Bloodstone Pass

Bloodstone Pass is an adventure with both a role-playing scenario and Battlesystem combat, in which the town of Bloodstone Pass hires the player characters to organize a defense against an army of evil humanoid monsters. The army also included human renegades led by a powerful assassin.

The module's action focuses on leading the armies rather than having the battle occur in the background while the players adventure to find a MacGuffin.

Bloodstone Pass was originally the working name of what became the first edition of Battlesystem. However, it was felt{{by whom|date=September 2011}} that the name did not convey the feeling of the system. After the developers had settled on the name Battlesystem, they used the "Bloodstone Pass" name for the first Battlesystem game accessory.{{cite journal | last =Dobson | first =Michael | author-link =Michael Dobson (author) | title =From first draft to last gasp | journal =Dragon #100 | volume = X | issue = 3 | pages =96–98 | publisher =TSR |date=August 1985 | issn =0279-6848 }}{{rp|96}}

Bloodstone Pass was written by Douglas Niles and Michael Dobson and published by TSR, Inc., in 1985 as a boxed set. The set included a 32-page scenario booklet, a 24-page unit roster, a model-building instruction booklet, 12 cardstock building sheets for constructing a fold-together cardboard village and miniature figures, and 104 cardboard counters. Cover art was by Jeff Easley.

Originally intended as a stand-alone module, it later became the first part of the four-part Bloodstone Pass Saga. The saga is known as the H series and includes Bloodstone Pass (H1), The Mines of Bloodstone (H2), The Bloodstone Wars (H3), and The Throne of Bloodstone (H4). When The Bloodstone Wars was published, the original generic setting of Bloodstone Pass was retconned into the Forgotten Realms campaign setting. Module FR9, The Bloodstone Lands, describes the area of the Forgotten Realms where the Bloodstone Pass Saga occurs. In this module's version of history the events of H series modules have run their course with the pregenerated PCs.

Ken Rolston reviewed Bloodstone Pass for Dragon magazine #135 (July 1988).{{cite journal| last = Rolston| first = Ken| author-link = Ken Rolston| title = Role-playing Reviews| journal = Dragon| issue = #135| page = 76| publisher = TSR| location = Lake Geneva, Wisconsin|date=July 1988}} He called it a "real nice package" but noted that, because it was designed for use with Battlesystem, "the buildings are not even close to 25mm scale".

Rich Baker, one of the designers of the 2006 module Red Hand of Doom, compared that adventure to Bloodstone Pass, saying they provide similar challenges to players.{{cite web

| last =Carroll

| first =Bart

| title =Red Hand of Doom: Designer Interview

| publisher =Wizards of the Coast

| date =2006-02-10

| url =http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ps/20060210a

| access-date =2007-03-23

| archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20140727135643/http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd%2Fps%2F20060210a

| archive-date =2014-07-27

| url-status =dead

}}

Review: The V.I.P. of Gaming Magazine #2 (1986)

• {{cite journal

| last =Dobson

| first =Michael

| author-link =Michael Dobson (author)

| title =The Forum

| journal =Dragon #107

| volume = X

| issue = 10

| pages =6

| publisher =TSR

|date=March 1986

| issn =0279-6848 }}

• {{cite journal

| last =Grubb

| first =Jeff

| author-link =Jeff Grubb

| title =The Game Wizards: My dinner with Elminster

| journal =Dragon #119

| volume = XI

| issue = 10

| pages =59–60

| publisher =TSR

|date=March 1987

| issn =0279-6848 }}

• {{cite book

| last1 =Niles

| first1 =Douglas

| author-link1 =Douglas Niles

|first2=Michael |last2=Dobson |author-link2=Michael Dobson (author)

| title =Bloodstone Pass

| publisher =TSR

| date =August 1985

| isbn = 0-394-54856-6 }}

• [http://www.acaeum.com/ddindexes/modpages/h.html H Series modules at Acaeum]
• [http://www.tsrinfo.net/archive/dd1/h1.htm H1 Bloodstone Pass at TSR Archive]

{{D&D topics}}

Category:Dungeons & Dragons modules

Category:Forgotten Realms adventures

Category:Role-playing game supplements introduced in 1985