OK, so this past weekend my group descended into Maure Castle (I am the DM). I used the hook where Bigby hires them to check to make sure everything is still dead in there.
I immediately found 2 major and 2 minor problems as soon as I read about level 1.
Problem 1: The dust. It says there is a fine layer of dust all over. This means the secret door in area 11 would be super easy to find. Just follow all the footprints. Area 12 (where Seekers would be walking through multiple times per day) says the room is 'dusty & unused'. There would be a serious footpath worn through all that dust.
Problem 2: The spear trap in Area 12. This room seems to be the only connection between level 1 & 2. The Seekers from Area 25 come up here to check things out 'a few times per day', plus you have gnolls coming & going occasionally. This room would have to be hip-deep in spears, since 6 of them fire off every time the door is opened. This is the most perplexing of the problems, as there doesn't seem to be any reason the spears wouldn't fire at the seekers every time they come up...
Problem 3: Stone Shape. I don't know about your party, but in my party, the cleric always loads up on Stone Shape spells, and uses them liberally. Apparently no one who has ever explored Maure Castle has ever used one...
I've no idea why not, as it is a wonderful way to 'walk through walls'. Thief detects a trap on the door? No worries, just create your own doorway in the wall next to the door.
Problem 4: The terrible Iron Golem. OK, unless you are running this for a group of people who have never played D&D before, I don't know of a single player who would get within 50 feet of the throne. It is obviously an Iron Golem, (and most likely 3 iron golems from the PCs point of view). This whole encounter will simply never happen. I;ve been DMing weekly since 1983, and it's been 20 years since I've had a player would touch an iron statue. It just ain't gonna happen.
I've come up with my own solutions for most of this stuff. I've been DMing for 25 years, so it's not a problem that way. I just can't believe this would get published with so many unaccounted for issues.
How have you guys dealt with them?
Good points. If you find more inconsistencies point them out. I'm likely to run this in the not to distant future and issues like the dust are the kind of thing that bites you in the butt because you never saw the consequences before the players called you out on it.
Spear Trap as well. I think part of the problem is that this dungeon is actually a fair bit more dynamic then what is normal for 1st edition style dungeons. There are already explorers here running an agenda - in this case the 'lost and dusty dungeon' does not really fit any more.
I'm in the middle of DMing so I'll add my 2cents.
Problem 1: The dust. It says there is a fine layer of dust all over.
This is a problem. Unless you decide the dust isn't that much of a layer. I've overlooked it, but my party isn't sticklers for this sort of thing.
Problem 2: The spear trap in Area 12.
I believe its a magical trap, so we can assume the spears are conjured each time the trap is reset. The issue of spears on the floor, well, maybe the Seekers clean up after themselves? If they went in the room with the four spear-statues, and stood on the blood stain, they won't be affected. Maybe the spears dissipate after a set amount of time?
Problem 3: Stone Shape.
I don't see this as a problem. If the cleric wants to load up on stone shapes, that his right. He'll forfeit other spells, but that's how it goes. Let 'em have it. There are plenty of ways to kill a party in this dungeon. If they found a way around some of them, good for them! (Including using stone shape to get around the main unopenable doors. If they can't get around them at all, they will get frustrated.)
Problem 4: The terrible Iron Golem.
One word for ya: "Arley". In my game, he appeared (from gaseous form) in front of the golem and then activated it. (They had run into him in his room, and went to camp for the night. In the mean time, I assumed the Seeker commanders on the lower level gave him the order to do away with them. He knew he couldn't kill them, so he used his noggin.) Granted, I'm using the "reconstructed" ogre mage from the WotC web site, that gives him swift invisibility. In my game. He appeared in front of the golem, touched him, cast swift invisibility, and then was gone the next round. In the meantime the party is trying to deal with the TIG! (BTW, I modified the TIG a bit, I assumed the little fire in his mouth would flare up as a swift action on his turn, causing 1 point of fast healing and removing any lightning bolt effects to slow him. Yeah, I'm nasty. But it made the second fight against him very memorable and the party was very thrilled to have defeated him! - The cerebremancer eventually clued in to ready an action when the golem moved to do his "full attack" and he slowed him. The golem could use his fire, but only after he'd used up all his standard actions for the round. It was clever and it worked.)
