In July I finally managed to start up my great project which is actively running a AD&D 2e Forgotten Realms campaign. Those of you who occasionally visit my humble abode already know that I have a soft spot for the 2E (hmmpf). And the Realms are for me what Greyhawk was for the 1E veterans. The classic and core setting. Since I have to divide my spare time between various activities and also because of mostly sentimental reasons I decided to recall that "good ol'times" feeling and base my campaign on published material only.
And so I took all the modules at hand and connected them with one superior plot. As some of my players happen to visit this site I cannot disclose too much details in advance.
However, our adventure began with the module "Doom of Daggerdale".
And here are my thoughts on it.
The plot
As one of my players concluded, "it is a very cliche premise but there is a certain charm to it".
The heroes are called to visit Dagger Falls in order to investigate a strange disease that torments the local folk, both honest farmers and Zhentish lackeys alike.
As it however often happens, it is not the general idea that matters. The devil is in the details.
There is some serious backstory, several sub-plots and options for the players, though the dungeon is always the same.
We are given an opportunity to familiarise the heroes with the Freedom Raiders and their cause.
Some interesting NPC can be introduced with just a bit of GM effort and creativity (Kessla for instance).
The story itself can develop in several interesting directions.
Altogether a solid, albeit not particularly original work.
My players had some fun with it. It worked as an introductory ("10 years after" kind of introduction) adventure. They chased some shadows in the dark, pursued some false traces, underwent some lethal family drama and finished the plot without actually having discovered most of the plot details. All the better for the GM as their past actions will haunt them in the future in the most unexpected way. (Muahahahaha)
The text editing
This is were the nightmare begins :)
First of all, particular parts of the module are "a bit mixed up". It results in the GM feverishly leafing through the module in order to find a particular information which apparently is not where it logically should be.
Whenever some details are not included - it is not stated clearly. So you find yourself at times in a situation where you don't know whether you "just can't find it" or it was left "up to the GM to decide".
Also, several elements of the plot stand in contradiction (not major though) and this might puzzle those less experienced gamers.
My favourite bit was with the sleepers (necormancer's hostages in a magic slumber). They are once mentioned to be in the same chamber as the necromancer's tomb, then suggested to be in "the chamber of the sleepers" which is a separate room altogether.
I also scratched my head seeing a "beastman" monster which is actually a native of 1E Greyhawk and cannot be found in any 2E Monstrous Manuals (well, maybe in the annual appendices published later on).
All in all, it does make the impression of being messy and poorly edited. They're details, but I had some hard time with them and because of them.
Summary
This is a module aimed at low level heroes. An introduction to Forgotten Realms. I like the idea of a short module in contrast to the long campaigns like "The Haunted Halls of Evening Star" or "Ruins of Adventure".
It is a good choice for GMs who prefer to come up with their own ideas and particularly ones that are fond of the Dales. For obvious reasons they could work like magic with the later published Randall Morn module trilogy. We will see what the future brings :)
Favourite Moment
In a small abandoned dwarven factory which is one of the subplots the heroes find a magic sword - Magekiller. It was crafted by the dwarves to fight with the evil Lord Mage Calderan. They did not have the opportunity to use it though as Calderan killed them all beforehand.
It did keep all of its qualities which is, among others, harming any magic-using character on touch. My players had all the bad luck when the first hero to touch it was a mage. They immediately judged the sword to be cursed. And obviously would not use it against Calderan's wraith form spell.
He escaped unharmed to the Underdark.
As he disappeared in the dark corridors the cave echo carried his words of warning: "I'll be back!"
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