| - | - | A1 Slave Pits of the Undercity | - | - |
| Dragon 43 | - | 1st Edition AD&D | - | Dragon |
GenCon XIII, if notable for nothing else,
had the largest single
AD&D
tournament yet staged. In the 4 days it ran, the tournament
became an endurance test for players and
judges alike, as 9-character teams battled their way past euroz,
jebli,
gnolls
and other perils
to discover the secrets of the powers of
the slavers of the Pomarj in
the World of
Greyhawk. 5 first rounds were required to narrow the
contestants down to a mere 135 semi-finalists
which in turn became
only 45 finalists, To do all this required
5 different 1st-round scenarios,
a semi-final round, and a final-round design.
The tournament scenarios which were used
form TSR's new "A"
series modules. Of the 4 modules of the
series, 1 has been released
and the others will appear in the months
to come. Released Now is
A1: Slave Pits
of the Undercity, while coming in the future will be A2:
Secret of the
Slavers Stockade,
A3: Aerie of
the Slave Lords, and
A4:
In the Dungeons
of the Slave Lords. Each module contains 1 or
2 of the scenarios which were used, plus
further information and
encounters for use in a campaign.
Briefly sketched, the modules deal with
the
Slave Lords and their
ring, an organized band of raiders. A1
starts the characters in a port
city of the
wild Pomarj, a regiion overrun by humanoids,
there to
destroy the denizens of a ruined temple
&& gain information leading
to the next step. From the information
gained, the characters travel to
A2,
a deserted fort used as a stopping point for caravans of slavers.
Here they must discover the secret which
the leader of the stockade <link=leader>
holds. After this, led on by clues, the
party must enter the secret town
of the Slave Lords (A3)
and find and destroy the slavers' council. The
final module leads adventure in the hidden
dungeons of the town,
and here, in A4,
the characters will be tested to the utmost of their wits
and skills.
The following sections will give both the
players and judges of the
first module in the series (A1:
Slave Pits of the Undercity) some advice
and suggestions for good play, based on
the experiences of
players and judges in the GenCon tournament.
During the 2 sessions of tournament play
presented in A1 (the
temple and sewer sections), it soon became
obvious what made a winning
team. Several of these qualities have been
printed before, but in
some cases it was obvious that the lessons
had not been learned. The
most important factors for the teams that
did well were organization
and decisiveness. Organization shoed in
many ways. Since players
were working under a 4-hour Time
limit and their time began the
minute they were given the character sheets,
long set-up times hurt
the party, cutting into the actual amount
of time they had to actually play.
Therefore, quickly deciding who should
play what character and listing
(either on paper or a blackboard) the HP,
class, level, and
special items of each character helped
to quickly get things under
way. The choice of caller was also important;
a strong, quick-thinking
caller whom the others obeyed often pulled
a mediocre team into the
upper ranks. Quick decisions about what
to do and bold actions usually
succeeded in pulling a group through a
tough situation. No party
was helped by the Magic-User
who said, "I think I'll cast this spell--
no, maybe I won't -- well, I don't know."
This type of play only slows
down the game, frustrates other players,
and allows the DM more
time to plan his or her actions.
Players entering A1
should not be afraid to fight. In some ways this
module is a hack-and-slash piece, although
there are some surprises.
The sewers and the temple are well guarded
and players will have to
take on several defenses that are designed
to kill intruders. At the
same Time,
several situations will require the players to stop and think
and some (especially the non-tournament
areas) are best handled by
running away. When fighting, characters
should also do their best to
distribute the damage among the party members,
rotating the point
position when necessary. Nine somewhat
wounded characters will
prove to be more more useful than 4 or
5 fit characters.
When playing the tournament, as in all tournaments,
it is important
to always advance. Players who ignore an
obvious route because it
looks too dangerous or impossible or characters
who waste time
SEARCHING
dead ends when there is someplace else to go are not going
to win. SPEED
is important in timed situations. One should never go
back when there is a way forward. Again,
this applies to being READY to
attack, make QUICK
decisions, and act. Players should always have one
eye on the clock, watching the amount of
time they have left.
The spells and special items of characters
hvae been chosen
specifically for those characters given
in the back of the module.
Certain encounters in the sewers and the
temple have been designed
to make the best use of these spells and
items. The character who has
a Wand
of Fire should realize that it was intended that he or she use
that item in the module. Therefore, spells
and items should not be
hoarded and never used, but should be saved
until that moment when
they can do the most damage to the enemy.
This is a tricky guessing
situation for the player and a good team
will show its talent in using its
powers well. Those characters with spells
and items should be sure
they understand these thoroughly, including
ranges, areas of effect,
durations, and limitations. In tournament
play, spellcasters often
managed to kill or severely injure more
members of their own party
than monsters. Many situations in the module
can prompt a panicked
reaction -- casting a Fireball
without thinking about space, or a Color
Spray
from the center of the party, were two of the examples that
occurred. Such errors will quickly serve
to reduce a party's chances.
When judging Slave
Pits of the Undercity, it is important that the
monsters act to the best of their ability.
For example, orcs and half-orcs
are intelligent and will know a great deal
about fighting and how to
survive. Aside from the instructions concerning
how to handle monsters
that are given in the module, certain other
tactics may be normally
followerd by intelligent
monsters. In corridors and constricting
spaces, the greatest number of attacks
will be made against leaders --
those in front, obvious spellcasters, and
those shouting orders. In large
spaces where combat is more general, intelligent
monsters will attempt
to surround and isolate party members,
increasing their attacks
on weaker-looking members unless the instructions
giiven say otherwise.
One option not stated in the module that
an enterprising DM might
want to consider is attempting to capture
the party. Several areas --
the false slaves, the final area of the
tournament sections -- would
have more than enough figures to attempt
to overpower a weakened
or small party of characters. Should such
an attempt succeed, the
slavers will try to learn how much the
characters know of the operation
-- either through trickery, spells, or
torture. Once any information
has been gained, the characters would be
treated as slaves to be taken
to the main stronghold of the slavers and
from there sold into slavery
(an adventure in itself). Of course, proper
precautions would be taken
to prevent thieves
from escaping, Clerics from praying, or
Magic-Users
from regaining spells, and all equipment
would be taken away (never
to be seen again?). However, if the DM
does not want to go to all this
trouble, it might be just as likely that
the slavers would cut the throats
of the party as a WARNING
to other foolhardy adventurers of the risks
they TAKE.
There are 2 corrections to be made on the
map of A1, both of
which should be obvious to those DMs who
have already read the
module. The first is in the upper section
(temple) at area 16. This
should be lettered 16A, 16B, and 16C; not
16, 16A, 16B. The other is
on the key to the module -- a circle indicates
a trap door in the floor,
A1
is FUN and tough, a good challenge for a band of hearty adventurers
of mid-level. As one player in the tournament
said, "I'm
going to get this module and inflict it
on my FRIENDS." If he did, they
were sure to have some challennges.
| The Winners!
Out of more than 800 players who competed,
Michael Lang (also named Best Adventurer)
Also honored as Best Judge of the 40-plus
Dragon offers its congratulations to David
|