Dungeon #125 is a 108 page magazine, with three scenarios, seven articles, and some impressive art. One of the scenarios is for Eberron; another continues the Age of Worms Adventure Path.
Scenarios
Age of Worms Adventure Path
"The Three Faces of Evil"
by Mike Mearls
page 16 - 47
32 pages
Shards of Eberron
"Pit of the Fire Lord"
by Andy Collins and James Wyatt
page 48 - 59
12 pages
"Seekers of the Silver Forge"
by Tim Hitchcock
page 60 - 82
23 pages
"The Three Faces of Evil"
This is where the Adventure Path really begins.
The scenario begins in the nature of an investigation, relatively free form. Theoretically, if the players/characters are simply not interested, the entire scenario could be skipped. But then, if you don't railroad the characters, that's the way it always is.
The "dungeon" proper demonstrates this same freedom...there are 3 primary branches in a hub-like arrangement. The first of these presents a sharp, interesting tactical challenge.
The next portion (the caves) suffer from a lack of clarity in the 3D nature of the caverns. Initially, its clear, but the middle part (areas 14-17) end up being confusing. The layout is supposed to present the party with a choice, but its hard for the DM to present that choice, when he can't figure out what the area looks like.
It is the Labyrinth of a certain personage that runs a real risk of being very frustrating. I remember a reviewer complaining about the maze at the end of Baldur's Gate, and when I looked at the map of this portion of the scenario, that maze was the first thing I thought of. Its true that the BG maze was larger, and hampered by pathfinding, but this is PnP, so its slower, and I suspect it will end up playing out similarly.
The Labyrinth includes helpful notes on using the area with a battlemap. One of the funniest things in this scenario was seeing the Kenku leader literally labeled "Kenku Boss". Mike Mearls "self-description" is also a cool Easter egg; see if you can recognize the individual referenced there. The maps themselves are a clear improvement over the previous issue, with a cleaner look. Lately, a feeling of mine has been growing that there is a bit of an art to presenting challenge while avoiding frustration. While "The Three Faces of Evil" is professionally designed and presented, and definitely has cool moments, I find myself wondering if I would enjoy actually playing this scenario. This is due mainly to that maze. Each of the three "sub-dungeons" has a distinct and individual feel, and I suspect this portion was designed to make it feel and play differently. It is well chosen for its patron; my issue with it is: "Is it fun?" The scenario also has something of an artificial feel, like it was "designed". It doesn't feel like the organic result of a development within a milieu. Were I to use this scenario in my campaign, I would take major elements of it, and rework it substantially. "Pit of the Fire Lord" This scenario brings to a close the Shards of Eberron arc begun in issue #123. This is the shortest of the scenarios in this issue. A sweltering sun is a harbinger of the approach of Fernia, and with it, the destruction of the City of Towers, unless, of course, the PCs are successful. After an urban jaunt, the Pit is found, and the showdown with the architect of this villainous plan is confronted. The scenario is quite linear, in what is becoming an Eberron tradition. The Pit consists of 5 encounter areas, which are encountered in order, until the final opponent is reached, who knows they are coming and has cast multiple spells in expectation of the confrontation. The only real way around this is abilities and spells allowing passage through stone. Despite that, the city of Sharn, the Dragonshards, and the approach of Fernia firmly place the scenario within Eberron.
"Seekers of the Silver Forge" This high-level, underwater scenario has hooks to be run standalone, or can run as a follow-up to "The Death of Lashimire" from Dungeon #116. The premise of this scenario is excellent. I don't want to spoil it, but it could be thought of as Hallowfaust with a major overhaul, making it much cooler (though not suitable habitation for most). The first part of the scenario is wandering exploration, and is pretty free form. During this period the party learns more about the city, encounters some of its oddities. Eventually, the first Event occurs, and the action begins to flow. The area is designed with 3 mutually hostile parties. One party is clearly weaker, and the default assumption is that the PC's will side with them, though it is written to accommodate other choices as well. From here, the scenario becomes site based, with the PC party deciding how to deal with the other groups here, and what they will do about the Silver Forge. Despite the 3D nature of the setting, the scenario ends up feeling 2D, except for the modifications for submersion. The Other Stuff The introductory editorial references the set of additional material for use with the new Adventure Path, to be made available at the Dungeon website. Cook's three page "Mastering the Game" column deals with outlining a campaign. Its useful in presenting an example of a campaign outline, but Cook seems more interested in his example than in presenting the process to make a good one for yourself. I guess I would like to have seen multiple campaign outlines, compared and contrasted at different levels of the outline, rather than a single outline discussed in depth. I think that would have been more useful to someone creating a personal campaign outline. "Seneschals and Majordomos" discusses courtiers and bureaucrats. A discussion of their roles follows, then example NPCs are presented (three are statted). None of them were experts, which I found odd. One is a commoner (which I always figured for a more townsfolk or farmer type role), one is an aristocrat (which makes sense), and one was basically a spy (pretty cool). The substance of the article is in different NPC examples. The "Beaker of Endless Potions" article details potions...appearance, clarity, mixture, color, smell, etc. If this sounds familiar, that's because it should, its basically a retread of Appendix K of 1st Ed DMG, where magical substances are described in terms of Appearance, Transparency, Taste/Odor, and Color. This article applies a bit more "resolution", but is otherwise the same. Aside from the waste of space feeling, the article also had the unfortunate side effect of reminding me of my Hat of d02. (Know no limit). The 2 page article on "Guides" does a good job of summarizing classic guide types (the scholar vs the native vs the explorer). Motivations are also examined in detail, and the various subjects discussed should aid a DM in creating interesting NPC guides. I found this the most useful of the Campaign Workbook articles. The last page is a full page duplicate of the cover art, without all the text and marginy stuff. I suspect this is just a placeholder for a new column, but I personally like it. There is no such thing as too much good art. CONCLUSION I didn't like the scenarios in this issue as much as the ones in the preceding issue. The "indie" scenario was my favorite (the high level "Seekers of the Silver Forge"). "Pit of the Fire Lord" was particularly unimpressive. Though some portions of the issue are uninspired, there is also a substantial array of interesting and useful stuff. The art and presentation is top notch.
