Really enjoyable adventure. I used this along with the other titles in this series to launch a campaign I am DMing. This was my first time jumping back into being a DM after a long time away from the game. The modules were very easy to understand and provided lots of good information on what was happening in the bigger arc (which I was choosing to use).

I did not run into any problems running the module and the players seemed to enjoy the adventure. Implementing underwater combat was fun and something different for the players and myself as the DM.

I've recommended this entire series several times to other DMs looking for something to launch a campaign or that want something in the Moonsea area.

The Tenets of Bane series were the first Adventures I ever DM'd after reading tons of reviews. Very easy to follow. Very Easy to DM. I've ran this 3 times and the players always enjoy it! I Highly recomment the Tenets of Bane series!

This was easy to DM--didn't even need to look up rules for underwater combat--and my players had a lot of fun. The fights weren't particularly difficult (they managed to talk their way through to avoid the fight with Galinon), but the underwater rules, including exhaustion checks and removing armor, provided a good challenge.

All the module happens underwater, but it does it with style : a player handout containing a summary of the underwater fighting rules, so no need to go and find the information somewhere else ! Some parts in the middle lack some content (for example, it drops you underwater without a map and you're supposed to ask the player to start searching for clues, that you know don't exist here) But this series is well designed overall, and this module fits well in the series.

[WARNING: Potential Spoilers Ahead!]

Was a very good part of the Tenets of Bane series, with a strong story-telling component. Puzzle was quite simple - I suggest actually cutting out the shell and letting players touch the letters accordingly to trigger the catch. Encounters are actually really weak - the difficulty comes from the exhaustion rules and underwater combat. An unlucky party can end up in really bad straits before pissing off the ghost king. Speaking of which - I highly recommend going all out on the encounter/conversation with the king - its the strongest part of the mod, and really really highlights the destructive power of the Tenets and just how evil Bane actually is. I added some 'visual' hints about the King's state - even then, careless players may accidentally trip it into a full encounter, which can be really tough for a party without reliable magic damage (or too much exhaustion).

The ship-captain and mage are recurring characters, so be sure to play them up! Its a good chance to get your players invested with these NPCs before they run into them again in the later parts :)

I just realized I hadn't come on here to rate these amazing adventures! I first encountered this series as a player at the Gamex convention in Los Angeles in May 2018. I played the entire arc and I LOVED the story! Then, in October 2018, I ran this entire arc as a DM both in person and online. I am in love with Dave Zajac now because he put such lovely detail and heart into the series: the document layout, the beautiful color maps, the use of varied and little seen creatures from 5th Edition, the use of weather and exhaustion mechanics, a handicapable person with a great background, one of the only fun underwater adventures I've ever dealt with, and on and on. I was a turd to forget to write the review so today I was on my dmsguild update page when I saw that all 4 adventures had been updated for Season 8. This amazing creator went into each adventure and gave us 2 pages of detailed rewards info (including a page of just the magic items with tables that can be printed for each player) that is just as clear and to the point as everything else about these adventures. If you haven't played these 4 adventures yet, buy them and pass them to a DM who will run them. I doubt you will find a more interesting Tier 1 series than this. If you're a DM, buy this entire set now and enjoy your deep dive into the intricacies of Torm and Bane and all the fun you can have incorporating that into your roleplay.

Underwater is great theme for role playing. Combat might be a bit too much for a table with mostly lvl 1 PCs. Overall, everyone had a great time, including me, the apprentice DM.

Another well paced and written module with just the right amount of hand waving on deep water exploring. Good content and enemies if a bit predicatable. The endind encounter did stall the table as we had to double check character ages due to a poor save and prematurely sending most of the party 20 years over their racial life expectations.

The mechanics of this underwater adventure were well thought out and easy to implement. You definitely want to spend some extra time to make sure you understand the shell puzzle that the players need to decipher, as well as the underwater mechanics. The handouts for players help a lot with this, as do the maps. The item unlocked for season 8 in this adventure is interesting and makes sense, just not sure how many characters will want to use treasure points to purchase it.

An underwater adventure that makes sense at tier 1! My players loved playing this module because there is a good mix of combat and social interaction. Also, there's a fairly simple puzzle to solve but there's a time limit to solve it. Those made for elements that appealed to everyone at the table.

Partial Spoilers Below:

This was an underwater adventure where the underwater rules, plus exhaustion for pressure from deep water, caused major problems. One player ended up with 4 levels of exhaustion. I didn't make that player make the exhaustion rolls on the way back up from the trench the majority of the adventure takes place in.

Like the previous part of this series, the combat was tough to very tough. Two of the three fights had a situation where the fight came down to an open DM roll on whether the PCs would survive or not. Better tacticians or character balance would have helped, but make no mistake, this series goes for the throat.

There is an optional encounter after the climax. It seems out of place and needless padding. However, it also brings the XP up. If you have the time for it, I would place it in a more appropriate place. Action post-climax just doesn't feel right most of the time.

Was it fun? For a combat heavy party, yes. There's a roleplay encounter that can turn into combat if the party murder hobos or their exhaustion screws them up, which happened here. I don't know how a RP titled party would fare.

Had so much fun with the module, but as a newer DM it was tough to keep up with all the rules for underwater exploration and combat. The story was great and the encounters were so interesting! One of my players brought a Triton character and his face lit up when he got the magic item at the end! I would definitely recommend it, but you may have to condense the new rules for the players in some other format so they can remember!

I ran this and the other two initial quests in the Tenets of Bane series at RoleCall 2018. This was my first time DMing in a convention/open AL setting. These modules made for a great experience! Well written and organized, with box text that really lends to role playing and conveying the mood rather than boring your players. These adventures were a breeze to run, and they make it easy to keep the players moving forward without railroading them through the plots.

Ever seen an underwater adventure in Tier1 before? This is well designed to take a party deep into the Moonsea in pursuit of another of the Tenets.

Good background material and a thorough description of underwater combat rules make this a joy to run. Do make sure you provide your players with a summary of what to expect so the martial types can borrow some appropriate weapons. Pretty easy for them to borrow some spears from the crew.

I ran this with the battlemats and found they worked very well. One thing to watch for is the unfun death spiral of failing constitution saving throws and exhaustion levels, combined with the underwater penalties. As the module suggests, it is totally fine for party to get some extra long rests before Part 3.

I found this module to be unusually thorough in handling a wide variety of different approaches to the challenges within.

Do you want to run an introductory underwater adventure to learn the ins and outs of the rule set? THen this is the adventure for you. Great adventure!!! My players loved it and I also learn alot about the rules of running an underwater scenrio. Highly recommend!