Customer Reviews

Against the Cult of the Reptile God: An Adventure for Character Levels 1-3 (Advanced Dungeons & Dragons)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Written by the now extremely well known Douglas Niles (Dragonlance, Forgotten Realms, Watershed, Seven Circles etc), Against the Cult of the Reptile God is one of his earliest AD&D game works. You'd be hard pressed to mention Niles' name in most fantasy circles and not have most people know who he is. In this early module of Niles' we find a mystery in the small Greyhawk village of Orlane. People are vanishing under strange circumstances and the whole town is acting strange. It's your job to find out why. The overall story is strong and well thought out. It provides imaginative players many different ideas of what exactly could be going on and who's behind it. Here are my thoughts on Against the cult of the Reptile God;

Pros

+ Solid story and a well thought out adventure/mystery story that will keep players guessing.

+ Town is well laid out and filled with many unique characters.

+ A very decent amount of wealth to be found and had by players at a relatively low risk.

+ Most areas of the module are well described and written out so the DM knows all possible outcomes. This makes it perfect for novice DMs.

+ Takes place in the World of Greyhawk.

+ Written by Douglas Niles.

Cons

- Dungeon layouts are rather bland and uninspired.

- Town exploration can become extremely tedious for those more interested in dungeon delving. Charmed cult members behavior can be difficult to role-play and often results in aggressive actions towards the players. This in turn causes the players to defend themselves against zero-level NPCs which can make things seem a bit un-heroic. Killing old Tom the charmed farmer and his defensive sons may not sit well with some of your moral players.

- Final battle involves an opponent who has the ability to hurl a fireball at the approaching boat of players. This action alone could be deemed as unfair and extremely devastating to a party of L1-3 characters. Luckily since they're in a boat and hopefully have a DM who knows when to exercise caution when using the full potential of the end boss.

While not flawless, Against the Cult of the Reptile God is an excellent beginning level adventure for both DMs and players. For some of Nile's earliest work it's quite impressive. The detail he puts into the story and all possible outcomes based on the situation at hand clearly shines through on many levels. Definitely an adventure that players will find rewarding and help mold them into seasoned adventurers.

This adventure has it all, but I still think (T1-4) The Temple of Elemental Evil is the best of all time. This gives players a chance to roleplay in a well thought out and developed town where they attempt to discover what is terrorizing the poor sleepy community. Once they discover what is going on the adventurers get to dive into a fun dungeon that has the right balance of good creatures and well deserved treasure. This can be fun even for those dimwitted players that couldn't solve a mystery to save their lives(and it usually does). Design some subplots around the meaty town or use the kidnappings setup in the module. You may find yourself wanting to stay in this town for quite some time! Hey eventually everyone has to figure it out right?

Something very strange is going on in the town of Orlane (on the border between Gran March and the Kingdom of Keoland), and the player's characters need to get to the bottom of it. Evil haunts the area around Orlane, and it will take patient investigation to find out what is going on. And then, it will take guts and a little luck, as the players root out the evil and put a stop to it once and for all!

Against the Cult of the Reptile God is an AD&D (1st edition) adventure module for 4-7 characters of level 1-3. The first part of the module will test the Dungeon Master's role-playing abilities, as the characters interact with all of the many people in Orlane, with all of their various motives. After that, the module becomes a pretty straightforward dungeon, with lots of creatures to fight.

For the most part, I found the module to be very well designed, with a very interesting storyline. My players enjoyed unraveling the mystery of Orlane, and using their brains instead of just their brawn. The module includes lots of nice monsters, including troglodytes. It does not include any interesting goodies, like new monsters or spells, which is too bad, I love these. But, nonetheless it is a fun and challenging module. We highly recommend it!

Very few modules allow the DM to easily create a storyline, aid low level players with a helpful but limited non player character, make use of rangers and druids in wilderness foray, and a creepy dungeon crawl complete with an interesting boss.

The town and temple require players to investigate not only what is happening, but where to sleep (in safety at least). The NPC is a powerful but old wizard who can add some comic effect if played well. Players are forced to make interesting alignment decisions (is a cursed or twisted priest of a good diety fair game to attack?). The wilderness requires guides or tracking skills. The dungeon is simple and there is actually a plan for rescuing people and destroying the entire dungeon.

One of the best modules of all time.

This rare module is the finest introductory-level module ever made for Greyhawk. (I know that's sacrilege, but it's even better than T1; and, your heroes will be much better prepared for T1-4 after they survive this!) You get a perfectly detailed starting base in the northern heartlands, and a wonderful mystery - the reptilian creatures of the Rushmoors are becoming more insidious and organized with every passing week. What is going on? In order to re-establish the trade routes, the heroes must plunge into the depths of the mire, and into a seeping subterranean hell they will never forget... highest recommendation.