IM3 - The Best of Intentions

System: Dungeons & Dragons

Code: #9207

Type: Adventure

Levels: 36+

Author: Ken Rolston

Year: 1987

Publisher: TSR

Format: 48-page book w/double tri-fold cover

IM3 - The Best Of Intentions

First of all, as mentioned for the previous 2 immortal level modules, IM3 The Best of Intentions is a module made for the D&D Immortal Campaign set - which is no longer the same Dungeons & Dragons game. The Immortal Rules present a new gaming system - related to the original rules, yet very different in how it all operates. I'll save the analysis for the Immortal Rulebook page. Having made that distinction, let's take a look at the module.

IM3 The Best Of Intentions Prologue

The prologue in this module is a series of events that have occurred leading up to the players' involvement. There have been a series of murders of high-level adventurers across the Prime Plane. What little evidence has been found has pointed to demons at work. And where there are demons, one usually finds the involvement of the Sphere of Entropy.

IM3 The Best Of Intentions - Introduction

After handling some game-specific mechanics, the DM is informed as to what exactly is happening. immortal candidates are being murdered on the Prime Plane. It is being made to look as if the murders are being committed by demons, but there is more to it than that. The main conspirator, Pharamond, believes that there are too many immortal candidates that are originating on the prime plane. To make room for outer plane candidates he has taken matters into his own hands and allied with 3 other immortals. His strategy is to kill prime plane immortal candidates to make room for outer plane candidates, namely Diaboli candidates. He has enlisted the aid of Harrow, the highest ranking Diaboli immortal, Mazikeen, a former protege, and Hircismus - an entropy immortal and also the fall guy. Unfortunately for Pharamond, Mazikeen has decided that killing the prime plane candidates is not the best way to approach this. So Pharamond has mind-blasted Mazikeen into a dimwit and left him on his own plane. He visits every so often to make sure to keep him that way. And this is where the adventure begins.

IM3 The Best Of Intentions - Episode 1 - The Olympic Trials

This episode begins with a couple of mini-games for the players to enjoy. Once those mini-games are done and the characters have returned to their various realms, they are summoned by Utnapishtim, an Empyreal of Matter. As an aside - Utnapishtim is the Sumerian Noah - take a look. Anyway, Utnapishtim has been tasked by Terra, the Hierarch of Matter, to lead the investigation of the murders on the prime plane of the various immortal candidates. Utnapishtim has also been given the characters as his team. Utnapishtim is short and to the point - the immortal Mazikeen is missing and it is believed that is connected to the prime plane murders. Find and question Mazikeen. The characters are immediately sent to speak with Pangloss, an immortal who is a neighbor of Mazikeen, to gain entrance to Mazikeen's realms.

IM3 The Best Of Intentions - Episode 2 - The 24 Planes Of Mazikeen

The players now find themselves attempting to gain entry into Mazikeen's realms. The writers made this into a card game - there are 24 planes and there is a gate system that enables visitors to travel through the realms. The module includes a bunch of cardboard cutouts for the cards, and as the exploration progresses the characters will figure out how to use the cards to travel through the gates. After some initial exploration, the characters will free one of Mazikeen's avatars. The avatar will get them on the correct path to finding Mazikeen himself. The characters must find all 6 avatars, spread throughout the 24 planes, and also find 6 artifacts, which when combined create the Cube of Lodestar, which allows players to gain access to Mazikeen's home plane. All 24 planes are described, and where there is an avatar or an artifact, the surroundings are detailed. I'm not going to describe all 24 planes here, I'll just say this is a long episode - worthy of immortal adventurers.

IM3 The Best Of Intentions - Episode 3 - The Rescue Of Mazikeen

With the avatars and all 6 pieces of the Cube of Lodestar gathered the characters can travel into Lodestar - almost. The gate that opens, opens into Corridor, which leads to Lodestar. Unfortunately, the characters need a key from a Sudaran, an inhabitant of Corridor. Oh yeah, and the Corridor inhabitants, the Sudarans, will only work with other Sudarans. That means the characters are going to have to change themselves into Sudarans and learn their language and customs. So a polymorph should do the trick - oh yeah - magic doesn't work in Corridor. Once the characters figure out how to enlist the aid of the Sudarans, they manage to gain entry into Lodestar. Only, Mazikeen isn't there! The players will have to figure out that he is actually in Corridor, and will have to figure out where he is. Shouldn't be a problem.

IM3 The Best Of Intentions - Episode 4 - Ambushing The Ambushers

Now that the characters have Mazikeen, they learn of the next planned ambush. Some immortal candidates in Thyatis are leading a small army against a large army of trolls. They are sure to be annihilated. And just to be sure, the 3 remaining immortal conspirators will be there to do the deed personally. The characters will be there to help the mortals. It is their choice as to how they handle a very dangerous and mortally life-threatening situation. In the end, they should foil the attack, save the immortal candidates, kill one of the attackers, and save the Thyatian army.

IM3 The Best Of Intentions - Episode 5 - In The Lion's Den

Hircismus stayed and fought the PCs - and should have been defeated by the PCs. Pharamond and Harrow fled at the first sign that things weren't quite right. This episode deals with the PCs bringing in Pharamond to the council for questioning. The PCs will have to face him on his home plane. It will be tough but they should be able to do it. They have the benefit of unlimited bodies if they continue to get killed by Pharamond. So that's nice. The players should eventually be able to bring Pharamond in.

IM3 The Best Of Intentions - Conclusion

One of the PCs is selected to present a case against Pharamond, Pharamond defends himself admirably, but the outcome is that Pharamond is penalized and things are set right as much as possible. The PCs have saved the day again!

IM3 The Best Of Intentions - My Random Notes, Thoughts & Reviews

I never tried using the card game presented in the module. I'm sure it would have been cool, but I was too lazy to learn the rules, so I just set stuff up like an elevator. The card system just seems like so much work. But still - I'm sure it would have been cool.

See that part above about "Now that the characters have Mazikeen, they learn of the next planned ambush." Well, I completely made that up. I don't know how the characters learn of the ambush, I can only surmise that is what happens. I never saw where Mazikeen tells the characters of the ambush, and I never saw where anyone else tells the characters of the ambush. They rescue Mazikeen and then suddenly the entire Thyatian army versus troll army scenario is presented, and the characters must identify the immortal conspirators and protect the immortal candidates. Maybe I have some older edition and that was corrected in later editions? Maybe I'm just missing something somewhere? Or maybe they just forgot to include that. I don't know. But what I did sounds pretty solid to me.

24 planes of Mazikeen - that was pretty fun. I embellished some of them a bit. But embellishing at the immortal level usually means more roleplaying. I mean immortal characters on a mortal plane with mortal creatures will usually result in immortal domination. So the embellishment was more along the roleplaying side of things.

Pharamond, if you think there should be more immortal candidates from the outer planes in general, and more specifically more Diaboli candidates, then talk to someone man. Don't just go around killing people. I mean is that really what the immortals do? Shouldn't they be more enlightened than that or something? The immortals, even - or maybe especially - the high-ranking immortals still seem pretty petty to me. But hey - who am I to say I wouldn't be the same way?