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To be sure, Logan Bonner does give plenty of advice on how the adventure runs, and how a DM could alter it. However, when I read this adventure, I could not help but feel that his advice will not be sufficient.
I will be honest and say that I love the KotS modules. Some would deride its "railroading" the players down one path, which I acknowledge, but I also appreciated the beauty of each individual encounter within. Many of them portrayed odd characters or intriguing set-ups that made me re-evaluate how I could present an encounter to players. The crude plot, like a summer blockbuster, gave licence for enjoyable scenes of action.
What frustrates me is that HS1 has some of those scenes. Encounter 6 has a scrapyard artificer fling vials of ankheg-attracting oil at PCs. Encounter 7 with the Goblin who summons oozes and casts spells by ripping pages out of tomes. Encounter 11 has an anti-lycanthrope inquisition interrupt some very important exposition. This time, instead of a weak plot holding good encounters together, the weak plot makes most of the encounter in the adventure unnecessary, if the PCs face them at all.
HS1 has a medicore plot that diminishes not only the encounters within, but the setting and NPCs in it.
HOW DID I GET MYSELF INTO THIS?
Starting a campaign, getting players invested in their missions and the world, is always a difficult proposition. Treasure is always a good motivator, but having a quest that is meaningful to the world helps PCs become invested in it. For the life of me, I can't imagine why PCs would care about HS1's plot.
Eight years ago, the town of Kiris Dahn was overrun by goblins. Its human inhabitants scattered to the world while goblins and kobolds live in the town's remains. The last ruler of Kiris Dahn, Kiris Alkirk, lives apart from his people, supported by his loyal ritualist Treona, and has given up all hope of reclaiming his town.
I know what you're thinking: Treona hires you to liberate Kiris Dahn from its evil invaders. No. Or maybe Treona asks you to venture into the fallen city to find Alkirk's family banner, a magical item that can inspire him to reclaim the city? No.
The reason why you are hired is as follows. While searching through old historical documents, Treona discovered the existence of an unused slaying stone in Kiris Dahn. This deadly, supposedly evil, item could kill a person with one magical blast, then shatter. Its description states that it cannot be disenchanted, and new one cannot be enchanted. Its creators designed it to only work within 5 miles of the town, which is 10 miles from the nearest major roadway.
So, to review, an exiled monarch's advisor wants you to explore a town filled with savage monsters to retrieve an item that can kill one person in said town before breaking down.
"WHERE DO I SIGN UP?"
To be fair, there is a reason why the PCs should search for the Slaying Stone. At the very same time, an evil elementalist is sending a band of orcs to Gorzibadd (Kiris Dahn's goblin name) to procure the Stone for herself. She hopes to study it to produce new Stones (remember, in 4th Edition, villians don't have to play by the rules). Of course, she does not appear in the module. Her orcs never mention her name in the module. Unless the PCs decided to interrogate a captured orc to find out why they want the Slaying Stone (because orcs killing and stealing is sooooo out of character), Dreus Matrand will be Keyser Soze: non-existent.
This is just one of many near-hits by Logan Bonner to make this module matter. Page 7 has three different "variant plot threads" that are just plain better than the given plot:
1) Treona and Alkirk are planning to make more Slaying Stones for themselves.
2) Dreus and Treona learned of the Stone's existence at the same time, possibly from the same source, and are competing against each other.
3) Alkirk and Treona want to repopulate Kiris Dahn.
From what little he says directly, Logan Bonner seems to have wanted this adventure to be as adaptable as possible. Use the bare bones of a plot, and allow DMs to flavour it as they see fit. The major problem is that this plot is lame, and there are so many other options for DMs in search of pre-made adventures. Why waste time and money adapting an adventure this limp, when you could buy one that needs less work (or spend the time making an adventure from scratch, and pocket the money)?
In the adventure's defense, the backgrounds at the module's end are very well-designed for this adventure. PCs with these backgrounds would have reasons to explore Gorzibadd that the main quest does not. Don't believe me?
WELCOME TO GOBLIN AND KOBOLD TOWN. SLAYING STONE POPULATION: ZERO!
This refers to my single biggest pet peeve of this module, as a player. Treona suggestes three sites to search for the Slaying Stone in town. All three sites are in the middle of town. Guess what? NONE OF THE SITES HAVE THE STONE! It's actually on the outskirts of town, where goblins and kobolds rarely go. This module actually rewards PCs for not listening to DMs and avoiding plot hooks. From DMs everywhere, we thank Logan Bonner for making our lives harder.
Before I rip into the main adventure site of Gorzibadd too badly, I want to say that I like the setting. A town mostly ruled by goblins, with kobold surviving in slums. A hobgoblin out-of-towner ruling over his lesser kin, with orc mercenaries throwing their weight around town. In the shadows hides the last human inhabitant of the old city, now a wererat, as well as an adult Brass Dragon. This is good stuff. It reminds me of Hammerfast, a far superior product of equal length that, while focusing on giving a robust background city, also gives out many adventure ideas.
