The Inside Scoop on Gaming

Spoilers

This adventure, more than most, is contingent on the players not having read it beforehand. If there is a chance that you will play this adventure later, I strongly urge you not to read this review. Spoilers aplenty exist below.

The Big Risk

This is the adventure to inflict on players who kill too often and always believe what people who hire them say. In this adventure, the evil residents of Ossington hire the PCs to finish their dirty work by killing off all good and good-aligned forces in the area.

The sorcerer Dyson and his evil friends have slaughtered the inhabitants of the village and replaced them with animals magically transformed into faux humans. They killed a wandering paladin who appeared in the area, and now his ghost terrorizes them. They slaughtered most of the elves in the forest, and now a remnant band exacts vengeance upon the false villagers. The village is starving and calls out for aid. Enter the PCs.

The module is set up to slowly reveal things to PCs until they finally connect the dots and realize their employers are the cause of the problems. Some hack-and-slash mentality players might never catch on. That is fine. When the elven monarchy fingers the players as aiding and abetting the complete destruction of an elven tribe by evil demons and ensorcelled animals, the PCs will only have themselves to blame.

It's a big risk to attempt to fool the PCs and then reveal the plot to them slowly over time. This adventure does an excellent job of slowly revealing events and giving the PCs a free hand to find out the truth for themselves. Extensive information is given on the motivations and actions of the major players, and their responses to obvious actions of the PCs are noted. The adventure really pulls this off well while raising the stakes for the PCs.

The Atmosphere

The atmosphere and setting of this adventure is excellent. The setting makes good use of Celtic historical sites and their features to create a vivid setting. The stones and the accompanying myths and facts about them are very well-developed. It's a great idea to have the druid's spell carved into the stone itself but concealed from outsider's eyes. The Silence Keepers is an excellent site to extend the adventure. (If they had used a smaller font, this could have been in the adventure itself.) The barrow with its wights is well constructed, and it's nice to see that it does not have anything really to do with the adventure directly. The same is true for the "Red Horse" carving. They just add nicely to the setting.

The ghostly horseman is an old convention, but his good nature and chivalry are an excellent way to claim the convention for the adventure's purposes. The same is true for the alien and dangerous fey who strike out with nature's fury at the villagers, but for completely justifiable reasons. The poor villagers are confused and need help, but that is mostly because they began as ignorant animals and have brought misfortune upon themselves. This adventure takes many staples of the horror and fantasy genre and changes them just enough to make them fresh. It's no mean feat in an adventure.

Layout

One of the nice things WOTC has done in this series of adventures is maintain a unity of presentation for these modules. The cover artist is always Jeff Easley, and he does a good job here. The interior artist is Dennis Cramer, and I like his drawings here, except for the one on page 22, where it looks like Saithnar has some kind of mutated beard. The same sidebars and edge decorations are here as always.

That is why the thing they did change leaps out at you when you look at the module. The print is much larger and the gaps between lines has also been increased. In this 32-page adventure, there is much less text than in earlier modules. I really don't understand why they did this. I think it would have been easy to include some minor demonic allies of the Cuckoo to add another encounter, or include some spirits or undead associated with the Silence Keepers to fill out the 32 pages. I can't help feeling a little short-changed in this regard, although what they did include is pure gold.

Things to watch out for

This first thing to watch out for is the nature of the adventure itself. This module is about misdirection. If the players have an inkling of the true nature of the town right at the start, the adventure will be a lot shorter and less enjoyable. The players cannot know the secret beforehand, and the DM should work hard to make sure they do not quickly become suspicious. An effort should be made not to spill the beans too early.

If the players just blunder through the module, killing the fey, horseman, and gravewight and then go merrily on their way, that is fine. The DM should use this epic attack of cluelessness to her advantage. There are a number of possible repercussions mentioned in the text. These should definitely be used. It would not be untoward to have tales of paladins destroying the town later in revenge pop up later in the campaign.

Another wrinkle is the dangerousness of the encounters. Many of the encounters are EL 10 or higher, and some of them are particularly deadly. Most of the previous modules had a difficult climactic battle scene at the end. Here there are at least four difficult encounters, though the PCs may avoid some of them: the gravewight, the horsemen, the fey, and the battle against the town. Any of these may result in the death of a PC, and the DM must decide whether to adjust these encounters.

