The Sunless Citadel (3e)
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Die Charaktere erkunden eine unterirdische Zitadelle.
A once-proud fortress fell beneath the earth in an age long past. Renamed the Sunless Citadel¸ its broken halls are home to nefarious races and malign creatures. This is the first of eight adventures strategically designed to highlight the new Third Edition Dungeons & Dragons rules. As the first adventure in the series¸ The Sunless Citadel will set the stage for years of game adventures to follow.
Why should anyone travel the cracked cobblestones of the Old Road? The fortress that once cast its shadow across the road does so no longer - some whisper that the earth swallowed the fortress whole in an age long past. Four brave adventurers resolved to discover the truth and set off down the Old Road¸ but they never returned.
"The Sunless Citadel is the first in a series of eight stand-alone adventures for the Dungeons & Dragons game. This carefully crafted adventure¸ designed to challenge 1st-level D&D heroes¸ follows a path to a mysterious dungeon where evil has taken root¸ and a terrible tree and its dark shepherd plot in darkness.
Evil Grows beneath the Earth
Why should anyone travel the cracked cobblestones of the Old Road? The fortress that once cast its shadow across the road does so no longer - some whisper that the earth swallowed the fortress whole in an age long past. Four brave adventurers resolved to discover the truth and set off down the Old Road¸ but they never returned.
"The Sunless Citadel" is the first in a series of eight stand-alone adventures for the Dungeons & Dragons game. This carefully crafted adventure¸ designed to challenge 1st-level D&D heroes¸ follows a path to a mysterious dungeon where evil has taken root¸ and a terrible tree and its dark shepherd plot in darkness.
To use this adventure¸ a Dungeon Master also needs the Player's Handbook¸ the Dungeon Master's Guide¸ and the Monster Manual.
Product History
"The Sunless Citadel" by Bruce R. Cordell was the first official adventure published by Wizards of the Coast for 3e Dungeons & Dragons. The introductory installment in a series of eight loosely linked stand-alone adventures¸ "Sunless Citadel" was designed to showcase and establish the new edition as fun for new and old players alike. By many accounts¸ it succeeded wildly.
A Shared Experience. It's not surprising that this adventure has become something of a modern classic. After all¸ it was a dungeon crawl played by a vast number of new players and old gamers alike¸ many of whom had just returned to the fold and who were curious to see how the new edition of the game would run. What surprised some gamers is that the module was just plain good. Interesting NPCs¸ political negotiation with monsters¸ and multiple paths and solutions to the adventure all resulted in fun play experiences. While the adventure was still a bit linear for some gamers¸ the general consensus was that it was an excellent example of 3e's "back to the dungeon" philosophy of adventure design.
Meepo Lives! One of the surprise folk heroes of "The Sunless Citadel" was the hapless and pitiful kobold Meepo. Stories began to surface on internet message boards of parties who had adopted Meepo as their mascot and/or disposable trap finder. Gamers began to recount whether they had slain him or helped him¸ and gradually the name Meepo became recognizeable in D&D canon.
Sure¸ he's no Tenser or Mordenkainen¸ but he's done pretty well for a lowly kobold.
Memorable Monsters. This adventure introduced "twig blights" and underscored the new rules for non-neutral druids by using an atypically evil druid as the villain. Most memorable¸ however¸ are interactions with the goblin and kobold tribes with whom characters are forced to deal¸ whether by force or guile. This adventure introduced concepts¸ themes¸ and monsters that would reappear throughout the eight-adventure series.
First of Eight. This is an introductory adventure for 1st-level characters. The further adventures in this series are¸ in order by level¸ as follows:
About the Creators. Bruce R. Cordell initially made his mark with the superb 2nd edition adventure "Gates of Firestorm Peak¸" and has remained one of the more talented and prolific designers and adventure writers at Wizards of the Coast.
About the Product Historian
History and commentary of this product was written by Kevin Kulp¸ game designer and admin of the independent D&D fansite ENWorld. Please feel free to mail corrections¸ comments¸ and additions to kevin.kulp@gmail.co