Customer Reviews

Moorguard (High Fantasy)

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This is the second adventure module for the first edition High Fantasy game that is incorporated into the "Adventures in High Fantasy" for the second edition High Fantasy. It is a tournament/marathon style adventure involving the player characters stumbling across a wizard from the Second Age (Age of Men/Mortals) who was trying to make usable copies of two powerful magic items from the First Age (Age of Gods) and finding themselves being attacked by the wizard's forces, the enemies of the dead god (Moorguard) and various other hostile forces. Like the previous adventure module (Fortress Ellendar) it is pretty good for its time in having themes and mysteries woven into the adventure. It is a bit dated in concepts these days and should be revised if used today.

There are some differences between this version and the second edition version. The first edition version is printed on 8.5 inches by 11 inches paper. The first edition also includes a "players handbook" which is made up of the drawings of the outside of the Moorguard temple and the unlabeled maps printed on 8.5 inches by 11 inch pages. The "handbook" also has a cover that shows some warrior using the "Visonary machine" in the adventure ( a warrior sitting on a throne-like structure with a strange crown with dots of light above him with a view of the Moorguard temple). The second edition has the above maps and pictures in the book rather than separate (though it includes instructions of how to make the "handbook") though it lacks the cover art for the "handbook". The inhabitants/monster information tables of the first edition lacks the "level" and the "Difficulty Factor" of the second edition version.

Among the concepts it introduces includes the use of special material for making magic items, ways to break other rules (like in transferring magic), other planes/worlds, a sneaky use for the Control magic (making another wizard forget spells they "memorized"), alternative magics by Dryads, non-potion and non-gunpowder-like technologies by a high level alchemist. It will be up to the Judge to create the actual rules for them.

Art notes: The cover art for the first edition is what Cars Marath (the main wizard enemy) temporarily magically altered form is supposed to look like when first encountering the player characters if they go straight to the skull area. The Teek creature that is encountered (at location M1) as the player characters get closer to the skull is shown in the first edition core rule book for the High Fantasy game cover as one of the opponents in the lower right hand cover (the blue finned creature with extra limbs).

Like the review for Fortress Ellendar, it is suggested that the temple and other aspects include changes to consider things like how supplies move in and out and storage and features like light sources and how wastes are dealt with.

Another part to consider is how distances changes among the maps and which are used and how they fit into the larger continental map (That appears in Goldchester). As an example: for the large overland map there is mention of hexes of travel for day for men and horses which comparing to other sources, implies that each hex is about two to three miles in length (hiking on foot is about 12 miles per day and horses under load are about 30 miles per day). This results in contradictions of the size of the Moorguard temple on the other maps. Which size is correct should be considered in relation to how big Moorguard and those like him really were.

The Judge/Game Master should consider the question of how did Moorguard's body and equipment end up there and where is there signs of what would presumably have been his surroundings before and after dying. As an example, was he in a castle or home that would have been equally scaled in size as he is? One suggestion is that he could have had been on some other "god" plane/world when he was tricked and used the world traveling power of his equipment in accidentally in trying to get away as he died. If his domain was spread over many worlds and there is some form of protection against detection to explain why no else has disturbed the remains for so long. The accidental interactions might also be used to explain why the poison river comes from a crack on the outside of the goblet.

The Eastern Soldiers on the overland map is (as far as I can tell) in the wrong location if they are from the Dark Lord of Fortress Ellendar (located to the north-west by some distance). This could be an interesting way to try to figure out the path used by the Eastern Empire to invade the Western city-states ("Kingdoms") and how strong they really are as well as the relative distances used on the continental map. It should be considered that aside from the direction and distance that Moorguard is a lot closer to the Eastern Empire that Fortress Ellendar and that raises the question of why have not the Eastern Empire sent an overwhelming force against the Bengolies and the Moorguard Temple to get at the treasures and destroy an enemy religion?

The actual territories of the various forces should be considered. This includes the Bengolies (like why have they not attacked the "encounter areas" close (within a few days travel on horses) to the temple and where is there actual range (since they are supposed to be nomads) and the paths they should have left in there migrations.

The Judge should be very careful of how the adventure is introduced. The introduction given is okay for a tournament play where the player characters are simply thrown into the events. In a more normal inclusion in game play the introduction "railroads" the characters with actions that they might not reasonably do. As an example, they might just get information on the boundaries of their territory and talk about how they are doing with regards to the Eastern Empire, then later come back with an army (using Lords of Conquest rules) to conquer the area themselves.

Another consideration is Taus' lands on the large overland map is the actual size given that it is basically farmland and he would either need to use horses or walking to patrol it. Also who does he deal with to sell his products (grains and/or bread) and buy items (at least for taking care of the horses)?

There are some unusual paths shown in the Judge's overland map. Whether they are used or not needs to be considered as some are rather strange and winding and the days indicated do not really match up with the "distance traveled" legend label. Presumably those are not actual paths in the ground given the hostility of the various forces with each other. It should also be noted as to what is actually visible to the player characters as some may or may not be visible from a distance (vague descriptions make it sound like there is a fair amount of forest with occasional grassy and bushy areas.

The interior map of the Moorguard temple and the part of escaping the temple needs to consider how they do so given that there is an underground poison-wine river/cavern running along the back of the temple (though technically at a lower level from the stairs) and how they can get out through the area that is supposed to be opened by the Traveller. Consideration should also be done on the large overland map of where they are supposed to have come out of from those paths shown. How would the inhabitants use the boat given that river in only one-way (which would require them to drag the boat up the stairs and the through the building and other inconvenient difficulties to return the boat). For that matter, while it is beyond the player characters to find out, what happens to the poison-wine river? Does it gradually pollute the world, or is it gradually converted into non-toxic forms or something? Even so, is the chalice forever adding extra mass to the world that could eventually drown everyone? Perhaps given the openings between worlds it heads off to some other world through a natural planar gate. Then again, maybe there are enough disintegration/annihilation magics going on in the world that the overall world matter/mass composition is basically the same.

In the smithy section, there is an unusual magic hammer and anvil (Electra Hammer and Anvil at location M16) whose description seems to make it look like a trap though it is supposed to be legendary and is in an area to be used with no reason for it to be a trap. As a suggestion the damage effect is only between the two items and can be controlled for working extremely temperature resistant materials and to convert raw ore into molten metal and slag (There would need to be something to collect the liquid and so forth. Perhaps part of the "anvil" could be shaped like a bowl with holes for run-off or casting).

It is suggested that the ending speech by Ladamur be modified to not include mention of Terra Ash as that was a name of a location that was created by the isolated inhabitants of a buried area and Ladamur would have no reason to know of them (unless the Judge comes up with some reason and why he would name-drop such an obscure location).

In the second edition version included in "Adventures in High Fantasy", the Judge should be sure to check that the offense numbers given in the "Inhabitants"/monster table match the equivalent character level for the purpose of making sure the correct determining on when experience points are given and what the actual difficulty of the encounter is.