Some of the NPC statistics were obviously changed after playtesting. For example, Henwen is listed as a Drd3/Clr7 when introduced, though her later statistics mark her as Drd3/Clr5. In all cases, the correct statistics are in the appendix.

Finally, there is not as much treasure to be gained in this adventure as in other modules. The only way to gain treasure is off the bodies of foes, and ideally the party should only be fighting the villagers. Consequently, there aren't that many magical items that the characters can gain unless they go on a mad killing spree. DMs might want to consider having a magic and gold rich adventure after this one if they care about maintaining the characters at the appropriate monetary levels listed in the DMG.

Little Extras

This adventure had a number of nice little extras. There were two new monsters, the gravewight and the hobyah. The gravewight is an excellent template for fallen, non-evil warriors trapped in their tombs. The hobyah is a demon squirrel that repeats words incessantly and attacks in packs. They are vulnerable to wooden weapons.

There is also a new druid spell to create faux humans. Luckily they considered the balance ramifications of this spell, and it only works within the stone circle of Ossington.

Finally, there are two new items, though neither is that inspired. The first is a ring of misdirection, and the second is an undying staff, with undead-related spells.

Side Notes

It seems like sorcerers have something of an evil reputation at WOTC. In the Speaker in Dreams, a major enemy was a group of evil insane sorcerers seeking to bring cthuloid monstrosities to this dimension. In this module, it is a demonic sorcerer out to gain power. I wonder if good-aligned sorcerers will ever appear in these products.

Druids are also appearing in these products, often mildly insane and affiliated with twisted unnatural creatures and plants. It's nice to see more druids in print, since I believe they were mostly ignored in earlier adventures, but I can't help wondering if they also have a bad reputation.

Connections to previous adventures

The Standing Stone does an excellent job of referencing earlier adventures in a natural way. Ashardalon, the marauding dragon from the Sunless Citadel, also laid waste to this area and is commemorated on a nearby hill. Tully carries a magical weapon with Durgeddin's (from the Forge of Fury) mark. In addition, one of the hooks for the adventure may arise from merchants talking about the absence of Ossington folk from the city market. This could easily happen during or after the Speaker in Dreams in Brindinford.

Comparison to previous adventures

Now that we have four Adventure Path modules out, how do they compare to one another? The three previous adventures were mixed.

The Sunless Citadel was a well-written adventure with interesting trappings. The dragon cult, the sunken citadel, the Gulthias tree, and the possibility for diplomacy made it a good adventure, with a number of hooks to expand the campaign. The writing was good and the execution largely worked.

The Forge of Fury was not as well-written, but did have some interesting ideas. There was not as much opportunity for character interaction, and the encounters were not as well-balanced (e.g. the roper). On the other hand, it was packed with rooms and assailants, and the history and final encounter with the dragon were memorable.

The Speaker in Dreams was a mess. The plot did not make much sense and the characters were largely railroaded by having monsters constantly jump out at them. Some of the elements were imaginative (the sorcerers and assassination attempt), but it is the most stereotypical dungeon-crawl of them all, even though it takes place in a city. Finally, there were no attempts to link it to other adventures in the series.

The Standing Stone is the best of the four. It is the most radical, using a scene-based structure and doing it well, as opposed to the Speaker in Dreams. It makes better use of its surroundings - stone circles, dolmens, barrows, tarns, and hill sculptures. The atmosphere is excellent, with ghostly horsemen, murderous fey, false humans, and demons in our midst. It ties in best with the other modules and creates by far the most vivid setting.

Conclusions

This is the best of the Adventure Path modules so far and I heartily recommend getting it. Though the type face is larger than the other three, I think this has the most adventuring gold of any of the four modules. I hope John Rateliff produces more modules soon.

