Fortress of the Yuan-ti (Dungeons & Dragons) [Paperback]

Ari Marmell (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 18, 2007 | Series: Dungeons & Dragons

The thrilling conclusion of a three-part D&D(R) adventure series that began in Barrow of the Forgotten King(TM) and Sinister Spire(TM)...

Evil yuan-ti conspire to destroy a kingdom using dark rituals and the bones of a long-dead king. To win the day, heroes must storm the yuan-ti fortress and wrest the bones from the cultists' clutches before they complete their rituals and unleash a far greater menace upon the world.

DD3 Fortress of the Yuan-ti is a Dungeons & Dragons(R) adventure designed for 6th-level characters. The third adventure in a three-part series, it can also be played as a stand-alone adventure.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

ARI MARMELL has contributed to scores of RPG and fiction products. His recent work for Wizards of the Coast includes the Complete Mage(TM) and Complete Champion(TM) supplements as well as The Sinister Spire(TM) adventure.

Product Details

• Paperback: 64 pages
• Publisher: Wizards of the Coast (September 18, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786943602
• ISBN-13: 978-0786943609
• Product Dimensions: 10.6 x 7.7 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #781,170 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

On March 22, 1974, Ari Marmell was hatched out of an egg laid by a rooster on the night of the full moon. Due a mix-up, he wound up in the infant ward at a hospital in New York, where he was claimed as a (relatively) normal human and taken home. He and his family fled New York barely a year later, either because his father received a job offer in Houston, or because they were chased by angry mobs with pitchforks; reports are unclear.

For the next 27 years, Ari lived in Houston. His father told him bedtime stories when he was in preschool and kindergarten, stories without which he might never have become a writer. He received his first roleplaying game--the red Dungeons & Dragons boxed set--at age 9, and the AD&D Players Handbook followed less than a year later. He spent very little time on class work or studies for the next, oh, 13 years, instead spending his efforts on far more important things like fighting orcs, riding dragons, and rescuing extremely beautiful princesses.

Ari went to college at the University of Houston. He began in the Psychology program, but quickly changed his major to Creative Writing. It was in the first week of class that he met his wife-to-be, who goes by the name of George. (No, it's not short for Georgia, Georgette, Georgiana, or anything else that could possibly make sense.) It was also in college that he wrote his first novel, one that he is now determined will never see the light of day, and charitably calls a "learning experience."

In short, Ari graduated in late '96, married George in March of 1997, honeymooned in New Orleans, worked several jobs he hated for the next several years, and quit the last of them in 2000 due to ongoing health issues. During this time, he wrote four more novels, two of which are actually pretty decent. It was also during this time that he managed to break into the roleplaying industry, having attracted the attention of Justin Achilli (developer of Vampire: The Masquerade) with a project submission inspired by his trip to New Orleans.

He and George moved to Austin in mid-2001 so George could attend graduate school while Ari continued to work as a freelance writer. They live there today, along with a large orange cat named Leloo and a smaller gray cat named Pippin who seems unable to grasp the notion that strings, ribbons, and plastic bags do not make up a viable part of the food chain. His first published novel, Gehenna: The Final Night, appeared on shelves in January of 2004.

Today, Ari is shifting his focus from freelancing to more fiction and novel-writing. His second novel, Agents of Artifice, was released by Wizards of the Coast in February of '09. His third novel, The Conqueror's Shadow, was released by Spectra in February 2010. (This was his first published non-tie-in novel.)

Ari's forthcoming novels include The Warlord's Legacy (Spectra, early 2011), the Goblin Corps (Pyr Books mid- to late 2011), and Household Gods (Pyr Books, 2012). You can learn more about him, and keep up with his news and release schedule, at www.mouseferatu.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A horrible ending to a great trillogy, July 21, 2009

By 

Maurice G. Tousignant "Gilvan Blight" (Canada) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Fortress of the Yuan-ti (Dungeons & Dragons) (Paperback)

S P O I L E R - A L E R T

NOTE THIS REVIEW WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS. IF YOU DON'T WANT TO READ SPOILERS AND/OR MAY PLAY IN THIS MODULE AT SOME TIME I SUGGEST YOU READ NO FURTHER.

Summary: The final module in a three part series that includes Barrow of the Forgotten King and The Sinister Spire.

