I never assumed that this is where she lived, just a sublevel to store treasure and bodies. I always imagined that she had an actual fortress complex somewhere in Perrenland.
Doesn't she have a moon base? From which she is staging her attack? According to search the fact she has a moon base is mentioned in the original sjocanth adventure
This is the third dungeon my paladin/cleric character played. The background is so rich. Iggwilv was an archmagess, who knows what magic she had working? Dao? Detect evil. Improved invisibility. They didn't see us until it was too late. Earthly delights? Sorry I like my paladinhood too much. The two lead (10th lvl) characters had improved invisibility rings (inaudibility). We snuck through much of the caverns. When we met truly evil characters we took quick notice. We loved the pech. We got along great! When you get there I will tell what we did with the final fight.
Well, you know what I always say, "Never trust a guy in silken pantaloons who lives in a cave." This was interesting, and I dug all the extra monster talk too. Off topic but on, I like the way you do cold opens/intros before the opening theme. And yet another great t-shirt.
Multi-part reviews of classic Greyhawk modules are a GREAT idea. I'm very much enjoying this! Also you hit on something that has bugged me for years. I know that it's "fine" to play D&D where the dungeons don't have to make sense, but I have never been able to understand the "why" of some of these. "Who on earth builds an underground maze full of traps and monsters and valuables? Why does it look like the floor plan was drawn up by someone really really drunk?" I have to have an explanation or it'll bug the crap out of me. Making the caverns of Tsojcanth an addendum to some other adventure site that you can actually believe could be there, like an old half-ruined keep on the Perrenland border, makes sense. Players explore the keep's lower levels to find, surprise! a menacing hidden entrance to the actual Caverns "that was there all along"...I love that. I'd want to be prepared to answer questions from my players like "was the keep was built there to conceal it, or was it the other way around?" Sorry for the long post; this makes me actually want to run this adventure.
Your considerations about the unseen parts of the map are really interesting, I had overlooked this fact when I had run the module. Anyway, I made my little additions: a "throne room cavern" with a partially sealed access from area 6 in the lesser caverns (the party can help the Pechs to open the way) and a magical chute on the island in area 19 that teleports everyone who falls in it to area 9 in the Greater caverns.
Yeah it never made sense that someone so powerful would try to rule a country from the middle of a hard to reach mountain range anyway. It is set up more like a protected tomb of an ancient wizard...with a weird zoo attached :) Then again tournament modules were all very similar in style for a particular reason.
Thanks for taking the time and effort to make these reviews. Im buying one module a month, and will avoid buying this one. Expedition to the Barrier Peaks as well. Cheers
This will always be one of my favorite D&D modules and memories but you absolutely cannot apply logic to LCoT, it's an absolute funhouse approach to dungeon design and a testament to a certain age where that was the thing to do...but tons of fun to run
I always looked at the pre generated characters in the modules as an indicator of what a group of player characters should encompass. Not necessarily the races and classes but abilities and equipment for successfully completing adventure.
I didn't see Iggwilv's lair as the headquarters of an empire. She'd conquered Perrenland and surrounding areas, but I'd think she'd likely do more governing in Schwartzenbruin, down in Perrenland proper. I considered this lair more her secret getaway, where she did her more questionable activities. Likewise, the last time I ran this (and if I ever run it again -- maybe next year), I added a 3rd level which had more finished masonry, with the entrance hidden below Drelnza's sleeping slap.
There have been several comments along those lines. Unfortunately they run counter to the plain language of the introduction (first paragraph): "Legend states that the arch-mage gained much of her prowess from discovering the Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth, where in was hidden magic of unsurpassed might. It is certain that lggwilv ruled her domain from these caverns. There she also conducted arcane experiments and rituals, trying to further increase her powers."
@@GreyhawkGrognard I don't see them as necessarily running counter to the passage you quoted. Our presidents generally work in Washington DC, but also conducts business from Camp David and other personal homes. While it is "certain that she ruled her domain from these caverns," I don't think it's necessarily that she did it from there exclusively. I consider this to be more her Camp David, where she could handle more private (and nefarious) ventures and kept the more public affairs going on in Schwartzenbruin or somewhere similar. She copuld have even had a private gate somewhere within the caverns that would allow her to teleport back and forth between both locations, somewhere deeper in the caverns that aren't covered by the module. This would explain why her private lair wouldn't be very accessible as a headquarters as it is "right now" or prior. Note that the module itself has ZERO when it comes to a lair of Iggwilv to do her experiments, sleep, or other activities. This is why I homebrewed a third level which covered all of that -- and it makes more sense than what we see in the original.
Another excellent video tutorial of a classic adventure module
I never assumed that this is where she lived, just a sublevel to store treasure and bodies. I always imagined that she had an actual fortress complex somewhere in Perrenland.
That would make sense, but it unfortunately contradicts the text of the module in the DM's background.
Maybe she lived like a bachelor, and her obsession with the demonomicon meant she didn't have all the pretty rooms of the silver princess.
