Expedition to the Demonweb Pits
A 3.5 edition adventure involving demon lords Lolth and Graz'zt.
Expedition to the Demonweb Pits is a 3.5 edition Dungeons & Dragons super-adventure for characters between levels 9 and 12. The story revolves around the schemes of the demon lords Lolth and Graz'zt, and it draws heavy inspiration from the 1980 adventure Queen of the Demonweb Pits.
Quick Facts
- Type
- Super-adventure module
- System
- Dungeons & Dragons 3.5 edition
- Character levels
- 9–12
- Authors
- Wolfgang Baur, Gwendolyn F.M. Kestrel
- Published
- April 2007
- Publisher
- Wizards of the Coast
Facts from the source article.
Plot summary
The adventure revolves around the reading of the Dark Pact. The demon lord Graz'zt seeks an alliance with Lolth against Orcus, but Lolth spurns his offer. Graz'zt, not taking rejection lightly, schemes to undermine Lolth with the aid of his cambion son, Rule-of-Three. They plan a Demon Council within the Abyss, while Rule-of-Three spreads word among the drow that their goddess is coming to the Prime Material Plane to wage war against surface elves and Corellon Larethian. After arranging the council, Graz'zt and Rule-of-Three involve a group of mortals to bring attention to Lolth in her Demonweb, aiming to embarrass her before other demon lords and seal the Dark Pact using Lolth's divine spark. The player characters' goal is to prevent the reading of that pact. The module offers two new legendary items: Thaas, an ancient elven bow for slaying demons, and Spidersilk, armor for arcane spellcasters with spider-oriented benefits.
Publication history
Wolfgang Baur and Gwendolyn F.M. Kestrel authored this adventure, released by Wizards of the Coast in April 2007. David Hudnut created the cover art, while interior illustrations came from David Bircham, Miguel Coimbra, Ed Cox, Carl Critchlow, Eric Deschamps, Wayne England, Erik Gist, Brian Hagan, Ralph Horsley, Howard Lyon, Ted Pendergraft, Arnie Swekel, and James Zhang. According to Baur, the module was shaped by the classic Q1: The Demonweb Pits, though it steered the story in a fresh direction. It emphasized Planescape locations like Sigil and Zelatar, and presented a more expansive web. Baur noted that it drew from earlier versions of the Demonweb: the original Q1 from first edition, "The Harrowing" in Dungeon #84, and second edition's Planes of Chaos, continuing the exploration of that realm with perhaps more demons than usual.
Critical reception
Expedition to the Demonweb Pits received a mixed reaction on release. Wayne Tonjes described it as very convoluted, with too many places where the plot requires players to make one specific choice to access key phases. However, he also said it fulfilled its goal of introducing a new spin on a classic module for old school gamers and new players. Nickolas Davis of The Gamer named it the second best adventure published for 3.5, after Eyes of the Lich Queen.
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