This module contains right off where The Sinister Spire ended with the party stepping through the portal at the top of the Necromancer's Spire. Once through they find themselves in a valley with a small farming village which sits at the foot of a Giant Fortress carved into a Cliff Face. After a quick confrontation with a Naga and a Huge Snake the party learns this is Castle Serastis and that the Villagers are slaves to the Yuan-Ti lords of the castle.

From here the party explores the 6 levels of the Castle running into all manor or Yuan-Ti and their minions. Along the way they will fight a Giant T-Rex Skeleton, A Mindflayer, Various Lizardmen, a Fang Golem and lots more. They will also have the chance to work with some of the castles inhabitants that don't like the way things are going. Along the way the players learn that the Yuan-Ti stole the Forgotten Kings Bones (back to module 1 for that one) in order to use them to resurrect a long dead god, Sertrous. In order to disrupt the ceremony the characters will need to use various portals in the castle to go to bizarre lands and take on wild challenges like Living spells and a beholder and his Enslaved Yuan-Ti Igans.

As the party completes events that disrupt the summoning they are given action points which can be used to give them an advantage in the final battle. In addition they will find some items that are relics from the Forgotten Kings days that will also help them stop the ritual.

The climactic ending takes place in a tower off set from space and time, where the party either saves the day or dies trying (most assuredly the latter, see: The Ugly)

The Good: Another rather interesting story here. Each chapter of this campaign has a unique flavor. The pitiful village and having the players find prisoners in a variety of states throughout the dungeon crawl really gave a feel for how evil the Yuan-Ti were. The castle itself was an interesting dungeon and some of the encounters were very memorable (The living spell and mind flayer fight really stick out). The use of portals to spread the module beyond the castle walls was also excellent. I really liked the concept of the action points, even if they were pretty pointless in the end (see: the ugly).

The Bad: The castle ended up feeling empty. I don't think there were quite enough encounters set up for it and the random encounters just felt like random encounters and not actual creatures moving about a living breathing habitat. This became brutally evident near the end of the module when the party had pretty much defeated every set encounter and were not so high a level that random encounters became free xp. This is probably something that could be adjusted though, personally I just explained it by having most of the Yuan-Ti actually involved in the ritual and not wandering the halls. As was the trend for most of these modules a lot of the baddies were 'cheaters' with lots of save abilities and powers that negated anything the players could throw at them. Immunity to magic, flanking and crits was the norm. The potential allies in this game weren't very likable nor did they really give the party much of a reason to work with/trust them. Which meant in my game that they died along with all the other Snakemen. I think this could have definitely been handled a bit better.

The Ugly: the end of this module is horrible. The last fight is impossible. Even with the Action points and legacy items I don't think any party has a chance. Besides having an EL over twice that of the party, the baddy had quickened spells that could be cast every round. In my particular game the battle was really over in 1 round. One casting of Quickened Evards Black Tentacles caught every member but one. Then that one used every single action point the party had (and they got all of them) to make repetitive attacks on the main baddy with a legacy item. Every single one missed his 33 AC. It was really ridiculous. If you are going to run this series of modules you will have to change the ending, unless you really want a 2 round TPK.

Overall: I really liked this entire trilogy of modules, but this one was the weakest in many ways. The dungeon ended up feeling totally empty and the last battle made the entire campaign pointless. Some interesting ideas like Action Points and portals that spread the dungeon to interestingly unique locals were a nice touch, but not enough to make up for the modules faults. Now any of these problems can be fixed by a DM willing to take the time to modify the module, and in retrospect I wish I had. I still suggest this one if you have played the other 2 modules in the series, but please save yourself and your players some heartache and re-write the ending.

3 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fine game, July 11, 2008

By 

James "JPB" (Maryland, USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Fortress of the Yuan-ti (Dungeons & Dragons) (Paperback)

I have been playing D&D for 27 years give or take. Editions change but the core, the "adventure", has always been the most important part. Fortress of the Yuan-ti is the perfect climax to the other two adventures. No matter what edition D&D you play you can adapt this adventure to fit it. I highly recomend it!

2 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bias Review, July 8, 2008

By 

Scott Stokes "ss2020" (West Hills, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Fortress of the Yuan-ti (Dungeons & Dragons) (Paperback)

I have to state up Front, I love this Race so any book about them gets a little bump. But the adventure is solid so if you like the Yuan-Ti or hate them tis a module you may want. It has a nice hook also.