Cormyr: The Tearing of the Weave
From: Wizards of the Coast
Reviewed by: Ron McClung
Cormyr: The Tearing of the Weave is a new D&D: Forgotten Realms Campaign Adventure from Wizards of the Coast.
WARNING: Minor Spoilers to follow. This review is meant for DMs only. People who plan to play in this adventure should not read this.
Once again, I delve into a D&D campaign adventure, this time in the world of Forgotten Realms. I will use 6 key aspects of a D&D adventure which are Villain, Locale, Plot, Minions, Reward, and Layout, as well as a few other aspects to judge this campaign adventure book.
The basics of the adventure revolve around the activities occurring at a newly-built temple to the Mother of all Magic, Mystra. A temple sprang up where no temple had been, near the bustling city of Wheloon in Cormyr. A very persuasive priestess of Mystra persuaded the local nobles to allow her group to build the temple. They chose a site where there once was a citadel, ruined long ago in some unknown catastrophe. They used the existing foundation and quickly built the temple.
When a wayward cleric of Mystra happened to stumble upon the temple, he was amazed, unaware of the temple’s existence. However, there was more to the story than he thought as he ventured into the temple. He barely escaped the temple with his life. Further investigation finds that there are people disappearing in that temple. There are several adventure hooks but the most obvious is that the players characters (PCs) are adventurers hired by this cleric. He fears something is amiss in the temple and that it profanes Mystra. His reward is considerable.
The campaign adventure book contains 5 linked individual adventures and leads the players from the Temple to the swamps and then into the Plane of Shadows. Of course, throughout the adventures, they face varying degrees of foes including an evil priestess named Lady Arthas, a tribe of lizardfolk, hordes of shadowslain undead, and a mindflayer. This series of adventures is designed for characters level 4 and should take them up to at least 7th and even maybe 8th level.
The introduction, after giving a short background of the initial adventure and summary of the chapters, emphasizes pretty strongly on two aspects that are important in these adventures – adventuring and combat in the dark and in water. Much of the adventures take place in one or the other.
Chapter 1, Temple of Mystra, initiates the adventure and starts the characters down the path of a dark and sinister conspiracy. Already, the players get hints that there is more to the story than just a corrupted temple. Something is happening to people who are brought to the temple. Here they face Lady Arthas and her minions of temple guards.
Chapter 2, Into the Vast Swamp, takes the party beyond the Temple of Mystra into the Vast Swamp east of Cormyr and further into the conspiracy. Here they face the byproducts of the evils in the temple as well as a tribe of lizardfolks. In this part of the adventure, the players confirm their suspicions that there is more going on.
Chapter 3, Cormyr’s Lost Refuge, is where the PCs find a castle in the swamp where some of the victims of the Temple of Mystra are taken. There they face more lizardfolk, some shadar-kai and shadowslain undead, as well as a crocodilian khumat.
In Chapter 4, The Path of Shadows, the characters go through a portal to the Plane of Shadows. In the dark echo of the Material Plane they just left, they follow the trail further into the plot, fighting denizens of the Plane of Shadow.
Chapter 5, The Black Riftis the endgame to all the PCs efforts. They gain access to the lair of the villain and attempt to stop his evil plan. Along the way, they meet many of his minions including his lieutenant, a nasty mindflayer.
The Appendix supplies much of the background of Wheloon as well as several other locations around the area. It also supplies you with two templates (see below) and several magic items.
From the back cover :
“Delve into Darkness, Bring the Truth to Light ”
Villain: There are multiple villains throughout this book, each a part of the overall conspiracy, either directly or tangentially connected. But all basically qualify as minions (see below) compared to the big boss of it all, a very special black dragon named Despayr. He is more than just a dragon hording over his treasure at the end of the great quest, as the cliche would go. He is a dragon with a plan. Despayr is a very special dragon, with very special motivations and appearance. His destiny was written long before he was even a hatchling in his nest, manipulated by two divine forces unlikely united.
