Introduction
This is one in a series of reviews covering most of the Basic D&D
sets and modules. I was digging through my old D&D materials before
selling them, and decided to write reviews of them for people to know
what is worthwhile and what should be avoided.
These reviews will contain spoilers, so avoid at your own risk. Of
course, since these modules have been out for 17 years or so, maybe it
is a little late for spoiler warnings.
The Silver Princess
This is the green version of the module, which is a replacement for the
original orange-cover version, available from WOTC here. The original was
written by Jean Wells, recalled, and then heavily modified by Tom
Moldvay and released.
An evil god, Arik of the Hundred Eyes, has sent one of his eyes in the
form of a ruby into the palace of the land of Haven. The ruby has
brought the evil down upon the land and isolated the palace. Haven's
protectors (called conveniently enough "The Protectors") make it
possible for the PCs to enter and leave the palace but otherwise can
give no help. The PCs are supposed to go to the realm of Haven, enter
the palace, defeat the evil usurpers, rescue the princess from her
captors, and destroy the ruby. If they cannot stop Arik's minions, they
will summon him from his extra-dimensional prison and he will be free to
wreak his vengeance on the world.
Yes, it really is that sappy. Here's the opening paragraph to be read
to the players:
"The valley of Haven was a peaceful land. Its crops were abundant, its
citizens prosperous. Elves, Dwarves, Halflings, and Humans lived
together in harmony. Hidden away in the heart of the Thunder Mountains,
Haven was a safe place to live. The rivers were sweet and pure; the
weather was pleasant and warm."
Ahem.
The module includes something interesting at the beginning, a programmed
adventure set up in a choose your own adventure format where you go from
entry to entry while running it as the DM. Unfortunately, the players probably know what they are doing at this points, and the format makes it difficult to run this part any other way.
Here we get to one of the stupider things in the dungeon. The first
part of the dungeon (level one) has a wandering monster table. Included
on this wandering monster table are clerics, bandits, verious humanoids,
and a black bear. This hungry black bear is just wandering around and
hasn't managed to eat any of the other wandering monsters around, even
though it attacks on sight. The best part of this is the illustration
at the top of the page, which shows the bear pressed against the wall on
its hind legs at the end of a corrider, while two PCs around the corner
look fearfully forward. It's stalking them!
Some of the elements of this level are somewhat interesting, like the
guard driven insane by the Eye of Arik, but in general it is fairly
standard. There are a variety of denizens, with varying degrees of
hostility, and they all have names, which is somewhat of an improvement
over B2.
Another interesting element is the decapus, featured on the cover by
Erol Otus. This creature is a ball of teeth with eight tentacles that
brachiates through trees and attacks. If it can be forced to the
ground, it is much more vulnerable. I have mixed feelings about this
monster, but at least it isn't boring. When I played this, it nearly
took us all out. Nine attacks a round is brutal!
The adventure culminates in a battle with an evil cleric, orcs, and a
werewolf. Once the evildoers are defeated, the PCs must destroy the
ruby. A good point in this module is that there are multiple ways to do
this, and clues to that effect are sprinkled throughout the module. In
fact, there are almost too many clues. Anyone who doesn't figure this
out is something of a nincompoop.
The art is very uneven, with some good pieces and some horrible pieces.
There is a ton of it sprinkled through the module, with at least two
full-page pictures in the module.
Overall, this one is pretty forgettable. The module attempts to tap
into a lot of fantasy tropes and evoke an epic scope, but the writing is
so hackneyed and the situations so stereotypical that it fails
miserably. A lot of effort would have to be made to make this one easy
to insert into whatever campaign you happen to be running. Finally,
it's a little hard to believe that measly 2nd level people would be
called by these Protectors to fight off the coming of a god and rescue a
kingdom. I would recommend skipping this adventure.
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