Persevering with with adventures I, personally, hadn’t learn by from earlier editions, and in addition persevering with our pattern of wanting on the UK sequence of adventures, our subsequent journey is Past the Crystal Cave. Whereas the plot doesn’t straight observe anybody story, there are some parts on this journey borrowed from Shakespear, most notably with the NPCs the group is employed to search out, with their feuding households and forbidden love. Whereas I knew concerning the AD&D 1e model of the journey, I solely just lately realized that this journey was tailored for a season of D&D Encounters in the course of the D&D 4e period.
As with the earlier journey, I can’t communicate to what has been modified from the unique, apart from what the journey itself notes. The unique lovers who created the Everlasting Backyard had been initially female and male presenting characters, and for this journey, each unique lovers that created The Everlasting Backyard are girls. The archfey that seems on this journey, the Gardener, was initially The Inexperienced Man, a personality from actual world folks lore.
Unique Credit for Past the Crystal Cave
Design and Growth: David J. Browne, Tom Kirby, Graeme Morris
Enhancing: Tom Kirby, Carole Morris, Graeme Morris, Don Turnbull
Artwork: De Leuw, Timothy Truman
Cartography: Graeme Morris
Playtesting: Jim Bambra, Jeanette Blaaser, Clive F. Sales space, Michael W. Brunton, Chris Corridor, Invoice Howard, Kate Kirby, Gary Kirkham, Steve Mote, Chris Rick, Dave Tant, Don Turnbull, Pat Whitehead
Art work
There are 15 items of artwork on this chapter. This consists of 9 photographs drawn from encounters within the journey, three maps, two-character portraits, and the picture of the doorway resulting in the journey that seems on the Infinite Staircase. Along with the art work on this chapter, there’s additionally an image of the Gardener that seems within the stat block appendix to the e-book.
The opening portrait of the 2 lovers who initially created the backyard is my favourite piece within the e-book thus far. It options the 2 girls in robes of inexperienced and purple, surrounded by flowers and greenery, within the firm of a younger centaur, a treant, and a pair of dryads.
The Framing Machine
The want that Nafas asks the PCs to facilitate is a plea from two previously waring households to search out and produce house their youngsters, who fell in love and ran away from their house. If the PCs aren’t going to be working for Nafas, the recommended hooks embody the PCs arriving on the island as a part of one other journey, or as survivors of a shipwreck, and being recruited by one of many members of the family. The opposite hook assumes that the PCs had been previous pals of the characters and have simply realized about their disappearance.
The unique journey was set in Greyhawk, so it’s obtained a canonical location that the introduction mentions, nevertheless it provides strategies for putting it in Dragonlance, Eberron, and Theros. I wasn’t anticipating a Magic setting to be thrown in there, however I just like the reference. I respect that the Eberron placement mentions the distinctive planar construction of that setting. The Dragonlance suggestion is to make the youngsters inhabitants of two historically unfriendly nations, such because the Qualinesti and the Silvanesti elves, however truthfully, make it a Neidar clan dwarf and a Hylar clan dwarf and increase your horizons.
Journey Overview
Don’t get your coronary heart set on studying by this assessment when you plan on being a participant on this journey, as a result of there are spoilers on the horizon. Search your coronary heart’s want elsewhere and are available again to the weblog later.
As soon as the PCs arrive on the isle of Sybarate, they’re approached by Governor Folcarae, a member of one of many two previously feuding households. She explains concerning the feud, the youngsters operating off, and that she has employed a number of adventurers over the previous two years to search out them. She’s hoping the PCs can have higher luck. She provides the PCs their final identified location, the Cave of Echoes.
Contained in the Cave of Echoes, if the PCs communicate too loudly, they get suggestions within the type of thunder injury. In the event that they decide that the phrase “ask” on the wall means one thing will occur after they ask for help, the cave will reply them, probably gaining the outcomes of as much as an eighth stage spell, together with a response much like a Divination spell in the event that they ask a normal query.
Whereas most of this journey is designed to be resolved with out fight, the cave has just a few creatures that may get vicious, together with some mud elementals, an ooze, and a few poltergeists. The far finish of the cave has a portal to the Everlasting Backyard, the place the PCs can discover the misplaced lovers, however they should discover a option to tame the waterfall that’s raining down with sufficient pressure that it’s nearly a stable wall. There isn’t one answer right here, the secret’s for the PCs to have some type of inventive method of coping with the waterfall to permit them to move by it, with some examples offered.
Previous the waterfall, the PCs discover the portal to the Everlasting Backyard, which is now a Area of Delight, a area of the Feywild managed by an archfey. The PCs arrive in a fairy ring and have some leprechans they will work together with, who present a number of limericks that give them clues about the remainder of the area. In case you aren’t the kind to have the ability to decipher clues, not one of the clues are essential, however they’re useful.
