Customer Reviews

The Doomgrinder (AD&D/Greyhawk: Lost Tombs Series , No 3)

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1 star:		(1)

 

 

This product is definitely the weakest of the three-module Lost Tombs set with a number of flaws. On the ordinary side, some of the prepared encounters appear much too difficult for PCs of the recommended power, for example a mid-level party is unlikely to be able to handle a nighttime ambush by a trio of spell-casting vampires. Several NPCs have been supplied with rather detailed and unusual sexual histories and while TSR has certainly relaxed their standards and ethics recently, one has to question whether this peculiar method of capturing a personality is really necessary especially when it has no real effect on play.

The focus of the product is the Doomgrinder itself, unfortunately it is given short shrift. The interior is made so large that there is no real detailed map, instead the DM is told to use a set of geomorphs. The goemorphic maps are supposed to be turned upside down, sideways, etc. in hopes that the players won't realize that the Doomgrinder floorplans are pretty much the same wherever they might venture. The worst aspect of the Doomgrinder is that it strongly resembles the Enterprise from Star Trek. Once you start thinking about the Doomgrinder in this way, it becomes impossible to run or play the adventure without thinking about the corridors, sliding doors and uniformed security guards from the TV series when describing the halls, sliding portals and derro soldiers of the Doomgrinder. The final scenes take place in the bridge (of course) where I'm sure you will hear "warp speed for Greyhawk, Mr. Tsoolu and be sure to aim for the Mayor's house!" even as the PCs are killing of the Klingon- er derro leaders.

Lastly and without revealing any more secrets of the plot, the history and purpose of the Doomgrinder as a world-wrecking artifact seems to be rather implausible; as with the other two entries in the Lost Tombs series, the product contains information on the Cairn Hills and World of Greyhawk that directly conflicts with earlier published works. The author also seems to have a hostility for the game world in general as shown by a number of snide asides and the cheerful suggestion that this adventure could serve as the perfect means to destroy part or all of the City of Greyhawk if the DM was looking for such an opportunity.

Like Greyhawk? Like a coherent, fun and easy to play scenario? Take a pass on this product.

I ran this module, along with the first two in the series, and found it to be the most fun simply because our group enjoys combat and that's what this module is all about. The basic premise is to stop the city of Grerhawk from destruction by a hostile force. Simple. The problem is the hostile force is actually a moving derro city that can crush everything in it's path and is 100% magic resistant (from the outside). The maps are a pain to use but the sheer size of the doomgrinder prohibits a fully detailed mapping of any useful size, thus the geomorphic cartography (plugging rooms into a blank map of the inside) can be tedious. The module is worth buying if you enjoy a lot of combat and not a lot of puzzles, the reverse of the second module in this series (The Crypt of Lyzandred the Mad). We enjoyed it!