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ISSU E 158 | SEPTEM BER 2008 TM A D ungeons® R oleplaying & D ragons Game Supplement CONTENTS 4 THE SHADOW RIFT 54 SEA REAVERS OF THE OF THE UmBRAFORGE SHROUDED CRAGS By Scott Fitzgerald Gray By Logan Bonner A Scales of War Adventure Path A group of mysterious, sea raiders— adventure. Following a lead from capable of appearing from out of nowhere, “Siege of Bordrin’s Watch,” the striking, and disappearing—has terrorized heroes pursue dark creepers who a group of coastal states for some time. were selling weapons and armor Now the leader of the states has asked the to the orcs responsible for trying to attacking Overlook. Their characters to infiltrate the raiders, find out ON THE COVER investigation will take them into the darkness beneath the how they operate, and put a stop to their Illustration by Michael Komarck ancient city, and beyond. An adventure for 4th-level PCs. activities. But once the heroes join the raiders, things aren’t as clear as they were led to believe. Will they succeed at their mission? Or join the raiders themselves? An adventure for 15th-level PCs. 3 EDITORIAL 83 THE TARIFF OF RELKINGHAM 104 DUNGEONCRAFT By Eytan Bernstein By James Wyatt The goddess Erathis has never seemed the sort to demand the sacrifice of 108 SAVE MY GAME mortals in exchange for By Stephen Radney-MacFarland safe trade routes, but that’s exactly what her high priest has demanded. When a local ruler asks the characters to investigate the high priest, a chain of events is set in motion that could shake the city of Wyllea, and the church of Erathis, to its core. An adventure for 3rd-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 158 Back Behind the Screen DUNGEON September 2008 This 10x20 room has two exits, at the north and south ends. A long wooden table extends down the middle of the Editor-in-Chief Chris Youngs room, with a half-dozen humanoids seated around it, planning out some sort of mission with detailed maps and small figurines representing the participants and their potential adversaries. Senior Art Director Stacy Longstreet The above describes an encounter set to take place shortly here position could expect a campaign whose only players would even- Web Production Bart Carroll, Steve Winter in the halls of Wizards of the Coast, specifically Fridays 12 – 2 tually become the younger brothers he forced to sit at the table Graphic Design Shauna Wolf Narciso in the Lost Temple meeting room. I’m about to sit behind the DM (a memory of the worst DM I ever experienced as a player). screen after an edition-long absence and try my hand running the Contributing Authors Eytan Bernstein, Logan Bonner, Scales of War Adventure Path. Third Edition shifted this relationship, in my opinion, into the Scott Fitzgerald Gray, players’ hands. The DM still ran the game and mediated the story. Stephen Radney-MacFarland, First, let me disclose—and this should come as little surprise—that But as far as the rules went, the players had much greater power James Wyatt I am a satisfied convert to 4th Edition. I find this edition to be in how they built their characters and what they could pull off. Tthe most playable I’ve experienced, and I began my love affair Pun-Pun is an example taken to the extreme, but min-maxing with D&D back in 1982. Of course, back then I was in the second characters was rampant, often limited only by the players them- Developers Mike Mearls, Stephen Radney- grade, and playing D&D meant my friends and I sitting around selves. In several campaigns, I witnessed the tension this caused MacFarland, Peter Schaefer emulating what we could remember of the older kids’ actual between experienced players looking to build the most powerful Editors Miranda Horner, Gary Sarli D&D games, using dice borrowed from the family Monopoly set. character they could, and newer players using the character they It wasn’t until the great and glorious Christmas of 1983 when my were most comfortable with—usually, a simpler, less tricked-out Cover Artist Michael Komarck parents bought me a D&D Basic set that I could actually claim to character. be playing a legitimate version of the game. Contributing Artists Dave Allsop, Ryan Barger, Don’t