Dungeon 180 - FR PT The Spiral Gate - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

Dungeon 180 - FR PT The Spiral Gate

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
Marandahir
Jul 20, 2010 7:27:22 Dungeon 180
The Spiral Gate
A Forgotten Realms Adventure for 16th-level Characters
By Scott Fitzgerald Gray

In the aftermath of the Spellplague, the portal networks that once made Faerûn synonymous with magical power were shattered. With the breaking of the Weave, most of Faerûn’s portals remain inert or unstable, and only the bravest arcanists engage in the dangerous rituals required to bring a dead portal back to life. This adventure centers around three linked and partially functioning portals, the last of which holds power that Netheril seeks. Its power extended into a wide network of gates, but they were shut down by the Spellplague like all other portals. Now the Spiral Gate and its network have been forgotten ... or nearly so. Someone has uncovered lost lore that promises to restore the Spiral Gate to power and leave its network under their control.

All Faerûn’s fate is being shaped in Netheril. You can hide behind your belief that this is all about other lands, other people, other lives, but in the end, your lands and your people will be caught up in this struggle like all the rest. So decide now. Which side are you on?

Talk about this Forgotten Realms adventure here.
#2
Kryptonian_Scion
Jul 20, 2010 8:41:07 I will, without a doubt, be converting the flavor of this adventure to Dark Sun next month. The concept is perfect, with some tweaking needed for the Gate's purpose. The Shadovar and Sand Kings are going to be easily switched out with agents of a Sorcerer-King and the Veiled Alliance, respectively.

The adventure itself is great -- I love the ability in a published adventure for the PCs to pick which faction they will ally with.
#3
gomeztoo
Jul 21, 2010 0:34:47 It's potentially a great adventure - but I haven't yet fully read it.
One thing I think is a pity is that the author was likely unware of some plots that are going on in the Living Forgotten Reams campaign, and thus the trouble with shadow-related portals in the Dalelands (though that info is a bit hard ti find, I guess). There was (still is) a nice opportunity for overlap there, and it would have been nice to see a tie-in.

Gomez
#4
aoirorentsu
Jul 21, 2010 12:36:35 Just finished reading the adventure front to back, and I have to say...

Bravo.

This is a fantastic adventure. I would go so far as to say that I cannot recall an adventure in Dungeon since the start of 4e that is better than this one. Please make Dungeon adventures more like this one, by which I mean (hopefully no real spoilers here):
Importance of PC choices - from choosing which faction to align with (or none at all) to choosing which portal to go find to choosing what to do with the titular "gate" at the end of the adventure, the adventure, the plot, and even the combats are built around the choices the PCs make throughout the adventure, with different PC choices making each part very, very different. Plot-heavy without railroading? Check! Awesome!

Big Encounter Areas filled with interesting tactical complications - from the "market mayhem" of the first encounter to the multi-tiered areas to the crazy portals to the neat traps to the... you get my point. Each encounter area in this adventure presents interesting tactical considerations and plenty of chaos to keep things interesting. To boot, most of the areas are also fairly large, giving the space for running battles. This makes the encounters really fun to read - I can only imagine how fun they would be to play, and that makes me psyched to go out and do it. Awesome!

Banderhobbs! Easily among the coolest and most evocative creatures in MM3, and their implementation here is great. The foreshadowing (no pun intended) is great and the encounter itself looks cool. Awesome!

Freedom for DMs to add content - the adventure is basically like 5 encounters, with lots of "feel free to build additional threats here" appearing at various points. Some people might not like this because it's sort of asking DMs to do work on an adventure, but I think it's cool. Each area is very thematic and visceral, and it would make a good exercise for DMs to think about other ways to strengthen those themes. And even if not, the 5 encounters are sort of the crucial, necessary-to-move-the-plot-forward-type encounters, so I think the adventure would play very well without an add-ons. Compared with the ridiculous superfluity of about 75% of the encounters in Keep on the Shadowfell and some dungeon adventures, this suits me just fine - I'd rather have the cool plots, thanks much! Awesome!

