Keep on the Shadowfell [D&D ADV KEEP ON THE SHADOWFELL]

D&D 4th ed Adventures #1

by Bruce R. Cordell

A D&D adventure for characters of levels 1-3.

The town of Winterhaven stands watch over a ruined keep that was once a bastion of good in the realm. This keep overlooks the Shadow Rift, a dark scar in the world that was once a gateway to the Shadowfell but has been dormant for many years. Now, an evil cleric of Orcus, Demon Lord of the Undead, seeks to re-open the gate, and the only thing standing in his way is a small yet determined band of heroes from Winterhaven.

Keep on the Shadowfell is an exciting Dungeons & Dragons adventure designed for characters of levels 1-3. It includes three double-sided poster maps suitable for use with D&D miniatures, as well as information on the town of Winterhaven and environs.

Genres: Role Playing Games, Dungeons and Dragons, Games, Fantasy, Gaming

Unknown Binding

First published May 20, 2008

About the author

Bruce R. Cordell authored books for Dungeons & Dragons over the course of 4 editions (2nd Edition through 5th Edition D&D). These days, he’s a senior designer for Monte Cook Games, LLC designing Numenera , Gods of the Fall, and The Strange. Also a novel author, his credits include several titles set in the Forgotten Realms. Bruce’s tenth novel, Myth of the Maker, is just out from Angry Robot Books:
http://brucecordell.blogspot.com/2017...

Reviews

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good dungeon crawl with a few skill challenges and puzzles. VERY similar to the adventure in the new Red Box. Works fine with Essentials so far (about 60% through it).

[Taddow · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've played all the versions of Dungeons & Dragons with the exception of 3 and 3.5 (I only played one session of 3, so it didn't seem accurate to count that experience) and the majority of my experience was with 1st and 2nd edition (though I'm actually playing in a 5th campaign and enjoying it immensely). This particular adventure (Keep on the Shadowfell) and the one after if (Thunderspire Labyrinth) make up the extent of my 4th Edition experience. I know there is some hate on 4th Ed. (being too much like World of Warcraft D&D and such), and while I agree with some of those opinions, overall I rather enjoyed the two adventures I played with the system with my Dragonborn Paladin.

This particular adventure was a good basic dungeon crawl that used a lot of successful fantasy tropes- there's an ancient castle with a sealed portal to a death realm that cultists are seeking to open. Guarded by traditional enemies (undead, goblins and a few others) the adventurers must fight the evil that is threatening to breach the seal and bring destruction. There's traveling new lands, good vs. evil, fights and and trips into town- basically all you need for a good basic adventure. The custom grid maps are nice and the adventure shares some tactics for each encounter to give the DM ideas on how to run the enemy NPCs. I'd recommend it for old and new players alike.

[Phil Dicemechanic · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good starting adventure for 4e. It does have a few too many repetitive encounters, the story is fairly cliched and the village base is under-developed. But the raw ingredients are good, just need a bit of home work to make it sing

[Morbus Iff · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first adventure for 4E is ... the same.

[Andy Cutright · Rating 2 out of 5]

A simplistic introduction to the fourth edition D&D world, it's quite difficult to understand the rules as either a player or a game master.