Doesn't she have a moon base? From which she is staging her attack? According to search the fact she has a moon base is mentioned in the original sjocanth adventure
This is the third dungeon my paladin/cleric character played.
The background is so rich.
Iggwilv was an archmagess, who knows what magic she had working?
Dao? Detect evil. Improved invisibility. They didn't see us until it was too late.
Earthly delights? Sorry I like my paladinhood too much.
The two lead (10th lvl) characters had improved invisibility rings (inaudibility). We snuck through much of the caverns.
When we met truly evil characters we took quick notice.
We loved the pech. We got along great!
When you get there I will tell what we did with the final fight.
Well, you know what I always say, "Never trust a guy in silken pantaloons who lives in a cave."
This was interesting, and I dug all the extra monster talk too.
Off topic but on, I like the way you do cold opens/intros before the opening theme. And yet another great t-shirt.
Multi-part reviews of classic Greyhawk modules are a GREAT idea. I'm very much enjoying this! Also you hit on something that has bugged me for years. I know that it's "fine" to play D&D where the dungeons don't have to make sense, but I have never been able to understand the "why" of some of these. "Who on earth builds an underground maze full of traps and monsters and valuables? Why does it look like the floor plan was drawn up by someone really really drunk?" I have to have an explanation or it'll bug the crap out of me. Making the caverns of Tsojcanth an addendum to some other adventure site that you can actually believe could be there, like an old half-ruined keep on the Perrenland border, makes sense. Players explore the keep's lower levels to find, surprise! a menacing hidden entrance to the actual Caverns "that was there all along"...I love that. I'd want to be prepared to answer questions from my players like "was the keep was built there to conceal it, or was it the other way around?" Sorry for the long post; this makes me actually want to run this adventure.
I appreciate the shorter format, and I don't mind the multiple parts at all. My attention span must be getting shorter as I age. ;)
I feel your pain, right there 🙂
Your considerations about the unseen parts of the map are really interesting, I had overlooked this fact when I had run the module. Anyway, I made my little additions: a "throne room cavern" with a partially sealed access from area 6 in the lesser caverns (the party can help the Pechs to open the way) and a magical chute on the island in area 19 that teleports everyone who falls in it to area 9 in the Greater caverns.
im gonna run this in a month iv been prepping it already on a VTT
Yeah it never made sense that someone so powerful would try to rule a country from the middle of a hard to reach mountain range anyway. It is set up more like a protected tomb of an ancient wizard...with a weird zoo attached :) Then again tournament modules were all very similar in style for a particular reason.
Thanks for taking the time and effort to make these reviews. Im buying one module a month, and will avoid buying this one. Expedition to the Barrier Peaks as well. Cheers
This will always be one of my favorite D&D modules and memories but you absolutely cannot apply logic to LCoT, it's an absolute funhouse approach to dungeon design and a testament to a certain age where that was the thing to do...but tons of fun to run
I always looked at the pre generated characters in the modules as an indicator of what a group of player characters should encompass. Not necessarily the races and classes but abilities and equipment for successfully completing adventure.
In your campaign would you let the players keep Daouds Wondrous Lanthorn?
Absolutely. A great way to soak g.p. off the players, and at 7-9th level, not hideously overpowered. I discuss it in part 4.
I think the pregens were just for the tournament module. Although, I have not looked at the full adventure to see if they changed them.
They do appear in the published version, too.
I didn't see Iggwilv's lair as the headquarters of an empire. She'd conquered Perrenland and surrounding areas, but I'd think she'd likely do more governing in Schwartzenbruin, down in Perrenland proper. I considered this lair more her secret getaway, where she did her more questionable activities.
Likewise, the last time I ran this (and if I ever run it again -- maybe next year), I added a 3rd level which had more finished masonry, with the entrance hidden below Drelnza's sleeping slap.
There have been several comments along those lines. Unfortunately they run counter to the plain language of the introduction (first paragraph): "Legend states that the arch-mage gained much of her prowess from discovering the Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth, where in was hidden magic of unsurpassed might. It is certain that lggwilv ruled her domain from these caverns. There she also conducted arcane experiments and rituals, trying to further increase
her powers."
@@GreyhawkGrognard I don't see them as necessarily running counter to the passage you quoted. Our presidents generally work in Washington DC, but also conducts business from Camp David and other personal homes. While it is "certain that she ruled her domain from these caverns," I don't think it's necessarily that she did it from there exclusively. I consider this to be more her Camp David, where she could handle more private (and nefarious) ventures and kept the more public affairs going on in Schwartzenbruin or somewhere similar. She copuld have even had a private gate somewhere within the caverns that would allow her to teleport back and forth between both locations, somewhere deeper in the caverns that aren't covered by the module. This would explain why her private lair wouldn't be very accessible as a headquarters as it is "right now" or prior.
Note that the module itself has ZERO when it comes to a lair of Iggwilv to do her experiments, sleep, or other activities. This is why I homebrewed a third level which covered all of that -- and it makes more sense than what we see in the original.
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