Monday, April 22, 2019

Concluding the The Amazing Shifting Sands Of I3-5 Desert of Desolation By Tracy Hickman, Laura Hickman, Philip Meyers, Peter L. Rice

"Your sleek cloudskate skims across the Skysea. It is midnight. All day long, the glass sea soaked up the scorching desert sunlight. Now, that heat lifts your ship a few inches off the glass and fills its sails. The only sound you hear is the soft swish of the diamond-edged rudder as it cuts a path across the Skysea. 

One thousand years ago, the wizard Martek knew that you would come to find his Sphere of Power. Now, one of his glowing Star Gems shows you the way. The starlight, reflected in the glass beneath you, flickers peacefully. 

Suddenly, the Skysea before you bursts up into a thousand shards of splintered glass, showering into the moonlight! A horrible creature is silhouetted against the moon. You strain against the rudder to keep your ship upright.
Too late! Your cloudskate tips onto one runner, and then tumbles over, skidding to a stop on the glass. As your companions struggle to right the ship, you turn and face the monster. You must hold the creature back to give them time. Without the ship, none of you can get off the glass before the sun rises in the morning. 

Martek's prophecy spoke of heroes, tests, and dangers. Are you the heroes? What are the tests? What dangers and riches lie ahead? "
Yesterday we talked about 
The Oasis of the White Palm module but now we move on "I5: "Lost Tomb of Martek" (1983) . 
You know the official history of this module,"I5: "Lost Tomb of Martek" (1983) was the third adventure in the Desert of Desolation trilogy and the fifth adventure in TSR's "I" series of Intermediate-level adventures. It was published in July 1983." Everything here is going to hinge on the PC's succeeding in the City of the Phoenix. At some point the PC's have crossed over from the real world of alternative Earth WWI over into the fantasy world of your home campaign. This is essential for bringing home the 'other worldly pseudo Pulp Egyptian qualities' I5: "Lost Tomb of Martek" (1983). 




The PC's are going to need every trick in the book to survive the major issues of traps & tricks that surround the Star Gems. There are monsters & horrors hidden within & surrounding the 
I5: "Lost Tomb of Martek". This might be a good time to introduce new heroes & C&C PC's to the fold. There is more then a little other world quality to this module. This module  combines wilderness and dungeon adventures with an underlying storyline but it does so with some very deadly random wilderness encounters. When I ran  I5: "Lost Tomb of Martek" using the alternative WWI background I did so with the fact that time & the spirit realms were very fractured. So I was able to pluck different eras of WWI soldiers, capes, & adventurers into the mix.

Personnel from the Armenian volunteers
including 
KhetchoDro, and Armen Garo, 1914.
 
We had a very mixed party of high level adventurers playing this super module because of its design. 
 The Mobius Tower, whose levels are magically linked in a loop & whose inhabitants appear to be frozen are actually part of a higher vibrational dimension. So this was beginning to fracture & affect the local time space continuum. The two movers & shakers of the conclusion of  I3-5" Desert of Desolation" are the wizard Martek and the efreeti. But its the PC's who are the heroes! This is something to very much keep in the center of the action of play when running  I5: "Lost Tomb of Martek".



Once I5: "Lost Tomb of Martek" concludes it might be time to take a small break & then move on with a Gothic World War I style game. The gates have been shattered even
though the PC's have succeeded in their endevours with the star gems! There is a possibility of using  adapting 2nd edition Ravenloft  RA3 Touch of Death (2e) by Bruce Nesmith  to expand the ancient evils of the Mists into this alternative world C&C game. 


On the whole running through   I3-5 Desert of Desolation  is going to take the better part of a year & half of actual non stop play to go through every  dangerous factions, with the super module's twists & turns of epic campaign level play.


Where I3-5" Desert of Desolation" succeeds is on the actual table top during play. There are all kinds of possiblities that open up with having run through the entire I3-5" Desert of Desolation" triliogy. On the whole there are some really nice narrative adventure lines of play that can be fleshed out. Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd edition Ravenloft  RA3 Touch of Death (2e) by Bruce Nesmith adventure isn't the only option either to flesh out more of a Gothic World War I/pulp supers game either. But we'll get into that tomorrow.  The two essential books here are the Amazing Adventures Manual of Monsters & the C&C Monsters & Treasure book.   
Both of these books expand the possibilities of the adventure campaign  add ons & the  loot from the I3-5" Desert of Desolation
" . 

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