AD&D Module Review - UK5 Eye of the Serpent

The 5th in the UK series, written by Graeme Morris and published by TSR UK in 1984.
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[@sirelfinjedi]

This was my first successful attempt at DMing. I loved it and ran it or swiped from it many times.

[@FelipeBudinich]

Interesting, I was hoping it had more environmental hazards instead of fights.

[@yeoldegeek71]

It's mostly fights I'm afraid, though they are suitable to each environment.

[@The_Custos]

@@FelipeBudinich check/add the avalanches from the caverns of tsoj.

[@FelipeBudinich]

@@The_Custos oh thanks! I will check that out!

[@thatpatrickguy3446]

I did like the cover better than that of UK2, but I agree that it wasn't great. Graeme Morris did great work for TSR UK. I don't dislike anything he did. That said, this is not surprisingly a fairly unimpressive or even disappointing adventure overall, but it does have some strong points. Maps and storyline were pretty nice and gave some good ideas. The main flaw was the original premise with the one on one adventure with limited classes suggested. The changing environments and encounters did make for a great idea to take and use in one's own campaign, but the lack of sensibility in the fairly rapid changes of environment within a ten mile gap is difficult to deal with. Really, this feels absolutely like a Choose Your Own Adventure book that was poorly converted to a module. And not a well converted book-to-module transition. It seems like there's at most two options for the adventurers in any encounter, and sometimes not that many options. But, like some other modules, I think it's best used as an idea mine instead of an actual adventure. Morris did a good job within his constraints. As an actual adventure though, I give it a 3 or 4. Well done!

[@angelmanfredy]

I have great memories of this module and actually liked the cover art but gave you a like anyway. :)

[@danielrowan4716]

YOG, I played this one way back in ‘85/‘86. The group had a Ranger (myself), as well as a monk and a Druid. I recall feeling that the module was a bit railroady and the combats were dangerous. Overall it was a pleasant experience. I agree with your assessment. I would recommend it for experienced players starting at 1st level. Thanks for the review, some of the more obscure AD&D classics don’t get much coverage here.

[@yeoldegeek71]

It's only railroady if the DM follow the 'paths', it's better when opened up by ignoring that aspect of the adventure.

[@easterbunny3850]

Sounds like dirty euphemism

[@biffstrong1079]

I enjoyed all these UK modules .Really the Sentinel and the Guantlet were the two I liked the least. This one was I thought a lot of fun. Wildernesque adventure with two or three routes through it. Loved Henchmen. It was through the wilderness but it could just as soon have been a cave with two three routes through it. I liked having a couple routes that were closed down so they had to backtrack. Enjoyed the lookouts and the different temperatures/environments. The conclusion was a little underwhelming. Still I liked it and as you say it was well suited for 4 PC's. I rolled reaction rolls for some of the beasts like the snow leopard and the Mephits. hough I gave them a chance to see the ghoul through the ice . I liked trying to find a spot to camp up , in an ice cave or in the fort at the top of the stairs or in the old wagon. I dont need all my adventures to have an over-riding story. It was fun . 8 out of 10. Liked it in the end way better than Sentinel Gauntlet Thanks for the review.Aside from Salt marsh Ive heard no one reviewing these UK modules. Im not sure what I liked so much though versimilitude might have been part of it. I remember the little fort the Lizard man lived in with the ghost dwarf or the look tower with the crows or the was it an old wagon in the grassland?

[@The_Custos]

Back listening again. To add a spark, what about the rocs coming back and the party having to hide and be stealthy (or move at night) or back to the top they go, like a reverse snakes and ladders.

[@yeoldegeek71]

The idea of reversing the adventure so the party are climbing to the Rocs' nest is a great one, maybe to recover some evidence of the past Dwarven society on the mountain?

[@The_Custos]

@@yeoldegeek71 do the rocs drop them down the mountain if the party is caught? 🦅 🦅 🏔️

[@LordSephleon]

This was the only module that my longtime group and I tried playing once back during our 2E days. We were in high school at the time and we stayed at a house that one of the players' parents would rent out to other people on occasion. That night, the house was empty as the previous tenant had just moved out, so - with permission - we crashed there with the intent of just hanging out and being teenagers, but no intent to game. However, not long into the night, we did break the dice out, and this module is what we played since it was a completely unplanned game. Unfortunately, as that was pretty much an all-nighter, I remember very little of the actual adventure other than our inside joke of "Black Dot" and "White Dot" encounters. For a long time after, whenever an obvious combat situation came up, we called it a "Black Dot" encounter, and any non-hostile ones were "White Dot" encounters. Weirdly, any encounter involving only deadly traps were considered "White Dot" until the danger was discovered, so we sort of just unofficially called them "Gray Dot" encounters at that point.

[@MichaelS-pr9qn]

I used this almost strictly for filler if the main party couldn't get together for a session, just "grab" the 1 or 2 PC's and Roc them up the mountain for a tournament style session. I have also used this once so far to join a party together with them meeting on the way down. Both ways also involved dropping encounters for challenges to solve based on skill sets.

[@The_Custos]

Going through your reviews, checking out the modules and planning when the parties will come across them during the year, but I do not agree with your takes on art and covers.

[@yeoldegeek71]

Art is very much subjective, and that's what makes it a good topic for videos! I hope you find the reviews useful.

[@The_Custos]

@@yeoldegeek71 they are really useful, so I have two parties which I DM, one party has a little Gnoll fort I've put together to get through, then Horror on the Hill after they already completed Wandering Trees. The other party have finished Silver Princess (they didn't save her, but stole all her stuff), and are moving on to Sentinel and In Search of the Unknown. Race to get to Eye of the Serpent (or I abduct one group if the timing is perfect). Amusingly, since two Rocs are so overwhelming for the parties, they could both be taken at different times and have to get down the mountain, then later realise they all had to do it. Damn birds!

[@r.d.hargrave8159]

I have run it twice, with much success and, both times, ignored the 'escape the mountain' hook and instead just had the party enter from the bottom. (My recent run of it involved placing the independent OB6 'The Lost Mithral Mine' part 2 adventure as the map that the party finds in part 1 OB5 'The Old Dwarven Mine' -- both found on Dragonsfoot -- leads to the valley where I placed the lost mine in the old mine encounter with the few goblins up along the valley wall).

[@gommechops]

I was thinking it sounded like it needed something like this, a reason to be in the area and looking for treasure/adventure. Maybe even a rumour of things that hint towards elements in the adventure beforehand too. Is it just me or is Dragonsfoot quite hard to find things on?