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31 of 32 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good, but not Great, December 8, 2000
This review is from: The Forge of Fury (Dungeons & Dragons d20 3.0 Fantasy Roleplaying Adventure) (Paperback)
This is a very mediocre adventure in many ways. In comparison to the Sunless Citadel, Forge of Fury lacked the fine writing that made Sunless Citadel fun to read as well as to play. There were enough nice things about Forge of Fury that I had to give it four stars. First, I think it continues in the tradition of Sunless Citadel by showcasing the third edition and by helping the DM with its many sidebars and hints. In fact, I believe it does an even better job of helping the DM with new third edition rules. Secondly, it also showcases many of the creatures from third edition and it makes these creatures intelligent and worthy opponents. Third, it gives the players a slight chance to negotiate with one set of opponents and to surrender to a different one. I love when role-playing adventures actually suggest tactics that don't include "kill everything you see" and Forge of Fire does an excellent job with that. Now, onto the problems with the Forge of Fury. This adventure brings first edition AD&D to mind with its large dungeons populated by creatures that seem to have little interaction. Though annoying, it's reasonably well explained. Also, a pet peeve of mine with Forge of Fury was the fact that there were so many coins. True, many of them are silver, but it made me wonder where they got the treasure since the dungeon is explicitly not located near any towns. Lastly, in many places the adventure states that treasure is hidden in the room, but doesn't give you a general search DC to use. This adventure is rather hard, a killer in fact near the end of it. I suggest that a DM give the players many chances to break and rest. Some of the traps and creatures can outright kill players if they don't get chances to stop and get back spells. The cleric's ability to convert spells to healing will come in handy. PCs should be around third level when they begin this adventure. All in all, I recommend this because true to how it's described, it "highlights" third edition D&D.
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27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A great adventure, January 16, 2001
This review is from: The Forge of Fury (Dungeons & Dragons d20 3.0 Fantasy Roleplaying Adventure) (Paperback)
We had fun with this one. Following rumors of a horde of weapons from a legendary smith, the PCs find themselves in a dwarven stronghold carved inside a mountain. After the dwarves were killed by Orcs, the Orcs took up residence in one section of the dungeon. In the lower levels dwell troglodytes who have a tenuous peace with the Orcs and come and go via an underground stream. The grey Dwarves have taken over the Forge itself and are trying to discover the secret to the smith's weapons. The PCs went in looking to hack-and-slash their way through the adventure... they learned quickly that would not work. A stealthy approach did work and they made their way through with fewer problems. This adventure works best if your players aren't always the 'frontal assault' type players. Especially since the game includes a couple monsters that are more powerful than the group is ready for experience wise. Smart players will know they're in over their heads. This is a good game to make players think tactically because all the DM sidebars provide tips on the tactics the enemies use. And they use every advantage they can think of. The players will be hard pressed to achieve complete success in this one.
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27 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Monty Haul, December 1, 2000
This review is from: The Forge of Fury (Dungeons & Dragons d20 3.0 Fantasy Roleplaying Adventure) (Paperback)
Good grief, it didn't take them long to start giving away the store again. The treasure presented in The Sunless Citadel is not bad, but in this adventure you keep running across coin hoards numbering in the hundreds. Plus magic items just laying everywhere. The boxed text descriptions were also just a bit lame sometimes, whereas in the Sunless Citadel, they were generally of superior quality. "There's an orc coming right at you!" What's with the exclamation points, anyway? The assortment of monsters and the logic of their placement within the dungeon was rather poor. Too much of that "lurking in shadows and waiting for passing adventurers" mentality. There is a trap that protects nothing and leads nowhere, yet this dungeon was once somebody's home. Who rigs a fire trap on the empty hall closet in your own house? All in all, this adventure harkens back to 1st edition days of adventure design. With all the improvements in style we've seen so far in the 3rd edition products, its a shame they let this mediocre, hack-n-loot adventure into the market. There are better adventures than this in Dungeon magazine, which costs less and gives you four or five good adventures for your gaming dollars, as opposed to just one.
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