Bonner's use of the town as an adventure site is decidely iffy. I have not run this adventure for my group, but I can guarentee you that no two groups will play this adventure in the same way. Gorzibadd is an unwalled city surrounded by a river that the PCs can easily pass and an uninhabitated forest. There is, at best, one group of goblins patrolling the town. The PCs could go anywhere at any given time, unless the DM plunks an encounter from somewhere else in their way.
WHAT DM DOESN'T TAKE INTO ACCOUNT SMART PLAYERS?
On first glance, HS1 seems to be a free-form adventure, one where the PCs have choices in solving their quests. And it is true. Problem is, no-one told Logan Bonner. In multiple scenarios, Bonner assumes the players, while given many choices, will gravitate towards a certain approach: progress through the town from the kobold slums into the goblin part of town, explore every building, then sweet-talk the Dragon out of the Slaying Stone, and then be ambushed by Orcs.
Here's the timeline: In Encounter 6, Speelock suggests the PCs go to the library. In the library, the PCs find evidence of a large clawed beast. In the temple, Kiris Hoyt tells the PCs that a Dragon lives undeneath the springs. In the springs is the Dragon and the Slaying Stone. Waiting for the PCs are the orcs who have deduced that the PCs have the Stone (how they know the PCs have the Stone is anybody's guess).
Now, there certainly are other ways to complete it. Library, Speelock, Temple. Temple, Speelock, Library. Etc. Of course, the easiest way to complete it would be to search the Hot Springs first, sweet-talk the Stone from the Dragon, and walk into the ambush with the orcs. Why would you search the Hot Springs? Well, being a goblin-free zone means its a good place to hide. The module suggests a passive Perception of 20 (doable by Elves in Wisdom-based classes) will find the Dragon's lair. Random luck. Path of least resistance. Whatever reason, there's a Super Mario Bros. warp pipe in this module that, unless the PCs decide to come back later or carry the MacGuffin into Gorzibadd, will end it with nearly none of the encounters used.
This is just sloppy work. It's not like he forgot to account for flight, teleportation, or automatic resurection. He failed to account for players being smart and doing things that real people would do in this situation: scout ahead, and try the safest option in dangerous territory first.
FINE, WE'LL PLAY ALONG
Of course, any DM with a good group can fall back on asking the players to stop being wiseguys and do the adventure the right way. And what a reward that is.
Bonner spends two pages, 1/16th of the entire adventure, explaining how PCs can avoid being noticed by inhabitants, or make said inhabitants not squeal on them. Pages well-spent? No. The cost of failing this is the monsters, and I quote, "... use smarter tactics."
The orcs who are after the Slaying Stone are not hiding their presence. They are physcially intimidating and scarring goblins with no reprisals. Apparently, the "smarter tactics" the goblins use on the orcs is "stay out of their way." So it makes me wonder why PCs would have any legitimate fear of the townsfolk once they pull out their warhammers.
Ah, but Bonner tells us to impress the players with the sheer numbers of goblins, and to scare them with a sudden appearance of a large crowd of goblins. Not to attack the PCs, mind you, but just to make them afraid and hide. And if that does not work, you can use the "Goblin Patrol" encounter in the "Additional Encounters" page that is (drumroll please) a level 1 encounter.
*SIGH*
Like the assumption that the PCs will, for some reason, hide out inside the town instead of a) sneaking in and out of town, or b) stay in town and do as they please. Heck, it's not entirely implausible for the PCs first day in town to end with them killing the leader of Gorzibadd (Level 2 Soldier in a Level 2 Encounter).
I cannot believe that Logan Bonner does not know that many players are capable of things his adventure does not handle well. He says many times to alter the adventure to suit your party. But how does one adapt an adventure that assumes a party that is afraid of a town of goblins but will search through every building nevertheless?
This assumption of fear mixed with stubborness permeates into the encounters. The first encounter of the module is a level 1 encounter of 5 wolves. Once all the wolves close in on the PCs, Treona appears throwing flash powder and directing the PCs inside her tower. No, these wolves don't glow like uranium. Nevertheless, Bonner gives the PCs a chance to run from an easily beatable encounter.
In Encounter 8, he does it again, with wolves to boot! A level 1 encounter, where 3/5ths of the enemies are melee creatures behind bars for two rounds (at least), and Bonner adds the ever-so-useful advice for what to do if the PCs run from them. The toughest encounter in the module, where the PCs get surprised and have no reason to stay and fight, and the enemies would chase them until their kness fell off, has no advice for running away. But this encounter does.
*FACEPALM*
The location of the Slaying Stone would be a big pet peeve for me as a player. All signs point to Site X, the adventure assumes you'll explore Site X, but hey! It's in Site Y. My biggest pet peeve as a Dungeon Master is the attitude of "No Failure allowed" in this module.
