM secretly allow one PC to be Rory Barbarossa's child! Then give that player a little bit of 'secret knowledge', a map fragment, some minor family heirloom to tie him to the setting. Of course, Rory made this child promise that he would seek the Black Pearl in the center of the plateau when he turned 18!

A previous thread (I cant find) talked about potential villains or heroes for Savage Tide both for intrinsic merit and also a bon mot for the keen eyed player with a sense of history.

I think its obvious that 'Drawmij' (Im sure you will use a slightly different name like you did with 'Tenser) or one of his apprentices should make an appearance. personally, I thought that Tenser was a little overused so Drawmij should be a little more in the background.

How about Oceanus, from the tribe of Manaus from the Azure Sea in the Saltmarsh series?

How about Rory Barbarossa himself (he escaped death at the last minute or was merely hurt badly) or one of his children, searching for his father's legacy. Much like you guys used that 1/2 dragon as a sidetrack in the Cauldron series, you could use Rory's child as an interesting sidebar on the Isle of Dread. Of course, his child will want to go to the center of the island and find the black pearl immediately.

Another thing. Id encourage the players who have a cleric to adopt a home temple in sasserine -- in other words to choose a deity from one of the seven temples or whatever. Frankly, I think it would add a lot of color to the overall adventure path. It would give ready access to a group of npcs. it would force at least one pc into the stance of actually caring about sasserine or part of it, etc.

Id add minor notes in the first adventure saying that this is what it means for a pc to be x level and part of this temple. this is what is expected of him in terms of obligations and this is the resources that he can draw on from the church for certain matters that are deemed important.

Other than the clerics, how else can you CONNECT the PCs to Sasserine at the beginning, at least those pcs who desire to be connected?

Thanks for the extensive response James. You and Erik are doing a fantastic job overall so dont let my constructive critique overshadow the overall praise. honestly, i had forgotten that olidammara was the core deity and not norebo!

Here are some thoughts for you:

1) in the greyhawk conversion, have notes saying something like "many would replace olidammara with norebo" or even suggest it.

2) one of the critiques Ive given of previous adventure paths was not every adventure needs to be pure fighting. for example, I loved Prince Zeech's banquet. One concept would be to present the 'church of olidammara' in all of the dungeon articles as the Church of the Big Gamble. Then, in the Greyhawk notes, you could of course, note that Olidammara should be replaced by Norebo. The generic and forgotten realms people will be none the wiser to the use of olidammara/norebo. I draw these two concepts together (a little bit of social interaction and olidammara/norebo) with the idea that the 'Church of the Big Gamble' should be much like Len Lakofka depicted it on Lendore Isle in Bone Hill. In another words, PCs go to the Church. Run dicing ritualistic ceremonies where they must roll for the assistance of the priests. Personally, I think it would pretty amusing and of course the PCs will ultimately want to try and cheat which could also make it interesting.

Also, James, what role will the Hadozee play in Savage Tide? On the one hand, they arent very Greyhawk historically, on the other hand, Ive always kinda liked the Yazirians (I mean Hadozee. Frankly, they seem like one of the few new races in the 3.5 books that is worthy of some inclusion.

James, I think you are making a big mistake by having Olidammara, rather than Norebo as one of the seven deities. As we've discussed earlier in the thread, the consensus seems like Sasserine should have been settled by the Suel. Thus, Kord, Wee Jas, and two-thirds of the Azure Cathedral are appropriate as three of the seven faiths. Fharlanghn is fine given the role of the striders in the region and the far-travelled nature of the religion. Pelor and St. Cuthbert also dont bother me as Sasserine is a big and diverse city and these are two very common religions across Oerth as a whole. However, if you read LG canon, it says that Norebo and Kord are the two most popular Suel deities. Thus, having Olidammara, a minor Oeridian deity in place of Norebo, a very popular Suel deity in a city of Suel origins seems like a big mistake to me.

Furthermore, if you have your copy of Bone Hill, we know generally what a temple of norebo should look like and how many players wouldnt want to go to a Church of the Big Gamble in order to interact with the "dodacahedrons of chance?" Frankly, Norebo should win hands down in terms of providing an interesting adventuring nexus over Olidammara. Did you choose Olidammara because of the cross promotion with the recent article in Dragon?

yes

I love your population boom idea transforming an old stale town into a new city -- refugees from the Hold of the Sea Princes (and the Pomarj) culturally would probably be more comfortable with Sasserine than with the Yeomanry or Keoland so it makes sense that the bulk of them would flee there.

