To Stand on Hallowed Ground is a "flipbook", for a lack of better term: a supplement with two covers and containing two distinct scenarios, in effect creating two books in one.
Logic dictates that both adventures should be linked thematically, in this the common thread being mysterious cults. The epic Power Behind the Throne WFRP campaign aptly demonstrated that in the hands of a devious writer there is enormous appeal of combating cults and their intricately woven machinations. As my players found out to their
considerable enjoyement, the Fiery Dragon Productions development team is a devious as they come.
It should be noted that this book belongs to a new economy "bronze" line of adventures being produced by Fiery Dragon as an alternative to their more expensive (relatively speaking) releases. As a result, the production quality is by design not up to their normal outstanding levels, and it is short of the "goodies" such as handouts and coloured counters we have come to expect. Having said that, the book still exhibits strong workmanship, with a crisp and clean layout and excellent interior illustrations by the always reliable Todd Secord. We still find the trademark counters inside, but in this case they are black and white, and on paper instead of heavy cardstock.
I was drawn to The Ghost Machine, an adventure for 6th level characters, first. Probably because the cover spooked the hell out of me. I suspected a cool horror adventure, and author Jay Bell delivered. In it, the characters encounter a monk along a road, reeling from the effects of a rapidly advancing case of mummy rot and chased by a pack of bloodthirsty zombies. This scene lures the pc's to a keep newly restored by a mysterious order (read "cult") of monks, an order that has been turned into a horde of undead. Upon investigation, the heroes learn that the keep itself is evil and is the undead is it's spawn. The pc's must destroy The Ghost Machine or the entire world might succumb to an endless horde of zombies.
This an extremely well-crafted and easy to run adventure with a suitably eerie mood, but best of all it is an adventure that cannot be resolved by violence alone. While at first it looks like a good old zombie hackfest, characters will soon learn the futility of this tact
and will of necessity turn to guile to solve the crisis.
Two elements have always impressed me with Fiery Dragon Products, both of which are in evidence here. First, there is always an unusually colorful background history which suggests a half-dozen adventures in itself, and second, there seems to be a a great deal of care put into "stocking" their dungeons in a realistic and interesting way. It certainly helps when you don't have to suspend your disbelief numerous times while playing an adventure.
The climax to the adventure is a real change of pace for D D, one your characters will love. The Ghost Machine, which is explained away in a cool mystical/pseudo-science way, is everybit as menacing as a sentient enemy and suitably challenging.
Swords Against Deception takes a different approach, but like it's companion, it recommends a stealthy and planned infiltration by the heroes. However, there is plenty of room for a powerful and well-armed party to attempt a straight forward assault, swords a-blazing, if they don't mind the entire enemy force descending upon them.
A new cult, the Church of Plenty, has established itself in the Kingdom of Tendaria and is drawing considerable attention due to it's controversial preachings. They advocate a revolutionary set of ideals that seems to be striking a chord with the populace. As a result,
the heroes have been tasked with inflitrating the cults island stronghold and uncovering it's secret agenda. The characters soon discover the cult is even more sinister than first imagined, plotting a revenge upon the world so insidious that thousands of lives hand in
the balance.
Mike Mearls has designed a half-dozen outstanding NPC's as the centerpiece of the cult, all suitably intimidating. Sure, there's lots of other creatures to fight, but these dudes are the main attraction and have been designed to be memorable.
Mearls resist the tempation to turn the "dungeon" into an expansive structure, keeping it small enough to maintain the players absolute attention yet large enough to provide a challenge. Again, as with The Ghost Machine, the background is inspiration, not an afterthought as you see in some adventures. A nice touch with Mearl's acknowledgement
that most DM's will be running his adventure in Greyhawk or the Forgotten Realms, not the Fiery Dragon world. To facilitate this, he provides a lengthy discussion on how to tailor Swords Against Deception for your own campaign.
Mearls also introduces a new concept to d20, Alert Factor, continuing Fiery Dragons tradition of innovation demonstrated in it's previous releases. Designed for use in any closed and regulated environment (castle, humanoid lair, etc), this measures the state of
preparedness amongst the inhabitants. Therefore, characters who resist the tempatation to let fly recklessly with Fireballs will find find vigilance considerably lower and resistance weaker. A great idea that adds immeasuerably to both the realism of the session and to the
weight of the tactical choices placed before the players.
The one weakness of To Stand On Hallowed Ground is that there is little attempt to provide guidelines for restructuring the adventures to suit the power levels of your characters. This will unfortunately mean that many will miss out on two excellent adventures, atleast for some time while they claw their way up the level charts. Having
said that, an experianced gm should have no trouble doing this on his own.
Two great adventures, one low price. Music to my ears!
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