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Keep on the Shadowfell (Dungeons & Dragons, Adventure H1) | 
 enlarge | Authors: Bruce Cordell, Mike Mearls
Brand: Wizards of the Coast
Category: Book
List Price: $29.95
Buy New: $17.40
You Save: $12.55 (42%)
New (24) Used (10) from $14.99
Avg. Customer Rating:  54 reviews
Sales Rank: 3024
Media: Paperback
Edition: 4th
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 96
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 11.2 x 9.3 x 0.5
ISBN: 0786948507
Dewey Decimal Number: 793
EAN: 9780786948505
ASIN: 0786948507
Publication Date: May 20, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Shipping: International shipping available
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Product Description
An introductory 4th Edition D&D adventure for characters of levels 1-3. The town of Winterhaven stands watch over a ruined keep that was once a bastion of good in the realm. This keep overlooks the Shadow Rift, a dark scar in the world that was once a gateway to the Shadowfell but has been dormant for many years. Now, an evil cleric of Orcus, Demon Lord of the Undead, seeks to re-open the gate, and the only thing standing in his way is a small yet determined band of heroes. Keep on the Shadowfell is an exciting Dungeons & Dragons adventure designed for characters of levels 1-3. It includes three double-sided poster maps suitable for use with D&D Miniatures.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 49 more reviews...
 A pretty good 4e adventure August 15, 2008
We're partway through this adventure after six sessions and are really enjoying it. It's not perfect by any means, and the actual "Keep" portion of the adventure can degenerate into a dungeon crawl of repetitiveness if the DM isn't careful.
Personally, i've added my own flavor and flair to the adventure as written, fleshing out the dull NPCs and adding multiple new encounters, treasure, and monsters. The whole story is nothing new in the realm of epic of fantasy, but i find it to be a great vehicle to show off what 4e can do. a
And what it CAN'T do.
My biggest complaint is the lack of maps for the keep itself. It has taken me painstaking hours to scan and print these maps, but the end result is fantastic. And they're reusable to boot. I look forward to the next part, Thunderspire Labyrinth, and just hope there's an easier way to print the high quality maps shown in the books.
 Good intro but weak adventure August 13, 2008
Keep on the Shadowfell was suppose to be a prelude to D&D 4th Edition even before the core books are released. Hence, in the adventure it contains a short rule guide, the adventure itself and maps for the game. It comes in a slipcase file.
I'll keep my review in point form to make it readable.
Good:
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(1) Combat in the sense of 4th edition (i'm not going into discussion of the merits and demerits of 4th Ed D&D) is pretty well conceived
(2) Maps is a bonus
(3) Not much flaws in the flow (as it's kept really simple)
Bad:
====
(1) Poor quality paper and binding. The last page of the adventure booklet is part of the adventure. Can't even provide a proper cover to protect it.
(2) Poor storyline (imagine the real story behind the Paladin Keegan is not much difference from the public story; was it any shocker?!?) You got to come up with something. On page 32, there was some advice but not enough for a newbie DM to try out this module
(3) Several mistakes (STR 18 gives +5 damage bonus but the damage on Irontooth battleaxe is only 1D8+4, wrong label on the map as noted in the adventure; adventure shows goblin sharpshooters as represented by G but map shows S). This should have been playtested and spotted. I found it even by just reading through it. Can imagine how bad the QA is on WoTC.
(4) Flat gameplay.
 Must Have August 4, 2008
To start off, the module is extremely well written and I was very happy as I read it from cover to cover. The quickstart guide and pregenerated characters were a nice bonus as well. The maps itself are very detailed and well created. Overall I am very happy with this product and looking forward to the next module in this line
Now for the flipside. If you are new to D&D 4th edition, I do recommend buying this but you will not have a map for every encounter (mainly the dungeon level). Investing in dungeon tiles are a great asset to overcome this. Besides that, as mentioned by other people, the covers for these modules are paper magazine type which is kind of dissapointing. I was holding the manual and walking from point A to B and thats when I realized my hand had made a hand print on the cover which kind of shows that this module is not going to stand up to the test of time (or at least frequent use) before falling apart. Besides that, no other real things to be considered negative. The module itself is outstanding
Nice starting point for D&D 4th edition August 1, 2008
This adventure is a nice start for playing D&D 4th edition, although I would recommend other adventures to a more experienced Dungeon Master. The adventure is set in a nice slip-case, and comes with several poster-sized maps for use with miniatures. It also ships with quick-play rules for the D&D 4th edition.
The adventure itself is simple, but in a classic way. Some of the NPCs presented could definitely became icons in your campaign.
 Keep on the Shadowfell is an ok starter adventure July 28, 2008
First off let me say that keep on the shadowfell is not without flaws. It has plenty of them but is still a good introductory adventure for those who want to play a premade 4th edition campaign. Let me seperate this review into two sections...the good and the bad. Ill start off with the bad.
SPOILERS BELOW
CONS:
The paper material is low grade in quality.
The quickstart rules are incomplete and hard to play a complete game with (no prices for loot and other small details that would have been easy to include)
The premades are nothing special but should do the trick for the first time player.
Mistakes abound throughout the adventure book.
Starts out with an ambush...(the new inn starting spot...cliche)
Campaign hooks are weak and have to be changed and are barely adequate for new players.
Mage trying to open a portal. (Seems every campaign is about this now days)
NPC's are bland and have to be livened up.
Not for the season vet but too much work for the beginner
Need dungeon tiles for the dungeon battles (but thats standard now days, most newbie players and dms dont own these)
Pros
Fun encounters (even the kobold battles)
Some tough encounters early on...some may see this as a con but ups the intensity early.
Winterhaven is a good starter type town that can be fully fleshed out by an experienced dm to make it an interesting and fun place.
The second half of the adventure is a standard dungeon crawl that new players can enjoy(but tough for a new dm.)
cool maps for most outside encounters and big end battles(some are reprinted from other wotc products)
Spoilers end
In closing if you are an experienced dm with new players then Keep on the shadowfell is great but if your players are experienced rpgers they may find it a bit underwhelming. They will still probably have fun but a lot of work needs to be done in order to make Kots a great play experience for anyone other than new players. However, for all of its faults there is a lot here to build on. Lame campaign hooks and quality of paper aside I still feel that its worth the 20.00 price tag but 30.00 for it is just too much.
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