Minions: Despayr has a string of minions that help in his efforts. The PCs deal with them in each of the adventures along the way. From the Lady Arthas to shadar-kai in the Lost Refuge, from the lizardfolk of the swamp to the fierce jherremor and the menacing gloom golem, there are plenty of interesting minions along the way. Some have good depth while others are simply there to challenge the PCs. Most are not clichéd and their is plenty of variety. The campaign adventure introduces two new templates that are used throughout the minions, making them further unique. The most interesting minion enters the scene towards the end – Shaalabhak the mindflayer. His motivations are a mystery and could spawn further adventures. Of course, I may be biased as many will attest that I am somewhat partial the the illithid.
Locale: Wheloon and the surrounding areas of Southern Cormyr make for an interesting, if not damp and dark, location. It is just enough of a clichéd fantasy city but still has a little character of its own making it interesting. It is intentionally unremarkable historically, sitting on a large river, trading boats, wagons and other goods with surrounding cities. From the bustling city and a new temple nearby to the Vast Swamp, the location changes to a little more rugged. Again, fairly interesting and challenging. Following this is the Lost Refuge, an abandoned citadel used for a few dark minions. All fairly interesting, with engaging and inspired background.
The other locale the players traverse is the Plane of Shadows. They follow a trail that is similar to the way they left, but darker, as you would expect from the Plane of Shadows. The PCs experience the world they are familiar with but in a different light, so to speak. Players deal with a lot of darkness, shady creatures, and of course the big boss. I like this locale particularly because of its nature. It brings the adventuring to a creepy and darker place, literally and figuratively.
From the back cover:
“Beyond the pristine facade of the Temple of Mystra, a sinister conspiracy threatens the future of Cormyr.”
Plot: The plot is a classic unraveling of dark and magical conspiracy through clues found along the way by the PCs. The idea is fairly inspired and engaging. I like the gradual growth and revelation of the plot to the characters. It is handled well. The truth is slowly revealed and the characters really have to work to get to it. The reward at the end is the initial motivator and as time goes on, the money seems small compared to the overall effect of the plot on the world, so the adventure becomes more and more noble as it goes along.
This noble quest, however, goes to dark places and encounters very nasty creatures. A lot of this can discourage a group, and some may even think the final reward is not worth it. When they find out for sure what is at stake, however, their attitudes should change. The final conspiracy is good, real good. It is epic and imaginative. It makes heroes out of the PCs, even though very few will know what was accomplished.
Reward: The final reward goes far beyond the gold offered by the client who hired them, be it the cleric or family of a missing relative or whatever. Maybe it is the nature of a FR campaign adventure, but the reward at the end is fairly epic. The plot hatched by the villain could have dire effects to the world as a whole.
Layout: The layout is top notch. The cartography is very well done and adds to the feel of the game immensely. The detail in the maps is high quality. This is on par with most of WotC’s adventures, which are usually very well done graphically. The art is also fantastic, as you would expect as well from a WotC product. There is really nothing to complain about other than the lack of an index and/or a table of contents. The book is big enough I feel that it warrants one or the other.
Other stuff: This adventure introduces two templates into the Forgotten Realms: dark creatures and the shadowslain. Dark creatures are simply creatures that dwell in the Plane of Shadows. The shadowslain are those creatures killed by something called a shadow shard. It also supplies several magic items including the shadow shard.
In conclusion, this adventure is obvious chock full of adventure and plot. It is a journey through a dark plan put forth by a evil dragon plotting to severely effect the Material Plane. It is imaginative and well laid out. It is a good Forgotten Realms adventure and a good D&D adventure. I like the variety of enemies and the locales. I would recommend this to anyone that likes Forgotten Realms.
For more details on Wizards of the Coast and their new D&D: Forgotten Realms Campaign Adventure “Cormyr: The Tearing of the Weave” check them out at their website http://www.wizards.com, and at all of your local game stores.
Cormyr: The Tearing of the Weave
From: Wizards of the Coast
Type of Game: D&D: Forgotten Realms Campaign Adventure
Written by: Richard Baker, Bruce R. Cordell, David Noonan, Matthew Sernett, James Wyatt
Editor: John Thompson
Cover Art by: William O’Connor
Additional Art by: William O’Connor, Jim Pavelec, Chris Dien
Number of Pages: 160
Game Components Included: Hardback adventure book
Game Components NotIncluded: Core D&D Books, Dice, characters
Retail Price: $ 29.95 (US)
Retail Price: $ 37.95 (Can)
ISBN: 9780786941193
Website: www.wizards.com
Reviewed by: Ron McClung