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Forsaken Hwellan - Lair of the Plague Priest

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Forsaken Hwellan - Lair of the Plague Priest
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Forsaken Hwellan - Lair of the Plague Priest
Publisher: 12 to Midnight
by Megan R. [Featured Reviewer]
Date Added: 12/05/2008 09:05:56

Hwellan is a forsaken, indeed forgotten, village high in the mountains in some wild frontier area, the sort of place where barbarians and kobolds can roam unmolested. The weather's generally bad and life was hard even when things were normal... and now, of course, they are somewhat worse!

Within this loose description, you can put Hwellan into your campaign world anywhere that's convenient, as it is neatly self-contained. It is a long way from civilisation, so it can be added to even a well-established setting, because until your characters stumble across it they probably will not have heard of the place at all. However, if just encountering adventure locations does not suit your style, or if you have a bunch of characters who plain won't head for the hills, there are some plot hooks provided to entice them in the right direction.

Once the characters are heading up into the mountains, the fun begins. The weather and environment are treacherous enough, even before you add in the other residents of the area. Snow, hail, high winds and avalances are commonplace, while the cold itself has deleterious effects on the unprepared. There is plenty of detail on how to inflict this all on the characters (although you might wish to consult Frostburn for additional information). There's plenty and enough here for you to present the dangers to good effect, though. In addition, most of the local wildlife is hungry and on the lookout for easy prey.

And so, assuming you get there, the village itself. Originally inhabited by the sort of independent-minded folks who prefer to struggle against the rigors of nature rather than live in more comfort but under another's governance, things have gone dramatically wrong over the past year or so. Without going into game-spoiling detail, suffice to say that disease plays a large part, and there are several nasty new ones for your characters to contract!

After an extensive background explaining what's been going on and the current state of play, there is a section detailing how to build up the atmosphere of horror that hangs over Hwellan. This is very well done, and shows how to make this an adventure that will be the very stuff of nightmare through suggestion and innuendo. It also gives an overview of how to organise the characters' progression through the adventure.

Next comes a detailed description of the village of Hwellan and its buildings, linked to a comprehensive map. Everything can be at your fingertips as the characters explore.

The rest of the book is made up of appendices describing the monsters, NPCs and new items and spells involved in this encounter. The NPCs are presented with statistics at 3 levels to enable you to pitch the challenge appropriately.

Overall, this is really a complete adventure built around the location and villain promised in the series introduction. It is presented clearly and should prove easy to run. The illustrations are apposite and overall presentation is good although there are one or two sloppy errors which a good proof-read should have caught. All I need to do now is entice some adventurers up into the mountains...



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
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Forsaken Hwellan - Lair of the Plague Priest
Publisher: 12 to Midnight
by Derek K. [Featured Reviewer]
Date Added: 11/18/2006 00:00:00

"Horrendous Habitats: Forsaken Hwellan - Lair of the Plague Priest" is a 44-page supplement that presents a location, a formidable NPC, a handful of new spells and magic items, and, in the hands of a capable DM, a challenging and exciting mini-campaign. Designed for a 4-person party of 10th-level characters (with accompanying suggestions for scaling the adventure up or down if need be), this extended series of encounters is well-written and -presented, and is well worth the $6.00 price tag

Father Marc is the titular "plague priest," and he and his followers have taken over the small mountain village of Hwellan. Writer Martin Jenner has included a number of different plot hooks to help DMs drive their players toward this village, and before they even arrive, a number of environmental factors, from avalanches to snow storms, can present a handful of exciting encounters. A strong sense of suspense and pending dread is weaved throughout the trip to the village.

And once the party arrives in Hwellan, the atmosphere at the game table can quickly change from one of encroaching doom to fear and disease.

Without resorting to any horror-theme cliches, "Lair of the Plague Priest" presents a fresh take on a story of a forbidden god threatening to bring plague and death to the world, and Father Marc is a well-drafted and -created villain that is certain to insert himself into your players' lists of memorable NPC opponents.

The supplement does contain a few typos and grammatical errors, and the accompanying maps do have a few slight labeling errors, but these problems are near-inconsequential. The layout of this supplement, including its four appendices, make it incredibly easy to use and read, reprinting relevant material from the D&D rule books when needed and inserting new material (like the eight new diseases) is presented in such a way that it can be seamlessly inserted into the existing ruleset.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: The NPCs (not just Father Marc) are unique characters; writer Jenner did not fall back on stereotypes when creating the kobold sorceress Snow-Blows-Through-Her or captured village priest Fillip Reese.

