Pool of Radiance: Attack on Myth Drannor

Alright, boys and girls, children of all ages...let's take a look at what is basically a sequel adventure to the original Pool of Radiance computer RPG from 1988. For those who don't know, that was the very first true D&D computer game. There had been plenty of other CRPGs before then, starting with the Ultima series, but Pool of Radiance was the first one that actually used authentic D&D rules. Or, at least, as close as we could get in those heady days when computers were still young and the Commodore 64 ruled the computer gaming world.

Anyway, it's twelve years later in real time, and WotC put out the second Forgotten Realms product of the 3e era, which is a 96-page adventure starring the Cult of the Dragon, one of the Realms' big bad guy cults. Pools of radiance are, as the text explains, essentially raw pools of magic represented as water. they can be used for all kinds of effects, usually of a beneficial sort. However, the Cult of the Dragon is working on corrupting a pool for their own nefarious purposes, and they have the ability to make it happen. The results, of course, would be bad.

In fact, when the adventure starts, the pool is already corrupted, and it's drawing on other pools of radiance around Faerûn to feed itself. Their eventual goal is to dunk one of their pet dracoliches into the pool to make it nigh-invincible. Again, that would be a bad thing. The goal of the party, unbeknownst to them at the start of the adventure, is to stop this bad thing from happening.

I forgot to mention that this adventure is for 6th-level characters to start, so it's a mid-level adventure that takes the party into Myth Drannor itself, the ruined city inhabited by all kinds of nasty things. There are a few hooks given to draw the party in to the adventure, such as investigating disappearing townsfolk, or being hired by a wizard to investigate a tower. Once they do so, they will be attacked by Cultists including a wizard. They are holed up in a tower which was built by a wizard long ago, who has since disappeared. However, the tower is rumored to hold some magical treasure, so of course adventurers are going to investigate it. Assuming the PCs are strong enough, they will drive the cultists back, and the latter will use a magical gate in this tower to return from whence they came. The PCs will be able to follow the cultists, of course, leading them to the next part of the adventure.

The next part takes place in the outskirts of Myth Drannor; the gate brought the party there, exiting within a shrine of Mystra. The cultists don't hang out here any longer than they absolutely have to, since there are glyphs that affect evil outsiders and undead all over the place. Therefore, the party can use this area as a resting place if need be. Outside of the shrine, they will encounter a gnome rogue/wizard who is seeking his brother, who is a captive of the Cult. Further investigation will lead the party to a place called the Tower of Bones, where they will get to fight more Cult soldiers and apprentice wizards, eventually rescuing the gnome's brother from being sacrificed on the roof.

The Cult has other prisoners, whom they use as slaves. The gnomes will offer to assist the party further, as per the first gnome's agreement for the rescue operation. The party is then free to explore an area of Myth Drannor called the Polyandrium, which includes several crypts that can be plundered. In fact, that's what the Cult of the Dragon has been doing, since they are seeking more and more magic to help charge up the pool and supercharge their dracolich. Again, bad thing.

The various crypts and tombs provide a variety of challenges, including Cultists, but also various undead and guardian creatures. Most of the crypts in this area are already under siege from the Cult, so the party isn't going to be breaking and entering most of the time. The Cult might not see things the same way, of course, which is likely to lead to conflict. But, that's kind of the point of all this, isn't it?

There are two crypts in the Polyandrium that the party must explore, neither of which has actually been opened yet by the Cult; the party has the chance to get ahead of the Cult if they can get into these. Of course, one holds the key to the other, so the party will have to work both crypts, which are much larger than the other ones in the Polyandrium and therefore hold even greater challenges. I'll discuss those in the next post.