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The second – and likely last – 4th Edition Adventure Path, the Chaos Scar, recently finished with the big Heroic-Tier-ending adventure: Heart of the Scar. Because the Path has just finished, I feel it’s a good time to assess the AP as a whole.

I was initially critical of said endcap adventure, as it was level 9-11 when there had only been a handful of prior adventures above level 6, making it seem unlikely players would be high enough to play in said adventure unmodified.

Was I right? How well did the AP work? Read on then judge for yourself.

Adventure Hook

The introduction to the Chaos Scar series can be found here, which includes the following map: 
 

The “mission statement” the Adventure Path, as outlined by the above article is:

If you’re

The heroes slew the mighty Large Green Dragon known as

baleanor and is now the heroes of the town of Hammerfall. (Also they gained 500g from the dragons horde! and 1,250 Exp!)

Prepare for the next adventure's Conclusion! The Dwarven Halls of Death Part 1

To be a Dungeon Master, you must first be a storyteller.  Each adventure you orchestrate is a chapter in your unfolding work of action, suspense, mystery, and heroism.

At times, adventures are momentous stories that propel characters into situations that are dynamic, intriguing, and fun to experience; these are the adventures that bring the players back to the table.

However, some adventures don't propel the characters anywhere.  By virtue of undue novelty and a fanciful use of awe-based details, some adventures lead nowhere because they have disjointed components: a vague story, unknown enemies or instigators, and a veritable chasm of missing information.  While it is easy to say these elements come from and define a bad or lackluster DM, I would say these elements are

Nentir inn is bustling with patrons.  Most resting before journeying back along the King’s Road to their final destination.  Fallcrest is the epicenter of the vale, all roads lead to or from this great city.  It is a beacon for the weary traveler and a haven for adventurers.  Those seeking employment do not need to look far, every inn and tavern is a place to barter for work.

            Traevus sat in his corner booth, and twisted the end of his beard in his hand.  He was starting to get impatient and worried.  He watched everyone that entered the inn.  He scanned the growing crowd in the tavern.  He has seen just about one of every race and even some that he has never seen.  He got

The 12 skulls is a continuation of the adventure that is found in the redbox set.  I will be publishing pieces pieces as I write them.  Feel free to comment or make suggestions.

I've hit an impasse with Ironfell Fortress. I'd got the party to the courtyard; I'd replaced the carrion crawler with some mephits; and I'd called the harpies sirens because that's what they actually are. But at that point I didn't know what to do with them. The troglodytes were supposed to have been slacking off, and I didn't see why this shouldn't be true of the rest of them. The problem is that if I have the PCs fight their way through, I'm going to have a bunch of monsters who just aren't interested or motivated.

"Prepare to die, evil scum of a balor's armpit!" declared Gunpowder.

"Yeah, whatever," replied the mephit indifferently.

But more than that, the whole scenario starts in the wrong way. When the company got past the portcullis, they had to deal with the troglodytes. The particular

I was going to do something with the Red Hand of Doom, but I turned back to the Lost Mines of Karak with the party trying to get inside Ironfell Fortress. Initially, they thought they'd been rumbled until Kingdom discovered that the guards at the arrow slits were made of straw. That still…

Hang on. Straw? In the desert? How did straw get to some abandoned dwarf fortress in the desert? All right, let's pretend that the dwarves left it behind and in the desiccated desert air it was miraculously preserved. Now according to the notes, the troglodytes guarding the gate have got a little lazy because this isn't exactly Beau Geste and the Tuaregs aren't charging over the dunes on camels (Monday, Wednesday and Friday except for Ramadan; Sundays extra). Troglodytes are chaotic evil creatures,