Wizards of the Coast

An excellent open-ended adventure with so many options for characters. The inclusion of the old action-figure characters from the 80s was an unexpected joy. This adventure isn't for every campaign, but it is an amazing addition to the right game.

First, a review of the new composition and binding. The hardbound volume is very nice, in the style of the 3rd edition Dungeons & Dragons books. The cover illustrations are on an enclosed piece of cardboard, but not in the book itself. The interior of the modules have been reproduced almost exactly. I noticed that the resolution of some of the pictures (for example the front illustration of S1) is lower and a bit pixelated. Also, the 4 illustrations in S3 that were color are black and white. show more There was a full page illustration of the fight between the baboonoids, the characters, and the shambling mounds that is now cut to one page (doesn't appear to include all the original picture). Those are the only discrepancies I noticed casually. Overall, I am very pleased with the presentation. If I were to run one of these to players, I would want to get copies of the maps and some accessories so that I am not constantly flipping pages.

All four of these modules were favorites of me when I was introduced to the hobby in the early 80's. I will review them each individually.

S1 Tomb of Horrors is probably one of my favorite modules of all time (S3 as you will see below is also highly favored). I loved the deathtrap dungeon, the colors (the forest green with the zombie like being fighting a cleric and fighter, with the classic shield design), the artwork that were used to describe the dungeon. I have led a group of adventurers through most of this module once, and it was quite a challenge for them.

S2 White Plume Mountain was a bit of a disappointment to me originally. Only 16 pages long but full price. However, these 16 pages are jam packed with wonky ideas for a dungeon and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it again. I have never led a group through this adventure. I wonder what a successful campaign has looked like, and if the dungeon master elaborated and expanded the material available.

S3 Expedition to the Barrier Peaks was a great favorite of mine. I remember when I first saw a copy (when I was in junior high). I thought the combination of technology with fantasy was awesome. I have always been a bit intimidated with the shear complexity required to run this adventure. I have started out at least one adventure in this module, but didn't get any further then the first level. There is quite a bit for the dungeon master to be aware of to make this a fun and exciting adventure - I believe the experience requirements for the dungeon master are equivalent or higher then the experience requirements for the players. I would love to one day lead a campaign group through this adventure, ideally one set in my customized World of Greyhawk that has developed from the beginning.

S4 When I first saw this module, I was overjoyed about the double booklet format, with one booklet completely devoted to new monsters, treasure, and special artifacts. I loved the classic adventure feel of this module, with the mixture of outdoor adventuring and cavern exploration. After my recent read through the module, I have to suspend disbelief in the great number of encounters in closely located spaces. I know that this is the way of many adventure modules, and I noticed it particularly in this read through. I started one adventure with only one player; it was the only time I played with this particular player and he had a different manner, with diplomacy and thought, rather then my expected hack and slash. I have tried to incorporate and teach this type of play since then.

Overall, I am very happy with this copy of four excellent adventure modules. I hope that digital copies of each of these books is provided soon at drivethrurpg.com (they weren't available at my last check). My purpose for that would be reproduction of maps and aids for game play. show less

As is my wont with the D&D adventure books, I didn't read this cover to cover, but I did read the introduction and the first couple of chapters to get the overall vibe of the adventure. I liked how Ten-Towns gives a variety of starting places for the adventure and that there was a mechanism to allow the party's order of visiting the towns to affect their reputation elsewhere (e.g., residents of the first town the party visits might think the party is great, but the residents of the tenth show more town might feel put out that the party took so long to get around to that town's quest). I liked the poster map of Icewind Dale, too. But I'm probably not the target audience for this particular campaign: just reading about how dark and cold Icewind Dale is was making me feel sad, and I was apprehensive about some of the scary/horror elements that were hinted at. Or it might be fairer to say that I wouldn't want it to be my first campaign. With the right table, it would probably work. show less

It's not perfect, but it's very, very good.

This adventure is the best I've seen from Wizards of the Coast in terms of DM ease-of-use. I'm coming to this from Princes of the Apocalypse, which is a royal mess, and this is a breath of fresh air. While PotA requires massive amounts of page flipping simply to find the basic storyline and What's Happening, Dragon Heist instead includes everything the DM needs to know up front. If you're good at improvisation at the table, you truly could read the show more first chapter to get the main ideas and invent the rest on the fly.

That being said, there is plenty here to run with and you won't run out of content. The adventure is presented flexibly enough that you can modify it on the fly, but with enough information that you don't have to.

You like flowcharts? There are flowcharts.

Encounter maps? Lots of those (older style, not like the Mike Schley maps you might be used to if you've only played hardcover 5e adventures).

Encounter variety? Check.

Factions are useful, relevant and interesting; NPCs have personalities and motivations (though modern politics seeps its way into them); players have freedom to explore; villains are interesting; and the adventure is highly replayable.

Finally, you get Waterdeep. The City of Splendors. Personally, I'm coming to the adventure with very little prior lore knowledge. But there's enough background information presented here that I can see it being quite easy to make the city real and unique at the table.

In all, it's an introductory adventure that contains an incredible amount of useful and easy-to-use information for the DM. If your players are interested in an urban intrigue roleplay-heavy campaign, give it a shot. show less