As a DM I enjoyed this adventure. I went into DotMM HC to grab out a bit more for my players, but the plot was understandable and not confusing. My players had a good time and they got to antagonize The Xanathar in the process. My favorite of the Skullport Shakedown Trilogy!

I am running this as a trilogy for my players. They enjoyed the adventure. I liked that the Bonus Objectives were split between two episodes vice branched off of one (even though we did not get to both of them). I liked that there were complications that could be added to the scences (I used one of them). The Tower of Seven Woes, brought woe to my players, but the ultimately proved victorious. We did go over the time and I had to narrate most of the upper floor, but they enjoyed it thoroughly. I like at the end of Episode One there is a 'Wrapping Up the Episode' note that helps DMs ensure they players have all the information they need before moving on. A DM that doesn't read or is unfamiliar with the Season 8 formats before hand will be challenged with the adventure; however, it was not issue for me. Congrats to Ben Heisler and his editors on an enjoyable module.

This Module was enjoyable, I like that it involves goblins. The recurrent appearance of lower CR creatures in adventures can really take the steam out of players sails, but the story surrounding thei one goblin is presented so well that it makes the adventure exciting. My players had a good time ... well most did (wargs are wargs). There wasn;t anything too complex to manage. Good job.

I've only had a chance to read this module in hopes that I could run in at a future AL event I run at my LGS. I have not had a chance to run it yet, but I do feel compelled to commment on what I have observed in just reading "Back to the Burning".

This is a great, rich, story; an obvious committed effort to create a fully immersive continuation of the DDEX 2- series adventures. It is plain to see that Jeremey Arnold did his research to make sure this adventure's insertion into the stories timeline is smooth. He gives DMs alot to work with.

It is an awful lot to read. It is clear to me that Jeremey is a proven writer and wants to leave no element of his characters or this adventure to question. Because of that, I felt that I had to get through alot of descriptive to get to the main points of the adventure. The box text adds more to the immersion and unfortunately more to the reading. But, I want to beleive that the author already considers this in the estimated durations of each part of the adventure.

I observed what most others have pointed out. You'll definitely need to let players know about the limitations of the dream sequence. Some may see their agency taken from them. This adventure will take some trimming to make it work as a stand alone adventure. I intend to present the ending like a cliffhanger ... while meeting the spirit of what Jeremey has presented.

It will be interesting to present this module under D&D AL Season 8 Banner, but because of the effort Jeremey Arnold has put into this product, it is one I am willing (and wanting) to try. I may update this feedback later, but wanted to get these thoughts down while they are fresh in my mind. Thanks to all involved in bringing this author's work to life!

I recently had an opprtunity to run this module under APL (Weak) Party; this may be the first time I have run an adventure under the APL. The players had a good time with it, and grew a bit concerned when they arrived at Y's lair, and went inside. It was refreshing to see an ending that didn't have to involve a big ole battle with the big baddie (But I like that you had a sidebar for if "it" did happen). That was my player's bit. As a DM I think I enjoyed two aspects. The most is the synopsis of Skullport. There is enough there that you give players enough from the contents to get a feel for Skullport; some may have not played DotMM, or be familiar with SKullport through other means. Lastly, I enjoyed the NPCs, Frankie, Irontusk, and Artemis?? I think my players enjoyed interacting with them the most-it took up most of our session! A good time was had by players, and by the DM. Good job on this one, Paige and gang!

I had a chance to finally run this module this weekend. My players had a good time. If I could critique it I would say that there could be some type of other check involved for players to learn the clue about the proper sucession of the notes to bring forth the portal. I did not have the giant dwarven statues attack the party because rather than strike the crystal to shatter them, the bard in the party wanted to strike them lightly to set off their tone, as the dwarf in the group hummed the writing in a song; I used the dwarven statues to scare them (they were hurt already in the crypt before the room). They really didn't say what races the vampire spawn were, so I used dwarves. Probably should have used bullywugs given their master is reavealed in the next module to be one.

I thought the persistent element of the unnatural dimming of light was a great touch.

In my opinion, DMs should read the module before and after this one to get a fuller transition into this adventure. The adventure hooks (relevant) seemed a little flat. I believe this season's design style challenges DMs to "come up with the rest" (which I enjoy thouroughly), so for those that do not do so may find small plot holes that they will need to fill.

Overall, good run so far. Going to run this maybe one or two more time before I shelve it (for now). It is worth the purchase and your players should find it enjoyable (especially dwarven characters.. good dwarven themes here).

