''Keep on the Shadowfell'' is the first official product from the 4th edition ''

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''") line. It is part one of a three-part series of adventures. It introduces a series of 4th edition ''

'' settings called the

Points of Light Points of Light is an international nonprofit, nonpartisan organization headquartered in Georgia, United States dedicated to engaging more people and resources in solving serious social problems through voluntary service. Each year, Points ...

, a loosely connected and open-ended series of settings designed to allow other modules and fan-created content to be integrated seamlessly into the settings' largely unmapped fantasy world or the Dungeon Master's own custom-made setting. The adventure, written by

Mike Mearls Michael Mearls is a writer and designer of fantasy role-playing games (RPGs) and related fiction. He was the senior manager for the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' research and design team. He co-led design for the 5th edition of the game. He also worked ...

and Bruce R. Cordell, was published in 2008 by

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. It is followed by the sequels ''

Thunderspire Labyrinth ''Thunderspire Labyrinth'' is the second in the three part series of adventures introducing the new 4th edition ''Dungeons & Dragons'' concept of Points of Light, a loosely connected and open-ended setting designed to allow modules and Dungeon M ...

'' and ''

Pyramid of Shadows ''Pyramid of Shadows'' is the final part of a loosely connected three part series of adventures introducing the 4th edition ''Dungeons & Dragons'' ruleset. The adventure, written by Mike Mearls and James Wyatt, was published in 2008 by Wizards of ...

''. The adventure is designed for characters from levels 1 to 3. Its module code, "H", stands for Heroic Tier. This module is set in a region of the world called the Nentir Vale, which is described in greater detail in the 4th edition ''

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''.

*16-page 4th Edition quick-start rules booklet, including five ready-to-play characters *80-page adventure booklet *3 large size, double-sided, full-color battle maps *1 light cardboard portfolio

Story

Kobold A kobold (occasionally cobold) is a mythical sprite. Having spread into Europe with various spellings including "goblin" and "hobgoblin", and later taking root and stemming from Germanic mythology, the concept survived into modern times in Ge ...

raiders are menacing the Nentir Vale village of Winterhaven. They attack the player characters who are also traveling to Winterhaven. When the player characters arrive at Winterhaven, they are asked to clean out the kobold nest. The player characters soon discover that the kobolds are pawns of Kalarel, a priest of

Orcus Orcus ( la, Orcus) was a god of the underworld, punisher of broken oaths in Etruscan and Roman mythology. As with Hades, the name of the god was also used for the underworld itself. In the later tradition, he was conflated with Dis Pater. A ...

, Demon Prince of

Undeath The undead are beings in mythology, legend, or fiction that are deceased but behave as if alive. Most commonly the term refers to corporeal forms of formerly-alive humans, such as mummies, vampires, and zombies, who have been reanimated by super ...

. Kalarel has a lair at a nearby ruined keep that contains the Shadow Rift, once a gateway to the Shadowfell and is no longer in use. Kalarel plans to reopen the Shadow Rift to connect the material world to Orcus's temple in the Shadowfell. This unleashes an army of undead upon the unsuspecting region. The player characters journey to the keep and descend through its crypts, resulting in a final climactic confrontation with Kalarel.

Publication history

The adventure was designed by Bruce R. Cordell and

and was first published in May 2008. William O'Connor created the cover art, and Miguel Coimbra and

Eric Deschamps Eric Deschamps is an artist whose work has appeared in role-playing games. Career His ''Dungeons & Dragons'' work includes interior art for '' Sharn: City of Towers'' (2004), '' Explorer's Handbook'' (2005), ''Dragon Magic'' (2006), '' Complete M ...

created the interior art. Shannon Appelcline commented that "The fourth edition of ''Dungeons & Dragons'' was previewed in May of 2008 in a quick-start adventure, ''H1: Keep on the Shadowfell'' (2008), that introduced both the 4e rule system and the Points of Light setting." ''Keep on the Shadowfell'' was the first 4th Edition ''D&D'' adventure module to be released. It was released before the core 4th Edition rulebooks were made available, and includes pre-generated characters and a condensed version of many game rules. For early adopters, ''Keep on the Shadowfell'' was the first opportunity to play an official ''D&D'' 4th Edition product. In April 2009, Wizards of the Coast released an updated PDF version of ''Keep on the Shadowfell''. This updated version fixed many typographical errors throughout the module, revised the presentation and formatting of many encounters, and re-tuned the difficulty of certain key sections by adding or subtracting monsters. This PDF was made available to the public free of charge through Wizards' ''D&D'' Test Drive program.

Reception

A reviewer from the gaming-oriented ''

Pyramid A pyramid (from el, πυραμίς ') is a structure whose outer surfaces are triangular and converge to a single step at the top, making the shape roughly a pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid can be trilateral, quadrilat ...

'' commented that, as the first scenario for the yet-unreleased new edition, ''Keep on the Shadowfell'' was "quite a significant item," particularly because Wizards' had included rules from the new edition. In a May 2008 review for RPG.net, David R. Henry rated the adventure's style as a 4 out of 5 ("Classy & Well Done"), and rated the adventure's substance as a 3 out of 5 ("Average"). He concluded that "as it is now it’s a very average adventure with little to recommend it (but, and this must be stressed, little to complain about either)."

References

Notes

Bibliography

* Cordell, Bruce R., and

. ''Keep on the Shadowfell'' (

, 2008).

External links

Wizards of the Coast product pageWizards of the Coast FAQ for ''Keep on the Shadowfell''
{{D&D topics Dungeons & Dragons modules Role-playing game supplements introduced in 2008