Overview
This is a MonkeyLungs review of a Sword Coast Legends player made module, “Lair of the Lich” by module author: EldarthDisclaimer: Module review series is currently taking a time out. The limitations of the tool set have worn me down and, for now, I won’t be devoting as much energy into SCL. I will keep playing and am looking forward to RoD and I will probably grab the console version for some co-op but for now my epic quest is taking a breather.
Sword Coast Legends Module Review
Module Title: Lair of the Lich
Author: Eldarth
DM Required: NO
Editable: NO
Recommended Level: 8+
I went in close to level 18 and came out a little over level 19.
Completion time: 1 – 2 hours, most likely less than 2. My first run was 1 hour 50 minutes but I spent a lot of time looking around trying to make sure I didn’t miss anything. Second run was right around 1 hour. Perfect length for a fan made module, in my opinion, is in the 1 -2 hour range.
Thumbs Up? Thumbs Down?
Thumbs Up for:
People that want to take down an evil necromancer lich wizard in a brutal, action packed dungeon crawl done right. Want a fun side quest to add to any campaign you are playing? Add Lair of the Lich as a mid to high level side quest to your campaign. Looking to get together with some friends for some XP, dungeon delving, and loot? Thinking about just firing up Dungeon Crawl mode …. stop and play this first. This is for folks in the mood for SCL distilled down to it’s rawest most violent aspect and backed up by excellent atmosphere.
Thumbs Down for:
If you are wanting to play a module with more of a slant towards story, side quests, and NPC interaction this is not that module. This is an assault on a Lich Lair with brutal combat.
Review
An ancient Lich hides in his creepy and clever sanctum full of foul creatures intent on keeping you out. Your adventuring party for reasons of their own, make up your own RP reasons, seek entry to the Lair of the Lich and make way to Everlund to try and track down some clues as to where this fiend might be hiding. This module is short on story, short on text, short on NPC’s saying random things, short on fluff, and long in the teeth. That’s right it’s got some bite to it. And while most of the time I prefer something with more story this is a classic example of how to display singular focus of purpose. You have one task and that is to find the Lich and survive the obstacles in your way. There is a little intro quest to set the stage and one side quest to pick up but this module doesn’t bother with distractions, instead choosing to provide a solid dungeon crawl experience.
The story here, is told through the atmosphere. To get into detail on this would kind of give it away. I will say this though. The use of the limited tile sets is spectacular. It gives you a feeling of a new dungeon to make your way through even if you might have played on these map layouts already. The author does a remarkable job of imprinting his own personality into the level design.
The fights are hard. I played with my Ranger that completed the official campaign and brought Jarhild, Illydia, and Hommet. This was the first time in a while that I have had to revive anyone because playing the official campaign gives your characters some outlandishly good gear. Jarhild almost took a knee in the final battle and I built her to be almost invincible. So make sure you go into this module knowing that you will be up against some tough fights.
If you don’t bring a Rogue in your party, make sure that the character you use for finding traps and secrets has invested in those skills, access to some perception gear, and/or a decent wisdom score. For example, when I am playing my Ranger I don’t bring a Rogue. I like to bring a Fighter, a Cleric, a Mage, and my Ranger. He has 20 Wisdom and all 4 ranks of search. Some of the Spot DC’s in this module were very tough so I’m guessing if you haven’t invested in Search there is potential for frustration here.
This is a well designed, straight forward dungeon crawl so if you go in knowing what to expect you should have a fun time. Don’t go into this thinking you are getting into something you are not. Lair of the Lich has great atmosphere, challenging battles, difficult Spot DC’s, and a big bad at the end with plenty of custom monsters and encounters along the way. It’s fun, it’s focused, and it is just the right length. You can jump into this with some friends for a single play session of fun or load this up instead of the baseline dungeon crawls the game comes with and get a dungeon crawl with a lot more attention to detail and a lot more atmosphere.
Reminder
Please remember to rate each module you play with the in-game rating tool and maybe head on over to the SCL forums and leave some feedback for the module author of the module you played. Link to SCL Looking for Adventure forums follows:
[link]
Review Score Disclaimer
Currently the dialogue editor for Sword Coast legends is woefully deficient. Dialogue response choice for players are limted to two choices: 1. We accept! and 2. Not right now.
This is something that weighs heavily on any module and is not the fault of the module author. As such, I am not factoring this into the reviews even though the lack of any real dialogue options is a detrimental factor to the overall experience. Hopefully this is something the developers eventually rectify. However all of the most enthusiastic module creators, the early adopters, the die hard supporters of this game will have already been dealt the short end of the stick.