To Stand on Hallowed Ground

[Messageboard Golem]

Ok, I have run The ghost machine with my players and have read through the Swords into deception and I really like them both. The final encounter in the ghost machine was really cool, the player's did not find it so cool after they wiped it out -only to face that last little surprise!

The second adventure I need to wait for my players to get some more levels but I can't wait to turn the Medusa assasin on them and the Vargos Lich sorcerer! You characters should be 10 levels for this one, and I recommend it because of the minotaurs and medusa above.

The ghost machine is for only level 6 so we ran it first and will need to run other adventures before trying the second one. That is the part I did not like because you cannot use both adventures right after each other.

Unfortunately they did not have color counters like in Nemorans vault but instead they are only black and white. It was kinda neat to have two covers and when you flip it over you get the second adventure.

There is more roleplaying to do in the adventure by Mike mearls and the Ghost machine is more of a dungeon exploration (it is in a keep). There is a new rule called Alert factor in the castle adventure that helps you decide how ready everyone is for the characters attack.

 

[ASH]

I've just started to pick up 3rd party (or is that 2nd party?) D&D modules; I grabbed this one because I liked both covers and know Jay Stephens from his comics (Land of Nod makes me laugh my ass off!)

Haven't played either yet, though I'm building up to the ghost machine; my PCs are only third level and just going for Forge of Fury.

I like the ideas in both. I like the relentlessness of the undead, and the evil technology -- I may buy The Longest Night to see if the techno/steam theme is similar enough to introduce it into my world.

Mike Mearls adventure is great! I love the badguys - an assassin who's a medusa? Crap, that's scary! I'm going to introduce the Church of Plenty around the time that my players hit 7th level. A few run-ins with the cult will make them ready to invade the island. I like the whole "sneak into the castle" vibe.

All in all, two great adventures that I'm going to use along side the Wizard's official ones.

Ash

 

[Tuerny]

Warning: This review contains plotline spoilers.

Originally appeared on www.AtFantasy.com

To Stand on Hallowed Ground is the third in Fiery Dragon Production's line of d20 modules. Unlike the previous two offerings, To Stand on Hallowed Ground is a collection of two modules. The first one, Swords Against Deception, is written for four tenth level characters and is set in the Kingdom of Tendaria, but is easily adaptable to most other settings. The second one, The Ghost Machine, is designed for four fifth to seventh level characters and also takes places in the Northlands near the Kingdom of Kalendia but is easily placed in another campaign setting. It is priced at $8.95

Plot Outline

As it is a combination of two modules, On Hallowed Ground follows two different plotlines. These plots have a minimal connection in the force that resulted in their current circumstance, but it is nothing that affects them directly.

Swords Against Deception is based around the hook that a new cult known as the Cult of Plenty has emerged within the kingdom. It has become very popular among the commoners of the realm, spreading free good and drink throughout the nation while preaching about the follies of rulership. Recently they spread the word that the world would witness a demonstration of Vargos' power. Soon afterwards an earthquake rocked the region with a small island bearing a castle inscribed with the symbol of Vargos emerging from the water. The cult claimed the castle and dedicated it to serving as a center of Vargos' power, kicking this dedication off with a seven day festival. Almost a thousand peasants traveled to participate. Unfortunately for the peasants the situation is a hoax. In reality Vargos was an ancient sorcerer-king who served his master, the Shadow King, during the Shadow Wars. Eventually heroes rose up to defeat him, summoning powerful divine and arcane forces to seemingly destroy his base. In reality he merely cast a powerful necromantic ritual that put him and his followers to sleep, until he got a chance to walk the earth again. The ritual was flawed, however, and he remained sleeping after his minions awakened. Vargos' most powerful minion, Horus, a mummy wizard, has contacted new, diabolic allies, and created the Church of Plenty in order to bring suitable sacrifices to the area around Vargos' castle to help restore Vargos to his previous power level.

The PCs can be brought into this through a variety of methods, but the end result is that they have to infiltrate the castle. A new d20 system concept, the Alert Factor, is presented in this adventure, helping to facilitate the possible changes that the PC's infiltration blunders can have on the inhabitant's actions. The challenges that the PCs face include a horde of fanatical peasants and pilgrims on the outside, minotaur and hydra guardians within, ethereal osyluths, and a final battle with a medusa assassin, a mummy wizard, and possibly Vargos himself. If the PCs prove to be successful than the threat of Vargos is averted with the blood being previously being used to restore Vargos being sent back the way it came in and the pilgrims panic, fleeing the island. If they fail than Vargos attempts to establish a new power base, campaigning to overthrow the kingdom and rebuild all that he previously had lost.

