The Throne of Bloodstone

H4 - The Throne of Bloodstone is an Official Game Adventure or "module" for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons. While this is the fourth adventure in the Bloodstone pass saga, and the second that sets the saga in the Forgotten Realms, it is the first publication that bears the official Forgotten Realms logo.

The battle between the mighty undead army of the Witch-King of Vaasa and the forces of Bloodstone has come to a standstill. As long as the source of the Witch-King's power is at work, his evil forces will never be defeated! This module requires the Player Characters, as the rulers of Bloodstone Pass if following the series, to find the true power behind the Witch-King and defeat it.

At 96 pages the module is larger than common at the time and the longest in the Bloodstone Saga. It comes in a loose cardboard cover, however the maps are not printed on the inside but in the book itself and a foldout poster. It had a recommended retail price of US$8.95

This module is listed for Character Levels 18 - 100, the upper range of this is by far the highest level specified for any D&D module. The module includes a significant section on running games with 100th level characters focusing on three principles:
 * 100th-Level Characters Are Not 10 Times More Powerful Than 10th-Level Characters
 * Apply All the Rules Strictly
 * Never Give a 100th-Level Character an Even Break

The module includes two sets of pregenerated characters. The first set is the same seven characters that have run through the Bloodstone Saga, most are now 19th level. The second set are based on great characters of mythology and all have at least one class at 100th level. These characters, who are much more powerful than the versions appearing in the Legends & Lore manual are Persus, Circe, Hermes and Artemis.

Plot
The module requires the players to journey to the Abyss, confront Orcus, one of its greatest demons, steal the Wand of Orcus, and destroy it.

The wide range of levels the module is for is dealt with in several ways as well as the general principles described above for dealing with 100th level characters. For some encounters either the number and/or type of opponents vary or the NPC's reaction to the characters vary depending on the total level of the party. Some areas in the module like the city of liches or the city of 100,000 demons, are really too difficult for any party to take out directly and require approaches other than brute force.

Credits
Design: Michael Dobson & Douglas Niles

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Cover Art: Keith Parkinson

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Distributed to the book trade in the United States by Random House, Inc., and in Canada by Random House of Canada, Ltd. Distributed to the toy and hobby trade by regional distributors. Distributed in the United Kingdom by TSR UK Ltd.

product number 9228

ISBN 0-88038-560-X

Back cover reads
The battle between the mighty undead army of the Witch-King of Vaasa and the forces of Bloodstone has come to a standstill. As long as the source of the Witch-King's power is at work, his evil forces will never be defeated!

As the rulers of Bloodstone Pass, it is up to you to find and destroy the source of Vaasa's power. All you have to do is journey to the Abyss, confront the mightiest demon of all, steal the Wand of Orcus, and take it to the Seven Heavens to be destroyed.

The Throne of Bloodstone is the fourth and final installment in a series of modules specially designed for high-level characters. While it is not necessary to have played any of the three previous modules, The Throne of Bloodstone is the climax of an epic struggle for a kingdom against the forces of darkest evil. Recommended for characters of levels 18-100, The Throne of Bloodstone is the highest-level adventure ever published by TSR!

Opponents
To complete the adventure players will need to defeat many opponent. Those difficult or impossible to avoid include:


 * Arctigus, a huge, ancient White Dragon.
 * The Witch-King Zhengyi - a Lich with 30th level magic-user ability.
 * 100 Type III Demons.
 * Fyrillius, the Abyssian Dragon - a Red Dragon larger than any found on the Prime Material Plane.
 * Baphomet, a Demon Lord.
 * Orcus, Lord of the Undead.
 * Tiamat, the Chromatic Dragon.

Other major opponents characters may face include:
 * Large numbers of Demons of all types, including large cities of hundreds of thousands of demons.
 * a Tarrasque
 * 10,000 Zombies
 * 100 Liches, 12 Demiliches & 12 Death Knights
 * Various Lesser Gods and Demon Princes including:
 * Pazuzu, Prince of Lower Arial Kingdoms (Demon Prince)
 * Charon
 * Demogorgon, Prince of Demons
 * Yeenoghu, Demon Prince of Gnolls
 * Lolth, Demon Queen of Spiders
 * Juiblex, the Faceless Lord (Demon Prince)
 * Urdlen, the Crawler Below (Lesser God)
 * Zuggtmoy, Demoness Lady of Fungi
 * Graz'zt (Demon Prince)
 * Fraz-Urb'luu, the Demon Prince of Deception
 * Kostchtchie (Demon Prince)
 * Kali, Goddess of Destruction
 * Vaprak, demigod of Trolls and Ogres
 * Laogzed, demigod of Troglodytes