It's a fine line to walk between little chance of success to little chance of failure. One misjudged encounter can end a campaign. Most of you think I mean "making it too hard", and that's right, but an encounter that should be very difficult but isn't can kill a campaign as well. Not as abruptly, but it can poison the perception of how much the DM will truly challenge you.
I have both played in and DMed Keep on the Shadowfell, and the experiences couldn't be more different. The Irontooth encounter, infamous for being insanely difficult, killed the group I played in because the DM wouldn't let us die. Despite us being only four PCs and him adding more monsters, we got through the encounter with everyone alive. As someone who DMed the encounter as is with a 5-player group, I know all the things he didn't do. His gentle jibbing of me fighting on the periphery of the battle, choosing my powers and moves carefully, readying for retreat if needed, told me that I was playing it wrong, according to him. 'Don't worry, you'll win no matter what you'll do."
My views specifically on the Irontooth encounter aside, I think that there always must be a threat of failure. Customize it according to how much your players can handle, but it must be there. Too much failure leads players to be overly cautious, but a little failure can lead them to be more aware of what they can handle. Some success leads to confidence in a player's ability to handle problems, but too much success makes them think they are unbeatable, and any setbacks are because the DM is being unfair.
Ironically, the Slaying Stone (the magic item) embodies what is wrong with the Slaying Stone (the module). It is flavoured as an evil item, making your hand turn red and creating impulses to kill. Minor impulses. Complete ignorable impulses. Legend has it that using it will stain your soul. But it won't.
As written, it's a Level 17 item that, with a +10 attack vs. Fortitude, can kill a foe at the end of their next turn. Incredibly unbalanced for level 1. Bonner's advice for adjusting an encounter in which it's used is to handwave any foe that was weak or close to death, but quickly replace any foe that was a genuine threat. You know, the kind you would use a Slaying Stone on. But wait, aren't you supposed to return the Stone to Treona? Don't worry: you'll get your reward if you used it or if you didn't use it.
Where are the difficult decisions? Where are the consequences for using an evil magic item? Where's the reward for risking your soul and bags of gold for the lives of your friend? When it comes to using the Stone, it does not matter what you do with it. The results are the same.
END RANT ;)
The most critical scene in HS1 involves a skill challenge to convince a Brass Dragon to hand over the Slaying Stone to the party. It's unclear what kind of large Brass Dragon it is, but even the weakest statted Large Brass Dragon is a Solo Level 4 Skirmisher. Not that you would know from this module, since it gives no stats for the Dragon. The only recourse the PCs have is to talk to it.
There are plenty of options for the PCs to pursue, as well as many modifiers affected by how they convince the Dragon. But nowhere are the consequences of failure talked about. At best, threats and violence will end the talks, but the module gives no opinion on what to do if they fail to convince it.
The Brass Dragon, as described, is just a terrible character to work with. It's talkative, but wants to be left alone. It does not like treasure, but holds on to the Stone. It wants to be rid of the Stone, but it won't kill a random goblin to use up the Stone's power. It won't take any actions that will place it at risk, but it will apparently give the one thing in the region that can kill it to someone it just met.
Given that the 1 page devoted to the single most important encounter in the module ends with the assumption that the PCs have the Stone and will be ambushed, I can only assume that Bonner would give the PCs the Stone, no matter what. My advice: Let the Wookie win. Spending any more time on this scene will just highlight what an absurd situation this is.
OTHER THAN THAT MRS. LINCOLN, HOW WAS THE PLAY?
Why did I buy this module? Ignorance was a big factor. However, there were promises about HS1 that I feel it delivered on. The condensed format that included things like backgrounds, faction and NPC descriptions, plot hooks and themes, and a general attempt to offer less railroading. Kiris Dahn/Gorzibadd feels like a place future writers and DMs can expand upon. The piece de resistance is the illustration on Page 7 of a party fighting goblins is just awesome. I could (and have) stared at that illustration for minutes, taking in each character's pose.
I'm sure many DMs will be pleased by what I've just listed. Many people enjoy modifying or plundering from pre-made adventures, with no intention of running it as the author intended. My review will merely be a checklist of things to look at.
Clearly, I do not share this feeling. If this were the '70s and this was Vault of the Drow, it could easily coast on having a new approach to adventures. Well, it is 2010. Hundreds of adventures have followed the basic format Bonner uses. I can find inspiration for D&D games from several editions of D&D, or stick to just 4th Edition and get several good options.
I think the RPG industry is talented enough that we the consumers can expect a product that does what it is promoted to do. In this case, give us an adventure that does not end prematurely, screw players around by sending them on wild goose chases, or assume that the group cannot handle easy combat encounters.
HS1 fails in regards of being a good adventure. Heck, I'd say it fails to be an adventure. It feels like someone took a product on an adventure site, took the least interesting plot hook in it, and replaced the site descriptions with random encounters within the site.
But hey! If you like HS1, be sure to check out HS2, also written by Logan Bonner. Given his recent lay-off from WotC, that will be your last chance to see if he can improve upon this adventure.