The Ghost Machine centers around the ruined keep of the sinister gnome inventor Creomesh. During the Shadow Wars Creomesh was a servant of the Shadow King, creating the Doom Furnace to serve as the source of the Shadow King's massive undead armies. With the Shadow King's defeat Creomesh fled to the west and nothing was ever heard from him again. Most of his inventions and discoveries disappeared with him and are assumed to be lost. One of them, a prototype for the Doom Furnace called the Ghost Machine, remains, sealed away in Creomesh's old workshop. It was left undisturbed for centuries until a group, known as the Brotherhood of Form, dedicated to rebuilding structures destroyed in the Shadow Wars unknowingly began to work on the keep that housed his lab. They put together the Ghost Machine just as the stars aligned themselves in the proper way, resulting in the Machine being activated. The Ghost Machine used this opportunity to lash out at the Builders, killing them all and animating them as undead. Due to the special properties of the Ghost Machine, and its connections to the Negative Material Plane, the undead have all been enhanced in one way or another. With that task completed it is slowly expanding its reach, and should reach the next town within two weeks.

The PCs are brought into this adventure through the actions of one Brother Hostia. He escaped the original wave of death dealt upon his comrades by being in a village trading when the Ghost Machine was activated. Unfortunately he was affected by an advanced form of mummy rot that results in him only being able to spout out a plea to stop the monsters before he dies. Immediately afterwards a group of zombies ambush the PCs and it is assumed that the PCs will attempt to stop the Ghost Machine. What follows is an exploration of the keep that houses it with battles with a variety of undead to spice it up. To add variety the Ghost Machine it protected by a windmill generated Wall of Force, protecting it from destruction until the windmill is disabled. If the PCs successfully destroy the machine than the threat it poses is gone for good. If they fail, then its radius of power will continue to grow as it adds to its pool of undead until it serves as a threat to the entire kingdom.

Presentation
To Stand on Hallowed Ground, a standard laminated, stapled, booklet, is thirty-four pages long. The inside covers have tables with a list of the challenge ratings and statistical summaries of the encounters within each adventure, an overview of each adventure, and, in the case of Swords Against Deception, an Alert Factor Tracking Table. Each adventure starts from one side of the book, with the other adventure being upside down when compared to it. The margins are blank and a half inch wide.

Each of the adventures has a cover illustration. The Swords Against Deception cover is by Kieran Yanner, showing a trio of adventurers on a boat approaching the island that serves as the focal point of the adventure. The Ghost Machine cover is by Jay Stephens, and shows some form of spectral undead surrounded by tentacles. The Swords Against Deception cover is a superior piece of work and adds much to the tone of the module. The Ghost Machine's cover, while okay, seems to be a little more silly than frightening. The interior artwork pieces are black and white, depicting characters within the module.

The maps are functional but informative, including a grid and scale where necessary, and major furniture and physical features.

To Stand on Hallowed Ground lacks the colored, cardboard counters that its predecessors contained. Instead it has black-and-white paper counters.

Overview

Each of the To Stand on Hallowed Ground adventures are divided into an Introduction, an Adventure Background, an Adventure Synopsis, the adventure itself, the Adventure Aftermath, and multiple appendixes presenting monster stats, featured characters, maps, and new items within the adventure. Swords Against Deception also includes a section on modifying the adventure.

The Introduction discusses the premise behind the module. Preparation explains what the Game Master must do to properly run the adventure. The Adventure Background & Synopsis explains everything that led up to the current state of affairs (summarized above) and a summary of the PCs tasks in the adventure. The adventure content sections are primarily numbered keys. The Aftermath details possibilities if the PCs succeed or fail at the adventure. The Appendixes detail monster descriptions, featured characters, new items, and the OGL/d20 licence.

Analysis
To Stand on Hallowed Ground's two sections are very different adventures and will be analyzed separately.

