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The Malady of Kings

It is rare to find a really good high-level D&D adventure. The minute players begin chewing and spitting out dragons, I find campaigns grow a little silly. The task before a designer to create a challenging scenario that doesn't ask us to suspend our disbelief is a daunting one. But it can be done, as Troll Lord Games proves with The Malady of Kings.

Writer Stephen Chenault's scenario is a solidly scripted , well-designed epic that eschews Temple of Elemental Evil-esque dungeons and zeroes in on a traditional, no-nonsense quest. The player's chance upon a long lost tomb from the Age of Heroes, the resting place of the family of St.Luthor. Viviane, the saints wife, has not been able to lie in peace however, as she is despondent over not knowing her husbands fate. The pc's are tasked with the quest to determine what became of St.Luthor so that she might finally rest.

Luthor departed across the Dreaming Sea, a fragment of the Plane of Dreams that has opened up on the game world of Erde, finally settling on the Isle of Blight. He lies in a mystical slumber, the victim of a spell cast by the evil Troll Lord Nulak-Kiz-Den. The characters must travel across the Dreaming Sea, a journey that tests their mental strength and threatens to snap their minds. The climax is a beautiful mix of mysterious magic, desperate combat, and problem solving.

There is much to like about the adventure. The Dreaming Sea is an excellent plot device, intriguing enough to make players want to return for more adventure. While there is a fair amount of combat, the emphasis is on problem solving, and most encounters can be circumvented with a little ingenuity. And where else do players have the opportunity to run elbows with a fallen god? I don't want to give anything away, but my players were so taken in by the plight of the god Bannawick, Lord of the Corpulent Form, that they have vowed to return him to prominence. A minor event that has led to a campaign goal! You know an adventure has done something write when players show this much interest in a relatively minor event.

I have come to expect a professionally designed product from Troll Lord Games, and The Malady of Kings does nothing to dispel my views. The layout is the usual excellence and the maps equally as well done, while the interior artwork, by Jason Walton, is also quite nice.

Though longer on words than action, The Malady of Kings suffers no lack of intensity and the climax develops in an unpredictable fashion-----certainly it was not what I was expecting. While I might have preferred a bit more meat in the adventure (if came across a little "light" in play test), it was easy enough to overcome this with a well-placed random encounter or two. My players didn't know the difference.

The Malady of Kings is an epic adventure (in terms of goals, if not size) that runs smoothly and quickly. It is the type of unpretentious (no 15 level uber-dungeons here!) but ambitious outing that plays well in a night or two. How can you beat that for $7.00.

Malady of Kings
Malady of Kings Playtest Review by Andrew Hind on 27/08/01 Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 4 (Meaty) A rare treat: a high level adventure that doesn't feature an uber-dungeon. Epic in scope, and a whole lot of fun. Product: Malady of Kings Author: Stephen Chenault Category: RPG Company/Publisher: Troll Lord Games Line: d20 fantasy set in After Dark campaign world Cost: $7.00 Page count: 40 Year published: 2001 ISBN: 1-931275-01-7 SKU: TLG 1601 Comp copy?: no Playtest Review by Andrew Hind on 27/08/01 Genre tags: Fantasy	The Malady of Kings It is rare to find a really good high-level D&D adventure. The minute players begin chewing and spitting out dragons, I find campaigns grow a little silly. The task before a designer to create a challenging scenario that doesn't ask us to suspend our disbelief is a daunting one. But it can be done, as Troll Lord Games proves with The Malady of Kings. Writer Stephen Chenault's scenario is a solidly scripted , well-designed epic that eschews Temple of Elemental Evil-esque dungeons and zeroes in on a traditional, no-nonsense quest. The player's chance upon a long lost tomb from the Age of Heroes, the resting place of the family of St.Luthor. Viviane, the saints wife, has not been able to lie in peace however, as she is despondent over not knowing her husbands fate. The pc's are tasked with the quest to determine what became of St.Luthor so that she might finally rest. Luthor departed across the Dreaming Sea, a fragment of the Plane of Dreams that has opened up on the game world of Erde, finally settling on the Isle of Blight. He lies in a mystical slumber, the victim of a spell cast by the evil Troll Lord Nulak-Kiz-Den. The characters must travel across the Dreaming Sea, a journey that tests their mental strength and threatens to snap their minds. The climax is a beautiful mix of mysterious magic, desperate combat, and problem solving. There is much to like about the adventure. The Dreaming Sea is an excellent plot device, intriguing enough to make players want to return for more adventure. While there is a fair amount of combat, the emphasis is on problem solving, and most encounters can be circumvented with a little ingenuity. And where else do players have the opportunity to run elbows with a fallen god? I don't want to give anything away, but my players were so taken in by the plight of the god Bannawick, Lord of the Corpulent Form, that they have vowed to return him to prominence. A minor event that has led to a campaign goal! You know an adventure has done something write when players show this much interest in a relatively minor event. I have come to expect a professionally designed product from Troll Lord Games, and The Malady of Kings does nothing to dispel my views. The layout is the usual excellence and the maps equally as well done, while the interior artwork, by Jason Walton, is also quite nice. Though longer on words than action, The Malady of Kings suffers no lack of intensity and the climax develops in an unpredictable fashion-----certainly it was not what I was expecting. While I might have preferred a bit more meat in the adventure (if came across a little "light" in play test), it was easy enough to overcome this with a well-placed random encounter or two. My players didn't know the difference. The Malady of Kings is an epic adventure (in terms of goals, if not size) that runs smoothly and quickly. It is the type of unpretentious (no 15 level uber-dungeons here!) but ambitious outing that plays well in a night or two. How can you beat that for $7.00.