ASC3 Review - AS1 The Dragon and the Eagle

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Adventure Site Contest 3 review

This adventure was submitted for consideration in Adventure Site Contest 3 being run by Ben Gibson at Coldlight Press. This is an unofficial review, which was written prior to reading (or watching) any of the official judges’ reviews. Links to the official reviews are at the bottom of the review. 

Five-star rating scale, based on both playability and interest:
*          Failing grade. The adventure doesn’t meet minimum standards of playability.
**         I could see running this, but it fails to inspire me or has significant playability issues.
***       I would consider running this.
****     I am considering running this.
*****   I want to run this. Now.

AS1 The Dragon and the Eagle
By Ghri Ziffe
For AD&D
Level 2 (3-6 characters)

Time to grok: 15 minutes

Set-up:

An ancient, dilapidated fortress has been taken over by a 2nd-level magic-user and a band of kobolds. There are no rumours, but something generic would probably do: “A band of hairless dog-people with horns have taken up with that no-good Magnus in the old fortress.” 

Thing I liked:

There are a series of ovens, each with magical flames with different effects. This is a novel take on the magic pool trope. 

Wooden marbles fall with an unnaturally loud sound, caused by a magic mouth, to trigger to a wandering monster roll.

Heads on stakes are posted outside enemy headquarters to force a moral check from retainers. Nice. 

Things to note: 

There isn’t much going on at the site, a few traps if the party uses the gates and no guards or patrols. It feels very static, like Magnus and the kobolds are just waiting in their headquarters to get slaughtered by the party.

The most interesting magic flame is the one that confers magic resistance to one who holds a torch lit by the fire. This is extremely powerful for a low-level party. Unfortunately, it doesn’t say how long the magical torches burn or whether they are susceptible to being put out like normal torches (or require dispel magic, magical cold, etc.). It also doesn’t say whether Magnus has discovered the properties of the flames (presumably, he has been able to experiment on the kobolds).

Having white writing on a coloured background is never a good idea, as it hampers both readability and printability. 

Rating: 

**1/2 A usable adventure which feels like it’s missing something 

Links to official judges’ reviews:


 

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