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The Tree of Blight $2.95
Average Rating:4.6 / 5
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The Tree of Blight
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The Tree of Blight
Publisher: Dungeon Masters Guild
by brad w. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 08/24/2019 13:44:33

I used this to expand upon the Agatha banshee encounter from the Lost Mines of Phandelver (LMOP Starter Set) and for that it was pretty perfect. My players had a lot of fun. Took 3 level 3 characters about 3 hours.

Overall this is a great adventure, maps are awesome, even comes with soundtrack suggestions.

This adventure is very heavy on a bunch of mechanics the author came up with. Some of them I thought were pretty good - the pit trap has a great treasure, or making the tree slowly flood as they get deeper in - others not so much (the door that can't really be opened - I changed this). Because it's so heavy on mechanics, it's perfect for dropping into your own campaign with an existing story.

In my LMoP game, Agatha the banshee had kidnapped a young man from Phandalin's Night Watch (the son of an NPC they liked). Agatha needed him for an unholy ritual - she crucified him to the tree roots in the big cavern below the tree and slowly drained him of blood. The blood dripped onto the altar/pile of sticks which animates the Demon Blight. So this gave them more motivation to go inside, and it kind of upped the horror aspect to discover this gruesome scene and made the Demon Blight... more demonic. For more variation in monsters/fighting tactics I swapped one of the Yet Another Blight Encounters with Gricks.

I like to use sound effects so I appreciated the music ideas and "clacking" for the big baddy as the players got closer - but I changed it to the sound of dripping (blood) which becomes the sound of a heartbeat as they enter the room and see what's going on. This was extremely effective, especially with the passage with the twitching vines preceding it. My players were scared shitless as they got to the last encounter.

My only complaint is that this is in desperate need of some editing and proofreading. Some of the "read aloud" passages are awkwardly phrased, like the author didn't bother to read them aloud themselves. The descriptions of the mechanics are way, way too long winded and hard to refer to in game since it's buried in several paragraphs.

Thanks my players had fun!!



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
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The Tree of Blight
Publisher: Dungeon Masters Guild
by Derek G. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 03/25/2018 15:25:32

Very well written! I will enjoy this allot, and im sure my players will even more!



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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The Tree of Blight
Publisher: Dungeon Masters Guild
by Keith H. J. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 02/12/2018 01:26:44

Ran this adventure tonight with a couple of things I added in. Module is well written and was very easy to drop into my campaign.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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The Tree of Blight
Publisher: Dungeon Masters Guild
by Mark S. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 01/20/2018 19:07:45

This fit nicely into LMoP. I wrote a little mystery where the PCs had to figure out what was causing the blights at Thundertree and then figure out what a Gulthias Tree is and track down a vampire who knew Gulthias and where the Gulthias Tree might be in the Thundertree area. I made it so Detection spells wouldn't show the location of the tree. Once they solve the mystery, I ran this module to have them rid the area of all blights as the first step in restoring Thundertree to its former glory. Well written except for some typos. I found it a bit difficult flipping around for monster stats so maybe a little organization change could help.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
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The Tree of Blight
Publisher: Dungeon Masters Guild
by Ryan W. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 06/19/2017 19:38:26

Below, I have summarized my findings by listing a few key examples for each point. They do not cover everything, but they highlight the bases for my review.

Overall, the story is good and clearly written. It faithfully adapts the story of the Gulthias Tree with vivid flavor text and detail-oriented environmental descriptions. Some phrasings are a bit off, like "steady trickle of stagnant water," but word choice is generally good. Behavioral descriptions and battle strategies are concise and clear.

There are quite a few typos and other grammatical errors that distract from the content. The most common is the use of "it's" instead of "its," though there are several sentence fragments and other errors.

The author provides a diverse array of additional resources, such as maps, music suggestions, and optional table mechanics, that are awesome for a number of reasons. Having maps to go with makes DMing over things like Roll20 much easier. Saving time on finding background soundtracks is hugely beneficial for DM's that choose music for ambience. I haven't seen table mechanics represented before in an adventure like this, the concept is fascinating and leads me to think of problem resolution in a new, thematic way.

The adventure provides many variants to RAW for certain situations, which wouldn't be a problem if these rulings were distinguished. The conditions listed for reference vary from hazily worded to flat-out wrong, with Grappled being the prominent example. Additionally, the falling damage for the pit is calculated incorrectly, among others. Druidcraft being cast on the door grates on me because the spell very clearly states the options it can provide; a literal interpretation of the door's triggers declares that setting the door on fire is dangerous unless it's done with druidcraft.

All in all, the adventure is good but can definitely be improved. From a playability standpoint it's solid, but there are a few kinks to iron out before its potential truly shines.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
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The Tree of Blight
Publisher: Dungeon Masters Guild
by Nick H. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 05/03/2017 15:03:44

This is well written, and the story could fit into most campaigns.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
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The Tree of Blight
Publisher: Dungeon Masters Guild
by Michael H. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 09/22/2016 12:35:17

A fun adventure perfect for a quick afternoon one-shot. The music soundtrack suggestions are a great value-add. Music is a really good way to immerse your players into the story. I thought however, for a one-shot, that including some sort of puzzle or non-combat challenge would really set this adventure apart.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
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The Tree of Blight
Publisher: Dungeon Masters Guild
by nathaniel l. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 09/04/2016 00:17:17

Very awesome one-shot to add into campaigns or would be awesome to run at conventions. Very well put together and love the added mechanics and soundtrack suggestions! All of my players really enjoyed it and I look forward to running it again at some point. Pulled together the soundtrack and made a playlist if anyone is interested and doesn't mind youtube.... https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnrQTDzxWUa_wuABX3h1YNCb9I7Y17H86

My only suggestion for a revision that isn't really a must, but it would be handy to just go ahead and put the monster stats for the blights in the module for those that don't have the MM or don't want to have to look it up or write it down on something separately.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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The Tree of Blight
Publisher: Dungeon Masters Guild
by Gordon J. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 08/24/2016 15:37:24

A great piece that slotted in nicely to my homebrew with only a few cosmetic changes needed to fit my setting. It provided a great challenge for my players and I recommend it!



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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The Tree of Blight
Publisher: Dungeon Masters Guild
by Zodiac O. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 08/18/2016 13:13:35

Played this adventure with the party that Glen Cooper, the author, mentioned in the Foreword PDF. I was the Fighter that got seperated.

Honestly was an absolute blast to play through this adventure; since our group wasn't told beforehand on what to expect, we ran through it with no idea how the adventure would play out, as it should be. By the end of the adventure we felt as if we had really accomplished something, only just triemphing in victory from near certain death. What I loved most about this as a PC was the mystery and horror-like atmosphere that the environment imposed on us; from the silhouette of the creepeist tree I can ever think of, to the dark, damp and rotten depths that I fell into from the hidden hole/trap above (which is how I got seperated).

My character and I were terrified at this point, being completely alone and blinded by darkness, scavenging desperatley for anything to help me out, thinking I would get attacked at any moment. Thankefully I did find something that helped me, and my companions eventually came down to help. After that it was a real team effort when we explored deeper into the caverns, even when all of us were Level 3. I highly recommend this venture to any gang that's still starting out and wants to explore something on the side of their main quest. I guarrante it won't dissapoint!



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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The Tree of Blight
Publisher: Dungeon Masters Guild
by Nahuel O. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 08/17/2016 02:21:04

Espectacular encounter! It has it's own mechanics and they are awesome! Very nice ilustrations and maps too. I did not have the opportunity to play with the recomended music, but if i play it again, and i probably will, i'm going to use it for sure.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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