Dungeon Magazine #10- Threshold of Evil – Old School AD&D Thoughts and a Review

Dungeon Magazine #10- Threshold of Evil
by Scott Bennie
An adventure for 5-8 PCs, levels 14-18

The adventure that is the subject of this review is right there on the cover of the issue itself—and it’s a cool cover at that. With Dungeon #10 you might very well have one of the best issues of the magazine in terms of 1st Edition (or even 2nd Edition) adventures. All of the scenarios are excellent, with the possible exception of Monsterquest, but I digress.

Threshold of Evil is one of the best, if not the best, 1st Edition modules presented in the hallowed halls of Dungeon. In my mind it ranks right up there with Into the Fire, Wards of Witching Ways, and Trouble at Grog’s as some of the finest 1st Edition Dungeon adventures. Did I mention just how good it is?

On a personal note, Issue #10 was one of the first “back issues” of Dungeon I ever procured, and one of the first 1st Edition ones I got. I was fortunate to pick this one up when I did; it helped propel me along the path toward the full #1–81 Dungeon collection.

Overview Threshold of Evil is no cakewalk, as the suggested levels indicate. It can be played a number of different ways, and it would be interesting as a one-off just to see how different groups of characters handle the challenge. Levels 14+ is no joke, this thing can be lethal.

At 22 pages it is sufficient for many sessions of play. The maps are clear and concise, and the artwork by Daniel Horne fits the mood perfectly. The only piece of art I don’t care for is the one on page 43 that starts the adventure; from there it’s excellent. The art always struck me as evocative of Games Workshop’s Warhammer Fantasy Role-play 1st Edition style.

The Setup The heart of the module is the standard “there is a problem and we need the PCs to solve it.” The twist is that the signs are confusing and no one has any real idea why strange things are happening. The villagers (the village can be any one of your own devising) point toward Mt. Thalask and the Arch-Mage Azurax Silverhawk, who has not been seen in some 200 years. That’s a bit strange, but Magic-Users are a peculiar lot, are they not?

A bit railroady? Sure. But you take Arch-Mages where you find them and hope they’re in a good mood. Plus, don’t Arch-Mages always get blamed when something goes wrong in their neighborhood?

The module begins as a reconnaissance mission. With the judicious use of spells that characters of this level will almost certainly have access to, the party can gain solid insight into what they might encounter. There is also a scholar by the unfortunate name of Hheltus who can shed some light on Azurax’s character (or lack thereof). Through spells or the scholar, the PCs are likely to form a picture that Azurax is not a particularly nice guy...and they are right, up to a point. Rather than being rabid, frothing evil, Azurax is far more nuanced. His research into extending his life is what has been causing the problems in the countryside, specifically his Portrait of Longevity.

The Approach Once the mission is defined, it’s time to supply up and head for Mt. Thalask. There is one major problem: his lair sits atop a 12,000-foot mountain. To make matters worse, Azurax has shut off the "easy" methods of travel: no fly, no teleport, no shadow walk, etc. The only way is up the mountain the hard way: climbing. So time to bust out that copy of the Wilderness Survival Guide!

At the summit the PCs encounter a tower, but it’s only a façade containing the first Simulacrum. This fight is relatively easy and serves mainly to make the party a bit cocky.

Inside the Complex Once the complex is breached, the real adventure begins. The living spaces on the upper levels are strangely devoid of monsters and traps. This is also where the party first meets Florimel (or rather, a Simulacrum of her) and can gain a bit of knowledge.

Descending deeper, things heat up. Level 2 contains more living areas packed with interesting details and yet another Simulacrum (this time of Lord Fell). Level 3 is where the first major battle can take place, or not, depending on the actions of the PCs. Slaadi and the most powerful simulacrums of Azurax and Lord Fell await here, along with the portals.

Level 4 brings more living spaces and a chance to meet the real Florimel and learn of her plight. From there the throne room becomes accessible, offering the possibility of parley with the real Azurax and a host of his (and Lord Fell’s) simulacrums.

