Blast From the Past: The Shattered Gates of Slaughtergarde

In this installment of Blast From the Past, I'll discuss my favorite published adventure from the Third (and 3.5) Edition era. Most of my face-to-face, pen-and-paper gaming time during this era was spent with fellow medievalist graduate students at the University of Rochester. We had a steady group of five or six people, with two of us (myself included) serving as the primary DMs. During my stints in the DM's chair, I used a variant version of the Druid Cycle setting, and Mike, the other DM, used his own game world as well. Consequently, I don't think I DMed or played in a single published adventure during this entire era.

That doesn't mean, however, that I don't have a favorite adventure. The Shattered Gates of Slaughtergarde (2006) is an immersive, non-linear mini-campaign that takes PCs from level 1 to 6, but includes enough supporting material for a much longer campaign. Included in this set (rather than a single book, it's a folder containing several booklets, maps, and handouts) is a brief player's guide with character creation tips and new options to help players link their characters more closely to the adventure and its setting; the two adventure booklets, meanwhile, feature a streamlined encounter layout that anticipates the Fourth Edition design.

What makes it my favorite from this era? Aside from the aforementioned selling points, it's also something I read and re-read when Amy was pregnant with Matthew. I remember thinking to myself that one day I'd play through this adventure with my kid(s). That day is getting closer.