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DDAL08-01 The Map with No Names
Publisher: D&D Adventurers League
by G. B. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 07/28/2019 02:41:29

This module--were not a DDAL module--would seem to be an indictment of the season 8 changes.

  1. No meaningful story hook. No offer of gold (as is to be expected in S8). No one to save. Nothing at all except "I found this map; go entertain yourselves".
  2. False choice Although you can theoretically go to the encounter locations in any order, skipping the encounter that provides a temporary silver weapon is likely to lead to a party wipe. This dovetails with complaint 3.
  3. Enemies that can be defeated with gold (that the party doesn't have). The final fight of the module is against a lycanthrope. In previous seasons, characters would usually pick up at least one silvered weapon in Tier 1 on the off chance that they run into something that was immune or resistant to non-magical weapons but still vulnerable to silver (e.g., lycanthropes, some fiends, &c.). Since silvering a weapon costs 100gp, new characters won't be able to afford them until 3rd level and by then they are half-way to buying a magic weapon.


Rating:
[2 of 5 Stars!]
DDAL08-01 The Map with No Names
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DDEX1-09 Outlaws of the Iron Route (5e)
Publisher: Wizards of the Coast
by G. B. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 07/28/2019 02:26:37

This is probably my second favorite module from Season 1. It's final area is a bit of a sandbox which allows for lots of creative options from players. It's a shame that it now offers an evergreen item as it will probably no longer get the play that it deserves.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
DDEX1-09 Outlaws of the Iron Route (5e)
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DDAL08-00 Once in Waterdeep
Publisher: D&D Adventurers League
by G. B. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 07/28/2019 02:02:26

The module's core "gimmick" is that it is (mostly) made up on the fly in collaboration with the players. It is an interesting experiment, but it require lots of effort on the DMs part and a fairly deep ability to improvise (as well as a firm understanding of what your options are vis-a-vis humanoid enemies for the "boss"). My players seemed to enjoy it, but I felt more exhausted after running it than perhaps after any other module that I've run. I probably won't run it again simply because of how draining it is to do.



Rating:
[3 of 5 Stars!]
DDAL08-00 Once in Waterdeep
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DDAL08-16 A Change of Address
Publisher: D&D Adventurers League
by G. B. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 07/28/2019 01:34:56

This module is severly undertuned for a Tier 4 module. Aside from perhaps the final boss, I suspect the module could be completed on average difficulty by a 10th level party without much trouble. When I ran it, I offered the table the option of having me running it as written (with the caveat that I believed it to be undertuned) or to attempt to upscale it appropriately The table opt'd for running it as written which led to us finishing the ostensibly 6 hour module in a little under 2.5 hours (I ran a second module with the remaining time). I do not believe that a single character in their party was ever reduced below half hit points and nobody ever felt threatened. I will note that I ran this as weak due to the party being entirely level 17 and only having 4 members. I do not believe that it would have been suitable even if I'd run it on strong.

There are two major problems with it as written:

1) There is no inherent time pressure, so short resting is free. 2) Every single fight is too light.

SPOILER BELOW:

Bonus Objective A: No number of CR3 gith warriors represent a threat to a tier 4 party. They mostly can't hit and even if they do, they do pitiful damage. Further, since this fight occurs before the "core" of the module, there is nothing to prevent the party from taking even a long rest after doing it. [Possible fix: Upgrade warriors to knights; knights to gishes; and gishes to 2x gishes]

Fight 1: 2x Zombie Beholder; 2x Shadow Assassins. 2x Zombie Beholders were a Tier 2 fight in Season 7. The shadow assassins are certainly dangerous--but only due to strength drain. The party went through with lights on (a glowing Light Cleric) and so it the assassins were largely negated. Most parties won't have 100% darkvision, so this fight is rarely going to "come together" into a threat. [Possible fix: replace 1 or 2 Zombie Beholders with normal Beholders]

Fight 2: Larval Mage + Cadaver Collector. Finally enemies that are almost the correct CR. Here, the main problem is action economy. Even a weak party will have more turns than them. My party's monk stunned both of them before they had their first turn in combat, so they never got turns. The only resources the party spent on this fight were ki points. [Possible Fix: more-mid CR fodder]

Bonus Objective B: CR3 and CR4 Deathlocks; CR5 Flesh Golems; CR6 Mage. This is just awful. The only enemy that got a turn in combat was the flesh golem and that's because its a sack of hit points. The deathlocks died to a single fireball. Again, these are completely tier-inappropriate. The Mage + Fleshgolems optional fight is similarly trivial. [Possible fix: Replace deathlocks with Warlock of the Fiends with max hp]

Fight 3: Boneclaw + Shadow Assassin. Boss fights mostly don't work in 5e. This is an easy example of that. The party's crossbow expert was sent ahead to scout because he had a cloak of invisibility. He was spotted by the boneclaw. He solo'd the boneclaw in two rounds without action surging. [Possibile fix: probably needs 3-4 boneclaws]

Fight 4: 3x Death Slaadi. The module description notes that the characters are automatically aware of the enemies, so no surprise. Even if they are invisible, 3x fireballs aren't that scary. Only one of them managed to get their fireball off (the other's invisibility was dispel-magic'd and so the spell was countered). [Possible fix: more death slaads or give them surprise]

Fight 5: 2x Gibbering Mouthers. I don't understand why this is here. Gibbering mouthers are CR2. Two of them show up as part of the final fight in a Tier 1 CCC. This isn't even a speed bump. [Possible fix: just remove this encounter, it is a waste of time]

Fight 6: Lich + 5x Flesh Golems. The flesh golems are 100% ignorable. The party focus-fire'd on the Lich and he died in the second round of combat before getting a second turn. As fodder, flesh golems represent too little of a threat and the lich too obvious of one. At best, the golems form a wall and block advancement, but they can't actually harm anyone due to low to-hit bonuses and low damage output. [Possible fix: Start the lich with foresight + great invisibility up; replace flesh golems with stone golems]



Rating:
[1 of 5 Stars!]
DDAL08-16 A Change of Address
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DDAL05-16 Parnast Under Siege (5e)
Publisher: Wizards of the Coast
by G. B. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 04/07/2018 03:17:26

This review is mostly from a DM's perspective.

As a module, it is fairly coherent to run, but I have some issues with the module as written.

1) None of the pages are numbered. I prepared the module from the PDF, so I didn't notice until running it. Page numbers are really important to keeping things straight--especially given the amount of back and forth that needs to be done during Parts 2 and 3. I suggest numbering your copy--by hand if necessary.

2) Several monsters are missing from the monster section at the end (including an entire non-optional encounter). Specifically, a DM will need to have stats for an Orog, Orc War Chief, Goblin, Goblin Boss, and Wolf. Those are all in the Monster Manual, at least. The module also calls for an orc scout which is neither specified in the MM nor is it in the module. I ran them using the provided orc spy stat block.

3) The module doesn't offer much to help clarify why the characters would want to accumulate any of the 3 kinds of siege points. Given the way that they can spend points in Part 4, I suggest telling them that fortifications will help with "fodder", training will help the citizen "focus on dangerous foes", and that scouting will help keep you informed of the "monstrous creatures" that Fruul has accumulated. That will give enough context so that they can have some agency without giving too much away.

4) This module is quite long. I ran it with a table of 7 experienced players and it still ran over 6 hours.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
DDAL05-16 Parnast Under Siege (5e)
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