The Standing Stone
The Standing Stone Capsule Review by James Landry on 14/04/01 Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 5 (Excellent!) An excellent Celtic setting and imaginative plot and situations make this a great adventure. Product: The Standing Stone Author: John Rateliff Category: RPG Company/Publisher: WOTC Line: D&D3e Cost: US$9.95 Page count: 32 Year published: 2001 ISBN: 0786918381 SKU: WTC1838 Capsule Review by James Landry on 14/04/01 Genre tags: Fantasy	Spoilers This adventure, more than most, is contingent on the players not having read it beforehand. If there is a chance that you will play this adventure later, I strongly urge you not to read this review. Spoilers aplenty exist below. The Big Risk This is the adventure to inflict on players who kill too often and always believe what people who hire them say. In this adventure, the evil residents of Ossington hire the PCs to finish their dirty work by killing off all good and good-aligned forces in the area. The sorcerer Dyson and his evil friends have slaughtered the inhabitants of the village and replaced them with animals magically transformed into faux humans. They killed a wandering paladin who appeared in the area, and now his ghost terrorizes them. They slaughtered most of the elves in the forest, and now a remnant band exacts vengeance upon the false villagers. The village is starving and calls out for aid. Enter the PCs. The module is set up to slowly reveal things to PCs until they finally connect the dots and realize their employers are the cause of the problems. Some hack-and-slash mentality players might never catch on. That is fine. When the elven monarchy fingers the players as aiding and abetting the complete destruction of an elven tribe by evil demons and ensorcelled animals, the PCs will only have themselves to blame. It's a big risk to attempt to fool the PCs and then reveal the plot to them slowly over time. This adventure does an excellent job of slowly revealing events and giving the PCs a free hand to find out the truth for themselves. Extensive information is given on the motivations and actions of the major players, and their responses to obvious actions of the PCs are noted. The adventure really pulls this off well while raising the stakes for the PCs. The Atmosphere The atmosphere and setting of this adventure is excellent. The setting makes good use of Celtic historical sites and their features to create a vivid setting. The stones and the accompanying myths and facts about them are very well-developed. It's a great idea to have the druid's spell carved into the stone itself but concealed from outsider's eyes. The Silence Keepers is an excellent site to extend the adventure. (If they had used a smaller font, this could have been in the adventure itself.) The barrow with its wights is well constructed, and it's nice to see that it does not have anything really to do with the adventure directly. The same is true for the "Red Horse" carving. They just add nicely to the setting. The ghostly horseman is an old convention, but his good nature and chivalry are an excellent way to claim the convention for the adventure's purposes. The same is true for the alien and dangerous fey who strike out with nature's fury at the villagers, but for completely justifiable reasons. The poor villagers are confused and need help, but that is mostly because they began as ignorant animals and have brought misfortune upon themselves. This adventure takes many staples of the horror and fantasy genre and changes them just enough to make them fresh. It's no mean feat in an adventure. Layout One of the nice things WOTC has done in this series of adventures is maintain a unity of presentation for these modules. The cover artist is always Jeff Easley, and he does a good job here. The interior artist is Dennis Cramer, and I like his drawings here, except for the one on page 22, where it looks like Saithnar has some kind of mutated beard. The same sidebars and edge decorations are here as always. That is why the thing they did change leaps out at you when you look at the module. The print is much larger and the gaps between lines has also been increased. In this 32-page adventure, there is much less text than in earlier modules. I really don't understand why they did this. I think it would have been easy to include some minor demonic allies of the Cuckoo to add another encounter, or include some spirits or undead associated with the Silence Keepers to fill out the 32 pages. I can't help feeling a little short-changed in this regard, although what they did include is pure gold. Things to watch out for This first thing to watch out for is the nature of the adventure itself. This module is about misdirection. If the players have an inkling of the true nature of the town right at the start, the adventure will be a lot shorter and less enjoyable. The players cannot know the secret beforehand, and the DM should work hard to make sure they do not quickly become suspicious. An effort should be made not to spill the beans too early. If the players just blunder through the module, killing the fey, horseman, and gravewight and then go merrily on their way, that is fine. The DM should use this epic attack of cluelessness