Swords Against Deception follows Mike Mearls' previous trend of writing d20 modules that deviate from the norm enough to be interesting while avoiding being too strange. It emphasizes tactical planning and stealth over dungeon crawling. If the PCs follow that route then they will do very well in the adventure. The adventure acknowledges other styles of play, however, and provides suggestions to make the adventure more focused towards role-playing or combat. The Alert Factor serves the primary emphasis of the adventure well, providing a clean and efficient way to handle the task of the keep being alerted to the presence of the PC's. The plot is reasonably interesting, lacking any significant holes. The opposition is well matched to the assumed power level of the PCs. The unique NPCs, including a medusa assassin a minotaur barbarian, and a mummy wizard, and provide memorable foes that can be used both in this and future adventures.

The Ghost Machine is essentially a variant dungeon crawl, providing, with the addition of the Ghost Machine, a slightly spooky and alternative variation on the traditional loot the area, kill the monsters formula. The atmosphere of the keep, with negative energy vortexes, strange machinery, and a plethora of undead are the major strength of the adventure. The opposition is well matched to the assumed power level of the PCs. The amount of magic items that are contained within the adventure is somewhat high, but their placement is usually logical.

The major hole in the module, which will only be noticed by the PCs if they go through both modules, is the inconsistency in the available information about the past between the two adventures. Swords Against Deception basically says that there is little or nothing the PCs can do to learn about Vargos or the Shadow King, consigning knowledge of them to prehistory. The Ghost Machine, however, provides opportunities for the players to draw upon existing knowledge to gain some background about the Ghost Machine. This has only a minor effect on the adventure, however, and it is probable that it will not be noticed by anyone who plays it.

Conclusion
To Stand on Hallowed Ground is another solid adventure in Fiery Dragon's line of modules. Though the Ghost Machine is largely unexceptional, it is very easy to insert into any campaign, requiring as little retrofitting as the 1st edition adventures of old. Swords Against Deception provides a compelling, yet not annoyingly distinct alternative to traditional dungeon crawls. In its entirety it is a useful module and should, in one way or the other, provide something you can use.

Please note that I consider Swords Against Deception to be a 5 and the Ghost Machine a 3.

 

[Psion]

((This review originally appeared on RPGnet)

To Stand on Hallowed Ground
(The Ghost Machine / Swords Against Deception)

To Stand on Hallowed Ground is the third D20 System adventure "module" by Fiery Dragon Productions, and the first in their so called "Bronze Line." Their first two adveutres NeMoren's Vault and The Silver Summoning were part of their "Silver Line" adventures.

To Stand on Hallowed Ground is actually a "double adventure." The book contains two complete adventures: The Ghost Machine and Swords Against Deception (the later sounds like the title to a Fritz Leiber story.) Both sides of the book appear as a front cover, complete with the title of adventure and full color art specific to that adventure. If you are looking at the side with To Stand on Hallowed Ground -- The Ghost Machine on the cover and flip the module over, you will be staring at a totally different cover picture with the title To Stand on Hallowed Ground -- Swords Against Deception. This format is similar to some of the classic Traveller "Double adventures" from the early days of RPGs.

To Stand on Hallowed Ground -- A First Look

As mentioned above, the module is made to appear so that the module has no discernable "back", but two "fronts". The cover is black, and the cover art appears much better than that of FDP's adventure modules to date.

The interior is entirely black and white. Like previous FDP offerings, there are counters included for use with the adventures. But they are not on cardstock, not in color, and you will have to copy them to use them as they are on the back of one of the maps.

The interior of the module itself is 36 pages in length. The pages of Swords Against Deception are labeled A1 through A18 (the last page includes part of the map and the obligatory legal text.) The pages of The Ghost Machine are labeled B1 through B17. The last page of The Ghost Machine half of the book (which would have been "B18" ) includes the counters for both adventures.

The cartography for both adventures is straightforward and legible. Both adventures are sparsely decorated with black and white art. The inside covers contain encounter level summaries as well as an "alert level" chart for Swords Against Deception (c.f.)

To Stand On Hallowed Ground is priced at $8.95 US.

A Look Inside: The Ghost Machine

(Warning: The following paragraphs contain spoilers to the
adventure.)

The Ghost Machine is written by James Bell and is designed for a party of 5th -- 7th level characters.

