CONTENTS 4 MENACE OF THE 56 THE LOST MINE OF KARAK ICY SPIRE By Greg Vaughan By Sean Molley New to Loudwater, the heroes learn of a tower locked in ice in the nearby wilderness. Traveling there, they discover that the tower’s master left many surprises behind for the ON THE COVER unwary. A FORGOTTEN REALMS® Illustration by Wayne Reynolds adventure for 1st-level PCs. 3 EDITORIAL 23 THE ZIGGURAT BEYOND TIME A Scales of War™ Adventure Path By David Noonan adventure. The PCs must travel to the 94 DUNGEONCRAFT Rising from the surface of Samplelong-lost file mine of the Karak family of By James Wyatt a massive lake, an ancient Overlook, in the hopes of securing a ziggurat travels through steady supply of ore for the town’s needs 97 SAVE MY GAME time for purposes unknown. in this time of war. But once there, It’s up to the characters to they discover that another party has By Stephen Radney-MacFarland enter this strange relic and also discovered the mine, with much discover what dark threat more nefarious purposes in mind. An the structure poses. An adventure for 6th-level PCs. adventure for 21st-level PCs. DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, D&D, DUNGEON, DRAGON, d20, d20 System, Wizards of the Coast, all other Wizards of the Coast prod- uct names, and their respective logos are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast, Inc., in the U.S.A. and other countries. This material is protected under the copyright laws of the United States of America. Any reproduction or unauthorized use of the material or artwork contained herein is prohibited without the express written permission of Wizards of the Coast, Inc. This product is a work of fiction. Any similarity to actual people, organizations, places, or events is purely coincidental. Printed in the U.S.A. ©2008 Wizards of the Coast, Inc. No portion of this work may be reproduced in any form without written permission. For more DUNGEONS & DRAGONS articles, adventures, and information, visit www.wizards.com/dnd EDITORIAL 159 The Heights of Villainy DUNGEON October 2008 After several weeks away from my regular DMing duties, I finally got a chance to jump back behind the Editor-in-Chief Chris Youngs screen recently, and was immediately reminded why I enjoy D&D so much. I mean, the power, right? Okay, I kid (mostly), but wow, did I have fun. I can partly attribute this to the break, and partly to the Senior Art Director Stacy Longstreet ease with which 4th Edition games move, but whatever the cause, it was great to get back in the saddle. Web Specialist Chris Sims Web Production Bart Carroll, Steve Winter At last week’s game, the characters had the opportunity off a good, unsuspected betrayal, your players will never to fight one of the adventure’s main villains. He was really forget that moment . or that villain. Graphic Design Shauna Wolf Narciso tough, the fight was long, and by the end, the players hated this guy. I started to reflect on why the players responded Hit ’em Where it Hurts. Steve points out that the Contributing Authors Sean Molley, David Noonan, so viscerally to this villain. What about him got under Ravenloft® setting had some of the best advice on Stephen Radney-MacFarland, their skins? And I realized that, in this case, I’d used one villains. Ever. “There’s a reason why the villain is called Greg Vaughan, James Wyatt of my favorite villain tricks to make this particular bad ‘master.’ He’s in charge. He’s calling the shots. He knows guy more hateful. Several times during the fight, I’d have about the heroes through his spies, informants, guards, Developers Mike Mearls, Stephen Radney- Ahim pointedly call out one of the heroes on the battle- and scrying. He knows what they’re up to and is almost MacFarland, Peter Schaefer field. I’d slip into first person mode—something I’m not always a step ahead of them. He doesn’t wait to be as prone to do when I’m playing, but much more likely to attacked, he carries the fight to the enemy and hits them Editors Miranda Horner, Gary Sarli do as a DM—and I’d point at a character’s player, and tell when they’re weak. He doesn’t crush them with a single Cover Artist Wayne Reynolds them, “You’re next,” or something to that effect. Of course, blow but delivers ‘the death of a thousand cuts’ (because this was most effective when he’d just dropped someone, making the players feel helpless and then prolonging Contributing Artists Rob Alexander, Ryan Barger, which happened a few times. Calling the characters out their agony is the best).” If every time the characters