Hey all, Im been running one of my groups through this module as a precursor for a Yuan-Ti vs Lizard folk arch. Anyway, did anyone else find the ending to this adventure a little anticlimactic? How did anyone else jazz it up? Im thinking a Dire Bat (Zotzilaha) instead of the Giant Hyena? A sacrifice by Yuan-ti?
Additionally, the way the last few text boxes and area descriptors read, it seems like they expect players will be entering the adventure from this end. Is that really a thing?
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Hjalmar Gunderson, Vuman Alchemist Plague Doctor in a HB Campaign, Post Netherese Invasion Cormyr (lvl20 retired) Godfrey, Autognome Butler in Ghosts of Saltmarsh into Spelljammer Grímr Skeggisson, Goliath Rune Knight in Rime of the Frostmaiden DM of two HB campaigns set in the same world.
C1, the first edition module, was written as a sort of contest. No one was quite sure what they actually had with D&D back then, so some people treated it like a kind of board game. The Hidden Shrine has a beginning where the characters fall down a hole, and it ends when they cross the finish line. There's a scoring system and a time mechanic with the poison gas. It's a deathtrap escape plot.
As such, it's really not intended to build to a boss fight, like most modules. It was intended to have survivors limping across the line. Keep that in mind if you throw a boss at your players.
Oh I meant is it really a thing that players would enter from Level 3/the above ground temple. I knew all the contest and timed exploration history, in fact that's what excited me about this module.
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Hjalmar Gunderson, Vuman Alchemist Plague Doctor in a HB Campaign, Post Netherese Invasion Cormyr (lvl20 retired) Godfrey, Autognome Butler in Ghosts of Saltmarsh into Spelljammer Grímr Skeggisson, Goliath Rune Knight in Rime of the Frostmaiden DM of two HB campaigns set in the same world.
Oh I meant is it really a thing that players would enter from Level 3/the above ground temple. I knew all the contest and timed exploration history, in fact that's what excited me about this module.
It is certainly possible.
There are some characters possible with abilities where falling down a hole might not be reasonable. For example, a party with an Aarakokra, winged Tiefling or other flying creatures might be able to escape the ground collapsing. Other characters might be able to notice that the ground isn't stable or safe to cross. Another possibility would be that the party might choose to approach the temple from a different direction. They might specifically ask about the layout and possibly fly directly to the temple (parties at this level have 3rd level spells and flying is certainly an option).
In addition, if they choose to approach the temple from behind, the DM has to decide whether the entire dungeon will now be underneath the jungle side of the temple rather than the side with the ruins. This issue can be fixed by describing the temple being surrounded by ruins - but only if the DM thinks about it in advance. Alternatively, the DM could just put the catacombs oriented whichever way works for the direction of approach by the characters but the players might notice.
Entering from the top, unfortunately, negates the death race feeling of the place and the fact that the characters can't afford a rest until they get to clean air. When I ran it, the party fell in and then kept moving until they found a room with the openings to the surface and clean air - set up a camp - and used that to finish off the lower parts of the temple that they had missed. I placed the adventure in a jungle like area like Chult and had an encounter with a T-rex/other dinosaur that caused them to move forward quickly towards the temple - this made it much more reasonable that they missed the unstable ground and the fall into the dungeon.
Our DM ran us through this and we just finished HSoT. As an old time AD&D player I liked the feel of the module, but it clearly is dated. My warlock used Mage Hand to avoid plenty of the traps, and his imp familiar bailed us out of the Pelota room. As a player, I found the gas was not impossible to navigate if you moved fast. The treasure was light, and we actually missed Tolques by not going that way. So getting out at the end was kind of ho-hum.
My DM used campaign lore to spice it up. We had a guide who spoke Olman. So when something happened to him, the fact that we didn't know the dialect was foreboding. We also had a Mcguffin or two that chained to our next adventure. I think you run HSoT that way, and not add a boss fight. Its just a different module from a different time of D&D gaming, which is what makes it unique.
