Editing Fires of Dis

'''Fires of Dis''' is [[Edge]] of Edgy, the debut of Gen-X in such modules carrying themes in which [[Planescape]] specialised. 4-6 characters, 5-9th level.

Steve Perrin started this one ("Original Design"); [[Ray Vallese]] finished it and published it in 1995. As [[Lorraine Williams|late-stage]] [[TSR]] there's nobody credited as "author" and you have to go past the inserts to see the credits. Often these modules were wrapped in shrinkwrap so (the Internet being very young then) most of us had to buy the thing to find out.

Luckily for those who rolled the dice: Vallese was more [[Tom Moldvay|Moldvay]] than [[Skip Williams|Williams]]. Vallese knew how to find good original content, and how to get the best out of said content.

In a leaf taken from ''[[X13: Crown of Ancient Glory]]'', someone Bad has stolen a MacGuffin and the party is tagged to get it back. Here the MacGuffin is [[paladin]] Daneel's <strike>[[Knights of the Dinner Table|+12 Hackmaster]]</strike> Holy Avenger. The Bad guy is... literally, ''almost the worst'' guy, in all the aeons. It's [[Dispater]] himself, mayor of the second layer of "[[Baator]]". (Second Edition, man.) "Back" would be the city Fortitude in plane Arcadia, where the paladin's <strike>wang</strike>sword is needed for some ritual.

{{spoilers}}
The story starts in the Great Bazaar, Sigil. Some devi... sigh, [[baatezu]] attack Daneel and divest him of his mighty <strike>manhood</strike>sword. The party is present, so the Harmonium faction buttonholes them to get it back. Since baatezu did the deed, the likeliest start is Ribcage in the Outlands... if not, beyond. The party goes through Avernus and then to Dis.

This all was sparked by the Anarchist faction in the first place; via the classic "let's you and him fight" move, "you" being Arcadia and "him" being Dis. The Revolutionary League had tipped the legions of Dis that Daneel might be found where he was found. Although this isn't really expanded upon in the module we got.

The plot is linear up to Dis, as it has to be, but chapter IV (in Exocet font) at last offers some room for the DM and his players to breathe. Dis is a highpoint of this module: a sendup of bureaucracy and bad city-design. The party here has multiple ways to get into Dis' presence and to negotiate the return of this blade.

Aaand there is where the party has a problem. Did all the above seem a little too pat for a 7th Level band of intruders? Like, that a senior Lord of Hell just... didn't ''notice'' that some "Expert"-level [[murderhobo]]es were storming the place? Weeeell.... let us just say that, like Dispater, Perrin and Vallese aren't retards.

On the way to <strike>Gracie Mansion</strike> the Mayoral Palace, the party meets the eventual antagonist of the module - who cannot be Dis himself at 7th Level, so is a pit fiend. He has a keyword - "[[Fags_of_4chan|flaggo]]". SO MUCH EDGE

So off the party goes to Arcadia to restore to Daneel his thingy in time for the ritual. Arcadia is the not-quite-good-enough version of Heaven, whose holy warriors tend to compensate by being better at the "warrior" thing than at the "holy" thing - although Daneel, himself, seems truly [[Alignment|L.G.]]. The "restored" sword is, of course, possessed; by the aforementioned fiend. Soon Daneel will face a crisis of the soul - and so will the party.

Overall [[skub|opinion]] will vary for this one. On the way to Dis the module is railroad, as it must be; although some DMs might wonder if some of the tracks could have let the train run faster than they do. The social satire is on-point and, ''Planescape'' being what it was, relevant to the setting. The cant is annoying as ever, but at least we're not in Sigil longer than we have to be. Arcadia looks a ''lot'' like Reagan-era suburbia as seen by a Clinton-era edgelord.

Product Of Its Time. Although oldflaggos still like it.

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