Those are my ways.
Greg
I agree with what others had posted. The spear trap in particular I felt was a hold over from the 1e module that probably should have been dropped, so I did. Use Arley as described (the TIG activator). In addition, if the party thinks to use the "polymorph into a rust monster" trick, be prepared to unleash the "spirit" of the TIG - and advanced (48 HD) elder fire elemental. Makes for a nice surprise.
- IO
Adventures of this level routinely block various forms of travel, including teleport, dimension door, etc. I can't find any such mention in the module, but if I were a Maure I guarantee you my dungeons would be so protected.However, the module does state that the Unopenable Doors are warded against passwall. By extension, one could presume that the walls of the complex are similarly warded.
Personally, were I a Maure architect designing a complex to hold vast sums of treasure and wherein my fellows/masters would be researching powerful magics and summoning all types of creatures I'd ward the place against all manner of Conjurations and Transmutations to prevent unauthorized passage.
As a DM I'd have no problem altering the module in this fashion.
Rez
Seems rather harsh to me. Teleport wards usually work both ways - if enemies can't teleport in you can't teleport out. This place was run by powerful mages. They'd probably be more concerned with being able to move around themselves then they would be about unauthorized intruders. Its not the intruders that are the real danger in any case - its the other 'family members'
Beyond this I'll note that the two major NPCs in the adventure are not normally part of the dungeon but are intruders themselves. You don't want to limit what they can do - and teleport is definitely something that they might utilize against the party.
Anyway if your players think about it they probably have access to a poor mans stone shape. Attack the walls - stone shape or no the walls will break eventually - if one wants to they can tunnel through the dungeon - its just noisy, takes a while and you have to actually think their is something on the other side of the wall 'cause building your own dungeon tunnels is kind of pointless. If one of the players has an adamantine weapon this actually becomes pretty easy but its always possible unless the walls are made of iron or some such (then their hardness is prohibitive).
My feeling is if the players want to cast stone shape or pass wall well more power to them. This alone won't save them from their coming demise in Maure Castle. For one thing if you open a door usually you can slam it again but if you make a big whole in the wall (with spells or otherwise) its a heck of a lot harder to close if you don't like what you find on the other side.
Personally, were I a Maure architect designing a complex to hold vast sums of treasure and wherein my fellows/masters would be researching powerful magics and summoning all types of creatures I'd ward the place against all manner of Conjurations and Transmutations to prevent unauthorized passage.
As a DM I'd have no problem altering the module in this fashion.
Rez
I agree with your second point (DM's can change and should change anything they want to).
But I think that given the structure of the dungeon, your first point may not be quite that straightforward. The "original" 3 levels are set very far away from the main castle dungeon levels. In fact, Eli had to use many disintegrates to get to the main dungeon levels. I see the area containing the Great Hall and the Fane of Kerzit as a "adjunct", a meeting place (the great hall) and a "worshipping" place (Kerzit's level). It was not supposed to be connected to the Chamber of Antiquities, for example. So I do see this as the "easy" way into the dungeon. This to me is the backdoor. And that's why there aren't any special wards, save the main door.
Greg
In fact, Eli had to use many disintegrates to get to the main dungeon levels.
Well this explains why there is so much dust.
It seems to me that the problem is not whether the PCs use Stone Shape, but why no one in past years ever did so, leaving convenient little holes everywhere.
(It might be fun to put in a line of convenient little holes leading to a very dead party of adventurers.)
Mary
It seems to me that the problem is not whether the PCs use Stone Shape, but why no one in past years ever did so, leaving convenient little holes everywhere.
(It might be fun to put in a line of convenient little holes leading to a very dead party of adventurers.)
Mary
Well, those who are currently in the dungeon complex have a vested interest in not allowing outsiders in. The fact that the underground entrance is so far removed from the castle ruins, may mean that very few people have even found the unopenable doors, to begin with.
Also, keep in mind, that until you actually get past the doors, you really don't have a good idea of where the best place to put a stone shape would be (although right next to them is a good guess, I suppose). And once you're inside, why not simply use a dimension door to get in and out? Again, it preserves the area for you and you alone to explore.
Just my thoughts on a possible "why".
Greg