The Throne of Bloodstone

Did You Know?

• Lawrence Schick, in his 1991 book Heroic Worlds, found it strange that the module purports to be usable for character levels 18–100, considering there are no rules for character levels above about 25 in AD&D.
• The module was distributed to the book trade in the United States by Random House, Inc., and in Canada by Random House of Canada, Ltd.

Plot summary

In The Throne of Bloodstone, player characters travel to the Abyss to steal the Wand of Orcus from the demon lord. The module is recommended for characters between levels 18 and 100, who play the rulers of Bloodstone Pass, where a battle between the undead army of the Witch-King of Vaasa and the forces of Bloodstone has reached a standstill. The party must venture into the Abyss, confront Orcus, and steal his wand—the true power behind the Witch-King—before taking it to the Seven Heavens for destruction. The wide level range is handled by varying the number or type of opponents, NPC reactions, and including areas such as the city of liches or the city of 100,000 demons that require non-brute-force approaches.

Publication history

Published in 1988 by TSR, H4 The Throne of Bloodstone is a 96-page module written by Douglas Niles and Michael Dobson, with cover art by Keith Parkinson and interior illustrations by Graham Nolan. It is the fourth and final part of the Bloodstone Pass saga, though players do not need to have completed the earlier three adventures. This is the second installment set in the Forgotten Realms, but it is the first to display the official Forgotten Realms logo.

At 96 pages, it is larger than most modules of its time and is the longest in the saga. The book comes in a loose cardboard cover, with maps printed both within the pages and on a separate foldout poster. Designed for characters of levels 18 through 100, the upper end is the highest level ever specified for a D&D module. A substantial section offers guidance for running games at 100th level, built on three rules: 100th-level characters are not ten times stronger than 10th-level ones; all rules must be applied strictly; and such characters should never be given an even break.

Two sets of pre-generated characters are included. The first set consists of the same seven heroes from the Bloodstone Saga, most now at 19th level. The second set draws from mythology—Perseus, Circe, Hermes, and Artemis—each with at least one class at 100th level, making them far more powerful than their counterparts in the Legends & Lore manual.