| The Forsaken | |
| by Drizzt | |
| Ben Frank’s Review | |
You are sent on a mission to deal with some bandits and as you mop up and return... you find yourself pursued by dark clad warriors formed of dark acid which occasionally splashes on you as they die and dissolve.
Who are these guys and why are they chasing you? This seems to be the core question behind The Forsaken by Chris “Drizzt” Risberg.
In this scenario you find yourself exploring a nice corner of the Empire, conveniently divided in half by a mountain range called “The Spine”. It gives little away to note that this mountain range forms one of the core challenges of the scenario, but so do a number of other encounters and areas. In fact, the scenario gives a good impression of providing a real world to explore, with coherent missions and tasks which have no direct link to the main story line. Exploring these smaller tales help keep the scenario alert and alive.
The docs which come with the scenario claim that “there is a great deal of conversation in this scenario, some of it quite important to your missions.” The first part of this statement is misleading while the second is accurate. This can lead to extensive bouts of frustration, for instance when people you encounter tell you to go look for someone but then don’t respond to that person’s name. I spent not an insignificant amount of time running up and back between people encountered, trying to guess what dialog would get me more information.
The puzzles which form a significant part of the scenario are of the same caliber. There are lots of them, some quite unique, but at times I felt I needed to be inside the head of the author in order to get the right solution. A number also rely on non-standard uses of graphics (looking at tables or windows for instance) which can be hair-pulling until you catch on that you have to look at everything. The scenario would definitely benefit from a well developed help file. Of course, there are also a number of areas on the order of the by now simply annoying teleporter puzzle, as well as the straight forward but tedious series of “levers which control a series of portals all of which need to be opened to get to the next area.” Why any intelligent creatures would build lairs almost entirely constructed of those kinds of mazes is beyond me.
Overall the scenario held my attention to its completion, a feat which in and of itself deserves recognition these days. The questions raised by the plot, as well as the interesting side missions and cultural allusions (including the best use of Beanie Babies in a scenario to date) make up for the areas where I got so stuck I had to write for help. I found a number of minor bugs (like the aforementioned acid splashing you even if the death occurs several rooms away) but nothing fatal.
While written for a medium level party, I ran it successfully with a three-character party with an average starting level of 8, finishing with an average level of around 12. Overall, I would give this scenario a score of 8.