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Hey all, Im been running one of my groups through this module as a precursor for a Yuan-Ti vs Lizard folk arch. Anyway, did anyone else find the ending to this adventure a little anticlimactic? How did anyone else jazz it up? Im thinking a Dire Bat (Zotzilaha) instead of the Giant Hyena? A sacrifice by Yuan-ti?
Additionally, the way the last few text boxes and area descriptors read, it seems like they expect players will be entering the adventure from this end. Is that really a thing?
Hjalmar Gunderson, Vuman Alchemist Plague Doctor in a HB Campaign, Post Netherese Invasion Cormyr (lvl20 retired)
Godfrey, Autognome Butler in Ghosts of Saltmarsh into Spelljammer
Grímr Skeggisson, Goliath Rune Knight in Rime of the Frostmaiden
DM of two HB campaigns set in the same world.
It is really a thing.
C1, the first edition module, was written as a sort of contest. No one was quite sure what they actually had with D&D back then, so some people treated it like a kind of board game. The Hidden Shrine has a beginning where the characters fall down a hole, and it ends when they cross the finish line. There's a scoring system and a time mechanic with the poison gas. It's a deathtrap escape plot.
As such, it's really not intended to build to a boss fight, like most modules. It was intended to have survivors limping across the line. Keep that in mind if you throw a boss at your players.
Oh I meant is it really a thing that players would enter from Level 3/the above ground temple. I knew all the contest and timed exploration history, in fact that's what excited me about this module.
Hjalmar Gunderson, Vuman Alchemist Plague Doctor in a HB Campaign, Post Netherese Invasion Cormyr (lvl20 retired)
Godfrey, Autognome Butler in Ghosts of Saltmarsh into Spelljammer
Grímr Skeggisson, Goliath Rune Knight in Rime of the Frostmaiden
DM of two HB campaigns set in the same world.
It is certainly possible.
There are some characters possible with abilities where falling down a hole might not be reasonable. For example, a party with an Aarakokra, winged Tiefling or other flying creatures might be able to escape the ground collapsing. Other characters might be able to notice that the ground isn't stable or safe to cross. Another possibility would be that the party might choose to approach the temple from a different direction. They might specifically ask about the layout and possibly fly directly to the temple (parties at this level have 3rd level spells and flying is certainly an option).
In addition, if they choose to approach the temple from behind, the DM has to decide whether the entire dungeon will now be underneath the jungle side of the temple rather than the side with the ruins. This issue can be fixed by describing the temple being surrounded by ruins - but only if the DM thinks about it in advance. Alternatively, the DM could just put the catacombs oriented whichever way works for the direction of approach by the characters but the players might notice.
Entering from the top, unfortunately, negates the death race feeling of the place and the fact that the characters can't afford a rest until they get to clean air. When I ran it, the party fell in and then kept moving until they found a room with the openings to the surface and clean air - set up a camp - and used that to finish off the lower parts of the temple that they had missed. I placed the adventure in a jungle like area like Chult and had an encounter with a T-rex/other dinosaur that caused them to move forward quickly towards the temple - this made it much more reasonable that they missed the unstable ground and the fall into the dungeon.
Our DM ran us through this and we just finished HSoT. As an old time AD&D player I liked the feel of the module, but it clearly is dated. My warlock used Mage Hand to avoid plenty of the traps, and his imp familiar bailed us out of the Pelota room. As a player, I found the gas was not impossible to navigate if you moved fast. The treasure was light, and we actually missed Tolques by not going that way. So getting out at the end was kind of ho-hum.
My DM used campaign lore to spice it up. We had a guide who spoke Olman. So when something happened to him, the fact that we didn't know the dialect was foreboding. We also had a Mcguffin or two that chained to our next adventure. I think you run HSoT that way, and not add a boss fight. Its just a different module from a different time of D&D gaming, which is what makes it unique.