AD&D Module Review A4 In the Dungeons of the Slave Lords

The finale of this famous series.... and my feelings on the series as a whole.

[@adampender2482]

Along with Greyhawk grognard you are becoming one if my favorite AD&D channels.

[@yeoldegeek71]

Why thank you Mr Pender, 'tis an honour!

[@adampender2482]

@@yeoldegeek71 thank you for putting out these videos

[@enoa4]

I always wanted to run this, and adapted the core idea as the into to my last campaign. Characters had been slaves for (6d6 months) with no gear. Due to an accident in the mine, they had an opportunity to flee! We had added pressure as their former masters searched for them. After they escaped from tunnels, caves and sewers beneath a city (Based on highport). These ill equiped low level characters had to flee the city then make their way across miles of wilderness. It was scary and intense. The characters spotted a slave ship much later in the campaign, and went 'Lethal Weapon' on the crew, stealing the ship and making it their own. Great module, great ideas! Thanks for the review.

[@yeoldegeek71]

Always good to hear how other peoples' imaginations have approached the subject matter. I tend to be more reactive than proactive, and improvise/expand on material, rather than redesign. Thanks for the positive words as always Ernie!

[@seanfsmith]

Hugely enjoyed the series! Thanks for bringing them out so close together

[@yeoldegeek71]

Thank you Sean!!

[@woodwwad]

Another good review. Nice Joy Division shirt.

[@yeoldegeek71]

Cheers! My taste in music is a little on the dark side, and Joy Division were genre defining! ..I suffered for them! If you google Mastermind Joy Division you might recognise the chap in the chair answering questions ;)

[@michaelr00ney]

You’re right in your intuition that the concept for A4 came first, and the other three modules were developed as a means to set it up. As David Cook first related in his 1986 supermodule compilation and expansion (‘A1-4 Scourge of the Slavelords’) and Lawrence Schick also mentions in his foreword to the 2013 hardcover reissue, Harold Johnson ran a game wherein 1st-level PCs were captured, stripped to loincloths, and left to escape a maze with a hungry minotaur. As Schick put it: “Were our characters people with skills and brains, or were they just lists of equipment?” When the team was tasked with revamping the AD&D Open for 1980, they agreed that Johnson’s concept was the ideal way to test the very best players at GenCon. Also, the evil high priest in A4 is supposed to be the same as the one at the end of A3. However, in the rush to get all four modules on shelves simultaneously, the authors on A3 and A4 managed to give the priest a different name in their respective modules. As for the difficulty of the final encounter, don’t forget the secret helper shows up again with more scrolls to help renew the PCs for the final battle. Still a mismatch, but not quite as terrible.

[@yeoldegeek71]

Damn, I forgot to mention the return of the helper in the review. Glad to see my inkling regarding the series' overall intentions was accurate :)

[@thatpatrickguy3446]

Well done, and props for the Joy Division shirt. Erol Otus is one of my favorite artists. I really love the creepiness of his art, even his "everyday normal" stuff. I loved the entire concept of the module. Both the underground caves and the battle for a boat were good set pieces, though one was better for lower levels and the other better for higher levels. The time I ran it with a lower level group (of the levels listed on the front) I avoided putting them up against the Slave Lords themselves, as those unworthies had already headed off in the Water Dragon. But the lesser lackeys, equipped with SOME of the party's gear, were getting a second ship ready to sail, and the party was able to defeat them after a tough battle and took the boat. If the group had stayed together instead of dissolving a few months later (alas for real life interfering with more important things like gaming!) they could have learned the locations of the surviving Slave Lords in their new roles (since the Slave Lords would have mostly disbanded with the loss of Suderham and become individual crime bosses or warlords in various places around the campaign) and been able to hunt them down one or two at a time. And likely gotten back the better items of their gear that the Slave Lords kept. 😀 I actually created a campaign based on escaped slaves and limited equipment, though the concept was that the slaves, nearly a hundred of them, were escaped slaves from a drow city who had tried to escape to the surface during an attack on the city by another group. They made their way towards the surface only to come up underneath a large surface body of water and found their progress halted. The PCs, at least the human ones, were the next generation of the escaped slaves. There was one partial spellbook in the "home" of the slaves, taken from a dead drow mage in the escape by a slave who had been a magic-user before his enslavement and who now trained others, so spell selection was limited, unless the PCs found another spellbook in their attempts to find their way to the surface. There were also a cleric, several fighter types, and a few thieves who could train up PCs, and of course if anyone made the rolls to be anything rarer there would be someone there for that. The trainers, of course, had disabilities that prevented their being adventurers. If I remember correctly the MU was missing an arm, the cleric was blind, and the others also had their own issues. Or were forced to stay near the "home" for defense and food hunting purposes. I never got that campaign running, but I still occasionally look at my notes and say "Maybe someday..." Its map was similar to the ones in D1 for obvious reasons, but I've apparently misplaced half the notes in the intervening years, including the maps. 😲But maybe someday...

