tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7913319789564397699.post6691722968211822795..comments2024-03-28T08:17:07.009-05:00Comments on The Other Side blog: Shadow Week: The Shadows of 4eTimothy S. Brannanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02923526503305233715noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7913319789564397699.post-67540435045308631522020-09-23T17:20:56.107-05:002020-09-23T17:20:56.107-05:00I'm not familiar with 4e in general, but have ...I'm not familiar with 4e in general, but have heard good things about the Shadowfell books. Will check them out. Thanks!<br /><br />Allan.grodoghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11800184312511280050noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7913319789564397699.post-35975828198749934182020-09-22T22:41:43.973-05:002020-09-22T22:41:43.973-05:00Nice writeup. It's always good to have more vo...Nice writeup. It's always good to have more voices speaking the name of 4E without taking it in vain. I think Dick is right. I've started to see more people with some years of 5E under their belt looking at 4E and seeing it actually fixed things 5E rebroke. But edition wars aside, the shadowfell is/was badass. I used it extensively. <br />I'll not reiterate what you've spoken here about the products you detail. But I'll add that there was some really good Shadowfell content in addition.<br /><br />The Tomb of Horrors super adventure which consisted of 4 tombs across the planes. One was in the shadowfell and the party has to traverse Moil to get there. It was really good. The encounters were exciting and the foreSHADOWing of the tomb was well done. The tomb itself was fantastic, the walls literally oozing black oil. To the point that the party is knee deep in the stuff and frequently slowed. Under normal circumstances, it might have been tedious but in this case, it felt overwhelming and oppressive and really set the mood. Context matters. I had some special incense that I had previously found somewhat cloying and had avoided it, but in this case I used it for those sessions and it went over really well. I was glad to be rid of it, lol.<br /><br />At one point in our campaign, I also used a promotional adventure called Domain of Dread: Histhaven. It took the players to the Shadowfell and really nailed the feel. It was very much like an episode of Resident Evil where they went to a town that was just so dark and dreary and everyone acts suspicious, like the whole town is in on it. But it turns out the whole town was the victim. Turned the trope on its head and worked well. <br /><br />Anyway, if you like the Shadowfell, I recommend taking a look at both of those if you can find them. The PDFs are likely available on DTRPG. mbeacomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03674702605226704063noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7913319789564397699.post-54533351842029047862020-09-22T15:10:00.778-05:002020-09-22T15:10:00.778-05:00Odd, as a 4E fan I'd say that if anything, it&...Odd, as a 4E fan I'd say that if anything, it's getting more positive buzz than it was pre-5th edition. The bloom is well off the rose on the latter for many people, and 4E is starting to get significant amounts of people pointing out that it was really quite good in a lot of ways that 5th should have adopted. The old mobs of folks shrieking about how it changed too much have dispersed, and many of us have realized that the some of the mouthy bastards never even played 4E in any meaningful way anyhow - they'd jumped ship to Pathfinder and were just bent on spoiling it for anyone who'd stayed with WotC.<br /><br />That aside, I quite liked the "Shadow" material here. The module was fun and a good intro to the system when it was new. The Shadowfell being more accessible at all levels was a nice idea just like being able to adventure in the Feywild or Elemental Chaos was. Planescape had tried to make other planes more open to PCs but didn't manage it quite as well at lower levels than 4E did IME. The Gloom cards were a nifty idea if a bit intrusive at times, and Gloomwrought itself was a good adventure locale.<br /><br />The Heroes of Shadow PC options were a bit uneven. Blackguard was quite good as a pseudo-anti-paladin, the Assassin was an interesting take on an old class, and the Vampire (while a bit limiting) played well and very differently from any other class, but the Binder Warlock had some mechanical issues. The book (along with Heroes of the Feywild) were some of the more mold-breaking 4E supplements - and they did bring us a ton of jokes about pixie vampires, a class/race combo that worked far better than was probably intended. :) Dick McGeehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14521293874696659063noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7913319789564397699.post-62889844866888475292020-09-22T14:19:05.539-05:002020-09-22T14:19:05.539-05:00Good review, thanks. I liked the idea of the "...Good review, thanks. I liked the idea of the "reflection" worlds, but I'll be honest that I never quite understood what the Shadowfell was going for. It struck me as just generally unpleasant. Every locale in the game should be dangerous, but the Shadowfell was glum in addition. Not my bag. But I liked how they developed it. centaurihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17625277812057790915noreply@blogger.com