FMA1 Fires of Zatal (d20)
his first game adventure for the Maztica campaign setting comes from the conclusion to the Maztica novel trilogy. The fate of the Maztica hangs in the balance as gods struggle for mastery of a shattered island. A few heroes must penetrate the great volcano¸ Zatal¸ to break the power of the god of war.
"On the Night of Wailing¸ when the creatures of Viperhand come to life¸ when the great Maztican gods Qotal and Zaltec battled¸ the great Cloak of One Plume - a magical item of great power and a token of great authority - was believed lost forever.
Such was not the case.
Rumors fly that the Cloak was rescued that night¸ and hidden away in a safe location. Now a petty noble of New Amn plans to recover it¸ and is looking for brave young souls who can bring it back to him. But other players are invovled in the chase¸ trying to recover the lost Cloak.
Fires of Zatal spans the great continent of Maztica from the new colony of Helmsport to the Valley of Nexal ¸ at the foot of Mt. Zatal itself. It is the first adventure for the new Maztica campaign setting in the Realms; DMs wishing to run this need the Maztica Campaign Boxed Set. This module serves as an introduction to this new world of adventure¸ a land of wise and savage empires and growing¸ monstrous threats.
Welcome to Maztica. This is not the Realms you're familiar with!"
Product History
FMA1: "Fires of Zatal" (1991)¸ by Jeff Grubb & Tim Beach¸ is the first Maztica adventure. It was published in August 1991.
About the Module Code. This module code is listed as "FMA-1". The use of a dash is quite unusual. Its only D&D predecessor was XL-1: "Quest for the Heartstone" (1984)¸ though TSR used the dashes somewhat more regularly in their Star Frontiers and Marvel Super Heroes lines. FMA2: "Endless Armies" (1991) would match this usage.
Origins (I): Return to Maztica. The Maztica Campaign Set (1991) introduced a new subsetting for adventure in the Forgotten Realms. TSR quickly followed that up with an adventure.
Origins (II): After the Novels. Maztica was introduced through a trilogy of novels that brought adventurers from the Heartlands to the New World: Ironhelm (1990)¸ Viperhand (1990)¸ and Feathered Dragon (1991). The Maztica Campaign Set correctly noted "The land of Maztica¸ introduced in the Maztica trilogy of FORGOTTEN REALMS novels¸ undergoes convulsive forces in the telling of those tales - forces that change the world¸ for good or for ill¸ in many significant directions. Therefore¸ the choice of timing is very significant regarding the setting of the game." It opted to place itself "after its most cataclysmic moments".
"Fires of Zatal" doubles down on this idea. Its whole plot in based on the search for a magic item originally thought lost in the climactic battle of the novels. It also visits the Nexal Valley¸ one of the places most affected by the "Night of Wailing". The Maztica line was never deep enough to support a true metaplot¸ but this is the closest approximation¸ as the story continues on from the events of the Maztica trilogy.
Adventure Tropes. Appropriately¸ this first Maztican adventure is an introductory adventure for low-level characters. The actual plot is quite simplistic. It's a macguffin quest. However¸ much of the adventure is spent on travels through wilderness and cities¸ complete with both random and set encounters. The volcano crawl that ends things is relatively brief.
Exploring the Realms. Maztica is an immense land¸ so the geographic descriptions of Maztica Campaign Set were all pretty big picture. "Fires of Z