to her advantage. There are a number of possible repercussions mentioned in the text. These should definitely be used. It would not be untoward to have tales of paladins destroying the town later in revenge pop up later in the campaign. Another wrinkle is the dangerousness of the encounters. Many of the encounters are EL 10 or higher, and some of them are particularly deadly. Most of the previous modules had a difficult climactic battle scene at the end. Here there are at least four difficult encounters, though the PCs may avoid some of them: the gravewight, the horsemen, the fey, and the battle against the town. Any of these may result in the death of a PC, and the DM must decide whether to adjust these encounters. Some of the NPC statistics were obviously changed after playtesting. For example, Henwen is listed as a Drd3/Clr7 when introduced, though her later statistics mark her as Drd3/Clr5. In all cases, the correct statistics are in the appendix. Finally, there is not as much treasure to be gained in this adventure as in other modules. The only way to gain treasure is off the bodies of foes, and ideally the party should only be fighting the villagers. Consequently, there aren't that many magical items that the characters can gain unless they go on a mad killing spree. DMs might want to consider having a magic and gold rich adventure after this one if they care about maintaining the characters at the appropriate monetary levels listed in the DMG. Little Extras This adventure had a number of nice little extras. There were two new monsters, the gravewight and the hobyah. The gravewight is an excellent template for fallen, non-evil warriors trapped in their tombs. The hobyah is a demon squirrel that repeats words incessantly and attacks in packs. They are vulnerable to wooden weapons. There is also a new druid spell to create faux humans. Luckily they considered the balance ramifications of this spell, and it only works within the stone circle of Ossington. Finally, there are two new items, though neither is that inspired. The first is a ring of misdirection, and the second is an undying staff, with undead-related spells. Side Notes It seems like sorcerers have something of an evil reputation at WOTC. In the Speaker in Dreams, a major enemy was a group of evil insane sorcerers seeking to bring cthuloid monstrosities to this dimension. In this module, it is a demonic sorcerer out to gain power. I wonder if good-aligned sorcerers will ever appear in these products. Druids are also appearing in these products, often mildly insane and affiliated with twisted unnatural creatures and plants. It's nice to see more druids in print, since I believe they were mostly ignored in earlier adventures, but I can't help wondering if they also have a bad reputation. Connections to previous adventures The Standing Stone does an excellent job of referencing earlier adventures in a natural way. Ashardalon, the marauding dragon from the Sunless Citadel, also laid waste to this area and is commemorated on a nearby hill. Tully carries a magical weapon with Durgeddin's (from the Forge of Fury) mark. In addition, one of the hooks for the adventure may arise from merchants talking about the absence of Ossington folk from the city market. This could easily happen during or after the Speaker in Dreams in Brindinford. Comparison to previous adventures Now that we have four Adventure Path modules out, how do they compare to one another? The three previous adventures were mixed. The Sunless Citadel was a well-written adventure with interesting trappings. The dragon cult, the sunken citadel, the Gulthias tree, and the possibility for diplomacy made it a good adventure, with a number of hooks to expand the campaign. The writing was good and the execution largely worked. The Forge of Fury was not as well-written, but did have some interesting ideas. There was not as much opportunity for character interaction, and the encounters were not as well-balanced (e.g. the roper). On the other hand, it was packed with rooms and assailants, and the history and final encounter with the dragon were memorable. The Speaker in Dreams was a mess. The plot did not make much sense and the characters were largely railroaded by having monsters constantly jump out at them. Some of the elements were imaginative (the sorcerers and assassination attempt), but it is the most stereotypical dungeon-crawl of them all, even though it takes place in a city. Finally, there were no attempts to link it to other adventures in the series. The Standing Stone is the best of the four. It is the most radical, using a scene-based structure and doing it well, as opposed to the Speaker in Dreams. It makes better use of its surroundings - stone circles, dolmens, barrows, tarns, and hill sculptures. The atmosphere is excellent, with ghostly horsemen, murderous fey, false humans, and demons in our midst. It ties in best with the other modules and creates by far the most vivid setting. Conclusions This is the best of the Adventure Path modules so far and I heartily recommend getting it. Though the type face is larger than the other three, I think this has the most adventuring gold of any of the four modules. I hope John Rateliff produces more modules soon.