This module is recommended for characters between levels 18 and 100. They play the rulers of Bloodstone Pass. A war against the Witch-King of Vaasa has come to a standstill. The players venture into the Abyss, destroy a mighty demon, steal the Wand of Orcus and take it to the Seven Heavens to be destroyed.
The battle between the mighty undead army of the Witch-King of Vaasa and the forces of Bloodstone has come to a standstill. As long as the source of the Witch-King's power is at work, his evil forces will never be defeated! This module requires the player characters, as the rulers of Bloodstone Pass if following the series, to find the true power behind the Witch-King and defeat it.
The module requires the players to journey to the Abyss, confront Orcus, one of its greatest demons, steal the Wand of Orcus, and destroy it.
The wide range of levels the module is for is dealt with in several ways as well as the general principles described above for dealing with 100th level characters. For some encounters either the number and/or type of opponents vary or the NPC's reaction to the characters vary depending on the total level of the party. Some areas in the module like the city of liches or the city of 100,000 demons, are really too difficult for any party to overcome directly and require approaches other than brute force.
This module is part four of four, though it is not required to have played the previous three modules. While this is the fourth adventure in the Bloodstone pass saga, and the second that sets the saga in the Forgotten Realms, it is the first publication that bears the official Forgotten Realms logo.
At 96 pages the module is larger than was common at the time of publication and is the longest in the Bloodstone Saga. It comes in a loose cardboard cover; the maps are not printed on the inside but in the book itself, and on a foldout poster.
This module is listed as being intended for character levels 18 - 100. The upper end of this range is by far the highest level specified for any D&D module. The module includes a substantial section on running games with 100th level characters. The guidance rests on three principles:
100th-Level characters are not ten times more powerful than 10th-level characters
Apply all the rules strictly
Never give a 100th-level character an even break
The module includes two sets of pre-generated characters. The first set is the same seven characters that have run through the Bloodstone Saga, most of which are now 19th level. The second set are based on great characters of mythology and all have at least one class at 100th level. These characters, who are much more powerful than the versions appearing in the Legends & Lore manual are Perseus, Circe, Hermes and Artemis.
Reception
This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (December 2010)
Lawrence Schick, in his 1991 book Heroic Worlds, found it strange that the module purports to be usable for character levels 18-100, "considering there are no rules for character levels above about 25 in AD&D".[1]
Table of contents
Chapter
Page
Prologue
9
Citadel of the Witch-King
12
Into the Abyss
30
Realm of the Undead
46
The Abyssian Fortress
57
Into the Seven Heavens
78
Epilogue
82
Credits
Design: Michael Dobson and Douglas Niles
Editing:
Brand Manager:
Cover Art: Keith Parkinson
Interior Art:
Cartography:
Typesetting:
Art Direction:
Electronic Prepress Coordination:
Playtesters:
Distributed to the book trade in the United States by Random House, Inc., and in Canada by Random House of Canada, Ltd. Distributed to the toy and hobby trade by regional distributors. Distributed in the United Kingdom by TSR UK Ltd.
^ abcdSchick, Lawrence (1991). Heroic Worlds: A History and Guide to Role-Playing Games. Buffalo, New York: Prometheus Books. p. 101. ISBN0-87975-653-5.
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