The adventure is set in an ancient keep that a brotherhood of monks was restoring. Unfortunately for the monks this was no ordinary keep. The keep once housed the invention of a made gnome, a machine called the Ghost Machine. The Ghost Machine was a prototype for an even more powerful invention (the Doom Engine) that is part of the backstory described in the adventure.

The Ghost Machine was made to re-animate creatures as undead. When the monks restored this ancient keep to its former state, they unwittingly restore the ghost machine as well. When they did this, the dead awakened and slaughtered all but one of the inhabitants.

The PC's involvement in the adventure begins when this sole survivor, dying of an accelerated version of mummy rot, crosses the path of the players and beseeches them to investigate the keep and find the source of the horrors therein.

From this point on, the keep is a site-based adventure with strong combat and puzzle-solving components. The PCs must explore the keep and discover the nature of the ghost machine -- picking up clues along the way as to what it is and how to dismantle it -- while in the meantime they are fending off attacks from undead creatures that continue to be re-animated by the Ghost Machine.

The Ghost Machine and the Doom Engine are interesting concepts. The module should prove to be more of a puzzle challenge that than a combat challenge since the continually reanimating skeletons should be easily laid low by a party of the described levels. However, unless the players clue in to the fact that they should get on with the exploration and skirt encounters wherever possible, flurries of low level combats could prove quite tedious.

Overall, this is an interesting site-based adventure. It could perhaps use more clarification as to how the reanimation of defeated undead can be prevented or delayed, because the players certainly will try. When I ran this adventure, my players made use of the mill in windmill to dispense with corpeses. How to handle situations like this will be totally the DM’s call.

A Look Inside: Swords Against Deception
(Warning: The following paragraphs contain spoilers to the adventure.)

Swords Against Deception is written by Mike Mearls for a party of 10th level D&D characters.

The backstory of Swords Against Deceptionis linked to that of the Ghost Machine, but the adventures are not directly tied together. The premise is that a new, generous cult has arisen that is throwing parties around the countryside and is whipping the local peasantry into a rebellious frenzy. The state of the backstory is such that the players may become peripherally involved before this time by experiencing the spread of this cult first hand. The local authorities contact the PCs to infiltrate one of the latest festivals sponsored by the cult.

As you might guess, the cult does not have the best interests of the peasants in mind. Rather, it is a ruse to draw potential sacrifices to the festival so they can be used to fuel the return of a powerful undead being named Vargos, who was the right hand man of an ancient troublemaker called the Shadow King.

Fortunately for DM, Mike Mearls includes in this adventure something that is sorely missing from so many other D20 System adventures: adaptation notes! Sit up and take notes, D20 vendors! If you are going to make an adventure with a specific campaign setting in mind, you need adaptation notes!

The module assumes that the players have a modicum of stealth about them and will be able to sneak into the festival. The adventure will be much more difficult if the party cannot be stealthy and merely "storms the castle." For this very purpose, the adventure introduces an "alert factor" system. If the party does anything to draw attention to the fact that something is amiss, the alert factor of the site goes up. Some keyed locations will include more defenders who will be prepared for trouble if the alert factor is high enough.

In the end, the party will be required to take on some formidable opposition in order to set things right. The final combat occurs in a testing ground that was once used by an ancient sorcerer king to squash competitors. This final area is an arena set up with spell reflecting mirrors that the villain's lackeys (which, unfortunately, includes a medusa character) can take advantage of. The party can also take advantage of them if they are clever.

Summary and Conclusions

Both adventures are well written and embody some good ideas. They seem to be more adaptable to an ongoing campaign than earlier FDP modules, and will doubtless be the sorts of adventure that players reminisce about. (The obstinate undead have already become a much referred to event in my campaign). Overall, both are solid adventures.

The only thing bad I can really say about the module is that I had expected color pull-outs like they had in NeMoren's Vault and The Silver Summoning. That's what you get for setting the bar so high, FDP!

Ratings

Ready to use material -- 4. The adventures are well done site-based adventures. The module does not have nearly the same amount of useful bits that earlier FDP offering had (color counters and player handouts), but is still very good. The use of adaptation notes by Mike Mearls is helpful in fitting the material to one's own campaign.

Idea content -- 4. The premises and settings are interesting, and provide some atypical challenges for the players.

