Michael Curtis (2)

They fled from the far-flung land of Averoigne: the Amber family, a bloodline of wizards and warriors persecuted for their dark sorcery and occult crimes. In their new world, they built a lavish manor for themselves, the fabulous Castle Amber. For a time, the Ambers flourished, their magical and military might having little equal. Then, however, jealousy and murder struck the heart of the family and the Curse of Stephen Amber descended upon the castle like a fell and heavy hand. Now, the Ambers dwell beyond space and time, imprisoned with their monstrously transformed servants and suffering under the family’s dead patriarch’s death-sent doom. This adventure is an homage to the original module X2: Castle Amber, written by beloved game designer Tom Moldvay in 1981 and partially inspired by the writings of acclaimed weird fiction author Clark Ashton Smith. Herein you will find high-quality scans of the original first edition adventure module, plus commentary by renowned contemporary game designers and writers. A full fifth edition conversion of the original adventure is included, as well as brand new additional adventure encounters and an expanded Castle Amber. This is the perfect old-school “funhouse dungeon” given new life for the fifth edition era. Won’t you please come in? Made in the USA.… (lisätietoja)

This is one of the most interesting megadungeons I've seen, and I've been playing D&D since 1981. Statistics are given in Labyrinth Lord format, but are readily adaptable to any version of Basic D&D, OD&D, or AD&D. This first volume of Stonehell Dungeon offers the first five levels of the dungeon along with the valley in which the dungeon is set. It would take months of gaming to explore even these five levels, as they are quite extensive.

I was initially skeptical about the variation of the "one-page dungeon" format that Stonehell Dungeon uses, but I was won over once I saw it in print. I am very much looking forward to the sequel which will detail the remaining five lower levels beneath those detailed here.

Thus far two supplements have been made available. The first is a freebie, "The Brigand Caves," depicting a twenty-location cave complex where, surprise, surprise, a brigand band has holed up near Stonehell. The second supplement ("Buried Secrets") costs $3 (well worth it, in my view) and details three small dungeon/cave complexes -- two can be located near Stonehell and the last is a small sub-level that can be inserted directly into Stonehell proper.

Highly recommended if you are looking for an old-school megadungeon that's ready to play. I give it 4.5 stars out of 5.

Review copyright 2010 J. Andrew Byers… (lisätietoja)