Plus, let me tell you, I grew up in Austin, Texas. Cities can triple their population in twenty or thirty years in an economic boom, no problem at all! Sasserine should clearly be a boom town if they are friendly enough to pass the Brotherhood blockade and independent enough to do business with Keoland and Ulek. Plus, sugar and coffee production and use soared in the medieval era and in the early Renaissance. With demand soaring, and with the Sea Princes area convulsing in a civil war, the Hold's vast estates of sugarcane are abandoned -- thus supply is restricted! Thus, sugar prices have SOARED in Greyhawk in the last decade. There has to be a boom in sugar plantations around Cauldron and Sasserine. Finally, coffee is kind of hard to grow, it needs a semitropical environment but mtnous as well. If you look on the Greyhawk map, Sasserine/Cauldron is really the logical place (other than the Baklunish areas) for dominant coffee production.

In summary, Sasserine is a trading entrepot, trafficking in sugar and coffee plus fruits and wood plus reselling metals from the Cauldron area. Finally it is a logical stopping point for the sea transit trade to the Isle of Dread, Olman Isles, and Amedio. Depending on how dark James wants to make it, slavery would be logical, particularly on the plantations. On the other hand, it would be logical to have slavery outlawed in the actual city of Sasserine. For example, the inhabitants of the city could be terrified by the experience of the slave rebellions in the Hold and recognize how dangerous it is to have a slave population in the city -- though like I said, outside the walls is another thing.

Finally, the people of Sasserine would probably think that the breeding programs of the Brotherhood are gross. Sasserine, as a trading city, should be much more tolerant, at least in a mercantilist sense. I see a merchant city dominated more by worshippers of Osprem and Xerbo and the vanity aspect of Wee Jas than by Cauldron's St Cuthbert or even Kord. Plus, the evil Suel deities, other than Wee Jas would probably be frowned upon or banned.

There is a big difference between influence and control! Sasserine is a great place for the Scarlet Brotherhood, Ulek and Keoland to contend for influence with the Scarlet Brotherhood having a natural advantage.

Its obvious that the Scarlet Brotherhood never had the demographic base to be a tightly run empire. Furthermore, the Scarlet Bro has already lost most of the land mass of the Sea Princes, it has already lost Onnwal. It is very clear that its grip over a gigantic coastal region, which was obviously a classic case of overreach (or to metagame, a silly Greyhawk Wars idea) is loosening.

If the inhabitants of Sasserine are mostly Suel to begin with, and Sasserine is a true CITY of tens of thousands in rough defensible terrain like Cauldron, then the Brotherhood has little motive to conquer it, and doesnt have the spare manpower or vessels to do so in any event (if it can't defend Onnwal, it cant take Sasserine). Sasserine is probably surrounded by tropical plantations growing fruits and woods for export (in part) to the Brotherhood anyways.

It seems logical to me that the Brotherhood would exempt Sasserine-flagged ships (like they did with the Lordship of the Isles but with less control since Sasserine is farther from the Scar Bro heartland) from its blockade of the South Seas in exchange for some tax. This exemption would actually make a Sasserine-flagged vessel even more valuable if you are Keoish or Ulek and means that a merchant in those countries would scramble to establish a base in Sasserine and exchange its goods there or even reflag its vessels in that city. That would be a great adventure in itself -- hiding or hampering the brotherhood spies trying to prove what everyone knows -- that Sasserine merchants are complicit in reflagging Keoish vessels under their own banner to escape the Brotherhoods blockade.

Bottom line, Sasserine is full of Brotherhood spies and agents and the merchant elite fears the Brotherhood's assasins and will never move openly and directly against it. On the other hand, the Suel merchants of Sasserine quietly mock the Brotherhood for its 'uneconomic' (and failing) militaristic exploits while their own mercantilist exploits rise from success to success. They will not accept Brotherhood soldiers or military vessels in the city. Its kind of like Casablanca or Lebanon prior to the Civil War -- everyone is dedicated to making money aka the 'Sasserine Way' (and scheming against each other a bit) and trying to ignore the wars waging around them. I think a stable classically neutral merchant city on key trade routes could make a killing in that kind of environment while paying mild lip service to whatever allegiance is needed at the moment to go back to making money.

Just my 2 cents

Since The Savadge Tide is still being created, I have random ideas that might make sense:

First, an old article in Dungeon had a classic adventure called Nbod's Room (spoilers). Basically, it was about a captain who mysteriously disappeared and had several mundane items in his room that connected to faraway (tropical) places. Anyways, something like this (perhaps even an updated 3.5e version) could be an interesting twist on the usual dungeon-dungeon-dungeon routine.

