Beyond the Veil (Penumbra/D20) (Paperback)

~ (Author) "Iversham is a small community on the banks of the White River, which feeds into the Derideth Swamp..." (more)
Key Phrases: true hoard, breath weapon, score damage, Ethereal Plane, Black Dragon Traits, Derideth Swamp (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Stories about dragons rampaging across the countryside are almost always false. The creatures are just too intelligent, too crafty, and too strategy-minded to "rampage." Rampaging brings the wrath of oath-bound knights, powerful mages, and divinely-protected priests. Why would a dragon want such attention, unless it had some special secret, or unless it was insane?

Or both.

The northern reaches of the Derideth Swamp were once plagued by a rampaging dragon. This black dragon, named Storamere, took a mad glee in attacking human villages, wiping out orc camps, driving off the lizardfolk, and decimating farmland. He met his untimely end, though, in an ambush devised by the monks of the Order of St. Chausle. Storamere died with a curse upon his draconic tongue: "you could not have defeated me in my lair," he told his slayers. "I am forever invincible in my lair."

Now Storamere is back, with a horde of his misshapen half-dragon offspring, to have his vengeance. All that remains of the once-heroic monks are two old men driven mad by their last encounter with the black dragon, so it falls to a band of adventurers to again defeat the mighty dragon -- this time in his palace, where the boastful Storamere claims he is at his strongest.

Beyond the Veil is a D20 System adventure designed for characters of 9th level and up. It includes:

* Stats for the deviant Storamere's half-dragon progeny, including a monstrous stone giant, umber hulk, giant constrictor, manticore, carrion crawlers, and dark elves, all with dragon parentage.
* New D20 rules for dragon bloodspawn -- those creatures with a quarter dragon blood in their heritage -- and stats for a bloodspawn vampire.
* Maps and damage rules for navigating Storamere's lair, a semi-solid palace made of a dangerous, corrosive liquid five feet thick and located in another plane.

About the Author

Monte Cook has been in the game industry for a long time, but you probably most care that he was one of the 3rd Edition designers and wrote the DMG and the Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil. Monte owns his own d20 imprint, Malhavoc Press, that puts out adventures and sourcebooks on his website. When he isn't working on RPG projects, Monte writes fiction like the novels The Glass Prison and Of Aged Angels.

Product Details

• Paperback: 48 pages
• Publisher: Atlas Games (December 5, 2001)
• ISBN-10: 1589780086
• ISBN-13: 978-1589780088
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,210,473 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

0 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Great idea but...., February 16, 2004

By	John D. "john-d8" (Farmington Hills, Mi. USA) - See all my reviews

Yet again it seems Monte Cook has no idea what power levels he is writing his modules for. This is the second one I purchased written by him and it claims to be designed for 9th level characters. Well I and my fellow players didnt think so. Well maybe if you consider loosing half the party without any real ability to respond to be a good challenge then this might be for you. On the third attempt at the meat of the module we finally stumled across a "loop-hole" that would allow us to claim victory. The story premise is good however.