Overview
This is a MonkeyLungs review of a Sword Coast Legends player made module. “Trouble in Red Larch” by module author: jocollomonDisclaimer: 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: Trouble in Red Larch
Author: jocollomon
DM Required: NO
Editable: YES
Recommended Level: Only attempt on characters below level 10 if you have exceptional gear.
Completion time: 1 – 3 hours. My first attempt at low level was over 3 hours. My second attempt was 1 hour 40 minutes. I finished the module on my second attempt.
Thumbs Up? Thumbs Down?
Thumbs Up for: Higher level parties. The module description still says it was tested with a level 2/3 party but I found it brutally unforgiving on my first attempt at that level. This might appeal to you. However, I came back with a higher level party and had a blast. There is so much good stuff in this module I felt like I really needed to come back to it after I finished the Official Campaign. I am glad I did. Hit this module up when you have a character at or above level 10 or you just have incredible twinks.
Thumbs Down for: Low level parties. People that don’t like SCL.
Review
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EDIT: UPDATE
Even when I attempted this at low level there was a lot here I was impressed with. So after finishing the Official Campaign I decided to replay this. I am glad I did. I will leave the original parts of the review up but this update represents a more balanced look at the content. Only attempt this at low level if you really love a brutal challenge or you have some serious end game quality gear on your low level characters.
Coming back in with a level 16 Ranger and companions ranging from level 14 to 15 made all the difference here. I had more abilities and much better gear to help me with the challenge. On my second play through all the great stuff about the module was still great and none of the frustration was present. This has become one of my favorite modules.
Here is a recap of what is great about the module. Excellent use of placeable objects to help tell the story. Great pacing, provided you are high enough level or over-geared. Some really great custom encounters as well as good use of some of the better standard DM encounters included with the tool set. Excellent quest design. Every area has a nice personal touch to it to add to the atmosphere.
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EDIT: ORIGINAL REVIEW
I played this module with a level 2 Rogue and quite quickly hit level 3. The author says this module was tested with a level 2/3 party but they must have been a great party because mine was repeatedly trounced. So much so that I actually just called it quits and deleted the module. I completed a fair amount of the side activities but got locked into a continuous death loop of respawn and get re-dead at the entrance to the Tomb area. The battle directly preceding this one was expertly crafted. Challenging and deadly if you didn’t use liberal use of pause and play to direct your team mates but with care I was victorious. The Tomb area however felt unfairly punishing. I managed to exit the Tomb area with a bad taste in my mouth and headed off to attempt the only other side quest available.
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EDIT: UPDATE
The quest described in the following paragraph is an OPTIONAL quest for evil aligned characters. I didn’t even choose to accept the quest on my second trip through the module.
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EDIT: ORIGINAL REVIEW
Trying to slay a Lord in his own keep SHOULD be nearly impossible for a band of adventurers. And it was. The real question is why this was even a part of the module. The reasoning behind deciding to go full frontal assault on a Lord in their own home was shallow and not presented with nearly the skill the module’s initial quest offerings were. I was mainly curious to see how the encounters were designed at this point to give the module another try. Enter the brick wall of groups of upwards of 8 + custom enemies all sporting their very own Cleric capable of resurrecting fallen comrades. Multiple groups one after another with very good strategic placement of their units and Clerics with abilities well above the abilities of the Cleric in my party.
Not very fun.
Did I mention I was playing on Easy difficulty? Well I was.
The very, very excellent use of placeable items with all kinds of interaction is easily the highlight of this module. You can listen in on conversations of townsfolk in the bar to get and or update quests. You are tasked with gaining some reputation in Red Larch before you can investigate the greater mystery and your path to building reputation begins by doing some expertly crafted little quests for various townsfolk. At the start of the module encounters were pleasurable but challenging (even on Easy) and the set pieces the battles were placed in were filled to the brim with great use of objects providing ample use for SEARCH and discovery of new objectives.
Then, and seemingly out of the blue, I feel the module author made a conscious decision to turn the difficulty way up and start to obliterate the player. It felt adversarial and unfair. Maybe I am just horrible at the game but if I have the game difficulty set to easy and I am being repeatedly wiped out it doesn’t really matter if I am bad at the game, I’m still not having fun. I personally don’t recommend this module unless you just want to play through the first few side quests or if you just want to investigate the author’s fantastic use of interactive placeable objects. There is a lot of potential here but that was marred for me by the relentless onslaught of encounters well beyond the abilities of my party.
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EDIT: UPDATE
In retrospect many of my criticisms are probably better aimed at the module description rather than the module itself. I feel like a clear statement that the module is designed to be played by a party of higher level adventurers with decent gear or low level adventurers with exceptional items would have gone a long way to avoiding some frustration. However, if you don’t go in with brand new characters with starting gear Trouble in Red Larch is a fantastic journey.
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.