DDAL09-06 Infernal Insurgency

Purchased by my Friendly Local Game Store for me to run. As noted, the maps are really bad. My players actually had a really fun time with this, although it's very hard to stick to the module as written, as pretty soon, any group is going to be discovered. They latched onto saving the animals, which gave them a fun mission so overall enjoyable, but needed a lot of work to run well.

Literally the worst. Enjoyed the earlier modules but this module stopped us playing for 3 weeks and we've ended up skipping it.
Almost spoiled D&D for me altogether.
Do not run it.

bad, just bad

Here is my box text I hope it helps.
Dara to pcs page 3 “we need to find the Dump. The Dump is the former Void Chateau. The house, villa, whatever you want to call it; was owed by Chalice Void a mage who played with the dark arts and lost. It is a weapons R&D workshop. They are working on repeating crossbows, saber of just light, and the unholy hand grenade of Asmodeus. “Go to page 4 call to action.
Fai Chen page 4 add bottom of box text “We don’t know the location of the dump. Our attempts to find it by magic have been block by infernal inference and radio jamming. My duplicates have some possible leads you can follow up on. Z’neth the beast master of the pens has spoken about the dump. Elliach has been working on some hand grenades. Flip Franklins a new arrival needs work; I think he is a mercenary. Burney the barber has heard rumors of a silver dragon somewhere nearby. As always Fhet’ahla can authorize contracts. Remember no fighting or casting spells inside Emporium grounds.”...See more
Page 6 Rash, “You have spies watching you. Could be one the imps or people who owe their souls to Asmodeus. You may want to sneak out not to be followed. We know of the way but it will cost you. Steal one of war machines from the dump and bring it to us. “. Bonus B, “Also we heard of rumor that Grinka Swamphair a goblin inventor has created a construct which targets good beings. Destroy it or bring it to us. “
Page 6 D Terror training Wink, “ We will help you. But here the deal, Beirgroach holds our soul coins. We heard he was killed yesterday. Or fled from Mahadi. Recover our soul coins, and you will be our owners. Fang Yi had business deals with the imp.”
Page 7, Burney the Barber, “ Yes I do know the location of Gaarelmorian. But before I give up the last known location, you got to capture someone for me. Trondoz Wildsnow is devil who is station at the dump. Trondoz knows has bragged about sneaking into the tower of Arkhan the Cruel. Find Trondoz. Capture it ALIVE. Bring it to me. “
Page 7 Fang Yi store, “The first thing you notice as you walk into the weapon shop is all weapons incased in glass, with a security seal.”

I played the bonus objective b as follows. It will be stupid and always attack good alignment even means back tracking to smack some one who just been healed from zero hit points.

Questions for Author: Finally started to run this

How are the transmutation bombs triggered? Is this just handwaved or is there supposed to be a set fuse duration

A. Its unclear what the consequences and rationale for having to leave and return to the emporium secretly are. What if they aren't secretive? What would happen? Are they breaking a contract? Forfeiting their souls? Should they get the story award?

B. Tarkleby is kept by Mahadi because Mahadi has “his coin” when if you’re in a soul coin you are presumably not running a shop? Or is Grimble supposed to be a soulless gnome?

C. The P.R.A.T " “They must destroy the prototype and the plans, or risk having it show up later in the course of their missions hunting for Dara!“ There is no story award for completing this. Should this be tracked by the PCs? How would this be known otherwise?

D. There is conflict in the description of the terror troop between main text and the dramatis personae. What are the actual names of the Terror Troop? How many are there? What are their genders and races?. Is a "Trans male" a transman or a transwoman? I could guess but...See more I want to get it right.

This mod is bloated (44 pages yikes) with a frustrating layout and clearly rushed editing. It is full of typos and errors and the maps are almost illegible. The story is very challenging to follow and frankly is even more of a railroad than a typical seasonal mod. I really enjoyed the tier 1 adventures for this season but have been very disappointed with the quality of writing for the tier 2 mods.

I seriously hope that an updated version of this adventure comes out soon, at least fixing the gross errors (the mod claims the DM earns ACP and TCP).

The maps on this adventure are just terrible.

Way too dark, with all black backgrounds, and horrible color grading that hides important details, making them even more difficult to understand.

These maps need to be seriously re-corrected in a photo editing software tool.

Strongly recommend DM's auto-correct these through image editing software before running, especially if maps are being given out to players or used with a virtual tabletop.

The adventure could also seriously benefit from a side view map, one that show all the elevations, entry points, and the where each map level is in relation to the others. (Hint: Despite higher numbered areas, the Lower Level of the Dump is actually *below* the Ground Level).

Is the magic bullet found in the chest supposed to be a sling bullet or a pistol bullet?