From this point the module can go in any number of directions. I’ll leave the possible outcomes out of this review to preserve some suspense.

Strengths This could easily become a slug-fest, but it doesn’t have to. Everything depends on how the players approach the situation. Remember: Azurax is not (yet) truly evil. He is more of an “ends justify the means” type. The PCs could have real problems if they simply waltz in and start slaughtering the occupants, after all, what hard proof do they really have beyond the misgivings of a crusty old sage?

The portals are excellent. Who doesn’t love a good series of one-way magical portals? If one player goes through (and it usually happens sooner or later), the rest eventually follow. These portals make fantastic hooks for alternate campaign worlds—or dramatic ways to end a campaign.

The use of Florimel is another strong point. An enterprising DM could build an entire campaign around the events on Azurax’s mountain and her eventual return to the Faerie Realm. (For those unfamiliar, pick up Edmund Spenser’s The Faerie Queene, as noted in the adventure itself.)

The creative use of the simulacrum spell is brilliant. Before this module I had never really considered using it multiple times. After reading Threshold of Evil, I never looked at the spell the same way again. It lets the designer put some of the toughest possible foes (classed NPCs) in front of the party without the risk of the PCs walking away with a mountain of magic items. The same technique is applied not only to Azurax but to Lord Fell and Florimel as well.

Azurax looks to be a tad grumpy here...

Azurax himself is loaded with potential. If thwarted, he makes an excellent recurring villain. Best of all, he is not the tired “rabid world-conquering mad mage” trope. He has little interest in ruling the world and is far more focused on himself.

The Portrait of Longevity is a great hook with a slightly Renaissance flavor that may feel a bit disjointed in a strictly High Medieval setting, but it works well here. I especially like how Azurax disguises the true portrait among many others of himself.

The inclusion of Slaadi is another plus. Some people bag on the Fiend Folio, but not me. These guys are cool, and because they are not evil, some of the party’s usual defenses may not be at full strength.

Finally, the use of Wish and Phase Door to seal off easy access shows real thought. The party will burn through resources with no convenient place to rest and recuperate.

Weaknesses There are a few areas where a total party kill is dangerously easy, most notably the confrontation in the throne room. Even a savvy, experienced group of high-level characters can get caught flat-footed here. DMs should be prepared.

If the party defeats Azurax through pure force, the magical loot can become excessive. In practice this is unlikely if Azurax is played intelligently; he is far too smart to let that happen easily.

One minor nitpick that has always nagged me: the living spaces feel a bit small for a complex perched 12,000 feet up a mountain. Boredom alone might have done in some of the human occupants long before the PCs arrived. It’s a small point, but it’s there.

Closing Thoughts I really had to stretch to find even those few weaknesses. This magazine is well worth seeking out for this adventure alone. It can serve as a springboard for multiple alternate campaigns, further high-level adventures, deadly consequences, and a memorable high-level antagonist. You can’t really ask for much more than that.

Is there anything I missed? Have you or your group ever played Threshold of Evil? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

The original review can be found here on Dragonsfoot.

Dungeon Magazine #46- Iron Orb of the Duergar – Old School AD&D Thoughts and a Review

Dungeon Magazine #46 - Iron Orb of the Duergar
by Peter Aberg
An adventure for 6-8 PCs, levels 11-15

Tipping the scales at 22 pages Iron Orb of the Duergar is one of the best modules in any edition hands down. In fact I would say this module can hold its own with any of the classic modules as well. Dungeon #46 is a seminal product for me as it is the second Dungeon Magazine that I personally bought and it leaps off the pages on first read.

Iron Orb of the Duergar is generic enough that it can easily be set in any cold mountains region without much difficulty and has a nice Norse/barbarian feel to it. In fact the author suggests Icewind Dale for the Forgotten Realms or the Archbarony of Ratik for the World of Greyhawk; for my campaign world it was a snap.

This module is fairly straightforward and has lots of combat! There is some nice back story to it however and the whole feel is one of a more regional/kingdom level feel to it rather than adventuring at the local dungeon a few miles away from town.

