The Standing Stone

The Standing Stone. A Dungeons and Dragons Adventure for 7th Level Characters by John D. Rateliff.

This is the Fourth in the D&D stand alone adventure path. It continues the Scenario based adventure, first introduced in The Speaker in Dreams. As with all the adventures, it is designed for ease of use for novice players.

As always when reviewing game modules; if you are a Dungeon Master, there is no such thing as spoiler. If you are a player, stop reading here and mark this review "Very Helpful."

This module is very....modular. The Introduction includes a preparation section, detailing the books needed., the Adventure Summary includes history of the region of Essington , and the theorized way the adventure should run, if players herded more like sheep, and less like cats. There are several character hooks to use to get your characters to the region, and a section detailing several geographical features, including the standing stones, a key element of the adventure.

Then there is Beginning the adventure; which will introduce several of the threats, including a ghostly Paladin and his phantasmal steed!

What follows are 14 scenarios, entitled, The Old Forest Road, wherein the Adventurers meet the Ghostly rider. Then they move on to Shelter for the Night, where they meet Tarbee, and Tanasha, two fonts of information. The next event occurs when the heroes move along down the road to The Chapel of the Nine Gods. Here, they meet the insane Druid/cleric Henwen, a central player in the drama. Fourth they arrive in Ossington. It lets the Characters meet Dyson, Tully, and the Cuckoo, a bard. Next, you have Information, wherein the characters are told some disturbing intelligence. Assassination is the elimination of that informant. Dyson's Tower is the seventh scenario, and it leads, Into the Woods (8th) There, away from the shelter of the Stones, The Horseman Returns. By now, the characters should be paranoid enough to start questioning motives. Hobyahs by Night seals the characters opinion of Henwen. The Warlord's Tomb adds a touch of Dungeon Crawl, and lets the Cleric shine, The Fey's Last Stand should let the characters finally talk to the Elven assassins. Their information should take the Characters to the place where they can enable The Horseman's Rest. And finally, their perfidy revealed, it comes down to the heroes and Dyson and his followers in The Showdown. The characters move through, not the map, but the calendar. At predetermined times, things occur, and the characters must respond. The scenario revolves around a teifling named Dyson, and his plans to create an army of faux humans using ancient spells inscribed on the standing stones. He is the villain, but appears a nice guy oppressed by a ghostly apparition and mean spirited Grugach elves.

The Conclusion offers three possibilities; Our Work is Done, We Gave it Our Best Shot, and The One That Got Away, for victory, defeat, and escapes.

The Appendix I offers stats on all monsters and characters in the scenario, a truly wonderful feature. Appendix II Covers the new monsters; The Gravewight Template, and Hobyahs. Appendix III is New Magic, one spell, Faux Human, and one item, Ring of Misdirection.

There are several other sights to be explored, including the Red Horse, which is actually an ancient depiction of the Dragon Ashardalon, introduced in the first scenario, The Sunless Citadel, and reappearing in later modules, particularly The Heart of Nightfang Spire.

Ossington has several unique features that lend themselves to the wonderful abuses creative players come up with. The town's unscryable state makes it a perfect hideout latter in their careers when they tick off powerful wizards and demons, and the Faux Human spell is an interesting tool.

All and all, a superior effort.