I have run this module twice with vastly different results and I can firmly say that this module suffers specifically from the Season 8 format problems. Every NPC here has good motivations, but the format and editing standards of Season 8 make the module miserable for players and DMs.
First the good: Everything that happens in this module is clearly a result of realistic motivations of the NPCs involved! Hooray! If the players are paying attention to what is happening they can actually guess what the motivations and actions of NPCs they will meet should be and try to role play with that. Previous modules have had no clear motivation for NPC interactions, so the players were never rewarded for trying to understand why an NPC was doing something. (In 8-10 the mind flayer only eats "evil" brains, except for the "good" courier he murders for no reason to make them look for him).
Now the bad (all of which can be traced back to the Season 8 Format):
One) This module can be completed by the players with zero or up to 6 combats, which makes time management and combat balancing impossible. Especially for inexperienced DMs.
The 2 hour version of the module can be completed with no combat, but has 2 optional combats suggested inline for the investigation section. Unless you already know your party will try to talk their way out of everything, running these 2 combats will absolutely prevent you from finishing the module in 2 (or 4 with bonus objectives) hours.
I run AL Modules in a convention-style environment (our weekly store turnout is 80-100 players randomly seated with exactly 4 hours to play) so I cannot afford to make mistakes in timing the module and the season 8 format provides NO HELP WHATSOEVER in achieving this goal.
Two) None of the combats are balanced against any of the others. As a result of the Season 8 expectation that the party be looking for ways to avoid combat, most combats in this module (even with adjustments) are Deadly or harder. This means that parties which engage in combat (either by failing a skill check or because the players are murder hobos) are quickly overwhelmed.
Three) Nothing is where it logically belongs, even the module consistently admits this. You have to read Bosskyn's description in the NPC list to find out he is a blind tiefling, but in Episode 2: Scene A Tesselgryn is listed as Tethyrian (human) inline with her description. The same happens with Durquin (Scene B, his description as a human is only in the NPC list) and the Braegen D'aerth agents you meet in Scene C (they are both described as Drow inline with their names).
The whistle provided by Bregan D'aerth in Episode 2: Scene C is also similarly not described in any organized location. You find out in Bonus Objective A the players can earn a second use, but the actual effects are split in 2 places (one effect is listed in Playing the Pillars sidebar on page 9 and the other is inline with the text on page 11).
Four) The players can be BRUTALLY PUNISHED FOR SMART PLAY. I have run this twice. The first time I ran it, the party successfully convinced Sundeth they had business in the Tower of Seven Woes, then asked him to show them upstairs....
The players were playing smart, they used the information they had about Sundeth to convince him they belonged in the tower and asked him to lead them upstairs (all smart plays which would have led to complete success) except when Bonus Objective B is in play. Using Bonus Objective B, the players had now inadvertently COMBINED the combat with Sundeth and the Drow Priestess of Lolth. Both these combats are already Deadly Boss Combats and now, because of their smart plays earlier, the party was facing them in a single small room.
In summary: The season 8 format forces DMs to do incredible amounts of preparation not required by earlier modules and sets numerous traps where, in an effort to reward smart play, DMs must acknowledge they are breaking or ignoring the rules. This creates a situation where the players know that they are only succeeding because the DM is cheating for them and that isn't fun for anyone at the table.
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