The module centers on northmen raids... or so it seems. True, barbarian raiders are striking the southern kingdoms, but not as it seems. Reason being? The Iron Orb of the Duergar; a powerful artifact that has gotten itself attached to Ulmvard the High Priest of Odin. Normally such a figure might be able to cope, however the malignant orb has the powers of a beholder and duergar!

The adventure starts out assuming that the PCs are perhaps local rulers of some of the more southern lands (they might be considering level of play for this module) or contacted by such. They head out across the sea towards the Northmen's lands to investigate. Once the PCs arrive on scene they find out that Ulmavard has switched focus to now is planning on attacking the local dwarfs instead of raiding cities to the south. This is a bit odd given the fact that all of the summer months have been focused on raiding the south... a clever PC will pick up on why is this man talking about making war on dwarfs?

Ulmvard the High Priest of Odin is a bit...unhinged

Having to enter the city clandestinely the PCs will make their way to an inn (they always do). From there they eventually fall into the camp opposing the slightly unhinged High Priest of Odin. Enter the High Priest's daughter Anja who fills in the holes for the PCs. A group plans to seize the Orb realizing that Ulmvard is not himself. It just so happens that the Orb can scry and all too soon the PCs need to flee the city and head towards the mountains. Here is where things start to get good.

The mine is old that was once abandoned, but is now run by Norse guards (some frost giants) and slave labor (garnered from the raids of the PCs homelands) at the behest of Ulmvard. The upper levels are logical and well mapped and the descriptions give a great feel to it. The random encounters are perfect and quick thinking PCs will notice there is more than meets the eye here.

The whole point of the upper level culminates with the revelation that the PCs are not the only ones interested in the operations here and those of Ulmvard. The drow make an appearance and it is not the usual setup! They propose a temporary alliance which is a nice break from the fight them at a drop of a hat mentality... The dark elves have no desire to see their enemies assemble the Iron Warrior either. Make no mistake the dark elves are not friends of the PCs, but it is the old "the enemies of my enemy is my friend". Depending on the race/class makeup of the PCs it will be interesting to see what the more lawful/good types in a party might think about working with dark elves. Either way they do not accompany the group during the adventure and are off quickly.

The ruins of the duergar citadel are awesome, the first time I read this I imagined it quite vividly and the author did a great job with the descriptions, they really seem to come to life. It really captures a feeling and you can imagine the historical perspective of it. I especially liked the ruined nature of side corridors to get around the original collapsed sections, it really lends an authentic air to it. The way to get to the other side is imaginative as well and presents some great combat opportunities as well as real and present danger: falling into lava will ruin your day. The author also provides little back story snippets as to why the ruins is the way it is now, and ones that can easily be added to a campaign.

Once to the other side, the potential for large sweeping, knock down, drag em out fight(s) is right there. The rest of the ruins can become one massive battle if the PCs are not careful in their approach to tactics. There are plenty of duergar and being dwarfs they do not fight stupidly.

After breaching the upper level the forge level awaits! There is some nice flavor text here to add even more visual appeal, one can almost imagine the dwarfs sealing up and mounting the great doors after they defeated the duergar in ages past. Again there are little back story snippets that tell the DM why things are the way they are now and possibly lead to further adventures.

The riddle is a nice touch for proceeding northwards as well, if a bit easy to solve.

The final fight can go either way and the drow party makes a nice option for the DM should he need reinforcements for the PCs. Conversely if they treated the drow with the unusual reaction the drow might turn on a weakened party at the very end while they themselves hang back and let the two factions slug it out in the main fight.

Everything hinges on this fight, and the PCs need to triumph or they are in for it.

Strengths

The first strength of the module is its level requirements. All too often it is tough to challenge high level parties. If the party does not stop the plans of Ulmvard in time they are going to have a BIG problem on their hands, and I mean big ;) If this happens the PCs might want to run...

Another thing that makes this module work so well is the use of duergar as the movers and shakers along with Ulmvard. I am hard pressed to think about where there have been other modules that feature duergar this prominently. It would have been even better with derro, but I digress! ;)

The atmosphere leaps off the page from the human cities to especially the duergar ruins. The artwork of the module really lends its support as well.

