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Woohoo! A new Dungeon adventure by Nicholas Logue. You can find it at
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/duad/20080509. Although set in Eberron's Stormreach, with a little bit of conversion, you could use it in many a ruined city/urban setting.
The adventure has an action/gore vibe to it. I was especially fond of
Wizards got the author description wrong though--Mr. Logue is definitely no longer a 1st level unemployed ;)
Good Lord Nic, do you never stop? Paizo Ap, Pathfinder Society, Sinister Adventures, side projects and now this. Wow.
Woohoo! A new Dungeon adventure by Nicholas Logue. You can find it at
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/duad/20080509. Although set in Eberron's Stormreach, with a little bit of conversion, you could use it in many a ruined city/urban setting.The adventure has an action/gore vibe to it. I was especially fond of
** spoiler omitted **
Wizards got the author description wrong though--Mr. Logue is definitely no longer a 1st level unemployed ;)
Good Lord Nic, do you never stop? Paizo Ap, Pathfinder Society, Sinister Adventures, side projects and now this. Wow.
Ha! Thanks Tzzarg! Glad you dig the adventure!
Yeah, that author bio is a bit antiquated! I'm employed like a (EDITED DUE TO EMPLOYMENT) now!!! :-)
Edit: it said motherf$&!a above, but that would be inappropriate now that that I am offical Paizo kinfolks. Damn, I said motherf++!a down here...curses. ;-)
Bump, just in case anybody missed this when it popped up like I did.
Some more description:
Adventurers return from the deeps of Xen'drik all the time with packs full of strange antiquities and treasures. But some treasures aren't meant to be rediscovered. After a recent expedition to just such a tomb, some adventurers brought back more than they bargained for.
A few nights after the expedition returned, corpses began appearing in the morning streets, drained of blood. On top of that, rumors abound that a force in Stormreach's criminal underworld backed the expedition. The PCs will have their hands full as they try to unravel the mystery of the mysterious collection while navigating the many competing criminal elements of Stormreach's underbelly. "City of Blood" is an adventure set in the Eberron campaign setting, although it could just as easily be adapted for play in your non-Eberron home game.
And linkified (free registration to DDI required).
And linkified (free registration to DDI required).
Thanks Trey!
Indeed it looks like a good one, although I do feel that a party who doesn't have a very "investigative" kind of approach (and PC's with appropriate skills) could get frustrated / stuck in the middle section.
Personally, I'm running the initial piece next week, as the beginning of a side-trek to fill the gap between Shattered Gates of Slaughterguarde and Expedition to the Demonweb Pits. Once Talon is deal with, I'll immediately hit them with the beginning of Touch of Madness (scaled down a bit; my PC's are only 8th level). The mummy thing will pretty much be dropped - the initial encounters look pretty good, and can easily be used in any game setting, not just Eberron.
Well, I did run it last night, at least the first section, slightly modified. I didn't spend much time in preparing it, so mostly just ran it as written and ad-libbed the role-play bits a bit (to keep it simple and enable me to chop off the second half in favour of an invasion that distracts the PC's). Overall I liked it, it was fun and fast to run, especially as I just used the battle-maps from City of Peril to save me having to draw anything.
Unfortunately, for characters of level 5+, the roof/pillar chase with Talon can be a let-down, due to Talon's inability to fly and the static nature of the obstacles the PC's are supposed to encounter. I had Talon run away pretty much as per the adventure, but the PC sorcerer just cast fly and took off after him, while the rest of the party dealt with what was inside the tavern. In fact, one PC hovered around the entrance, to keep an eye on the tavern inside as well as the chase outside. So, while Talon did manage to get to the pillars and the Wyvern entered the combat, with a bit of ad-lib on my part with Talon jumping onto the Wyvern, he was dead the next round and the Wyvern quickly followed. I only managed to hit the sorcerer with a Mimic because he decided to hide right next to it (avoiding the Wyvern). The fire elemental just stood around looking useless, and most of the terrain and other nasties never saw any play.
Still, it was fun - just not overly challenging (the carrion crawler struggled to hit anyone and it's save DC is no low, it was scary but not a real threat). I'd say chase scenes in the open are difficult to pull off for mid-level and up - you've got to expect any party of level 5+ to have access to Fly and hence by-pass the design; better off to involve areas that restrict flyers as well as those who have to go on the ground...
One thing that did work well was my attempt at by-passing a lot of the future plot (the mummy etc) - my players assumed that the halfling and his cronies were actually behind the hauntings, so when they were defeated they figured they had solved the case (questioning the sole surviving orc then lead them directly to Talon). That was good for me, as I was a little worried they would spend ages chasing a red herring I wasn't that keen on.
Actually, my biggest concern is that the mummy cleric is going to go down like a lousy jester struck by a half-brick. With only 7 hit dice and no turn resistance, he has a glass jaw to anyone with solid clerical backup. By the time that adventure rolls into the que, I'll have a roughly 7th level cleric who rebukes, which is Much nastier than turning, (and consecrate will take care of that pesky little desecrate effect.) Undead villains really need a hit-die leg up on the heroes, or turn resistance, to live up to the hype.
By the way, I wouldn't consider this adventure to be all that gory... certainly no moreso than the Mummy movies (the recent 2, soon to be 3, not the old B&W ones,) from which Mistah Logue clearly (and awesomely) took loving inspiration. ^-^
You know what, I think this would actually make a much better adventure under 4.0 rules - lots of minions which will work better, and less opportunity for the PC's to circumvent some of the cool plot / design ideas though magic. It's probably not a major undertaking to convert it either...
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And linkified (free registration to DDI required).
Thanks for the link Trey.
For some reason I am unable to register with DDI, but I discovered that if you scroll to the bottom of the page and click on the "printer friendly version" link, you are able to DL the PDF of this whether or not you are registered.
Thanks for the adventure Nick!