get me wrong. I don’t have a problem with min-maxed PCs. Nicole Cardiff, Randy Gallegos, In the years since, I’ve been the most intrigued by the job of DM. The players were simply using the tools they were given—exactly Saejin Oh, Amir Salehi, In my mind, being a player meant having access to whatever what we’d been encouraging them to do. But in a campaign of Chris Stevens, Francis Tsai magic items, spells, and monsters the DM introduced. On the mixed-experience players, what’s a DM to do? Insist that “stron- other hand, being a DM essentially meant having access to all ger” characters handicap themselves Harrison Bergeron-style? Cartographers Sean Macdonald, Robert Lee, of the magic items, spells, and monsters—who wouldn’t want Find a group of players that were all of the same playing experi- Mike Schley all that fun? ence? This last option is terrible; we want friends around the table, and we want D&D to be enjoyable for all of them. Web Development Mark A. Jindra That said, here’s my confession. Throughout 3rd Edition (includ- D&D Creative Manager Christopher Perkins ing 3.5), I played the game solely in the player’s seat. Throughout These relationships (between the players and DM, and between numerous campaigns, I was content to limit my D&D experience players themselves) largely kept me away from the DM screen Executive Producer, to just my character. throughout 3rd Edition. To me, 4th Edition strikes a tremendous D&D Insider Ken Troop balance between the players and the DM. In my Adventure Path Why? I can boil my thinking down to the following. campaign, some players will have already experienced 4th Edi- Director of RPG R&D Bill Slavicsek tion, some with previous editions, and some are relatively new to First Edition, in many ways, placed the power of the game in the hands of the DM. “Can I do this…?” and “What happens if I…” the game—and that difference in experience doesn’t worry me in were essentially questions posited by the players to be answered the least. by the DM. Not quite sure how a rule worked? Wondering what actions your character can perform? In the 1st (and largely 2nd) In fact, I’m already looking forward to having the ogre bombar- Edition campaigns I played, these were all questions that often dier lob that first cask of burning pitch…. needed answers from the DM. That was the relationship. You tell Special Thanks the DM what you want to do, the DM tells you if you can, you roll some dice, and the DM provides the result. Richard Baker, Greg Bilsland, Logan Bonner, Michele Carter, Jennifer Clarke Wilkes, Andy Collins, Bruce R. Cordell, Jeremy This is not the worst relationship in the world—and it was one Crawford, Rob Heinsoo, Peter Lee, Julia Martin, Mike Mearls, I found myself comfortable with. That said, it’s a relationship Kim Mohan, David Noonan, Stephen Radney-MacFarland, Peter that depends very much on your DM. Someone who ran a fair Schaefer, Stephen Schubert, Chris Sims, Rodney Thompson, game could expect a long-lived campaign. A DM who abused his Rob Watkins, James Wyatt “We are mercenaries, all of us, but only a precious few have honesty enough to admit it. Whether we sell ourselves for coin, for honor, or ideals, we all have a price whose continued payment leads us inevitably to our end. But when that end comes, will you admit to your balance sheet? Or will you lie when you claim that the blood on your hands was spilled for just cause, not simply your hunger for glory?” by Scott Fitzgerald Gray illustrations by Dave Allsop, The Shadow Rift Ryan Barger, Nicole Cardiff, Saejin Oh, and Chris Stevens of Umbraforge cartography by Mike Schley TM & © 2008 Wizards of the Coast, Inc. All rights reserved. 4 September 2008 | DUNGEON 158 The Shadow Rift of Umbraforge “The Shadow Rift of Umbraforge” is an adventure for civilized frontier and a stone’s throw from Sarshan’s WHAT’S AN five 4th-level characters who are approximately half- operations in the city of Overlook, was one of these. ADVENturE PATH? way to 5th level. Characters should be 6th level by the When Sarshan rebuffed Myrissa’s request, Modra Scales of War is the fourth Adventure Path to appear adventure’s end. This adventure is a sequel to “Siege approached the witch in secret.