This adventure will put DMs on their toes right off the bat. It would help to be familiar with some of the story leading up to the first part of this trilogy Overall, this module was fun. I think that it has an enjoyable mix of non-combat elements to make it challenging for adventurers. I'm glad that it doesnt exactly specify where players see the crack in the walls where the stonebone skeletons emerge; you can put them anywhere near the elevator. The battle with Tev and the Stonebone golem .. and that little crawling claw made the adventure fun for me as a DM and my players. I would recommend this module to any DM, but would recommend you read the module first.

Wow. Well done. Some of the things that I think will make this adventure appealing to DMs is that the plot is great, it does have sidebars that offer suggestions for Season 8 Rewards, I like the encounters and challenges in this module, and I learned more about a certain creature in this module than I ever did, because of the synopsis provided by the author. The best part IMHO is the ‘Story-Telling’ narrative and also all of Part 4. I’ve never come across an adventure with "this creature" in it so I found it to be very enjoyable and a relief. While I am not big on optics, I found the honorific to the old AD&D module covers of my youth moving as well. Ian Hawthorne’s effort is a must have!

This module is a pretty good read. Some small grammar oversights, but overall it was great! There's something to be said about taking a low CR encounters and building something around them to make for an unique experience. I've always banged the drum for kobolds.. they can be devious, cunning, and intelligenct in their own unique ways, and this module just proves it! If there is any criticism I have is that the objectives and bonus objectives don't synch with standard Season 8 format timeing, but I suspect the modifications were made to try and offer the DMs some type of guidance to run it under Season 8 AL guidance. Either way, not enough to effect my rating-great effort by Micah Watt!

Buy this one! Great T1 adventure to have in your back pocket.

Resp

Marcello De Velazquez

I will omit my feedback on the grammar and writing of this module and just say that I hope the designer will consider getting an editor for future efforts. What I did like- I thought the "Pick a Curse" opportunity gives this module great replayability. Only two of the adventure hooks had anything really connecting the adventurers to the main plot of the story. The "Get Rich Quick" Hook could have been more interesting .."Maybe you could secure a position in their heirarchy.." but you still want help them berid their family of the curse? Doesn't really make much sense to me.

It would have been a little easier to have the bulleted list of Lady Asche's knowledge near the narrative dealing with interactions with Lady Asche vice having it in a roleplaying sidebar on another page. The way the module lays out has the DM flipping pages to manage dialogue points with Lady Asche and having Part One's pertinent information in front of them. The adventure has players making a Wisdom Perception Check to reveal an argument going on between multiple people in Primordial. I think this is intended to reveal the nature of the creatures, but the designer doesn't really state that. It did have me wondering whether the designer assumes the PCs know the language? What if they don't know Primordial? Boxed texts tell us that areas are "obviously" destroyed" or "obviously" a wizards workshop ..why the boxed text if these are obvious? There are checks in the module that don't reveal anything of importance. They seem like "filler" checks. There is a secret door in Area 11 that does not have a DC assigned to it, so I gave it an 11.

The challenge at the end of 'The Traitor' Curse Path will require a character to either make one-of-six checks or defend themselves against attacks by mephits spawned by an efreeti and attacks by one of the major NPCs, as well as become damaged by a necrotic "pulse" emmitted by the runes of the summoning circle in a chamber. Quite the event at the end of the module! I like that the designer provides an adjustment sidebar for this unique and challenging encounter. To the desginers credit, they do warn that characters will most likely perish after five or six rounds.

If a DM does not read ahead of time, they will find themselves frustrated and glossing over parts of the adventure the designer may intend to be essential. Despite all of this, I think players would like the adventure. I thought that Alexei Vella's cartograpy was spectacular! It reminded me of some old AD&D module cartography. I hope the designer and cartographer continue to press forward with new material beyond this initial effort.

This module is a great finish to the series! Season 8 changes don't take away from the enjoyment of this adventure. The only thing I had was why it is necessary to incapacitate the slaad to get the control gem? You still are able to obtain the gem whether you incapacitate perform surgery, or just defeat it, right? I see nothing in the module that says why incapacitiation in necessary. Either way, it's not enough of an issue to effect this module's play. I already said it in my first review of 'Best Freinds Forever', but this series is probably my favorite CCC trilogy on the DMs Guild. I hope Silva will write more material soon, or convert these modules to more Season 8 formatting (adventure flow chart, bonus objectives, etc.)

I purchased this module thinking that it would follow a similar theme to its predecessor, and that we would see Bert from the previous adventure! Which we did! The module was similar in one way-there was social interaction. That is where it stops.

