This mulue ties in very closly with story elements from season 1 and some of the things will not make as much sence to those who have not played any of the season1 moldules

There's a lot going on in this one. It can definitely run long if players hit all the investigation locations. The combat is dispersed through out the investigation and then its a small dungeon at the end full of delightful "traps". I ran this with 6 level 5 characters and the ending was brutal, even when i ran it very weak (techically they were weak). A gorgon with a cone blast doing petrification is murder on level 5's with no way to remove it. The ceiling collapse at the end made things super bad. I'd avoid running this one with low level characters.

Also one point - i thought the reuining between Alyed and Cassyt ended oddly. They're fighting and suddenly the embrace? It didn't read right to me.

The investigation part of this module is great fun for a group who is keen to RP and the combats were interesting. I do find that it can have a tendency to run a fair bit overtime due to the investigation when I run it, but that being said, it never feels like it drags on - it is still engaging.

I ran this with a small group of heavy roleplayers and they loved it, particularly the investigations in part 2. The adventure took us much longer than 4 hours, but that's likely due to roleplay (extended conversations with Blade Peytir and Wylan Burral, in particular) and pursuing faction quests. I had a very weak party, and the scaling recommendations worked great to make the encounters challenging without being overwhelming for my group. Overall, this was a big hit at my table.

PRO

• well written, with good pacing and interesting encounters
• opportunities for roleplay with a variety of NPCs
• faction quests that fit well with the ideals of the factions
• excellent callbacks and connections to previous adventures in season 1 and season 2
• the underground locations gave the group many chances to use the terrain to their advantage

CON

• missing stat block for Black Earth Priests meant I had to improvise heavily during one encounter

My players enjoyed the mystery aspect of the module, but I felt that the last combat was not very difficult. I would adjust next time

This module has a great ar of mystery that pervades it and causes the PCs to be invested. I think it serves best as a follow up after finishing the Season 1 storyline - seeing as how a lot of the characters who play thorugh season 1 will have a connection to Aleyd and her fate. It makes the stakes very high for them to figure out what is happening and why they do what they do within the module. I loved this module.

My players really enjoyed this module. They spent a good portion of time investigating the mystery surrounding the situation. None of us had played any season 2 content besides HotDQ so they or I did not really know much lore surrounding the area, which was somewhat of a turnoff. I feel it was saved by one of my players who joined the table for this session who happened to be well versed in season 2 lore and was vastly helpful to all of us in understanding what was happening.

TLDR, the players loved this adventure. Good mix of RP, mystery and satisfying combat near/at the end. Read up on season 2 lore if you are unfamiliar. will help A LOT with player's questions

Recommend Purchase: Yes. Playing this adventure counts towards the Season 2 quest: 'Benefits of the Brotherhood of the Cloaks' XP Range: 4500-6000 (and a Secret/Special faction mission)

Note: No Season 1, 2, or 3 module has a digital certificate to print because WotC says they can't accept volunteer help for legal reasons and won't allow their paid employees to create the certificates even though they have the templates.

The DMSGUILD site segregates reviews between people who've purchased it here and everyone else. They do NOT have a robust rating system, relying instead on the 5-star model.

Just a great adventure. excellent mystery with a good dungeon crawl at the end. We played this when most of the table had just done Tyranny in Phlan, with increased the emotional stakes for the PCs. One of the best Season 2 mods.

While i like the mystery and detective work, I found a tad bit on the, well boring side. Don't get me wrong I like it, It just feels a little lacking to me. Now, the last half, with the dungeon and the combat, I found if handled with less than "above average" caution, will hurt badly. I do like the module overall, I guess my tastes are suited in mass murder, as oppose to talking it out. I'm not sure if that says things about me or not. :)

My players and I enjoyed the great mystery that was involved to get the final solution. It wasn't challenging combat wise, although one player was petrified. The only thing missing is the stats for the earth cultist. Other than that the story is very well written and would love to play it again for different players to see how to figure everything out.

Looking at this module after running it in season 5, this module has 2 distinctive elements to it that seem to stand out for me.

First the mystery element that encompases the first part of the module is fun though I have not had a group that has run it come to the proper conclusion without quite a biit of handholding. Sometimes they outright insulted those running the town and nearly where imprissoned and forgotten. (That could have been awekward). If you run this module, expect to provide some more obvious clues to speed things up a bit.

The second part is the combat in the underground cave system. This part was really fun as the environment came into effect a lot more. Pushing people off cliffs, Narrow cooridors causing line of sight issues and genuinly strong enemies. Compared to later seasons, the enemies here are quite tanky which takes parties by surprise as well as the ability to heal up unconscious enemies to bring them back in the fight had players going for a double tap.

As a stand alone mod, some of the weight of the final enemy was lost on the party which is a shame but those who played through season one would absolutley love it. If you have a group that loves detective work, this would be 5/5 for everyone else, 4/5 Great work overall.

Black Heart of Vengance is an important module for several reasons:

1) It acts as a type of resting place for a very important NPC from season 1. While I disagree with the eventual outcome of the plot, I do feel the writing on the mod is top notch.

2) It teaches you MORE about the city of Mulmaster, that dangerous den on the Moonsea.

3) It advances several important plot elements needed to show the scope of the two seasons, particularly the involvement of the Elemental Cults.

It is one of the better mods in terms of story you will encounter for the whole of AL, and it would take a heart of stone to not be sad at the ending of the mod.

For me, Black Heart of Vengeance is a good adventure. It has a nice hook that introduces you to the scene and backstory. The characters are thrust into a scene where they are forced to fight and then they figure it out afterwards what is going on when an NPC shows up to talk to them. The adventure is made in a way that if they do have the item needed a different scene occurs. If they don't then the scene is similar to if they do have the item needed. In a way this can be run even if you haven't done the adventure prior to this one. The roleplay opportunities here are within the city when talking to the different factions and convincing them to support your cause. The final combat is fun because it is an all out brawl with the key NPCs fighting amongst themselves while the characters would be dealing with others wanting to interfere withthe NPCs duel.