''Red Hand of Doom'' is a 128-page adventure module for the 3.5 version of ''

Dungeons & Dragons ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (RPG) originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. (TS ...

'' (''D&D''). It is designed as a generic ''D&D'' adventure that can be dropped into any campaign world, including a personal one. Instructions are given in the first pages of the module on where to place it in the worlds of

Greyhawk Greyhawk, also known as the World of Greyhawk, is a fictional world designed as a campaign setting for the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy roleplaying game. Although not the first campaign world developed for ''Dungeons & Dragons''— Dave Arneso ...

, the

Forgotten Realms ''Forgotten Realms'' is a campaign setting for the '' Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D'') fantasy role-playing game. Commonly referred to by players and game designers alike as "The Realms", it was created by game designer Ed Greenwood around 1967 as ...

, and

Eberron Eberron is a campaign setting for the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D'') role-playing game. The game is set primarily on the continent of Khorvaire following a vast destructive war. Eberron is designed to accommodate traditional ''D&D'' elements a ...

(the three primary campaign settings of ''D&D'' at the time of release). The adventure was indicated as appropriate for characters of experience levels six to twelve, but the designers have stated that it is targeted to levels five to eleven. It is also the first Wizards of the Coast ''Dungeons & Dragons'' adventure to make significant use of designer notes. The adventure is expected to take players weeks, or even months, to complete.

Plot

The plot of ''Red Hand of Doom'' follows a group of adventurers who have entered the ''Elsir Vale'', a thinly populated frontier region. The party discovers a massive hobgoblin horde that is fanatically devoted to the dark goddess

Tiamat In Mesopotamian religion, Tiamat ( akk, or , grc, Θαλάττη, Thaláttē) is a primordial goddess of the sea, mating with Abzû, the god of the groundwater, to produce younger gods. She is the symbol of the chaos of primordial crea ...

and led by the charismatic half-dragon warlord Azarr Kul. To stop the horde, players have to muster the inhabitants of the Vale, battle hobgoblins, giants and dragons, and defeat an overwhelming enemy.

Publication history

''Red Hand of Doom'' was the first ''Dungeons & Dragons'' adventure to include ''Designer Notes''—asides written by the authors to provide additional advice to players and to explain decisions made during the design process, as well as incorporating downloadable content in the form of PDF ''stat blocks''. The authors regarded the adventure as being self-contained and did not intend to continue the story in later publications. The first ''

Dungeon A dungeon is a room or cell in which prisoners are held, especially underground. Dungeons are generally associated with medieval castles, though their association with torture probably belongs more to the Renaissance period. An oubliette (from ...

Adventure Path An Adventure Path is a series of interlinked adventures (campaign) for tabletop role-playing games which can be played in succession and lead characters to advance from lower to higher levels, through a particular path of events. While campaig ...

for 4th Edition, ''Scales of War'', does start off in the same location, reusing the maps from ''Red Hand of Doom'', but quickly diverges into a history and geography of its own.

Critical reception

The publication has been generally well received, with reviewers rating it as one of the best adventures in many years. In terms of content and quality, one reviewer compared it favorably with both ''

The Temple of Elemental Evil ''The Temple of Elemental Evil'' is an adventure module for the fantasy role-playing game ''Dungeons & Dragons'', set in the game's ''World of Greyhawk'' campaign setting. The module was published by TSR, Inc. in 1985 for the first edition ' ...

'' and ''

The Keep on the Borderlands ''The Keep on the Borderlands'' is a '' Dungeons & Dragons'' adventure module by Gary Gygax, first printed in December 1979. In it, player characters are based at a keep and investigate a nearby series of caves that are filled with a variet ...

''. The inclusion of the Designer Notes was well regarded by critics, as was the provision of downloadable content. The artwork featured throughout the publication received special attention, with Howard Jones describing it as "fabulous". The generic nature of the campaign was seen as both a strength and a limitation. While it permitted the material to be inserted into existing campaigns and game worlds, it was acknowledged that doing so might be a difficult task, and that the publication lacked sufficient information for such a task, especially for non-standard campaigns. ''Dungeon Master for Dummies'' lists ''Red Hand of Doom'' as one of the ten best 3rd edition adventures.

References

External links

d20zine review

Timewaster review

''Neverwinter Nights 2'' adaptation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Red Hand Of Doom Dungeons & Dragons modules Role-playing game supplements introduced in 2006