Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Review And Commentary on Frank Mentzer's Lich Dungeon Part II For Your Old School Campaign.


Frank Mentzer's Lich Dungeon Level One was bad enough. A challenging role playing dungeon crawling fun fest through some challenging dungeon locals.
The pace was breakneck and the writing was very tight. 
Level One is available right over HERE

Well Lich Dungeon Level II up's the stakes by a D20!

Get it right over HERE
The description according to Rpgnow: 
Lich Dungeon, a city unto itself.
Level One was simple, just enough to introduce the place.  This is Level Two.  The real challenges start here.

On Level 2 you'll find apartments & shops, churches & cops, and... well, monsters of course: norks, gunges, geeps, Draugur, plus the usual suspects.
For business & residential opportunities, please see the management (Chagur the Lich). You might even survive.

Prepare to laugh.  Prepare to fight.  Hope to survive.  Have a good game.
A year in the making, this addition to the Lich Dungeon line is packed with new monsters, new treasures, and detailed maps of all areas (there's a lot of maps).  Designed by best-selling fantasy author and designer Frank Mentzer, this adventure is easily converted to almost any fantasy rpg gaming system.  At 134 pages, this is far more than a 'quick trip to the dungeon'.
It is designed for exploration by parties of three or more characters of moderate levels of experience (and equipment).

That description is dead wrong. The Lich Dungeon Level Two is a miniature campaign unto itself. This is a one hundred thirty six page turn based tour of an underground Mentzerian ecology. A world of tricks, traps, and enough old school goodness to keep a party of experienced players going for a good solid couple of weeks. 
This is the writer at his best dealing out tightly woven traps and a set of well though out plots with enough background NPC's to keep things going for a while. 
There are encounter lists, new monsters, new equipment, lots of locations, a boat load of puzzles and traps to deal with the best megadungeons.
The book is interesting and solid.
The maps are well thought out with a reason for everything and everything in its place ready to kill the stupid .
The book is put together in an easy to read fashion, the lay out very well done, and the time factor is right in there as well.

Using Lich Dungeon Part II For Your OSR Game
Lich Dungeon Level II

This is an adventure that clearly takes full advantage of its monsters and introduces a few twists on some old favorites while introducing brand new beasties such as 
norks, gunges, geeps, Draugur, and more.
The difference here is that not only are these monsters with a purpose but monsters with a civilized purpose. They exist in an urban environment that supports them as well as being part of the story.
The plot hooks allow the DM to customize this for any old school D&D incarnation. The writing is very tightly done and Frank knows how the party is going to deal with said monsters and the adventure rolls with the consequences.
This isn't a meat grinder of an adventure but your going to need a party of at least fourth or better for this adventure. You really do need to be this high to ride the adventure.
Intelligence on the part of the players is a must here and its easily inserted into existing old school  campaigns.
The puzzles are made to be very dangerous if not  out right lethal for a few of them. 
This is a very deep dungeon and even with the locations, mini cities, winding neighborhoods, and weirdness there's more then enough to keep PCs happy for months to come. My suggestion is a quick visit to level one and then a deeper visit to level two to get even the most jaded players into the adventure's mood and mode of play.
Four out of five stars for this adventure. 
Further suggestions are to link this adventure with other  Eldritch Enterprises products. Linking these together forms an over arching mini campaign world in the best of the old school tradition.
You can find more of their products and wisdom right over HERE
More of the author's
advise  and wisdom right HERE
 Overall I'm even more impressed with this adventure and its challenges keep the Lich Dungeon series fresh. Grab some players, roll up some PC's and journey deep into the realm of the Lich today! 

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