(UPDATE: 7-7-26) As I’m in the process of moving content to the blog from various spots, I’m bringing over many of my old reviews and articles. This post contains my original review below, with a link to the full thread on Dragonsfoot.
Original Blog Post
I know I said I’d do Part II of my Dark Elf thread, but I picked up a bit of a curve ball over at Dragonsfoot.org. With noticing that in the reviews section the seminal A1-4 series was not fully reviewed and had some weird edits early in the thread, I figured I’d start at square one.
I mainly play 2nd Edition AD&D but I have this in mind for using in an upcoming Castles & Crusades campaign that I’m working on in an "on again/off again" fashion as time allows.
Note that this is not about the super module Scourge of the Slavelords but rather each module individually.
So with this in mind if you are so inclined take a peek over there and tell me what you think.
For those wondering, I know the focus of the blog is for Chaos Dwarfs; well I’ve been on a bit of a break so think of the blog evolving more towards a general gaming blog.
Text Corrected Review from Dragonsfoot
A1 Slave Pits of the Undercity by David "Zeb" Cook An adventure for characters levels 4-7
(I was surprised to see that this module was reviewed, but the review suffered from some sort of quasi-wiki edit war and the edits were either removed or edited out. So here goes nothing I suppose). Original reviewed here.)
Originally this was the first module of the tournament series used at Gencon XIII in 1980. A1 - Slave Pits of the Undercity however is probably more familiar to a number of gamers as the first of a series A1-4 in regular campaign play. I’d wager that more people have probably experienced this module as a regular adventure rather than a tournament setting.
Physically it’s 24 pages (counting maps) and it’s decent for several nights worth of play. I like the interior cover maps especially as there is a fair amount of art on the upper level map once you really look at it.
I’ve played A1 a number of times and it was actually one of the first if not the first AD&D module that I played as a kid playing a ranger that I still have to this day who later participated in S2 - White Plume Mountain. He started in 1983! Man time flies.
A1 is probably one of the more seminal modules for a lot of gamers. Other than the GDQ series it’s probably the series that most gamers will remember as the best examples of linked scenarios from the earliest days of the game. That’s not to say it’s seamless, but rather it’s linked. Later on it would be combined into a super module Scourge of the Slavelords. While okay it has a lead in from T1-4 The Temple of Elemental Evil, but I digress.
In A1 slavers (bandits and pirates) have been raiding coastal towns along the Sea of Gearnat ranging from Onwal to the Wild Coast in the World of Greyhawk. For a time these raids were tolerated, but the increase in tempo necessitated an intervention by the PCs and local rulers send them to investigate. (This is very similar in nature to G1-3 when one thinks about it, but enough of a hook to get the PCs moving).
The best reconnaissance information from the lords points to the City of Highport. Highport as the PCs will discover is just the starting off point however. Highport can best be thought of as a Mos Eisley in terms of a city. The DM can have a bunch of fun here depending on his whims or skip directly to the adventure (Note: Highport is not fleshed out herein).
In the module play begins with the PCs standing outside a ruined temple. Obviously the DM will have to work the events to fit his or her own individual campaign, but this is a small matter.
As to how the PCs might tackle this is open-ended, which is one thing I like about it. The last time I played it our group was cautious and reconnoitered the outside noting entrances. Rather than the tournament play we entered through area #6 surprising the half-orcs and slaying them before they could raise the alarm. #6 is probably the most likely one when one considers the map of the upper level.
The Upper level is largely ruined and climbing the walls at least to get a look around or flying will help complete the recon of the outer walls (if the players think to do this).
Orcs and a few other creatures largely populate the upper levels, some quite deadly like the pair of basilisks and a wight but these are largely avoidable.
The upper level suffers from a bit of layout issues here as the upper level is essentially two separate areas, side by side and there are no connections between them. Placing a corridor between area #16b and the ruined room immediate to the west of it easily solves this. I don’t think this upsets the module in the slightest in my opinion.
Areas 12a, 16a, & 18 are probably the toughest challenges of the upper levels and properly played could result in a few fatalities for a sloppy group. A group on their toes expecting anything (especially after #12) will most likely make it through to breach the lower levels.
Once the stairs that descend to the lower levels are identified it’s time to plunge below to tackle the lower level. I think if the PCs descend through the trap door in #18 they will probably have the most fun as it brings them through aspis areas and the fun that should ensue there.
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| Bill Willingham art rocks! |
Notes:
The art - A1 presents one of the few pieces of Jeff Dee art that I actually like. I have good memories surrounding this because as noted above it was the first AD&D module that I played in and the character I played it with. I must admit that about the only other piece of his art that I enjoy does appear herein too, the orcs on page 14.
Although a small touch I always liked the descriptions (realizing that not everyone is fond of boxed text). Case in point is page 14 with the "Elves are Fairies, Grom the kobold takes baths." Another point of this is the underground encounter table: got to have crocodiles in them!
Some debate the wisdom of using aspis in the module. I for one like them. One has to remember that this is a fantasy game. I always visualized the aspis residing here as a natural cave system (which they are) and the slavers discovering them by accident. A mutual non-aggression pact ensues and the slavers gain some useful denizens for their deep. As far as them working for the slavers in areas like #18 I also have no problem with this, it is a fantasy game. The only problem that I can think of here is the ecology of it as to how do the aspis move around? That can easily be solved by long wandering tunnels linking to the deeper earth.