The PCs can encounter a bronze dragon, some dryads, satyrs, woke up bears, woke up toads, woke up otters, sprites, a treant, centaurs, unicorns, or a chimera. Every one among these encounters offers the PCs the chance to study extra about what might have occurred to the lovers that ran away and will probably study that the inhabitants contemplate the lovers to be the reincarnation of the creators of the backyard, in order that they’re fairly proud of them sticking round.
There’s a location on this area, the Fountain All Heal, which may present the consequences of spells like Better Restoration or Heal. Nonetheless, when you avail your self of this fountain, you not need to go away the area. The one exceptions are characters which can be fey or have fey ancestry. The one option to take away this impact is through a Want.
Since there isn’t a lot in the best way of fight, except the PCs are horrible folks, there’s one encounter the place the PCs could also be , and thus tempted to make use of the fountain. Creatures referred to as barkburs inhabit a grove, and so they can flip folks affected by their toxin into wooden.
Finally the PCs run into the Gardener, who invitations the PCs to sit down with them for some refreshments. They could choose up the good thing about the Hero’s Feat spell now, and the Gardener will present normal solutions about the place the lovers could also be, telling the PCs to navigate the Hedge Maze close by to get extra solutions.
There’s an ongoing puzzle seeded by the leprechauns that can level the PCs at gathering sure leaves. Varied places point out what leaves can be found there, so if the PCs have picked up on the clue, they will begin gathering what they want. We’ll come again to this.
The Hedge Maze, fortunately, isn’t about navigating an precise maze. Nicely, it’s, however not one which the gamers should take care of. It takes a bunch capability verify to navigate the maze, however they will additionally plow by the partitions of the maze, in the event that they don’t thoughts taking injury from the huge thorns that can pierce them as they barrel by. On the heart of the maze is a sundial with impressions for various leaves that needs to be set in it, which can teleport the PCs into the Palace of Spires, the place the runaway lovers presently stay.
Along with the lovers Juliana and Orlando, there’s one other couple, two guards who’re additionally romantic companions, who will shield the palace, Juliana, and Orlando, if threatened. Juliana and Orlando don’t need to go away, as a result of they’ve each been affected by the fountain. If the PCs discover Caerwyn and Porphura’s tomb (the creators of the backyard), and they’re respectful, the inscription on the tomb instructs them that they will make a want, which they will use to free anybody from the consequences of the fountain. As soon as Orlando and Juliana are free, the PCs simply want to clarify that their households are not at conflict to get them to go away.
The PCs want extra leaves to teleport again out of the palace courtyard, nonetheless, the entire NPCs that stay within the palace have tokens of the leaves that can be utilized to activate the teleportation impact, and a few of the NPCs are famous as having an extra set of the leaf tokens. Now, in the event that they tried to raid the tomb, issues go downhill. The PCs are confronted by the Gardner and banished from the area, which adjustments from a nice summer season land to a chilling winter area.
Assuming the PCs don’t upset the Gardener, they will go away with Orlando and Juliana, return them to their households, and acquire their reward.
Ideas on Chapter 4: Past the Crystal Cave
I like having extra choices for adventures that lean extra closely on roleplaying and exploration, though it’s possible you’ll need to understand how a lot your occasion desires that content material earlier than you employ this back-to-back with When a Star Falls. I’m onboard with extra archfey being launched. I might like to have the identical type of range in archfey in D&D lore that we have already got for creatures like demon lords, archdevils, archoelementals, and many others. I wouldn’t thoughts seeing the literal Inexperienced Man as an archfey, since we’ve obtained a lot of different examples of singular planar beings drawn from Earth’s folklore.
I don’t suppose the leprechaun’s limerick concerning the leaves is just too troublesome to observe, however for the reason that leprechans have six complete limericks, one among which doesn’t imply something, and 4 of with are extra foreshadowing then an precise riddle the PCs want to resolve to advance the plot, I’m slightly involved about limerick overload and the PCs not figuring out what is straight away helpful and what isn’t. I respect that the PCs aren’t penalized in the event that they don’t suppose to convey two units of leaves, to allow them to go away the palace. I additionally like you could blunt pressure the hedge maze when you don’t handle to navigate it along with your group verify.
I like all of the little interactions with the varied creatures that populate the area. I respect the callback to some well-known faerie lore, i.e. its probably harmful to eat or drink within the fey realm. This was a enjoyable learn by, and I believe I might take pleasure in operating it. Prepared to take a look at the following doorway!
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