Additionally, excerpts from the diary of Father Marc are included, and they're quite telling of the Plague Preist's motivations and thought-processes.

A lot of work went into creating all the material a DM would need for a fun series of games.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: There were a few typos and grammatical errors, and a few items were mislabeled on the map of the village itself. Also, I do prefer my fantasy character names to be a bit more "fantasy"-sounding than Marc or Fillip.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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Forsaken Hwellan - Lair of the Plague Priest
Publisher: 12 to Midnight
by Peter I. [Featured Reviewer]
Date Added: 09/22/2006 00:00:00

Horrendous Habitats: Forsaken Hwellan is a 44 page pdf product and the first product in Silven Publishing's new Horrendous Habitats line. Each product in the line introduces an arch villain and its habitat to your d20 game, complete with history, other inhabitants, and more. This first product looks at Forsaken Hwellan, an evil den of madness occupied and run by priests of a plague god. Forsaken Hwellan is habitat suitable for 10th level characters.

Silven Publishing provides both a screen and print version of this product. The latter contains no bordering or art, thought the full text and maps are included. Writing, editing and layout is very good, something that Silven Publishing have achieved almost from their very first product. They certainly deliver something professional and well-presented. Some very good art in contained within the product, and it's bountiful as well, and the artists have done a good job to enhance the look of the product. The maps are good as well, clearly marked and labelled, with no omissions or discrepancies. Overall, a good job and a quality presentation.

Forsaken Hwellan is a seemingly deserted village that was once a meagre little village where inhabitants spent their time tending crops and livestock. Now Hwellan holds a dark secret and sinister people, and this product provides an extensive overview of the village, its history, its interesting location, its people and much more. And when I say extensive, I mean it - no stone is unturned, detail is everywhere (probably more than one would conceivably use) and lots of background and current information is included. It makes for a complete package, even including new spells, magical items, monsters etc. related to Hwellan and the priests of the plague god.

The pdf starts by providing sound advice on using Hwellan, including scaling details, a variety of plausible plot hooks, and hints on incorporating the location into your campaign. The pdf then moves on to provide an extensive overview of getting to Hwellan, including dealing with all aspects of the frozen weather of the forsaken village. The surrounding are detailed, and wandering monster encounters are provided for the journey there and through the mountains around Hwellan.

The next chapters deal with Hwellan itself, providing a thorough history on the plague that struck Hwellan, the rise of the plague priests, the current status of Hwellan and a location-based overview of all the important locations of Hwellan. There is lots of atmosphere here, each encounter written well and clearly to describe in detail the locations of the forsaken village. The locations and encounters make sense within the context of the village's history and present status, and provides a dynamic location for all the horrors that wander around the village. There is good opportunity for roleplaying interaction in the adventure, and certainly more than one way to handle the many perils that the village provides. I quite enjoyed reading through the product, as it provides a thorough and entertaining overview of a cursed place.

The latter parts of the pdf deal with all the new spells, monsters, NPCs, statistics and the like. Full statistics are provided for all the creatures possibly encountered in Hwellan. There are a few stat block errors here and there, but certainly not many and all very minor. New magical items are presented such as the Staff of the Ice-Mother, wielded by the Daughters of Ice, and Bottled Plague. Spells (almost entirely necromantic spells and many associated with the new Disease clerical domain) include Greater Contagion, Wave of Pain, Seven Plagues and Wall of Flies, all spells fitting within the scenario context.

I quite liked this product. It's an all-in-one package, containing all the detail you want, and presents a flavorful location that can be used to great effect in any game. DMs should have fun running the encounters within the village, and roleplaying the various NPCs and creatures while creating an atmosphere of dread. Forsaken Hwellan is an enjoyable product, and a good start to Silven's new line of products.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: Horrendous Habitats: Forsaken Hwellan provides an interesting village and location-based encounter area filled with flavor and dynamic creatures and NPCs. It's a solid product, a complete package filled with detail and supplemental information, and an atmospheric premise.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Nothing much. A handful of minor stat block and editing errors, but overall a solid product.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
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