The stairs down from area #8 on the upper map do not match up with those on the lower map near area #21 on the lower. This could be explained as maybe they twist but I’m thinking it simply got missed in proofing it for production.
Even to this day I think A1 introduces the most iconic adventuring party in the form of the pregenerated tournament characters: a female bearded dwarf (on the cover), a fighter named only as "Ogre" which I’m guessing is depicted in A3 on page 19... But an illusionist named Phanstern? I mean C’mon! It’s either him or the magic user "Dread Delgath" giving the rock and roll devil horns on the cover. Either way it left an impression on me as a young gamer. Plus we get the Halfling Karraway doing his Spiderman shtick from the beams. Has there ever been so much character madness going on with the cover of a module? The first time I played through was with my ranger as noted above and I think we used some of these as NPCs to flesh out the group, as I recall there was only the DM and one other player.
Strengths: I always liked area #12 - The False Slavers lair; while only orcs the 2 assassins in the mix could be the most lethal part of the whole module as many a group never ventures into area #9 to meet the Basilisks or Wight.
Area #16 with the flame-throwing device! Nothing warms my heart as a DM more than using a bizarre contraption that hurls 4-24 points of fire damage! As a DM I was able to blast one group with it. As a player we were lucky to dodge it last time through the usage of massed archery raining into the open courtyard.
Area #18 is another of my favorites (not just because of the art) as it features trolls in a novel way and yet another assassin.
Another strength of this module is the fact that it’s sparse on monster text in a way and translates easy to other editions. Indeed last time we played through this with my group I was playing a Wizard (around 6th level at the time) in 2nd edition Castles and Crusades. In C&C it played as equally well as it did in 1st edition the times I ventured through it.
As noted these are well suited for one shots or series of one shots. It’s very easy to use these as pick up and play modules as it’s a tourney module. The characters in the back are from Gencon XIII I presume, but perhaps Frank can shed some light on this.
Perhaps its biggest strength is the fact that as the mid portions of a group’s adventuring career A1 can be dropped in almost anywhere. All that is required is a city and place it on the outskirts of said city. To me this is truly old school as the fact that there is minimal back-story makes it infinitely malleable for usage in a campaign. In fact it’s quite possible to set the stage long before the characters actually undertake the series arc. In fact I’m considering using the Slave Lords as movers and shakers in an upcoming Castles and Crusades campaign.
Weaknesses: Overall the first module of the A series is not that tough when one considers the foes involved and I expect that this is by design (sans the parts I mentioned in Strengths). After all this has its roots as a tournament module and will carry itself that way. Orcs are the primary foes throughout and for characters 4-7 probably not enough of them to truly be a serious threat but used in the tourney sense makes sense. The assassins boost this somewhat as they are likely to be encountered. Some say that A1 is the weakest of the series. I’m not sure I agree with this: A3 might be the weakest as the ending relies on an entirely contrived encounter if you are to use A4 as is...
As with most of the series the module is a bit "rail-roady", again owing to the fact that it’s a tournament module. (C2 - Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan suffers from this as well).
The BBEG at the end is a... 7th level thief guarded by five giant weasels and 10 orcs? Again I guess this is because it’s a tournament module and the party is probably going to be fairly beat up by this point. But to put it in perspective one of the Slave Lords Slippery Ketta (from A4) is 10th. I’m not sure whether or not this makes a difference but it has always struck me as odd. Played by a superior group of PCs this can be an anti-climax. A magic user with a few fireball(s) can clear the area or even sleep held in reserve could wreck havoc here. A lot of it really depends on the tactical decisions of the DM playing everyone here. The flip of this is that if the characters are on the higher side of the levels recommended here, say 7th its going to be much easier. I think that the outgoing caravan assembling at area #19 might be a tougher fight then anything else.
For a mid range module the loot is rather lacking here. What is present is not bad when one considers the challenges and perhaps in that light warranted. I think however adding a few more mid level goodies especially if the party defeats both basilisks, and/or the wight.
Closing:
All in all it’s a good start and I recommend it. The overall series is good background material too as one could use them as an entire campaign arc and space out the traditional modules with a number of other sources and use the Slave Lords as a series of recurring villains. To me that is where the strength and not often utilized meat of this series is. But again, all in due time. For me I'd give it 7 out of 10. There are certainly much worse modules for 1st edition than this.
I understand that this module will be a bit of a touchstone for those that don’t like the writer based on his later work on 2nd edition. I’d ask keep the comments to constructive rather than disparaging it for no other reason than Zeb Cook wrote it.
In time I’ll be going through A2, A3, and A4 as A2 and A3 suffered the same "phantom edit" that A1 did in the original threads.
Updated Thoughts
Since my review of A1 on Dragonsfoot in 2011 my thoughts have only solidified on it: it’s a solid series with a few holes owing to the fact they are tournament modules. The strengths of the series is the setting part — it can be used for a lot. Personally I never bought the tie in from T1, to A series to G series to D series to Q1 - Queen of the Demonweb Pits; it’s a clunky idea that doesn’t flow well in my opinion.
