This review reveals some of the content of the
adventure module. Read at your own risk.
This big dungeon is set in Necromancer Games' generic setting and as such
can easily be introduced into most campaigns. As with most of Necromancer
Games' products by Clark Peterson and Bill Web, it is a place where you send
your characters to die.
This dungeon will be most useful if used for multiple incursions at various
character levels. Many different activities are taking place there, and the
PCs can intervene at different points. Some shrines to the good gods can be
cleansed, some artifacts recovered, ghosts of ancient heroes milked for knowledge,
an evil demonic cult thwarted and the menace of a potential gate to the Abyss
can be neutralized.
The enemies encountered are attractively detailed and offer a lot of potential
for roleplaying. Two interesting denizens of the dungeon, at odds with each
other, who can be encountered are Dark Natasha, the dark elf sorceress/cleric,
and Balcoth the Wraith Rune Mage. Each of these characters' lair is well detailed
and their battle strategies if intruded upon are nicely laid out. The dungeon
is inhabited by a group of worshippers of Orcus, the Demon Prince, as well
as a tribe of Tsathar. The Tsathar are a new monster race that worship a demon
frog god. The idea behind this dungeon is not to completely wipe out its population,
which can only be accomplished by a very high level party, but to survive
travel through it and discover what needs to be found.
The dungeon is built on nine levels that are not necessarily sequentially
accessed. The different itineraries that characters can take around the place
are pretty convoluted. The different levels are accompanied by very nice maps.
Some efforts have been made to create an ecologically viable environment,
with a food chain and water supplies, which is a nice touch.
This product makes a lot of references to Relics & Rituals by Sword and Sorcery
Studios and it might be advisable to acquire that excellent book too, while
you're at it. Seriously, without that book a DM will need to make several
adjustments and extra preparations to run this module. There are some errors
throughout the book, and lot of errata is being collected on Necromancer Games'
forum. As always, supplemental free downloadable material is available on
their web site.
This is a very nicely crafted dungeon that can offer a lot of possibilities
(not to mention quite a few original ways to kill characters).
New Monster Race: The Tsathar.
New Monsters: Cave Moray, Mobat, Monstrous Frogs, Font of Bones Skeleton,
Stone Guardian.
New Template: Bleeding Horror.
New Spell: Chant.
New Domain: Vermin.
New Magic Items: Ring of Spectral Han, +2 Unholy Spiked Keen Heavy Mace of
the Wraith.
New Artifacts: Cloak of the Demon, Axe of Blood, Shard of Hel.
