Demons and Devils
by Bill Webb and Clark Peterson
D20 Adventures (32 pages)
Product Code: (L1) WW8354, ISBN 1-58846-153-X
Publisher: Necromancer Games, Inc., $8.95
This module, filled with three small adventures, is the first in a series of “Lair” booklets produced by Necromancer Games. The adventures range from 9th to 13th level and are nasty little creations in the style of the original Tomb of Horrors, as the publisher briefly mentions on the credit page.
First off, as the name implies, all three adventures have some type of Demon or Devil in them. They are all rather difficult, and will prove challenging to any gaming group, new or old alike. I found myself cringing at some of the traps and creatures that they put into these small adventures, including some rather interesting and sometimes unpleasant magic items. But as I always say, if it isn’t tough, why bother! It’s the challenge of the players getting through these adventures that makes for those memorable gaming moments.
There are three dungeons included with this booklet. All have wonderful artwork and gorgeous maps, the latter being some of the best I’ve seen in recent years. The cover of the module states, “Third Edition Rules, First Edition Feel.” That statement is 100% true, and applies to both the module and the artwork and maps. I so much enjoy well-drawn maps!
The first adventure, The Sorcerer’s Citadel, is a tower module that is as tough to get into as it is to find all the wonderful magic items inside, along with the nasty traps and guardians too. This module reminded me very much of the old Tomb of Horrors. The entrance hall itself is one huge test of the gaming parties abilities to get past traps of both mechanic and magic nature.
Ra’s Evil Grin is a shorter adventure based around the adventuring group trying to find the Globe of Arden, hidden within another wickedly designed dungeon. The adventure starts out with a somewhat difficult entrance, which the players will have to experiment with in order to get into the dungeon at all, or die trying!
The last adventure, The Pit of Despair, is a wonderfully, wickedly designed module made exclusively for Paladins. If you have a Paladin player, you’ll love this adventure. I won’t go into any details here, as that would ruin the DM’s fun, but will say that the game could take a very interesting turn with the use of this adventure. Don’t say I didn’t warn you!
In all, I found that Demons and Devils took me back to the days of great dungeon-based modules (1st Edition flashbacks and all). All three adventures are well thought out. One other thing that is really cool (but bad if you don’t have internet access) is that there is bonus material on Necromancer’s website that adds even more value to this booklet. The material includes a separate picture of a medallion used in one of the adventures, an errata, and an epic quest expansion to the three adventures, detailing overland journeys to each of the individual adventures in the booklet.
For the price, you get one really good, tough set of adventures for your players to go through. With the internet enhancements, the meager price for this booklet is just too good to pass up. Do yourself a favor and pick up a copy, before they go out of print!
(review (c) March 2003 / David Flemming)