Product Description

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.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #35213 in Books
• Published on: 2008-05-20
• Released on: 2008-05-20
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 96 pages

About the Author
BRUCE R. CORDELL is an Origins Award-winning roleplaying game designer at Wizards of the Coast, Inc. whose previous design credits include the Complete Psionic(TM) supplement and the Expedition to Castle Ravenloft(TM) campaign adventure.

MIKE MEARLS worked as a freelance game designer before joining Wizards of the Coast, Inc. as a roleplaying game developer in 2006, developing rules mechanics for such products as the Tome of Battle: The Book of Nine Swords(TM) supplement and the Player's Handbook(R) II supplement.

Customer Reviews

Great taste of things to come.
Being as this is the only way to play 4th edition D&D until the Core Books come out, I am very surprised at how well this product is made. When you first open it up you will notice the attention to detail that was put into the design. Each half of the book contains something different in a specially designed slip case proudly showing off the new D&D logo. In the right side you get a small book that breaks down the players handbook for the players. It also comes with a few pre-made character sheets to allow players to start gaming without taking the time to make the characters. Each sheet also tells the player how to level up their scores when they go up a level, and which new skills and feats they have. Also in the right side are three double sided maps. These are not some small map either. They about the same size as a medium sized poster. The colors are all very well done, but I have heard that two of these pages are just rereleased material. I have never seen them before, so I am very happy with them. In the left hand side, you get the campaign, made to take players from level one through to almost level 4. Also in the book are the breakdown of the DM's handbook and every rule you will need to run a fun game. Overall, I am very happy with this product. The changes from previous editions are most welcome and make the game run more smoothly and fun. I just wish that we could see more of whats to come once the Core Books come out, and once you can level beyond level 3.

An interesting but tough module
S P O I L E R - A L E R T

NOTE THIS REVIEW WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS. IF YOU DON'T WANT TO READ SPOILERS AND/OR MAY PLAY IN THIS MODULE AT SOME TIME I SUGGEST YOU READ NO FURTHER.

Note: this module was part of the 4th edition pre-release and included quick start rules and serves as an introduction to the new edition. I did not use it as such. I ran this module having already had quite a bit of 4e experience as did the majority of my players. We did not use the pre-generated characters included either. Due to this, this review does not look at this module in the light of teaching a new edition, rather in the light of a module for a game the players already know.

Summary: The first 4th edition module. Includes all the rules to play as well as pre-generated characters. Can also be used with the full rules and with player created heroes (as we did).

The Keep on the Shadowfell (from now on: Keep) is set in the Nentir Vale, and area described in some detail in the Dungeon Master's guide. A small intro section of Keep also gives details on a small portion of the Vale. The adventure starts with the characters on the road to Winterhaven. Just outside of town they are ambushed by Kobalds, starting the module off with a good fight.

A non-linear module, the players have many paths to take from here. Heading into town they can meet the inhabitants, do some shopping, partake in market day, rent a room, hear rumors of a cult and other kobald raids, find out about a missing man who is investigating a archaeological dig or just check out the sights. Encounters range from a raid on the Kobald lair to a battle against undead in a graveyard.

While adventuring the players eventually learn that a group of cultists have taken up residence in the nearby Shadowfell Keep. An old ruin with a horrific past rumored to be haunted. Investigating the keep takes up the second half of the module and is a more traditional dungeon crawl. A two level dungeon is presented with a good mix of fights and traps. The dungeon is broken into areas with a different type of creature controlling each area. Throughout the party will face Goblins, Hobgoblins, a wide variety of Undead, Kithruk and more. In the end the party battles the leader of the evil cult and must stop him before he releases the power of Orcus from the Shadowfell into the Nentir vale.

Included with the module are 4th edition quick start rules, three large 2 sided poster maps featuring a variety of encounter areas and the module itself. All of this is contained in a nice fold out holder.

The Good:A rather interesting module with a good variety of challenges. The interlude sections were a nice touch and added a good bit of roleplay to a pretty combat oriented module. The town of Winterhaven was well detailed and had a good mix of interesting NPCs that I expect will recur throughout the campaign. I'm particularly fond of the fact they tossed in a Goblin who offers to help out and porter for the party. He has become a bit of a mascot and comic relief for our ongoing campaign. The module is a nice length. I didn't expect more then a session or two of play, and I think it took us 5 nights (of about 4 hours each) to finish it.

The Bad: Some minor rules issues. As this was the intro module for 4e, there are some minor discrepancies between this and the now published rulebooks. The most noticeable were the rules for the Gelatinous Cube. I suggest using the Monster Manual version. Along with this is a lack of Skill challenges. I'm guessing they hadn't quite finished the Skill challenge rules and thus didn't include any. There are hints of them, but no formal challenges. Lastly the magic items are pretty lame and weak. Again I think this may have been a case of the rules not quite being finished at release time. Besides not being very impressive (+1 weapons with no other enhancement, +1 cloaks of resistance, etc). they were also catered to the Pre-Generated characters. Now it only takes a bit of work to change up the Magic (swapping for equally valued yet more tailored item) which is what I ended up doing for my game.

The Ugly:The biggest complaint I have with this module is with an early fight. The 'boss' fight against Irontooth, who is leading the Kobalds seemed way too tough. He had a ridiculous amount of hit points (that of a solo) and still fought with 15 minions and magical back up. We almost had a TPK during that fight which would have been a sad intro to 4e for two of my players. Now this isn't Fortress of the Yuan-Ti outclassed fight, but it's still pretty bad. I suggest either eliminating some of the kobald minions or reducing ol' Irontooth's HP.

Overall:I'm impressed by the first 4e offering from WotC. This is a solid module with a good mix of roleplaying interaction and combat. There was also a good mix of overland encounters and old fashioned dungeon crawl. Except for the one fight at the beginning that's a bit overpowered for a 1st level party, the module should run great as written. It's also rather easy to modify (which I ended up doing as two of my players had some experience with the module). This module is a great way to start off a 4th edition campaign.

Kinda clunky
Okay,

So I realize that this product came out prior to the rulebooks actually being released and as such there are liable to be some "holes" in how its put together. But for the launch of a new edition, the first product out of the gate had better be ready to go, the importance of first impressions and all that.

Missing power descriptions, crazy tactics that are infeasible, and rule inconsistencies make this a poor first portrait of D&D 4e. You're better off running the short adventure in the DMG and winging it from there.