[@yeoldegeek71]

Someday indeed, that sounds immense!!

[@Nick-mc8ob]

I'm enjoying your reviews. Keep up the good work

[@yeoldegeek71]

Thanks!

[@jdmcdonnell71]

This is one of my all-time favorite modules. We had so much fun playing it back in the day. One thing I do have to disagree with you on is the back cover. Nothing had my players more terrified, absolutely terrified, than the idea that they would have to face a vampire somewhere off in the caves with no armor or weapons or spells. It caused instant engagement, so much so that I wasn't disappointed to figure out that there is no vampire in A4. Besides, that's a good thing considering the TPK that would have resulted had there been one. Aside from the fact that A4 is the best of the A Modules, I still think they did the whole thing backwards. It should have begun in A4 with the players as captive slaves sent to be sacrificed and ended in a temple like A1, now conveniently set into the side of an exploding volcano, possibly exploding because the earth goddess did not get her sacrifices? Great reviews Geek! I really enjoyed them.

[@yeoldegeek71]

Yes, I think that A4 would have made for a compelling opening scenario - that would have been great! I'll fight you over the back cover image though, pistols at dawn? ;)

[@hallacar]

Excellent video. I really enjoyed this module as well. There was one time I was DM where one of the players had psionics and it really broke the adventure. They had body weaponry and were able to overcome the lack of gear handicap at the beginning without a problem. I would think a monk may have a similar drastic advantage but have not seen one in the scenario. I would love to see this entire series fleshed out from tournament set up to a full Greyhawk scenario.

[@yeoldegeek71]

Urrrgh Psionics urrrrgh. I'm so glad my group failed their rolls... or rather.. I neglected to offer them the opportunity to roll :D

[@williammoore9794]

I'm sorely tempted to run the A modules as a sequel to B10. It would be a battle against the Iron Ring slavers, once the party escapes the Lost Valley. Needs a lot of work, and a good hook, but I think there are a few seeds suggested at the end of B10. I appreciate B10 is BECMI, but the systems aren't that different. Just convert whichever module needs changing to whichever you are using 👍

[@yeoldegeek71]

B10 is a stunning module!

[@danielkearney3295]

great, great steaming turd,, spit my drink out

[@Snoil]

A4 is excellent, and I like A1 very much as well. 2 and 3 are good enough but as a series, I heavily reworked them to make them integrate better into a world setting, especially A3. As written, the whole series is very much tournament-style. Adapting for campaigning takes some effort from the DM though honestly there is so much good core material I really enjoy the redecorating.

[@johnscotto5045]

John, Thank you for a worthy finish to your review of the Slaver series. If you are seeking new things to review, I wonder have you reviewed N4 “Treasure Hunt”? I believe it is unique in that it is the only module to start characters at level 0. Think of it as D&D meets the DCC funnel. A very moderately priced PDF is available from drive through RPG. However, I do not believe they offer a print on demand option. It may be worth your consideration.

[@yeoldegeek71]

I haven't - I used to own a copy but never ran it. Sadly the copy is long gone :(

[@SebastienlovesCookieswirlc]

I would review some BECMI adventures as well. Who does not love BECMI? Cheers

[@yeoldegeek71]

I have some experience of quite a few of them, but KZbin already has an excellent BECMI reviewer in the form of Mr Welch. I have B4, X2, X4 and X5 on a possible to do list, but the question is... what can I add to what Mr Welch has already said?

[@SebastienlovesCookieswirlc]

@@yeoldegeek71 I see your point. The thing is most BECMI material can be adapted to 1st edition AD&D with very little effort. You could review them in that light.

[@thatpatrickguy3446]

@@yeoldegeek71 Well, the advantage is that we, or at least I, know you and not Mr. Welch. 😀 Still, even if you're covering already covered ground, and who isn't really? It'll be your perspective that we want to get, and your insights as well. I mean, we sub to you for a reason. 😀

[@coachlarry6773]

Excellent review! I actually have never ran or been through this, and have owned it for a long time. I need to re-read it asap! You said about thinking of what to post next. I’d like to see maybe how you gameplay. Your ideas on becoming a better DM. Or character makeup, how you roll up your characters and what you start with. Stuff like that is very interesting, especially from somebody that has played or DM’d for as long as you. I’d like to also see your opinion on the core rulebooks, do you use UA or MM2 or any of the others? I believe you’ve got a cool channel going.

[@yeoldegeek71]

I guess there will be people here who have more experience than me... I played from 1983 to 1992, then stopped due to college/beer/work/family - only going back to gaming in 2012. Since returning though I've not looked back - playing multiple times per week when possible, going to conventions, and trying to rebuild my old module collection.

[@coachlarry6773]

@@yeoldegeek71 I think you have a good point of view on these module reviews. Keep up the good work, and I’m really jealous on how much your playing these days lol.

