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This adventure was probably OK, but having just played the other two, I think it suffered by comparison. We felt somewhat unsure of what we were supposed to do, felt that random stuff was just happening, and overall just didn't feel a lot of clarity in this adventure.

ENC 1: Intro
 - Previously the WeavePasha seemed in control, had good intelligence and can detect crystals. Here he is "One might be in the hands of the Twisted Rune. They are probably doing bad things too. Stop whatever badness if you can, but if they do have the crystal, get that first."
- Re-write to introduce him with the same tone as the other mods, and have him tell you that he knows the TR have the crystal and to go get it. The TR have magically shrouded it from detection.  Don't bother with secondary objectives that are totally vague.

ENC 2: Wandering about
 - All you learn in this is (1) Jamah has started meeting TR people (2) Next stop is the admin buildings
 - Too many scenes for this minimal info. I'd bring them down to three scenes, of which any two are enough. Seemed just unnecessary. Reading the mod, the fast play instructions (WeavePasha just sends the PCs to the next scene, skipping this one) seem a better choice, but a few focused scenes would be fine.

ENC 3: Fight
 - Good fight scene. Like the spreading fire idea
 - Might want to make it clear if pushing over a bookshelf is the WHOLE line, or just one square. I assumed they were all connected along a line, the GM went with tile-by-tile (which made the battle more cluttered)

ENC 4: Jamah
 - Our GM skipped the following info "The Twisted Rune is inviting delegations from various groups under pretense of selling information regarding their enemies" and so the entire subplot on this made no sense whatsoever. It may be that the GM was confused because J cannot mention their names or some other info. I would ensure via box text that the players recieve this critical information. Then the rest of the mod will make more sense. In fact, it appears the GM has the following limitation "He cannot volunteer information regarding the Twisted Rune, except to groups travelling to buy information from them" which contradicts the section "if the PCs ask about the crystal", in which case he DOES volunteer info.

- We also lost information about why he wants his brothers' bodies. We vaguely got the idea he wanted to bring them back as undead. Which is silly.
- We also had no idea (and apparently the GM cannot either) as to why the undead need info on titles and nobility. 
- We never had any clue that the TR were undead. No-one mentions this, and since they are a known group with a longish history, perhaps that might have been told to the PCs?
- Overall, the organization of this seems poor. Get the critical information into box text, or text that is fired immediately, and organize simialr material in one section (answering the question "what does the TR want with your brothers's bodies" needs to check multiple sections. 
- Alternatively, make a short RP challenge to work out he will only talk to delegates, followed by a short SC or RP challenge to free him from compulsion or appear like delegates and then let him tell information in large blocks.

ENC 5: Many people sitting
 - Nice idea, but too many people and no real idea of which are worth talking to. We talked to a couple, got bored and moved on. Other groups ignored them all. They seem neither necessary or very interesting
 - Scene 5; the slaves cause a problem. It should be made clear that fighting the nobles to free them (probably most groups will want to) will not require a combat encounter. Maybe something like "they do not look very hard to defeat in combat -- you think yourself capable fo disposing of them with little damage". Otherwise the players will meta-game to work out if they have enough time for an optional combat, or feel bad.

ENC 6:
- Like the encounter + skill challenge. Seemed like a lot of checks needed, but alowing 2 successes on a hard made a big difference, and rewarded skilled characters spending a standard action. Excellent.
- Tough fight for our group. Extra ghost beholder for sixth player was hard as the insubstantial nature plus aura 5 made it hard to take out and getting effectively 3-4 attacks a round. Big auras already scale with number of players, so playing with 4, the beholder(s) will get maybe 3 aura and 1 regular eye attack a turn. With 6 they get 8-10 auras + 2 regular attacks a turn. Nasty ...
- .. but not TOO nasty. I liked it! 
- Afterwards ... What motivation, apart from chaos, is there to let in the sea? I'd suggest that when the Lich dies or the machine is offed, the players feel the compulsion drop and hear the other groups leaving (with their evil, evil ways and their slaves!) then there is a reason to open the sea and/or rescue groups

Overall, this module has good combats, but the bits making it into a story were a little confusing and it never seems really clear why you are doing stuff. After most encounters we got the feeling ... why did we do that? It seems the adventure really SHOULD be "The WeavePasha tells you the TR has a crystal. You make a Streetwise check and find their lair. You fight encounter 6 and get the crystal and then call in the city guard who tidy up" and yet far more is necessary (or optional, or just happens). Making steps clearly needed, adding urgency and providing good motivation for the PCs will make this a good module

Jun 9, 2012 -- 9:34AM, Thayana wrote:

Frankly, almost all the roleplay scenes are meant to be optional depending on the interests and time of the players and DM. 

Correct. Pick and choose the parts of the adventure that work best for the actions and interests of the players.

Of all of the CALI adventures, this one is the best designed for PCs (and DMs) to go "off the rails." Much of the adventure is intended to provide the DM tools to customize the experience for the players at the table. 

Those groups who like to explore, investigate, or complete an adventure through roleplay without combat, should find everything they need for a more free-form experience. This adventure works just fine with a straightforward approach, but I suspect many groups will enjoy having the tools to complete the objectives in a creative way (not that there's anything wrong with the "roll initiative" approach). 

Jun 8, 2012 -- 10:23AM, GrahamWills wrote:

This adventure was probably OK, but having just played the other two, I think it suffered by comparison.

I have to second that.

In itself it's a nice adventure and I like it, but IMHO it should have been the first of the series. It just felt so much "less" after what was done in the first two parts.

First the PCs slay a deity or a deity's remnant, then they fight a gargantuan dracolich and in the "grand final" it's a lich with his ghost beholder pet? Really?

That would be a nice warm-up before moving on the slay deities and gargantuan undead horrors, but as the final part it just seems like a demotion. As if you had to win the superbowl in each of the first two parts and then are send back to win a game of highschool football.

They can be played in any order - so go ahead and play this one first, then range out from there.

Yeah, not the most clear adventure, story-wise. Fun enough fights though. 

The Good Show

The Bad Show  

The Ugly Show

I'm sorry if I come over as a negative Nancy in my feedback. I'm sure the intentions were good and if the information for the DM is laid out a little clearer, this can be a great adventure.