Adaptability - the adventure, as one might surmise, uses a lot of portals. The author mentions that this is intended to allow the whole adventure to take place anywhere in Forgotten Realms, but I (and also Kryptonian_Scion) can see how easily this structure allows it to be placed in any setting. Even in Eberron, where portals and the like are relatively common, this is easy to do with a minimum of changes: put the Spiral Gate near the Mournland, and say it was developed by Cyre (maybe with the help of House Orien) to allow it to send spies and small units of troops instantly anywhere in Khorvaire, but was knocked out by the Mourning. This gives it the same strategic advantage as it has in the adventure as written. In Eberron, make the Shadovar the Karrnathi military and the Sand Kings a heretofore unnamed separatist faction rejecting the unnatural undead of that realm in favor of reverence of primal forces, and you're basically good to go (you might also have to reflavor one of the encounter areas to get rid of mention of a Faerun-specific diety). Easy porting of complete adventure to virtually any campaign setting. Awesome!

My only criticism of this adventure, and it's a small one, is that I see no reason a good-aligned party (which I'd venture is most of them) would align with the Shadovar. Both factions are very evocative and trope-y: the militaristic Evil Empire versus the scrappy Rebel Alliance. One way to go might be to focus on the culture of the Sand Kings and include some cultural practices that typical PCs (and their players) would find somewhat revolting (tailored to the players' personal views to get the right visceral reaction). This would make the Sand Kings feel more fundamentalist and strange, and that might balance out the appeal of the two factions a bit better. Alternatively, you might dial down the Evil Empire-ness of the Shadovar by having their initial overtures be very diplomatic and reasonable.

And one more tiny nitpicking thing that might be better for an errata forum - the creatures in encounter S1 have a trait with no listed area of effect that I can determine. Was it supposed to be an aura 1?

Anyway, long post. Great adventure, Mr. Gray (or Mr. Fitzgerald Gray)!

Edit: whoops! Apologies to Mr. Townshend for misattributing the creation of the awesome banderhobb.
#5
entropysoda
Jul 23, 2010 9:24:10 Awesome to see an FR adventure! Looks great; let's see more FR content in the future.

