This article originally appeared in d20 Weekly
The Banewarrens
Published by Sword and Sorcery
Written by Monte Cook
Illustrated by Toren Atkinson, Lars Grant-West, Quinton Hoover, Alan Pollack, and Arnie Swekel
128-page perfect bound book; $17.95
[BEGIN SPOILER ALERT!]
Long ago, the cleric Danar Rotansin sought to remove all traces of evil from the world. To this end, he collected some of the most evil artifacts ever created and imprisoned them within catacombs beneath his fortress. These diseases, demonic relics, and curses Danar called "banes," and their jail the "Banewarrens." Although Danar has long since vanished into the Banewarrens, the banes still lie below the fortress, itself the base of a 2,500-foot spire around which the city of Ptolus that has grown up. Moving forward to the present day, it is events upon the streets of Ptolus that will draw the player characters into the adventure. Local inhabitants suddenly exhibit sorcerous, but uncontrolled abilities, including quite possibly the player characters. . . .
This is the beginning of The Banewarrens, the latest d20 System adventure from Malhavoc Press. Published under the Swords and Sorcery label, this "Mega-Adventure" (as it describes itself) is by Monte Cook. Not only is he the co-designer of Dungeons & Dragons, he also wrote one of last year's best reiterations and updates of the classic dungeon, Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil. Although designed for a party of four characters of sixth level, this is probably not a large enough party; the adventure is a tough . . .
This article originally appeared in the second volume of Pyramid. See the current Pyramid website for more information.
Article publication date: September 25, 2002
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