Module XL1 Quest for the Heartstone is an adventure for the D&D Expert set, Mentzer/BECMI version. Let's be honest and upfront right away. This is not a great module. The adventure is widely described as being akin to everyone's first module. The adventure is your basic "retrieve an item at the end of a dungeon crawl" fare.

The real reason behind this module are the toys. Specifically the LJN/AD&D toy line.

In fact you can pretty much find an entry for every monster in the toy line, save for Tiamat herself.

Now I am not sure if the module was designed to sell toys (not likely since the markets seemed different to me) or rather as way to bridge the lines. There are references in the module for which toy to use for the encounter and to tell you the truth, it sounds kind of fun.

Reviewing the module again in this light, as an excuse to use the toy line, it actually dawns on me that it would be a blast with the right group.

It should also be said that this module includes the stats for many of the favorite npcs/figures such as Warduke, Kalek and Strongheart, plus a few I didn't even know about.

So viewing the module in this light, is could be quite fun despite it's short comings.

So 4/5. The adventure itself is more of a 2/5, but the stats and the idea of the using the toyline improves it in my mind.

In my opinion Quest For The Heartstone gets a bad rap. Because it was a transparent marketting tie-in for the D&D toy line that shoe-horned in all the monsters that were part of the line without really having any kind of coherent theme.

Having said that I think Heartstone has a lot going for. The use and quality of art in the book is great. I've always liked when art is included in modules not only for the DMs enjoyment but to be presented to the players. Outside of the much loved and respected S series of modules Heartstone makes the best use of art as player props and presentation. One of the other (in my opinion) frequently misplaced criticims is that the adventure is 'formulaic' of 'boiler-plate', sometimes standard tropes exist because they work and are popular. The adventure is a basic wilderness exploration followed by a dungeon crawl searching for a macguffin (the titular Heartstone).

The flipside is that to be fair the story and encounters are uninspired. For the most part the adventure reads and plays like a series of unlinked random encounters with an almost non-existant narrative. My other issue is that if you assume the pre-generated characters are being used in spite of the encounters having absolute mountains of treasure most of the magic items aren't any better than what the players are already carrying.

I think the real value in Quest For The Heartstone is using the maps and art as the framework for a better adventure. If it was stocked with monsters that were themeatically linked and treasure that felt more rewarding for the PC levels I think the bones of the adventure make a great starting point.

This is a fun dungeon/wilderness adventure, with some nice 3-dimensional maps and colorful characters.<br><br><b>LIKED</b>: maps, storyline<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>

Only usful if you're into the old AD&D toy line. See also AC1 The Shady Dragon Inn.

An old Favorate!!!! We had so much fun with this one! For nostalgis sake alone its worth it. and lets not forget the real reason WARDUKE!!!!!!WARDUKE!!!!WARDUKE!!!!!!