The Chaos Scar - Best of D&D 4e

The Best of D&D 4th Edition, Part 2

Wait! Be sure to also read Part 1 of Best of D&D 4th Edition.

The 3rd Season of D&D Encounters (which later became Adventurer’s League) introduced the Chaos Scar in Keep on the Borderlands: A Season of Serpents. This Encounters season was a thematic hommage to the original B2 - Keep on the Borderlands module from 1980. It was not written as a conversion of the original module, as the Caves of Chaos were replaced by the Chaos Scar, a much larger ravine created hundreds of years prior by the crashing of a chaos-infused meteor from the Far Realms into the lands.

The Season of Serpents module was divided into 5 chapters, with 4 distinct 2-hour scenarios per chapter. The plot outlines a power struggle between Zehir and Tiamat cultists which involves machinations to control the Keep itself. Due to the D&D Encounters format (and the limitations thereof), the adventure is a fairly linear checklist of pre-defined combats to be run at game stores in order to introduce new players to the game. But, it is a fun adventure and the Chaos Scar setting itself was also supported through articles in the Dungeon Magazine PDFs, which immensely strengthens the overall utility of this module. The right DM can cobble the D&D Encounters module along with all of the supporting materials into a nice low-level sandbox campaign.

Product support from Wizards of the Coast through the Dragon Magazine and Dungeon Magazine PDFs (D&D Insider) was one of the “hidden” treasures of D&D 4th Edition. Dungeon Magazine in particular was a phenomenal resource for short (1 to 3 session) adventures that could be dropped into almost any campaign. This holds very true for the Chaos Scar series of adventures published in Dungeon #171 (October 2009) through Dungeon #197 (December 2011). The Chaos Scar adventures were a loosely connected sandbox campaign revolving around gemstones infused with chaotic energies from the Far Realms meteorite. While the adventures were set within the Chaos Scar region, most were setting neutral enough to be used in any campaign. I utilized several of these mini-plots in my own Reavers of Harkenwold campaign (see prior post).

Between the content within the Keep on the Borderlands: A Season of Serpents (only $5), the various adventures, and setting background contained within issues of Dungeon, the Chaos Scar made for an excellent sandbox campaign or idea resource for your homebrew game. I won’t be able to highlight every great adventure in Dungeon #171 to #197, but I’ll try to hit the issues I found most valuable (Dungeon #176, in particular). I do provide a full list of them below.

 Dungeon #176 cartography by "CrazyRed"

Dungeon #176
Keep on the Chaos Scar (Mike Mearls) - Background on Restwell Keep as well as majors NPCs and events around the Chaos Scar. A must-have for a Chaos Scar campaign.
The Crossroads (Rodney Thompson) - An inn and trading post populated by unsavory types set within the Chaos Scar.
Dead by Dawn (Aeryn Rudel) - Hordes of undead trap the PCs in an abandoned church. Can they hold out until the sun rises? Dead By Dawn is an amazing undead adventure that can be dropped into any campaign or run as a Halloween one-shot. There’s even a convenient 5th Edition conversion guide.

Dungeon #171
Stick in the Mud (Aeryn Rudel) - Bullywugs have taken over a ruin overflowing with mud. Thematically, this adventure fit well with the Bullywugs in Reavers of Harkenwold, but it is generic enough for just about any campaign.
Den of the Slave Takers (Rob Heinsoo) - Myconids, cultists, undead, and a one-armed gnoll. This adventure has it all, including some non-standard terrain to make things exciting.

Dungeon #180
The Pillar of Eyes (Robert J. Schwalb) - The PCs investigate an otherworldly stone pillar covered in eyes. What bizarre mystery created this... monument?
Down the Goblin Hole (Gareth Hanrahan) - What campaign is complete without a goblin war chief in a cave full of spidery minions? (Hmm... I sense a pattern).

Dungeon #182
Vanguard Tower (Rob Wieland) - A beholder has taken up residence in the Chaos Scar with a couple captive rust monsters. What could it be up to? Nothing like a Beholder (even a lower level one) to make your party poop their collective pants!
Wayward Wyrmling (Aeryn Rudel) - A group of ambitious kobolds takes an orphaned dragon under their metaphorical wing. Which will win, nature or nurture? Another excellent adventure short, generic enough for any campaign.

There are too many excellent adventure shorts to detail them all, but I have listed them with their respective Dungeon issues below.

Level	Adventure	Author	Issue
1	The Brothers Gray	Greg A. Vaughan	172
1	A Chance Encounter	Robert J. Schwalb	174
1	Death in the Pincers	Rob Heinsoo	172
1	Den of the Slavetakers	Rob Heinsoo	171
1	Elves of the Valley	Robert J. Schwalb	178
1	Eyes in the Forest	Robert J. Schwalb	177
1	The Lost Library	Peter Lee	173
1	Stick in the Mud	Aeryn Rudel	171
1	Tainted Spiral	Aeryn Rudel	173
2	The Crossroads	Rodney Thompson	176
2	Dead by Dawn	Aeryn Rudel	176
2	Down the Goblin Hole	Gareth Hanrahan	180
2	The Hammer Falls	Corwin Riddle	179
2	The Shrine of Glass-Spire Forest	Cal Moore	175
2	Sliver’s Call	Stephen Radney-MacFarland	174
3	The Splintered Spring	Scott Fitzgerald Gray	179
3	The Wayward Wyrmling	Aeryn Rudel	182
4	Crawling Fane	Aeryn Rudel	178
4	Glowstone Caverns	Jennifer Clarke Wilkes	177
4	The Pillar of Eyes	Robert J. Schwalb	180
4	Vanguard Tower	Robert Wieland	182
5	The Slaver’s Stone	Robert J. Schwalb	181
5–7	Scarred for Life	Andrew G. Schneider	192
6–8	The Radiant Morn	Daniel Marthaler	183
7–9	Reflections of Ruin	John Rossomangno	196
7–9	Rumble in the Valley	Dave Chalker	193
7–9	Scarblade	Sterling Hershey	189
8–10	Pit of Delirium	Jeff Morgenroth	190
8–10	The Runecutter's Ruin	Logan Bonner	186
9–11	Heart of the Scar	Aeryn Rudel	197

Vincent Dutrait, Dungeon #176

Next: Part 3 - Dungeon Magazine