Second, part of the magic of all of the old Tropical Exploration stories was that the natives were pretty unpredictable. I really like the Authority Point mechanic in the Age of Worms. Id really like to see one or three adventures where roleplaying - negotiations - alliance forming is a major part of the action. itd be a nice change of pace from what we are all starting to expect from an AP. Also, instead of having 'white hat' good guys and 'black hat' bad guys, why not have some npcs (like the head Zombie Master on the Isle of Dread) who could swing either way based on the PCs actions and either greatly hinder them or help them somewhat. In a related vein, we've killed two powers in previous adventure paths, are you sure you dont want to emphasize the coalition building against Demogorgon as much as the actual battle against him in the Abyss. It could be kinda of interesting to have to get good allies to work with Grazzt and other archenemies to bring down Demogorgon.

Third, I'd really like to see a ship-ship battle at sea to drive home the differences in environment. In other words, in the typical environment, it is obvious that you want to wear heavy metal armor. On a ship to ship battle or wandering through the jungle it isnt at all obvious that you want to wear armor at all -- how about mentioning tropical diseases, rust, heat exhaustion, etc! Basically, I think you can really twist the typical assumptions of pcs who have 'optimal' builds and gear in mind for a typical dungeon with some of this environmental stuff.

Fourth, I realize its a PATH, but is it possible to build a little more flexibility when you hit the Isle of Dread? In other words, options rather than a deterministic path. One possibility is to use the Sidetreks part of Dungeon to detail alternative small encounters or other mischief for the PCs.

I like the preceding. One twist to it is to remember that various Greyhawk Gazeteers have had tiny notes that certain parts of the Sea Princes (Port Toli) I believe were founded (as ports if not as a full-fledged nation) even PRIOR to the Invoked Devastation and Rain of Colorless Fire.

Therefore, another possibility is that the original town of Sasserine was founded in a similar fashion prior to the destruction of the Suel Empire as a pathetically small trading outpost on the Azure Sea. The outpost may or may not have been a formal part of the Suel Empire, think of the way Anglo-Dutch emigres colonized southern africa without much organized help from their parent countries. Rather, it attracted rough and ready scruffy types from various places but undoubtably dominated by Suelish people (as if they would settle for anything else).

If you buy this argument, then Wee Jas and Kord who are in Cauldron are the original founding religions of the city, along with Osprem and Xerbo who aren't in Cauldron but logically would be in Sasserine -- I envision Xerbo serving as the deity of commerce with an eat or be eaten motif as much as lord of the seas. St Cuthbert's worshippers came much later, after the town was already a bustling trade center, after it was on its way to becoming a city.

Anyways, using this chronology, the tiny settlement of Sasserine was conquered by the Keoish, probably when the Rhola Kings (Tavish?) were in the ascendancy. It thrived during the age of Keoish naval imperialism and was a waystation for Keoish exploration vessels that reached as far South as the Isle of Dread. However, these thriving trade routes led to lucrative piratical opportunities for bucaneers from Port Toli, etc. Sasserine was captured by, or was one of the leaders of the dissident forces during the rebellion of the Sea Princes from Keoland. Sasserine became a little bit of a backwater after these events as Keoland turned away from the sea and the Sea Princes favored their own main cities (Port Toli, Monmurg) at the expense of Sasserine. When the Scarlet Brotherhood attacked the Sea Princes, no one could oppose Sasserine's declaration of independence and today, the city is too strong for an overstretched Scarlet Brotherhood to recapture -- with strong alliances with the Dwarves of Ulek and possibly Keoland as well. Today, Sasserine is booming again, as a trade center where red-robed monks from the Brotherhood and their puppets from the Lord of the Isles and Monmurg rub shoulders with Keoish, Amedians, Dwarves from the Principality of Ulek, etc. As it did during the age of Keoish expansion, Sasserine is stretching its colonial arms towards the South, with tiny colonial fingers reaching the Isle of Dread once again.

Eberron as a whole is fairly boring IMHO. So no, I do not use most of its content. I do find the warforged to be a wonderful creation that should be considered a 'core' part of d&d along with humans, dwarves and elves but outside the eberron context.

Does anyone still use this world? Could anyone reference some older issues that had memorable adventures in this setting?

It was one of my favorite settings and I still use it.

The isle of dread was originally set in Mystara. A recent Dungeon had a follow up on it. It was reset to Greyhawk, thought it would obviously be very easy to use it in its original setting

Kingdom of the Ghoul Dungeon #70

N'bod's Room Dungeon #51 (maybe the best piece of adventure writing in Dungeon)

Maure Castle Dungeon #112

Gorgoldand's Gauntlet (ok it was a Dragon Annual)