Good module -- certainly worth running!
PROS:
- A wild romp through the elves of Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes, in particular the Shadar-kai, not often featured, and of course the dynamic life of the Moon Elves of Faerûn: one of my favorite elven races in WotC's multiverse, because they deviate from the "silent forest-dweller/protectors" as well as the "haughty heirs of an ancient civilization" in their welcoming, wanderlust-y ways.
- Nice jump from environment to environment. We get forests; we get friendly settlements, a hostile one, a merely unfriendly one, aaand back to "deadly" -- all spread over two planes of existence.
- Enviromental Hazards are generally good addition; the Curse of the Evergloom creates the urgency some adventures lack, and I used it.
- Memorable NPCs. I changed some of their names and backgrounds just a little, adding more women to the forefront, but having both a friendly council in the original starter location, the elven village, AND adding a thankful and loyal Shadar-kai to the party helps on several levels -- it creates ties to the world, but it also provides for lifelines should a character die. I had our trusty Shadar-kai NPC ready as a PC all along, just in case.
- Which player doesn't love being a hero, and the ability to save some who are literally "Lost"? Not to mention a whole village! The challenges within the Shadowfell village are not very fleshed out, but even so, they serve as nice reminders to the PC to put their best foot -- and skills -- forward.
CONS:
- The three (!) maps were clearly created in ye olden days pre - global pandemic, when people scribbled with markers on paper at a real table. In a world of Virtual Table-Tops, they just didn't suffice. The number of hours I put into good map-finding and preparation is on me, but the fact these were few, and drab is not.
- As so often, it was quite necessary to add to the various NPCs and their plight, as to get the party invested; money could not play that role in a starter village ravaged by Drow. This was for the better from a narrative perspective, of course, but I note it means more work for the DM.
- The lack of any kind of guidance for the supposedly long travel from the Raven Queen's looming stronghold to the location of the quest villain was a disappointment. I would have expected at least some encounters, if perhaps not combat.
Rating: [4 of 5 Stars!] |
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