Another thought is to please give us an "In the Realms" section of all adventures (in Dungeon and published) that guides us how to place and adapt that adventure for the Realms. I used to love those when it used to be done for the previous edition.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 Marandahir Jul 20, 2010 7:27:22	Dungeon 180 The Spiral Gate A Forgotten Realms Adventure for 16th-level Characters By Scott Fitzgerald Gray In the aftermath of the Spellplague, the portal networks that once made Faerûn synonymous with magical power were shattered. With the breaking of the Weave, most of Faerûn’s portals remain inert or unstable, and only the bravest arcanists engage in the dangerous rituals required to bring a dead portal back to life. This adventure centers around three linked and partially functioning portals, the last of which holds power that Netheril seeks. Its power extended into a wide network of gates, but they were shut down by the Spellplague like all other portals. Now the Spiral Gate and its network have been forgotten ... or nearly so. Someone has uncovered lost lore that promises to restore the Spiral Gate to power and leave its network under their control. All Faerûn’s fate is being shaped in Netheril. You can hide behind your belief that this is all about other lands, other people, other lives, but in the end, your lands and your people will be caught up in this struggle like all the rest. So decide now. Which side are you on? Talk about this Forgotten Realms adventure here.
#2 Kryptonian_Scion Jul 20, 2010 8:41:07	I will, without a doubt, be converting the flavor of this adventure to Dark Sun next month. The concept is perfect, with some tweaking needed for the Gate's purpose. The Shadovar and Sand Kings are going to be easily switched out with agents of a Sorcerer-King and the Veiled Alliance, respectively. The adventure itself is great -- I love the ability in a published adventure for the PCs to pick which faction they will ally with.
#3 gomeztoo Jul 21, 2010 0:34:47	It's potentially a great adventure - but I haven't yet fully read it. One thing I think is a pity is that the author was likely unware of some plots that are going on in the Living Forgotten Reams campaign, and thus the trouble with shadow-related portals in the Dalelands (though that info is a bit hard ti find, I guess). There was (still is) a nice opportunity for overlap there, and it would have been nice to see a tie-in. Gomez
#4 aoirorentsu Jul 21, 2010 12:36:35	Just finished reading the adventure front to back, and I have to say... Bravo. This is a fantastic adventure. I would go so far as to say that I cannot recall an adventure in Dungeon since the start of 4e that is better than this one. Please make Dungeon adventures more like this one, by which I mean (hopefully no real spoilers here): Importance of PC choices - from choosing which faction to align with (or none at all) to choosing which portal to go find to choosing what to do with the titular "gate" at the end of the adventure, the adventure, the plot, and even the combats are built around the choices the PCs make throughout the adventure, with different PC choices making each part very, very different. Plot-heavy without railroading? Check! Awesome! Big Encounter Areas filled with interesting tactical complications - from the "market mayhem" of the first encounter to the multi-tiered areas to the crazy portals to the neat traps to the... you get my point. Each encounter area in this adventure presents interesting tactical considerations and plenty of chaos to keep things interesting. To boot, most of the areas are also fairly large, giving the space for running battles. This makes the encounters really fun to read - I can only imagine how fun they would be to play, and that makes me psyched to go out and do it. Awesome! Banderhobbs! Easily among the coolest and most evocative creatures in MM3, and their implementation here is great. The foreshadowing (no pun intended) is great and the encounter itself looks cool. Awesome! Freedom for DMs to add content - the adventure is basically like 5 encounters, with lots of "feel free to build additional threats here" appearing at various points. Some people might not like this because it's sort of asking DMs to do work on an adventure, but I think it's cool. Each area is very thematic and visceral, and it would make a good exercise for DMs to think about other ways to strengthen those themes. And even if not, the 5 encounters are sort of the crucial, necessary-to-move-the-plot-forward-type encounters, so I think the adventure would play very well without an add-ons. Compared with the ridiculous superfluity of about 75% of the encounters in Keep on the Shadowfell and some dungeon adventures, this suits me just fine - I'd rather have the cool plots, thanks much! Awesome! Adaptability - the adventure, as one might surmise, uses a lot of portals. The author mentions that this is intended to allow the whole adventure to take place anywhere in Forgotten Realms, but I (and also Kryptonian_Scion) can see how easily this structure allows it to be placed in any setting. Even in Eberron, where portals and the like are relatively common, this is easy to do with a minimum of changes: put the Spiral Gate near the Mournland, and say it was developed by Cyre (maybe with the help of House Orien) to allow it to send spies and small units of troops instantly anywhere in Khorvaire, but was knocked out by the Mourning. This gives it the same strategic advantage as it has in the adventure as written. In Eberron, make the Shadovar the Karrnathi military and the Sand Kings a heretofore unnamed separatist faction rejecting the unnatural undead of that realm in favor of reverence of primal forces, and you're basically good to go (you might also have to reflavor one of the encounter areas to get rid of mention of a Faerun-specific diety). Easy porting of complete adventure to virtually any campaign setting. Awesome! My only criticism of this adventure, and it's a small one, is that I see no reason a good-aligned party (which I'd venture is most of them) would align with the Shadovar. Both factions are very evocative and trope-y: the militaristic Evil Empire versus the scrappy Rebel Alliance. One way to go might be to focus on the culture of the Sand Kings and include some cultural practices that typical PCs (and their players) would find somewhat revolting (tailored to the players' personal views to get the right visceral reaction). This would make the Sand Kings feel more fundamentalist and strange, and that might balance out the appeal of the two factions a bit better. Alternatively, you might dial down the Evil Empire-ness of the Shadovar by having their initial overtures be very diplomatic and reasonable. And one more tiny nitpicking thing that might be better for an errata forum - the creatures in encounter S1 have a trait with no listed area of effect that I can determine. Was it supposed to be an aura 1? Anyway, long post. Great adventure, Mr. Gray (or Mr. Fitzgerald Gray)! Edit: whoops! Apologies to Mr. Townshend for misattributing the creation of the awesome banderhobb.
#5 entropysoda Jul 23, 2010 9:24:10	Awesome to see an FR adventure! Looks great; let's see more FR content in the future. Another thought is to please give us an "In the Realms" section of all adventures (in Dungeon and published) that guides us how to place and adapt that adventure for the Realms. I used to love those when it used to be done for the previous edition.