Value for money -- 3. The page count / dollar ratio is about average for a D20 System product.

Overall Substance Rating -- 4.

Overall Style Rating -- 4.

 

[Messageboard Golem]

Two d20 fantasy adventures in one!

Swords Against Deception by Mike Mearls - Evidence that a sharp sword and well-placed kick to a door aren't always the smartest techniques, this adventure features an investigation into a mysterious cult that has the established government concerned. The characters must infiltrate the cult's anniversary festival and determine the true motives behind the Church of Plenty and their new god, Vargos. Stealth, disguise, secrecy and wits are required to penetrate into the cult's inner circle and complete the mission.

The Ghost Machine by James Bell - Have your players started taking the undead for granted? Are skeletons and zombies only so much fodder to wade through before they face their final challenge? Perhaps an encounter with the Ghost Machine may change their outlook. This adventure features a tension-filled scenario as the characters must determine the source and weakness of a seemingly unstoppable army of undead -- as well as learning the true nature of a citadel from ancient and mysterious times. True horror takes over as the dead rise, controlled by a sinister and evil intelligence.

 

[Menexenus]

Summary: This product is very competently written and contains a few interesting ideas, but in the end it falls just short of true excellence.

On the surface: This product contains two 18-page adventures for one moderately low price. On the one hand, getting two adventures increases the use-value of the product for a DM. On the other hand, limiting each adventure to 18 pages places an upper bound on the depth and complexity of both adventures. However, one bonus of having two adventures is that you also get two covers! Both covers are nice, but the one with the spectre on the cover is certainly the more eye-catching. Unfortunately, the interior art leaves a lot to be desired. This is a shame, because one of Fiery Dragon's innovations is the inclusion of illustrated counters for all of the NPCs in their adventures. Generally, this is a neat idea that gives the DM specially designed counters which are intended to represent the specific NPCs in the story. This reduces the need for miniatures while also giving players a realistic idea of what the NPC is supposed to look like. However, when the illustrations are as poor as they are in this product, it is not worth a DM's time to photocopy them, paste them onto a more stable surface (like cardboard), and cut them out. (Some would argue that it is not worth the DM's time in any case.) The cartography is similarly sparse and simplistic.

<Warning: spoilers follow.>

Innovations: (For me, this is the most important category when it comes to separating the Good products from the Average ones and the Superb ones from the Good ones.) The new and interesting idea that (deservedly) gets the most attention from this product is the necromantic engine that reanimates undead in "The Ghost Machine". No doubt, this is a very cool and creatively inspiring idea. However, there is another important and useful idea in this product. "Swords Against Deception" includes an Alert Factor system designed to help DM's determine how prepared the denizens of the castle are in relation to what has happened before. Although this system is very rudimentary, it is a good idea in an infiltration type adventure like this one. (Some of you old-timers may recall seeing something like this basic idea in "The City of Skulls" 2nd edition Greyhawk adventure.)

Pros: One of the outstanding characteristics of this product is how competently the adventures are written from a DM's perspective. Inside the front cover of both adventures is a table of all the potential adversaries in the module listed with map key, CR, and vital stats. In general, this module always seems to provide exactly the kind of information that a DM might need, from door break DC's to detailed monster and NPC combat tactics. I also liked the fact that one of the bad guys is an intelligent mummy with levels in Wizard. (I was disappointed with the mummy stats as described in the Monster Manual.)

Cons: The writers seem forced by their page limits to keep the locations overly simple. This causes particular difficulties in "Swords Against Deception". The backstory tells us that the castle that the PCs are infiltrating was once the home of a 20th level Sorcerer king. Yet the castle has only one floor, only 9 rooms above ground, and only 3 rooms below ground. Pretty tiny castle for an ancient king of such power! Although this is not such a big deal, both adventures could be difficult to integrate into a home campaign. Additionally, those players who like to role-play will be disappointed with the almost complete lack of developed NPCs to interact with. Lastly, the interior art and presentation could really use jazzing up a bit.

Final Thought: This product would certainly deserve a 5-out-of-5 rating if the writers had been given a bit more space to add detail and complexity to their adventures. This product really needed to be 48 or 64 pages instead of 36. However, given their space limitations, these adventures are very well done. If I could give fractions, I'd give this product a 4.33.