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?
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| 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
