Waterdeep (module)
Waterdeep is an adventure module published in 1989 for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. It is the last of the three-part "Avatar" series, the first being Shadowdale and the second Tantras.
 | |
| Code | FRE3 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Douglas Niles |
| First published | 1989 |
Plot summary
Waterdeep is a Forgotten Realms scenario, the climax of the FRE series, and set in the city of Waterdeep, as the player characters are on their quest to restore the Tablets of Fate to the god Ao.[1]
Publication history
FRE3 Waterdeep was written by Douglas Niles, with a cover by Clyde Caldwell, and was published by TSR in 1989 as a 32-page booklet with a d three pane outer folder.[1] Also included is a fold-out color map.
Reception
In the February–March 1990 edition of Games International (Issue 13), Dave Hughes criticized the adventure for "sticking too closely to its sources, using dialogue, desriptive passages and, unforgivably, all the characters from the novels as non-player characters." He said as a result "the players are either saved at every turn by a helpful non-player character, or simply left to die inconsequentially where luck saved the characters in the novel." He thought the adventure railroaded the players' actions, saying, "The players may well feel they are being herded from scene to scene [...] with few opportunities for ideas of their own." He also pointed out that whatever the players did, non-player characters took credit for saving the Realms at the end of the adventure. Hughes concluded by giving Waterdeep a poor rating of only 4 out of 10.[2]
References
- Schick, Lawrence (1991). Heroic Worlds: A History and Guide to Role-Playing Games. Prometheus Books. p. 98. ISBN 0-87975-653-5.
- Hughes, Dave (February–March 1990). "Waterdeep". Games International. No. 13. p. 40.