It's the latest of the pre-5e modules.
I've not bought any of the previous ones, but thought i might give this one a go.
If anyone here has got it, what's it like?
About 105 rooms in the main dungeon, another 10 or so before you get there.
The cartographer for this posted a lot of very high res pictures from it, both with labelled maps and unlabelled ones. See: https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikeschley/. Here is a sample:
(https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5472/14095446123_f6c5e365fa_b.jpg)
Huh. That actually looks pretty cool. Will this be released in hardcopy, like the Legacy of the Crystal Shard?
Edit: I see the artist is Mike Schley. Nice. The guy is the best in the business these days.
The map alone is almost enough to sell me.
Yeah, nice maps.
But has anyone got it?
Quote from: Haffrung;747505Huh. That actually looks pretty cool. Will this be released in hardcopy, like the Legacy of the Crystal Shard?
My understanding is that this one will be .pdf only. I get the feeling that they're trying out production and distribution options.
Quote from: Bobloblah;747795My understanding is that this one will be .pdf only. I get the feeling that they're trying out production and distribution options.
Too bad. I'm still not sold on running adventures (or even reading them) strictly via my tablet. Especially an adventure with lots of maps and handouts.
Same here. I haven't (and likely won't, unless they're exceptional) buy the .pdf-only modules. Actually, to that point about being "exceptional", I've considered picking up the Vault of the Dracolich, in spite of it being .pdf-only. The reason is that I'm very interested in the potential utility for troupe-based play in ACKS, with multiple groups comprised of PCs and their many Henchmen and Hirelings.
Quote from: One Horse Town;747682Yeah, nice maps.
But has anyone got it?
I purchased it a few minutes ago, but won't be able to do a read-through until Saturday.
Tease.
Mini-review after a superficial reading:
With two exceptions, it uses the rules set from the final playtest packet:
(1) the experience tables (including hit dice, features, prof. bonuses, etc.) only go up to 10th level. I assume this is because the adventure is designed for PCs of levels 6-8. Otherwise, it's pretty much cut and paste from the final packet for each class.
(2) Does not contain the same bestiary. It has its own bestiary, which has a lot fewer monsters, but also about 16-20 that did not appear in the playtest packet. No exp. pt. or "level" values are provided however, and DMs are warned that the monster section is a work in progress and may have to be adjusted on the fly.
Three new magic items, of which one is a "classic," but the Player Entitlement Crew may not be happy about it.
Other than the maps, the interior art consists exclusively of NPC "portraits." Nicely done, but I would have liked to see an action pic or two.
It's a sequel to the previous adventure, Scourge of the Sword Coast, but enough background info is provided to pick up and play this adventure without having been through the earlier one. It's pretty heavily linked to the FR setting, though, with some effort, a DM could probably rework it into another setting.
With that out of the way, the main feature is that this adventure is primarily designed for 2-4 PC groups (with their own DMs) in coordinated play. I think they did something like this in a previous Encounters adventure.
Suggestions are provided for a DM at home to run the adventure for a single PC group (while abstractly running an NPC group "offstage") but at some points, the groups do hook up, so the DM would have to run the monsters and the other group all at once.
The group rules seem just too interesting to waste, though, so I think that when I run this, I will probably use a second DM and we'll run two groups with 3 PCs and one NPC in each.
Nature of the adventure: It's basically a dungeon crawl, with traps, puzzles and some weird-themed sectors, but also some opportunities for diplomacy (in the "lesser-of-two-evils" sort of way) and LOTS of potential combat with a wide variety of opponents. In that sense, I think it's meant to showcase DDN's fast resolution.
Opportunities are provided for rest & recovery, but at a cost. The dungeon isn't static.
Means are provided for new PCs to enter at later stages, which is good, because completion of this module will require multiple sessions.
Other questions?
Great map. Not just the cartography, but the evocative names make me want to get it right now.
What are some of the monsters and magic items?
Can it stand alone from the previous module?
Quote from: Kravell;748215What are some of the monsters and magic items?
Among monsters not in last playtest doc: aboleth, black pudding (including "elder" version), choker, darkenbeast, leucrotta ... many others.
A couple of the magic items are cursed, so its probably best not to give away the particulars.
Quote from: Bobloblah;748219Can it stand alone from the previous module?
Absolutely. There's a summary of what happened in the prequel, and PCs from that adventure can continue in this one, but that kind of character continuity isn't necessary. In fact, it would be almost impossible to restrict it to those particular characters since this adventure is designed to challenge as many as 24 PCs. (up to 4 groups of six)
There are some updates to the rules apparently in Dead in Thay. For example, it includes these new spells: Acid Splash, Calm Emotions, Conjure Animals, Counterspell, Detect Thoughts, Eldritch Blast, Jump, Misty Step, and Misdirection.
Quote from: Mistwell;748321There are some updates to the rules apparently in Dead in Thay. For example, it includes these new spells: Acid Splash, Calm Emotions, Conjure Animals, Counterspell, Detect Thoughts, Eldritch Blast, Jump, Misty Step, and Misdirection.
Yup, but for some reason, they didn't make it into the spell index.
Also, "Misty Step" requires a "bonus action." Is this supposed to be the same as a "swift spell"?
Quote from: Saplatt;748348Yup, but for some reason, they didn't make it into the spell index.
Also, "Misty Step" requires a "bonus action." Is this supposed to be the same as a "swift spell"?
Thanks for the rule info everyone.
Misty Step is a paladin spell for Oath of Vengeance. Listed as a swift to cast.
Additional spells are, as far as I can tell:
Acid Splash (Cantrip), Aura of Purity (4), Bestow Curse (1), Branding Smite (2), Calm Emotion (2), Conjure Animals (3), Counterspell (3), Darkvision (2), Detect Thoughts (2), Eldritch Blast (Cantrip), Enlarge (1), Jump (1), Misdirection (use minor illusion) and Misty Step (2).
The adventure also includes 10 level 6 pre-generated characters. Nice feature is that the known spells for the spellcaster types are reproduced as part of the character sheets so the players won't have to reference the general spell list.
Each of them has a single potion of healing. Other than that, no starting magic items.
There's a review (http://rpggeek.com/thread/1171034/a-decent-mega-dungeon-for-your-mega-groupbut-dont) up on RPGGeek.
Yeah, don't think it's for me. Thanks for the run-down Saplatt.
I picked this up and I'm glad I did. It is a megadungeon with various zones where wizards make weird magic. Golems, perytons, undead etc. Special glyph keys unlock teleportation to other rooms and terrain and traps factor in. Looks like a great dungeon crawl with a very active environment. The dungeon has an alert level, to track how NPCs react. NPCs may fight NPCs. And the DM is encouraged to track how the PCs stomping through the dungeon changes things if they retreat and return. Looks well thought out.
On the downside, there certainly are some railroad aspects to it, especially the start, and it is going to be a challenge to run more than one group through this for multiple sessions.
Quote from: Saplatt;749828On the downside, there certainly are some railroad aspects to it, especially the start, and it is going to be a challenge to run more than one group through this for multiple sessions.
I am going to run it for a higher level party and pull out the NPCs. Let the PCs plane shift and cast teleport circle themselves.