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CCC-GAD01-02 Red War: Black Phoenix $4.99
Average Rating:4.6 / 5
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CCC-GAD01-02 Red War: Black Phoenix
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CCC-GAD01-02 Red War: Black Phoenix
Publisher: Dungeon Masters Guild
by Chris R. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 08/25/2021 06:18:34

I ran this module (and the rest of the trilogy) recently as standalone adventures. I used both the PDF and the FG module during the game and found that module detail, contents, maps, etc were well setup and helpful for the DM and players. This took about 8 hours for our group to play including all bonus sections.

This was a very combat heavy module, but the premise was such that it was expected - it was war. So, it actually worked well. Probably the weakest part of the module was the non combat encounter in the sewers. It was an interesting idea that wasn't backed by enough information to justify why the location existed and it's restricted access. I'd suggest either heavily modifying this encounter to have it make sense, or since it was a bonus, skip it, or replace it completely.

The final battle took my group a long time, but that's because I went well beyond the optional level based changes in the module and amped up the difficulty (bbeg healed by redirecting all damage to minions; and fully regenerated in phase changes over the battle, plus I expanded the legendary action options). The phase changes I kept as written as they were quite entertaining. After it was all done, my players commented that it was one of the best combats they had ever had - thanks to this great encounter setup.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
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CCC-GAD01-02 Red War: Black Phoenix
Publisher: Dungeon Masters Guild
by Lance C. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 07/26/2020 23:04:45

I love this entire trilogy. I cannot say enough good things about it. My players loved it as well.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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CCC-GAD01-02 Red War: Black Phoenix
Publisher: Dungeon Masters Guild
by Timothy M. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 08/09/2019 10:09:46

I really enjoyed this module. I ran it without having run or played any of the previous 2 modules in this series, and it was no problem. The module is very well laid out and easy to prep and run. I ran this using fantasy grounds, and the included fantasy grounds mod made running it a breeze. This is one of the best fantasy grounds conversions I've run across, with all the different difficulty adjustments already set up so you just have to choose one, and even some of the special effects that NPC's grant your players already coded in a drag and droppable effects. Little touches like this show that the authors are very invested in making this module as easy to run as possible. I highly recomment this module, whether you are using fantasy grounds or not, and I will definitely be picking up the other 2 in the series and checking them out.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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CCC-GAD01-02 Red War: Black Phoenix
Publisher: Dungeon Masters Guild
by jeremy c. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 04/29/2019 04:23:05
  • This module is 3/4s combat, with half of it being a three-stage boss fight. Needless to say, this review assumes that you're running it for players who all enjoy the occasional heavy combat module.
  • All in all, the combats are decently thought out. They are certainly much better designed than the average module, yet for the sake of making DM adjustments, I will list my nitpicks below (vague spoilers!).
  • The module does not include the two "global" effects which happen during the red war. Although there is a random "war events" table to be used during the one above-ground encounter, it's not quite the same, this may be a disappointment to some of you who enjoy chaos. Nevertheless, this is a pretty intense module so adding more things to keep track of may not be wise.
  • Stage 1 of the boss fight is simply not threatening. I had the side-monsters try to grapple enemies into lava, and I had the fire-immune boss himself simply wade into lava at one point to throw a wrench into the enemy plans. Even then, the fight seemed to have too little damage but too much hit points. The legendary actions are a little too boring.
  • Stage 2 of the boss fight is where your party may start to find problems. My party had spell selection and mobility/ranged problems, so they were already starting to find problems with this boss who had suddenly become more mobile. Were this the end of it, I think it would be sufficient to say that this is simply a learning experience for the players that they need to pack some ranged capability.
  • I completely missed that the magic item in the second stage of the boss fight has two abilities (the module reminds you of one, not that they are to blame) and let him fall off the mount, this is a horribly awkward waste of actions that probably defused the tension. Mea culpa.
  • Stage 3 of the boss fight is an incredibly over-CR'd monster that the author seems to have balanced by providing several NPC-buffs. What it doesn't quite adjust for is just how ridiculously mobile stage 3 is. Some parties will have no trouble with this, but it's quite possible your party will. There's really nothing stopping the enemy from damaging players without really giving the average much chance to damage it.
  • It is completely probably for the DM to play the monster "stupidly" by occasionally ending in range of the party's attacks if this fight is to be balanced.

If I were to do it again, I would shorten stage 1 and lengthen stage 2 somehow.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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