Publication:The Throne of Bloodstone

[  The Throne of Bloodstone]

System: Dungeons and Dragons 1e Levels: 18 – 100  Author: Michael Dobson  Publisher: TSR  Publication Date: 1988  Format: Paperback  Page Count: 96

Product Blurb The battle between the mighty undead army of the Witch-King of Vaasa and the forces of Bloodstone has come to a standstill. As long as the source of the Witch-King's power is at work, his evil forces will never be defeated! As the rulers of Bloodstone Pass, it is up to you to find and destroy the source of Vaasa's power. All you have to do is journey to the Abyss, confront the mightiest demon of all, steal the Wand of Orcus, and take it to the Seven Heavens to be destroyed. The Throne of Bloodstone is the fourth and final installment in a series of modules specially designed for high-level characters. While it is not necessary to have played any of the three previous modules, The Throne of Bloodstone is the climax of an epic struggle for a kingdom against the forces of darkest evil. Recommended for characters of levels 18-100, The Throne of Bloodstone is the highest-level adventure ever published by TSR! This text is quoted from promotion material. Text and images are copyrighted by the original publisher.

Plot Summary

In The Throne of Bloodstone, the player characters take a trip to the Abyss to steal the wand of the demon prince Orcus.[1]

This module is recommended for characters between levels 18 and 100. They play the rulers of Bloodstone Pass. A war against the Witch-King of Vaasa has come to a standstill. The players venture into the Abyss, destroy a mighty demon, steal the Wand of Orcus and take it to the Seven Heavens to be destroyed.

The battle between the mighty undead army of the Witch-King of Vaasa and the forces of Bloodstone has come to a standstill. As long as the source of the Witch-King's power is at work, his evil forces will never be defeated! This module requires the player characters, as the rulers of Bloodstone Pass if following the series, to find the true power behind the Witch-King and defeat it.

The module requires the players to journey to the Abyss, confront Orcus, one of its greatest demons, steal the Wand of Orcus, and destroy it.

The wide range of levels the module is for is dealt with in several ways as well as the general principles described above for dealing with 100th level characters. For some encounters either the number and/or type of opponents vary or the NPC's reaction to the characters vary depending on the total level of the party. Some areas in the module like the city of liches or the city of 100,000 demons, are really too difficult for any party to overcome directly and require approaches other than brute force.

Publication History

H4 The Throne of Bloodstone was written by Douglas Niles and Michael Dobson, with a cover by Keith Parkinson, and was published by TSR in 1988 as a 96-page book. Interior art was by Graham Nolan.

This module is part four of four, though it is not required to have played the previous three modules. While this is the fourth adventure in the Bloodstone pass saga, and the second that sets the saga in the Forgotten Realms, it is the first publication that bears the official Forgotten Realms logo.

At 96 pages the module is larger than was common at the time of publication and is the longest in the Bloodstone Saga. It comes in a loose cardboard cover; the maps are not printed on the inside but in the book itself, and on a foldout poster.

This module is listed as being intended for character levels 18 - 100. The upper end of this range is by far the highest level specified for any D&D module. The module includes a substantial section on running games with 100th level characters. The guidance rests on three principles:

100th-Level characters are not ten times more powerful than 10th-level characters Apply all the rules strictly Never give a 100th-level character an even break The module includes two sets of pre-generated characters. The first set is the same seven characters that have run through the Bloodstone Saga, most of which are now 19th level. The second set are based on great characters of mythology and all have at least one class at 100th level. These characters, who are much more powerful than the versions appearing in the Legends & Lore manual are Perseus, Circe, Hermes and Artemis.

---