Red Hand of Doom
{{Short description|D&D adventure module}}
{{DnDmodule| module_title = Red Hand of Doom
|module_image = File:RedHandofDoomRPGCover.jpg
|module_code = 953857400
|module_rules = 3rd Edition D&D
|module_character_levels = (6-12) starting at 6th{{cite journal | url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-148483712.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150328183245/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-148483712.html | url-status=dead | archive-date=March 28, 2015 | title=Wizards of the Coast | journal=California Bookwatch | date=June 1, 2006 | access-date=September 6, 2012}}
|module_campaign = Generic D&D
|module_authors = James Jacobs and Richard Baker
|module_first_published = 2006
|series =
}}
Red Hand of Doom is a 128-page adventure module for the 3.5 version of Dungeons & Dragons (D&D).
{{cite web
| url=http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ex/20060202a
| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060219232735/http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ex/20060202a
| url-status=dead
| archive-date=February 19, 2006
| title=Red Hand of Doom Excerpt
| last1=James
| first1=Jacobs
| author-link=James Jacobs (game designer)
| first2=Richard|last2=Baker |author-link2=Richard Baker (game designer)
| date=2006-02-02
| publisher=Wizards of the Coast
| access-date=2008-01-21
}}
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, the Forgotten Realms, and Eberron (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,
{{cite web
| url=http://www.enworld.org/reviews.php?do=review&reviewid=3033519
| title=Staff review of Red Hand of Doom
| publisher=EN World
| last=Kushner
| first= Joe
| access-date=2008-01-29}}
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.
{{cite web
|url = http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ps/20060210a
|title = Product Spotlight: Red Hand of Doom
|date = 2006-02-10
|publisher = Wizards of the Coast
|access-date = 2008-01-21
|url-status = dead
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140727135643/http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd%2Fps%2F20060210a
|archive-date = 2014-07-27
}}
The adventure is expected to take players weeks, or even months, to complete.{{cite journal
| journal=Black Gate
| title=Red Hand of Doom
| publisher=New Epoch Press, Inc.
| last=Jones
| first=Howard Andrew
| issue=Summer 2007
| year=2007
}}
Plot
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 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,
{{cite web
|url = http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ps/20060210a
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140727135643/http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd%2Fps%2F20060210a
|archive-date = July 27, 2014
|title = Red Hand of Doom: Designer Interview
|publisher = Wizards of the Coast
|last = Carroll
|first = Bart
|date = 2006-02-10
|access-date = 2008-02-04
|url-status = dead
}}
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 Adventure Path for 4th Edition, Scales of War, does start off in the same location, reusing the maps from Red Hand of Doom, but only uses the location as a jumping-off point and does not build on specific plot points from Red Hand of Doom.
Critical reception
The publication has been generally well received, with reviewers rating it as one of the best adventures in many years.
{{cite web
| url=http://www.d20zines.com/v7/node/1808|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120321111531/http://www.d20zines.com/v7/node/1808|archive-date=March 21, 2012
| title=Red Hand of Doom Review
| publisher=d20zine
| last=Grigsby
| first= John
| date=2006-04-13
| access-date=2008-02-04}}
In terms of content and quality, one reviewer compared it favorably with both The Temple of Elemental Evil and The Keep on the Borderlands.
{{cite web
| url=http://www.timewastersguide.com/view.php?id=1259|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721032515/http://www.timewastersguide.com/view.php?id=1259|archive-date=July 21, 2011
| title=Red Hand of Doom: A Dungeons & Dragons Adventure
| publisher=The Official Time-Waster's Guide
| last=Wells
| first=Daniel
| date=2006-02-27
| access-date=2008-02-04}}
The inclusion of the Designer Notes was well regarded by critics, as was the provision of downloadable content.{{cite web
| url=http://www.enworld.org/reviews.php?do=review&reviewid=2886231|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070220024302/http://www.enworld.org/reviews.php?do=review&reviewid=2886231|archive-date=February 20, 2007
| title=Review of Red Hand of Doom
| publisher=EN World
| access-date=2008-02-02
| last=Cooper
| first=John
}}
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,{{cite journal
| journal=Pyramid
| title=Red Hand of Doom (for the d20 System)
| publisher=Steve Jackson Games
| access-date=2008-02-05
| last=Pook
| first=Matthew
| url=http://www.sjgames.com/pyramid/sample.html?id=6534
| date=August 3, 2007
}} 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.{{cite book|last1=Slavicsek|first1=Bill|author-link=Bill Slavicsek |author-link2=Richard Baker (game designer)|first2=Rich |last2=Baker |author-link3=Jeff Grubb|first3=Jeff|last3=Grubb |title=Dungeon Master For Dummies|publisher=For Dummies|year=2006|pages=320|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pSG3zxln4FUC&q=%22Red+Hand+of+Doom%22&pg=PA330|access-date=2019-04-04|isbn=978-0-471-78330-5}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.d20zines.com/v7/node/1808 d20zine review]
- [http://www.timewastersguide.com/view.php?id=1259 Timewaster review]
- [http://www.enworld.org/forum/reviews/165325-red-hand-doom.html#post2886231 Review by EN World staff reviewer John Cooper]
- [http://neverwintervault.org/project/nwn2/module/red-hand-doom Neverwinter Nights 2 adaptation]
{{D&D topics}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Red Hand Of Doom}}