[@andysimmons2648]

A good series of reviews. I haven’t played this series but I’ve heard about it (obviously). I’d still be interested in giving it a try. Sadly, my group have now migrated over to 5th edition. The chances of any 5th ed PCs finding themselves captured and set loose on their wits are near zero. I hope that your group get things sorted to allow further gaming.

[@yeoldegeek71]

I still have gaming options - it's just that the 2 big campaigns have had to be paused. I'm playing the CofC scenario 'Mr Corbitt' with 2 of my players, and just joined an online DCC game which is proving to be fun. And I'm running Goodman Games version of B4 The Lost City for an online 5E group - in a somewhat sporadic manner, with my old school tweaks to that system.

[@mykediemart]

A total rework would make this series great. I have just used bit and pieces to make it more cohesive and fit into my campaign.

[@yeoldegeek71]

Ultimately that's the best way to use modules... though as I said in one review (A3?), I always try to run the adventures as presented 1st, because they can sometimes play a lot better than they read - I4 being a perfect example.

[@Snoil]

That's how I use these as well. I use a lot of modules as skeletons to be fleshed out, but these in particular are heavily redone in my current worldbuild. There's a lot of great material but it's VERY tourney-based as written, as far as the whole series goes. A DM who does like the material can easily revamp most of it, which is why I liked the old TSR modules so much anyway.

[@inkspitter13]

Id love to see you review the G-D series sometime

[@yeoldegeek71]

G1/2/3 are on the to do list. Sadly D1/2/3 aren't - due to catastrophic campaign ending play in G3.

[@inkspitter13]

@@yeoldegeek71 oops lol.

[@davidleonard8547]

Fun fact: rumour has it that the entire series found its inspiration, and birth, with this scenario, written by Allen Hammack, and then back-designed into A-series. Or so I'm told. Schick might have reskinned the finale, but it was Hammack's idea, apparently. If true, Hammack drew the short straw, being assigned A3 and not the scenario he himself developed, IMO. True? Myth? No matter. I do love A4, it was one of few modules my first group played through as written. It was quite a challenge; even so, I think our DM was gentle on us. Seeing that you've already reviewed A0, I'm curious if you plan on continuing on your exploration of the Slaver epic with "Scourge," "Slavers," and the Dungeon magazine adventures "Lowdown in Highport," and "The Last Slaver"? Wait... There will be a pause in content? A delay? Dare not say... hiatus?! If there is, do come back soon. And BTW, I believe you can still give us your thoughts on other adventures, no matter whether you've played/DMed them. We'll forgive you. I'm sure I will, seeing that I do as much on my blog. Consider it a sober-second-thought...

[@yeoldegeek71]

If that's the case then Allen Hammack certainly got the raw deal... A3 was always going to be the tough one to execute well. I still have a few more things to look at... the G series, I6, T1 and maybe EX1 are all in the pipeline. Plus I want to look at a few other RPGs. With LotR in people's minds at the moment now might be the time to break out my MERP collection from storage?

[@carlosmondragon5104]

@@yeoldegeek71 Please do review the modules on that list. Presumably if you do EX1 you'll do EX2 as well? Also, since I mentioned it in another comment, a review of I9 would be very welcome - although I understand it is one of the lesser known and played modules, generally.

[@adampender2482]

Have you thought about reviewing AD&D supplements? I know they were mainly in 2nd edition and you're 1st edition but Noone is really reviewing supplements on KZbin. Faerun had a ton lol. Not as many as Greyhawk but there were a few.

[@yeoldegeek71]

I'm not the right man to be delving into Faerun as I suffer from chronic Realmsaphobia!! I do have a few more bits and bobs I can look at - I've played a fair bit of 2E too, and the AD&D I run at the table tends to be mostly 1E, but with some elements of BECMI and 2E pulled in...

[@adampender2482]

@@yeoldegeek71 I mentioned Faerun just as an example of all the supplement material they released. I like the realms but there's always been something there that makes me shy away from running a campaign there. Cult of the Dragon, Red Wizards of Thay, and certain dungeons could work in Greyhawk though with some work lol

[@biffstrong1079]

Nice coverage of these problematical modules. We died here. These are different Slave Lords from A-3? So do you have to buy A-3 as well to get all the little pieces you might want to take away from these modules? I like A-1. I like the fortress and the Hobgoblins in A-2, mostly because I have Hobgoblins in a central place in my world and this helps give them things to do beyond Low level modules. I like the Slave Lords from A-3 and some of the things going on there. I like the escape scenario from A-4 but would never impose it on campaigners though might play a one-shot with it. As you say it's back to basic fun and the only part of bits of three of these modules I played that I actually whole heartedly enjoyed.

[@swirvinbirds1971]

They used to include fake art like on the back cover so players wouldn't be tipped off in game.