Planescape review: The Ruins of Pelion
For the last three years, I've run a Planescape1 campaign through almost all of its modules. Now, after successfully finishing it, I want to look back and review these adventures, highlighting the pros and cons of each one.
Each module will be rated in three categories, up to 3 points in each:
- Presentation: how easy it is to understand and run the adventure.
- Openness: how open the adventure's scope is, regarding the freedom of choice.
- Quality: Overall quality of the adventure, including the originality and richness of its content, and players' enjoyment.
The full list of currently published reviews is available under the planescape tag.
The Ruins of Pelion
- Designer: Monte Cook
- Source: Dead Gods:2 Out of the Darkness, Chapter VII
- Party: 4-6 characters of 6th-9th levels
- Play-time: 1-2 sessions
- Locations:
- Arborea / Ossa (L2) / Elshava, a floating city
- Arborea / Pelion (L3)
A "parallel" counterpart of The Vault of Drow chapter takes the party to the deserts of the deepest layer of Arborea — Pelion. The path there lies through the floating city of Elshava, where a boat could be hired to reach the next layer. In their journey through the endless sands, the characters can meet Manhayth, the beast-hunter, who might be a helpful guide to the plane (granted that there are no lycanthropes in the party), Tyun Amerinvai, a petitioner embalmer from the necropolis of Amun-thys, and Heydril, the tomb-robber and the current possessor of the Orb of Kadu-Ra, which the characters are after.
This beautiful golden sphere is an ancient magical recording device. If the characters manage to obtain it, it will reveal to them certain events of the ancient past. The manner in which this is done is a true highlight of the module. The players will play as the characters from the past (whose character sheets should be prepared before the session), experiencing the recorded events firsthand. The "past" adventurers explore the Last Spire and must find a way inside while fighting off the belligerent alabaster elves, and descend beneath the spire to the Chamber of Secrets guarded by the menacing wraithworm. If they survive through the ordeal, the characters will learn some important knowledge regarding the treasure kept here — the True Words: "words of power so potent that their utterance can destroy mountains, create new life, or slay any being — even a god."
Back to the future, the party must follow the guidance from the past and enter the Last Spire once again, discovering that the Chamber of Secrets lies destroyed by Tenebrous, who came here to obtain the Last Word, the ultimate power word of unmaking, capable of slaying even a god. With this somber realization, the characters must find a way out of the plane. One way to do this is presented, along with some suggestions for tying the temporary adventurers of the past to the current campaign. Now, the party possesses all the information required to venture forth in an attempt to find the Wand of Orcus before Tenebrous does.
Presentation
🖋️🖋️ useable
The information about the trip to Pelion fits on a single page with some space to spare, and just a general outline of Elshava is given there. To get more information, you need to consult the Planes of Chaos3 boxed set, which naturally also contains a write-up on Pelion.
For the flashback part, the module suggests the possibility of making the characters from the now-extinct factions of Expansionists, the Sodkillers, and the Incanterium, but leaves their parameters up to the DM. There is little to no official 2e information on these factions except for the Incanterium, which could be found in the MC2 — Monstrous Compendium Planescape Appendix II.[currently missing from dmsguild]
Besides illustrations, there is a bare minimum of a single full-page handout map and a combination of overland travel map and dungeon side-view for the DM (scale only, no grid).
Openness
☀️☀️ semi-linear
As a typical situation for the anthology, there are no hard rails, but the information is so sparse that there is almost nothing to be done here except for the main content, unless the DM does some additional work.
Quality
★★ good
The module itself is quite interesting and unique, though it might be a little longer and better embellished for sure. The flashback with the temporary characters is a clever trick that could certainly be added to any DM's arsenal.
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