Tower of the Ironwood Watch has a pretty involved backstory, but it's an interesting one that adds to the setting's lore. Long before refugees from Azlant came to Varisia and built the empire of Thassilon, the elves had a flourishing civilization. But when humans began to spread throughout the land, the elves built watchtowers at the borders of the Mierani Forest. When Earthfall devastated the land, many of the Mierani elves were driven underground and, over millennia, became drow. Today, most of the ancient civilisation's watchtowers are forgotten even by the elven nations on the surface. But a contingent of drow have (after some complications) found their way to the tower and have been using it as a staging area for attacks in the region. The PCs are dispatched by Venture-Captain Sheila Heidmarch to investigate the tower, the location of which was recently discovered by cross-referencing Thassilonian records obtained elsewhere (perhaps even in a previous scenario--I'm not sure). As Pathfinders, the PCs know to expect danger when they explore the tower, but they have no idea what's really lying in wait.
After the briefing, the scenario fast-forwards to the tower. Two levels remain accessible on the surface, but there's also underground areas (excavated by the drow, who are trying to find a path back to the Darklands). One of the first encounters is a real surprise, as a trap triggers something akin to an anti-magic field (though less powerful), which the PCs probably won't even notice until they're already in combat with fungal monsters called basidironds. I remember this battle vividly, because the hallucinogenic spores wreaked havoc on the party (with multiple PCs, including mine, dropping their weapons or fleeing in panic). Another trap is really clever--it's simply a teleportation circle that takes you to what used to be an upper level of the tower that has long since collapsed, meaning PCs appear in mid-air and have a long, painful fall ahead of them! On these surface levels, PCs with the right skillset might start to see signs of drow involvement (handled in a really flavourful way).
In the basement, the PCs face their first ambush by drow. It was really something, at least on the group I was with. Drow sleep arrows shouldn't be underestimated, nor should mundane things like sneak attack and magical darkness fields. Thanks to a raging barbarian on our side, we eventually fought through, but it certainly wasn't easy. There are further encounters on the level against demons, plant monsters, and more.
It all serves to wear the group down before they get to the big climax, which makes great use of the Darklands flip-mat. Here, the PCs fight a drow priestess of Shax and her multiple demonic allies. In my group we all learned how poor we were at ranged combat when she started flying and raining down spells on us. One PC died, and again it was a near TPK. But, it was also completely fair and great fun.
Assuming the PCs win the day, they'll succeed in the mission and have discovered valuable information about the pre-Earthfall elven culture as well as hindering a mysterious plot the drow had for the Worldwound (I'm not sure what this was all about, but perhaps it's answered in a later scenario). There is a small opportunity for role-playing with a freed captive, but as I said in the intro, there's no denying this is a primarily a dungeon-crawl--but it certainly isn't a lazy one. There are plenty of great details in the rooms, the NPCs are given interesting tactics and personalities, and the interior artwork is fantastic. It is what it is, but it's really good at it.
(based on 5 ratings)
