“The antidote to hubris, to overweening pride, is irony…” ~ Ralph Ellison

Hubris is one of those words you don’t hear a lot in common speech these days, unless you listen to the nightly news that is. It seems that politicians and special interest groups constantly accuse their opponents of hubris in sound-bites all the time, but beyond them, it’s not a word you hear very often in typical conversation.

We might say that someone is “way too proud” for their own good. Or one of my favorites that I heard in the office one day: “I’m not sure how she and her ego fit in the same cube”. But I have never heard someone mention a co-worker’s hubris around the break room.

But still, hubris carries with it a special type of pride that “goes before a fall”, a mixture of overconfidence with a touch of arrogance that is often doomed to fail for reaching a bit too far or too high.
Not unlike the attitudes and actions of, say, heroic adventurers?

Alea Publishing’s new adventure module, The Mark of Hubris, puts Heroes to the test as they move toward their Paragon Tier, in a quest that could lead them to glory, just as easily as to their downfall.

The Mark of Hubris

• Designers: Joshua Raynack
• Illustrators: Joshua Raynack & Sade
• Publisher: Alea Publishing
• Year: 2010
• Media: PDF (35 pages)
• Cost: $3.95

The Mark of Hubris is an adventure for 10th Level Characters, set in the Feudal Lords Campaign Setting and is compatible with Dungeons & Dragons 4e. The adventure is readily adaptable, however, to other campaign worlds with a bit of modification, and could be used in any campaign setting. And while The Mark of Hubris can be used as a stand-alone adventure, it is actually designed to be part of a campaign arc consisting of other modules released from Alea Publishing, which can take Characters all the way to 21st level.

As Mark of Hubris is designed to take Characters from Heroic Tier Level 10 to Paragon Tier Level 11, there is quite a bit of content in this adventure module. All told, the adventure consists of 7 set combat encounters, and 4 skill challenges, with additional combat encounters possible depending on the outcome of those challenges. There are also several minor and major quest rewards possible during the course of Mark of Hubris, assuring that Characters will definitely have all the experience points they need to complete their transitions to the Paragon Tier easily – assuming they survive, of course!

The production quality of The Mark of Hubris is excellent, with information presented in formats readily familiar to D&D 4e Dungeon Masters. There are 9 pages of full color maps, several of which are in 3D, which while not necessarily usable as “dungeon tiles”, do give DM’s a complete feel for the terrain and structures in the encounter. The monster stat blocks, numerous hazards, and skill challenges are all presented in “official” D&D 4e forms, making them easy to use during the adventure.

I had really only one issue with the production – and I might add that this issue goes for adventures released “officially” by Wizards of the Coast: the convention of splitting the storyline information and the encounter information up into two sections. Call it a personal “pet peeve”, but I find it disconcerting to read a module when I have to jump from the storyline section to the encounter section and back again. But as I mentioned , that convention, seems to be the standard even from WotC, and to the Author’s credit, he does provide handy page number references in the storyline to take you to the requisite encounter easily.

The Mark of Hubris, as it is set in the Feudal Lords Campaign Setting, draws the Heroes into a mission that parallels the earlier quest of a legendary knight, Sir John the Longhorn, who set out to make a legacy for his family name and house. The famous knight of legend went on a hunt to rid the surrounding lands of a terrible and vile creature, known only as the Questing Beast, and he assured himself that its death would bring his family renown. But his pride got the better of him, and his only legacy is a tale called Sir John the Longhorn and the Hunt for the Questing Beast:

After three weeks of relentless tracking, through lands that slowly twisted from reality and no longer yielding its bounty, and as his hunting party dwindled from death and disease, Sir John spied a bit of salvation. A unicorn stood before him stirring within the knight a beacon of hope in such a desolate place. He had two choices before him: track the elusive unicorn in faith that the creature will lead him and his men home or kill it so he and the others might survive another week.

Sir John chose the latter and in doing so, the knight truly began the hunt for the Questing Beast. He and his hunting party were never seen again.

[Author's Note: At this juncture, I am a bit torn between wanting to discuss more of the plot and my knee-jerk “Dungeon Master” response against too many spoilers! So I hope Readers will forgive me as I discuss the module in the most general of terms, without giving away too much that would ruin the story for a Player.]

As I stated previously, there are a large number of combat encounters and skill challenges in this adventure to ensure that it fulfills its purpose of delivering 10th Level Heroic Tier Characters to the 11th Level Paragon Tier. The Author does not disappoint, and designs several nicely balanced combat encounters, several with new NPCs and monsters, to keep the Player-Characters on their toes.

I was also very much in favor of the Author’s choice to leave treasure parcels out of the adventure, allowing the Dungeon Master to “seed” in those magic items and money as they deem appropriate for their campaigns. The Author does add one magic item as a piece of “end-boss” loot, but leaves all other treasure disbursement to the Dungeon Master’s discretion.

But there is one area where I feel that the Author really shined: by using some of the newer skill challenge frameworks in conjunction with a compelling storyline, to pull Characters into the mission at a visceral and very active level. The Mark of Hubris utilizes the structured skill challenge, as discussed in the Dungeon Master’s Guide 2, to allow Characters to adventure seamlessly through locales that, in previous editions, would have made the best cartographer insane trying to map them. But using the structured skill challenge, each success carries the Heroes along, without the tedium of excessive mapping. Of course, each failure brings a consequence, and in many cases is represented by another encounter to overcome. These encounters range from additional combat encounters to obstacles, hazards, and even traps – and in regards to the latter types, the Author designed several brand new ones for the adventurers to overcome.

So other than my “layout pet peeve” that I mentioned earlier, The Mark of Hubris is an absolute treat, with an engaging storyline and enough combat, adventure, and challenges to suit just about any gaming groups’ play-style. Dungeon Masters can ready this module for play with a minimum of effort, although adapting it to some campaign settings might take longer than for others. Given the size and scope of The Mark of Hubris, with 35 virtual pages and a whole level’s worth of content, the price at $3.95 is very reasonable for everything you get.

And if you, the Reader, have any comments or concerns about this, or any the other reviews on the Neuroglyph Games’ blogsite, we would welcome your comments and feedback.

So until next blog… I wish you Happy Gaming!

Editor’s Note: This Blog’s Author received a complimentary copy of the product in PDF format from which the review was written.

Again, I would like to thank the staff at Alea Publishing for providing the opportunity to review this product, and I wish them the best of luck with their future releases.

Tags: adventure, alea publishing, D&D 4e, mark of hubris, review

This entry was posted by Editor-in-Chief on Wednesday, January 27th, 2010 at 9:43 am and is filed under Dramatis Personae, Dungeonmasters' Insider, RPG News & Reviews, Tricks of the Trade. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.