When I read further into the adventure, I became disappointed. I learned that this adventure involves a pub crawl, where players deal with their drunken buffoonery, checks to decipher drunken babbling and dodge vomit, getting carded and trying to consume alcohol and avoid drinking spiked drinks, so they don't go into drunken hallucinations and act inapporpriately. Despite elements that I personally do not find enjoyable, I kept reading.

The designer does justify the objectives of the adventure nicely. In fact, I enjoyed the creation of Lady Lux Faraelnes .. the thought of a party paladin that encourages responsible revelry is certainly original. I thought that the flavored text captures the essence of this adventure, and I liked that there are abrupt consequences for failing to complete certain actions. I enjoyed reading about "strewn peanuts and pretzels" challenging attempts at stealth! There are some interesting NPCs and antagonists in the adventure, but what grabs me is at the end it doesn't really matter if the players complete the quest ... it's still "unclear" what the cause of the main plot point is! Which makes the objective of the module unclear to me. Some players may not find that enjoyable, but some players may.

I will say that I know of many players that would appreciate this type of adventure. As a DM, I think this module is appropriate for adult players and inappropriate to younger D&D players. I'm not sure if that was the intention of the designer or not to inadvertantly target an older, mature player base, but I was surprised to see that an adventure with these type of themes premiered at an Extra Life event, a charity which supports children. I will hang on to this module for its unique plot points. I encourage DMs to present it responsibly to players at their respective tables. The rating reflects my ambivalence towards the premise of the adventure but also my recognition that it certainly is one of the more uniquely-designed CCC's that I have come across. I hope the designer will gear a future effort towards a wider demographic of player, because the creativity was clearly there for me to read! Resp. Marcello De Velazquez.

I am somewhere in the middle on this adventure. There were quite a few grammar issues with it. Rather than focus on them, I'll move past them and provide my thoughts on the content. I enjoyed that cover image so much that I asked the designers for the artist's contact information. It definitely draws you to this module!

I like the backdrop of Hillsfar for this module. The plot was an enjoyable read. The adventure hooks were encompassing. You can hook a broad base of characters with them. Going around the city and collecting supplies for a tier one party can be challenging, but it doesn't seem that the challenges revolve around the NPCs you interact with. They are just limited to getting the item from them or giving an item to them, which seems odd since the module appears to have a social interaction as its main plot point. You are provided an extra combat encounter to add to the adventure if your players are craving more.

I liked that the issue of in-game timing was addressed, but I did not see how the mechanic played into the module. There appeared to be no explanation that I could see as to what happens if timing deadlines aren't met (Party over? Players ruin the event? What?). It seems to be assumed that the party gets to Part Three of the adventure. However, I really enjoyed the Alliance Bank scene! It reminded me of many times when I was dealing with similar situations in real life! I laughed just reading it. I enjoyed the main character Bert, but I was wondering why there was no opportunity to play pranks on people (something this NPC enjoys!; his arch nemesis is at the party as well! Why not? :) ). There were alot of NPCs. This can be challenging to a DM that wants to capture their unique qualities with RP or narrative and give the players agency.

My overall rating was based on the fact that while enjoyable, this adventure needed some editing and the plot was not an overly exciting one, but one worth having in the collection for the opportunity to play in Hillsfar (Post-The Great Law of Humanity) and also to interact with a major character in the Hillsfar story! (I won't spoil it!)

I think this adventure has a good story and has some unique encounters that make it a good purchase. One thing I immediately noted was the need to omit the treasure bundles you recieve throughout the adventures for Season 8 AL compliance. Will the Adamantine Shirt be an unlock? DMs may want to determine the encounters before they run the adventure. I'm a big fan of Travis Woodall's maps! Was I the only one that got the feel of the "Oregon Trail" game by this cover? I would have liked to see some sort of dysentery event or resource draining event, but the random encounter tables add more than enough playability to this module to make it enjoyable. Good work by David Morris!

Enjoyable, but definitely NOT my favorite of the series. The plot was pretty solid, but the puzzles were pretty mind-numbing for even me, so I just assigned a DC to the the solutions and was only going to have players take on the puzzle if they did not feel overwhelmed by them. I did like that there were some recommendations to help the players move past the puzzles. I thought the DC 25 check towards the end of the mod might have been too high, but that was easily modifiable. I really enjoyed the unique elements of the major antagonist (clones). This battle could take up alot of time allocated for the adventure if the recommend defensive strategy is taken. Alexander the stuffed alligator? Nice touch. Good purchase, just make sure you have a good understanding of those puzzles. I have really enjoyed Rob's work. The first mod in this series (Best Freinds Forever) is still on my top five fav CCCs list!