View source for House of the Brothers

{{Source
|name             = 
|image            = [[File:HouseOfTheBrothers.png|250px]]
|caption          = The cover of ''House of the Brothers'', art by [[Roger Raupp]].
|type             = Adventure
|code             = 
|edition          = 
|author           = Mark R. Shipley
|editor           = 
|cover_artist     = [[Roger Raupp]]
|inter_artist     = [[Roger Raupp]]<br><small>Cartography:</small>[[Dave LaForce|David "Diesel" LaForce]]
|series           = "GDQ" or "G" Series
|followed_by      = [[Queen of the Spiders]]
|publisher        = [[TSR]]
|first published  = ''[[Dungeon]]'' #6 (1987)
|pages            = 6 (p.26-31)
|isbn             = 
|class            = Official content
|setting_date     = 
}}
'''House of the Brothers''' is an adventure in ''[[Dungeon]]'' #6 (1987) for first edition, for 3-6 character of levels 6-10, but is a considerable challenge for most players at that level. It's designed to expand the GDQ1-7 Queen of the Spiders super adventure, but could also be used to expand the 'Giant' G-series as well. The adventure includes no ties or mention to these other adventures, and is a simple assault on a fog giant lair, but the treasure in the adventure was designed to give possible plot hooks to explore other regions or cause further events.

The adventure requires the ''Fiend Folio'' (1981) to play.

== Blurb ==
''"The House of the Brothers is an AD&D® game scenario for 3-6 characters of levels 6-10. Parties composed of less experienced players should have higher levels, while seasoned players may be able to handle this adventure with lower-level characters. ''

''This scenario s designed to fit into the WORLD OF GREYHAWK™ Fantasy Setting. It takes place in hex M5-127 on the WORLD OF GREYHAWK  boxed-set maps three hexes north of [[Loftwick]] in the [[Yeomanry]], on the border of the [[Jotens]] mountain range. If desired, this encounter may be used to expand a campaign using the superadventure GDQ1-7, [[Queen of the Spiders]], or it may stand alone. Of course the scenario may be easily adjusted to fit into nearly any campaign world. The entire adventure may be dropped into a single evening's play."''

== Index ==

=== Art ===
* '''[[Roger Raupp]]''': Adventurers and the monoliths of Vaprak's shrine<sup>(p.21)</sup>, The Fog Giant Brothers <sup>(p.28)</sup>

=== Characters ===
* '''Erdol''', 110 year old (60 by human standards) fog giant thief. Erdol wears armour and helm fashioned from a white dragon.
* '''Karzahk''', 121 year old (65 by human standards) fog giant thief. Karzahk wears armour and helm fashioned from a black dragon. Both brothers are well armed, veteran warriors with a hatred of rangers.
* '''Krin and Turk''', a pair of hell hounds loyal to Erdol and Karzahk
* An unamed Elven Prince from Ulek, dead 15 years by the time of the adventure. Killed while trying to raid the shrine the Fog Giant brothers inhabit.
* An unnamed Baron from the Yeomanry, killed by bandits before the time of the adventure. Had the initials R.L.

=== Creatures ===
* [[Giant#Giant subspecies|Giant, Fog]] <sup>(p.26-27)</sup>
* [[Goblin]] <sup>(p.31)</sup>
* [[Golem]], Stone <sup>(p.28,29)</sup>
* [[Hellhound]] <sup>(p.27)</sup>

=== Items ===
* ''Sword of Discernment''—a sword that can point to the highest level opponent in melée.

=== Locations ===
* [[Amedio Jungle]] <sup>(p.29, mentioned)</sup>
* [[Yeomanry]]

=== Organisations ===
* Worship of [[Vaprak]], god of destruction worshipped by ogres and trolls. The adventure describes a small, horrifi idol with the words 'MIGHTY IS THE POWER OF THE CLAWED ONE. GREAT IS HIS FURY. DARK IS THE HOUR OF HIS RETURN.' engraved on it's pedestal. 
* Vile Rune orcs, a tribe of orcs in the area.
* Worship of [[Istus]], godess of Fate, with a set of three items (Crown, Necklace, Ring) stolen from the priesthood <sup>(p.29)</sup>

== Reception ==
House of the Brother's had two letters addressing the difficulty challenge of he adventure:
{{quote|Dear Editor: 
''I have some worries about the level you are assigning adventures. The range in toughness for the same strength party seems pretty wide. Take "White Death" and "House of the Brothers" (issue #6). In "White Death" 4-8 players of 4th-7th level (a party averaging 33 levels) takes on 36 hp of dragon. In "Brothers", 3-6 players of 6th-1th level (36 levels) take on 200hp of Giants plus 61 hp of hell hounds. To make matters worse, "Brothers" is heavily trapped, and the PCs don't know what they are facing until probably too late, while he PCs in "White Death" know from the star they are after a white dragon and may well meet him when they are at full power.
''So, we have one adventure where the party is an easy winner, and another where the party is going to be lucky to survive. Consistent bias is easily handled by the DM but this erratic evaluation is worse than useless. The party will get bored with easy wins and even more distressed by disasters. Hopefully, you don't have this problem too often.|David Carl Argall; La Puente, CA|[[Dungeon]] #9|1988|{{cite dungeon|9|3|Letters}} }}
Reply:
{{quote|Adventure Levels:
I was very interested to read David Carl Argall’s comments in issue #9 on the levels assigned to adventures. As the designer of “House of the Brothers” (issue #6), I think I have some comments which may prove useful to him.
''When you are considering whether to use a given adventure in your campaign, you must consider more than just the recommended level range. The level range for “House of the Brothers” was 3-6 characters of 6th-10th level, an average of 36 levels to take on two fog giants, two hellhounds, and some dangerous traps. David says this is too tough for the players. You might be surprised to learn, then, that when I playtested this scenario, my own players were running characters from 3rd-7th level, with the average character being 5th level.

''Instead of considering only the level of your players, you should also consider the relative skill of your players. In some worlds, a single giant would be deadly for a whole party of mid-level characters. In my campaign, a single hill giant wouldn’t last two rounds against even 1st-level characters. This reflects the relative experience and skill of my players, not the statistics of their characters. I routinely use adventures designed for 4th-7th level characters, with only slight modifications, when my own party is at 1st level.

''During playtesting, none of the fiendish traps set by Erdol and Karzahk worked on my party. A mid-level thief who checks for traps every time should be able to negate most traps on chests and coffers. Failing this, my players have devised a number of ingenious methods for avoiding traps (which I will not share here to save you from having the same problem). They know me . . . they expect to find fiendish traps. Thus, they have learned to take the elementary precautions that will avoid them. (Consequently, I was quite shocked when they did not immediately suspect that the statue in room 5 was a stone golem!)
''Finally, the real responsibility for assigning levels to adventures lies with the Dungeon Master. You know your players and your campaign’s needs better than anyone, even if they live in Lake Geneva. Frequently, AD&D players expect TSR to hand feed them, balancing every campaign and clarifying every rule. This is an impossible responsibility. Think for yourself.|Mark R. Shipley, Bremerton, WA|[[Dungeon]] #11|1988|{{cite dungeon|11|2|Letters}} }}

== References ==
=== Notes ===
<references group="note" />
=== Citations ===
<references />
=== Bibliography ===
{{Fandom}}
{{index}}

[[Category:Adventures]]
[[Category:First edition adventures]]