ASC Review: Albarino's Icy Cellar

Albarino's Icy Cellar (Zoranu)

AD&D adventure for five to eight PCs of levels 6th-8th

I am reviewing these in the order they were submitted. For my review criteria, please check out this post. All reviews will (probably) contain *SPOILERS*; you have been warned! Because these are short (two page) adventures, it is my intention to keep the reviews brief.

All right! More AD&D!

Mm.

Mmm.

*sigh*

Okay, this is another REALLY BIG "adventure site." It's pretty much a full-blown adventure. 30 encounter areas over two levels. Let me check...ah, yes, the contest rules state:

"8-24 keyed locations"

So...disqualified, I guess.

This one is...okay. Theming is okay, if weird. A white dragon moves into a dwarf stronghold; only a group of derro (not really dwarves) remain. Even though the dragon has stolen all their treasure, too?

Except that they have access to treasure far in excess of the dragon's hoard.

I'll give a brief rundown, despite the DQ. Nerfed derro for no-good reason: "Derro MR and Spells adjusted downward from S4 baseline." [also from MM2 baseline] Why, exactly? Gygax's rules not good enough for you? If you deem them too tough for the adventure, then why are you putting them in the adventure?

Threat level is a little cheap for a party of 7th levels PCs. Oh, the dragon is okay, but there's a lot of empty on the map. 

And the TREASURE...hoo-boy! Expected yield should be in the 350K range...instead we get something approaching 615K or more (it is my personal belief that the x.p./g.p. value of girdles of giant strength are off by a factor of 10 due to a typo in the DMG). Zoranu lists the "subdued dragon sell price" as 2.5 million gold pieces. No...please check the MM (p.30) in which it lists the price as 100-800 g.p. per hit point of the dragon. While the MM is explicit that "this price is subject to adjustment by the referee" clearly raising the normal maximum of 44,800 to 2,500,000 is a bridge too far...especially given the already outrageous haul of treasure in this adventure.

Some other nitpicks are here (what exactly does a "dwarf/human hybrid" look like? A derro? Then why not say "derro"...) but the main issues are as listed: too easy, too many "gimmes," too much treasure, too many encounters, not enough traps/hazards (and multiple cursed scrolls don't count in my book)...

I DID like the shadow demon embedded in the normal shadows to make them all but un-turnable (a 7th level cleric only turns a shadow demon on a 20)...very nasty, but the treasure is worth it. I'm okay with the paean. On the other hand, there is no such thing as a "major STR check" in AD&D...and this is noted twice. What the hell are you talking about? Sounds like some 5E b.s. to me.

I'd knock a whole star off this (down to **) because there seems to be some "learning" that needs to be done by the author; trust the game to do its job...there are better ways to design then simply ignoring the existing rules. Not that it matters, since this is too big for an "adventure site."