turn Ben Wootten, brought the energy up, made the fight memorable, and got around, a villain has taken something from them—an me thinking about other ways you can make a boss fight NPC they cared about, captured a city they’d just left off Cartographers Kyle Hunter, Sean Macdonald, the stuff of legend. defending—when they finally get to face him, they won’t Mike Schley be able to restrain themselves from bringing the hurt. So I polled theSample D&D Insider staff and file got several Web Development Mark A. Jindra great ideas: Evil is as Evil Does. Few things will get the heroes’ D&D Creative Manager Christopher Perkins backs up like pure, unadulterated callousness. Steve and Bring ’em Back Again. And Again. Bart points out that Chris both pitched this idea, and I couldn’t agree more. Executive Producer, bringing back a villain who was soundly trounced is great The simple coup de grace has served me well in the D&D Insider Ken Troop for upping the hate. I couldn’t agree more. Like many past, and we all seem to agree that a villain who really of the tricks in this list, you don’t want to overuse this embraces his own vile nature is one the PCs will be Director of RPG R&D Bill Slavicsek one. Save it for a villain who was already memorable for eager to face and destroy. another reason, though, and you’ll really get under your players’ skins. If you do use this trick, do it with a fresh So next time you’re planning a villain for your next spin. For example, make the death blow from the PCs’ campaign, or for your next Dungeon submission, keep so first encounter a prominent scar. Or consider upping the me of these ideas in mind. And never be afraid to stare a villain’s power level a second time around. If he was pretty player in the eye and promise them that they’re next on squishy in round 1, make him extra tough the second time your list. around, and give him a new power or two. Et Tu? Betrayal is a common trope of D&D villains, and one that can be overused. Chris Sims points out that if you betray your PCs too often, they’ll come to suspect and Special Thanks resent every NPC you send their way—however Richard Baker, Greg Bilsland, Logan Bonner, Michele Carter, innocent their intentions. Save your betrayals, he Jennifer Clarke Wilkes, Andy Collins, Bruce R. Cordell, Jeremy advises, for a really devastating moment. And only use Crawford, Rob Heinsoo, Peter Lee, Julia Martin, Mike Mearls, the trick once or twice in a campaign. If you really pull Kim Mohan, David Noonan, Stephen Radney-MacFarland, Peter Schaefer, Stephen Schubert, Chris Sims, Rodney Thompson, Rob Watkins, James Wyatt Menace of the Icy Spire “MENACE OF THE ICY SPIRE” is a DUNGEONS & DRAGONS® adventure for five characters of 2nd level. The adventure is set in the FORGOTTEN REALMS® setting near the town of Loudwater in the Gray Vale. This adventure is designed to work well Sample file with the sample adventures found in Chapter 1 of the FORGOTTEN REALMS Campaign Guide. In particular, this adventure makes an excellent sequel to Barrow of the Ogre King, which introduces Loudwater and the surrounding area along with several NPCs who would make ideal patrons for sending the PCs on this adventure. However, it is not necessary for the characters to have visited Loudwater previously. by Sean Molley illustrations by Rob Alexander, Ben Wootten and Ron Lemen cartography by Kyle Hunter TM & © 2008 Wizards of the Coast, Inc. All rights reserved. 4. Octoberber 20082008 | DUNGEON 159159 Menace of the Icy Spire BACKGROUND Feywild and his tower was sealed in a block of magic that the cold temperatures appear to be more pro- ice as a warning to others. The fey set a powerful nounced in the area of the Dire Wood. Rumors even About 30 years ago, a dwarf warlock named Draig- gemstone holding a spirit of winter to act as the tell of blizzards in broad daylight! Some claim it is the durroch came to the Gray Vale. Draigdurroch keystone holding the icy barrier. work of evil faeries, but the town’s leaders believe that was part of a cabal of warlocks, and his particular The ritual enacted by the fey was designed to have a more likely source of the problem is Draigdurroch research dealt with the creation of new types of a limited area of effect—Draigdurroch’s tower was Tower. No one has seen or heard from Draigdurroch eldritch pacts. He believed that the Dire Wood encased in ice, but the surrounding lands were not in 30 years, and the tower’s cursed history is well contained a particularly potent source of untapped supposed to be affected.