The dark elves are a nice touch and create some great moral dilemmas for some of the PCs depending on the group.

The orb itself is a great item and a great way to rally lead the PCs on, especially if one of them is foolish enough to use it. The fact that it is an artifact that cannot easily be destroyed only adds to this.

This module begs for follow up. Especially if the PCs are successful in thwarting the machinations of Ulmvard! So they defeated him and stopped him from placing the orb. Now what? The Orb needs to be destroyed and it is not an easy task to do. This would be a great followup here. Plus it is entirely up to the DM as to just how this should happen or can it even be done?

Weaknesses

To be honest there are very few here and for the most part it is me being nit-picky and all are easily solved. In fact as I note depending on your campaign some of these might not even be weaknesses.

One thing that comes to mind is the weakness of having Ulmvard's daughter play the role of the guy in the tavern with the mission.. it is a minor point, but one to consider. Someone had to get the information to the PCs. The later issue revolving around her is not that dramatic as the PCs may be unimpressed with the state she is in later, or at least not highly motivated to help an NPC they only just met...

The only big consideration that I thought of on rereading it is that the premise of why the PCs are here and what are their rewards for doing so? The DM needs to take special care here to make sure that the PCs want to go on this adventure. This should not be an issue for an experienced DM as by the time they are 11-15 level the PCs have bigger concerns than getting X amount of gold for a mission... In fact being so open ended might be a boon as the DM can use this to tailor fit it to his campaign.

There is a boatload of monetary wealth here (area 36), but it is unlikely to go to the PCs, not even a fraction of it. Fortunately the author gives some flavor text as to who it actually belongs to, so this creates some nice adventure hooks as to what the PCs do with it. Any PCs of the lawful or good sides of alignment will be hard pressed to keep it as it is readily apparent that this is not the Northmen or duergar loot. Tying into this thought is that the PCs will get some monetary treasure out of this adventure, but very little in the way of magic items. This may be a plus in your campaign, however in my opinion for the level, it is a bit too skimpy. The XP award is right on however for such an epic undertaking.

In conclusion this is in my opinion a gem of a module and the top of the heap for second edition (or very near it). It acquits itself well and is well worth playing. I have left some sections generic and did not go into too much detail as I will be using this module down the line in my current campaign and give away too much.

So for those that have this or have played it, what are your thoughts?

NOTE: Link to the original review can be found here on dragonsfoot.org 

The Most Craptastic Ad Ever in Gaming: The Dragonmaster’s Ring

Usually I’m a live-and-let-live kinda guy, but this one made me roll my eyes so hard they almost popped out from my skull…

How did I come across this? A brief bit of background: one of my most treasured gaming materials is my run of Dungeon from issues #1 through #81, encompassing the entirety of 1st and 2nd Edition AD&D adventures. It took years, but I got them all. Dungeon is an amazing resource. When grogs complain “there are no good 2nd Edition adventures,” I point them to this excellent resource.

But I digress: last week I had a flood as the sump pump float in the basement got stuck. Long story short, I thought my Dungeon mags were safe inside their plastic tote and plastic bags to boot. I was wrong — there was a small hole in the bottom of the tote. So I’ve spent the last week and a boatload of electricity with the fans, the dehumidifier, and my wife’s hairdryer drying the basement and said Dungeon mags. In the process I come across issue #79 and find this “gem.”

Here is the monstrosity of which I speak.

There is so much that is just wrong with this visual. Shouldn’t this guy be in one of the man-bands of the late 90s or something e;se rather than playing role-playing games? There are no words other than “what ass-hat would be wearing this thing and looking like this guy???” The Franklin Mint really outdid itself with this tool. I really like the tag line: “The Secrets of the Universe are Within Your Grasp.” Thank god for that! Within my grasp, you say???? And just $195, exclusively from the Franklin Mint???? Sign me up! And I’m fairly certain most “Dragon Masters” don’t look like Vinnie from the club.

Ugh.