Adventure Site Contest Wrap-Up

While these review posts have been rolling out on the daily, I actually wrapped up reading, reviewing, and writing them back on January 13th...I didn't want to overwhelm everyone with multiple posts at once.

Welp, it's been a few days (I'm writing this post on January 17th), and I've had a moment to reflect on the contest and the various entries and compile some thoughts on the whole exercise.

The original ASC only had 18 entries...this year's has 30. I was not a judge in the prior year, but reading through the Adventure Sites I compilation, I can examine the top eight and compare their quality to my (personal) top 8-10 of this year's crop. Here are some things that (I think) are worth noting:

50% of the first ASC's top entries were written for AD&D, and all were "solid D&D"...the kind of entry I'd award four(+) stars. My only quibble with any of them, really, is that Lipply's Tavern needs to be set to a higher level than 2nd-4th based on the amount of danger AND the potential treasure take; but it's still a great adventure. Of the other four, one was S&W (also very good), two were for some form of Basic (though only one would get a 3* from me), and the last is a monstrosity that I would not have included, had it been my competition.

In comparison, less than half of the 30 entries for ASCII were for AD&D, and while four of those did crack my "top eight," only one of those would have rated as "solid" (4+) for me...the others were merely "playable" (3*). The other four in my top...two B/X and two OD&D...received better ratings generally.

Now, I want to choose my next words carefully: while there was definitely a lot of enthusiasm and creativity on display in ASC2...and I mean a LOT...I found myself somewhat disappointed by the overall results. The average number of stars awarded was 2.30 out of 5 possible and, just to be clear, THREE stars is what I deemed as the minimum for playable D&D. As in, an adventure that if you sat down at a table with the designated rulebook(s) you would be able to run the adventure for your table, without needing to cobble things "on the fly." If I removed the Stars Without Number entry (because it doesn't really fit with the overall treasure-seeking goals of old edition D&D), that number drops to 2.28. That's...not fantastic.

The best of the bunch (surprisingly to me) were the five OD&D/S&W entries: they scored a 2.80; three of the five were in the top 15, two of which had 4* ratings, and a fourth (The Two Spires) barely missing the cut. The fourteen AD&D/OSRIC entries ended up with 2.29, while the eight Basic entries clocked only a 2.00 average. If you were only to look at the best 18 (the same number as the submissions for the first ASC), the average is 2.94...but I'm sure that even the original contest had a few stinkers in it.

Would the ratings have been higher if we'd had some of last year's "best" writers return? Hard to say, but it's true no entries were submitted by Scott Marcley, Trent Smith, Grutzi, and GiantGoose. However, even past best nominees (DangerIsReal, Peter McDevitt, and Stooshie & Stramas) had a more difficult go of it, this time around.

One difference that really stood out was the extra pages that ASC2 entrants were afforded.  Last year's submissions were allowed three pages total, including the map...this year, we received three pages of text PLUS maps (some entries had two or three pages of maps!). This led to bigger entries, many of which stretched well outside the parameters of "adventure site," instead being more "mini-module." And for many authors, this brought with it a compulsion to create elaborate backgrounds, rumors, plots, NPCs, etc. The focus of "adventure site" is (with the possible exception of Lipply's) clearly evident in the original ASC's final compilation. For ASC2? Not so much. 

If I was going to advise Mr. Gibson of ways to improve the contest for ASC3, I'd tell him to tighten the parameters of the contest. I'd tell him to limit the contestants to an 8-15 encounter range...about all that can be done in "an evening's play," while still being larger than a simple "lair." I would limit the entries to ONE PAGE of maps, TWO PAGES of text, plus ONE PAGE of "appendix" to detail non-system monsters, treasures, or NPCs...four pages total unless authors wanted to attach a cover sheet. Lock it down, dial it in...I think that would help the designers set achievable objectives.

For the authors, I'd offer the following advice: pick a system, learn a system, write for the system. I don't care that "that's not how I run my game at home." You are not writing for your home table!  If you want to be a game designer/author, then you have to kowtow to your audience. My home game has a bunch of odds and ends and houserules, too. But when I write an adventure for the public (for a contest like ASC or NAP, for example), I can't put in my "house rules." Characters need alignment. Magic-users need the read magic spell. Etc. Allow your audience (the judges, the customers) decide what THEY want to modify to fit their Frankenstein mash-up at home...don't you do it for them!

And if you don't already have a system that you know and love...why not?  It's D&D, not rocket science. Learn B/X...it's the easiest and cheapest...and write for that, while you're learning the AD&D game. Or if you want something a little looser, check out S&W. I was impressed by the S&W adventures I saw in this contest, both how people used it and what it allowed. 

Or don't, I guess. You don't have to take my advice (duh). Heck, I'm not even sure Ben would want me judging again (after downgrading his adventure), so you needn't worry (much) about me saying "mean things" about your hard-wrought efforts.

REGARDLESS (i.e. regardless of whether or not you place any value in my advice AND regardless of whether or not I'm passing judgment on adventures in the future): please remember that the proof of whether or not ANY adventure is "good"...or worth a damn at all...is in the playing of the adventure. You really don't know HOW an adventure will play until you sit down at the table with some friends (new or old) and give it a whirl. Everything else...treasure counts, "interesting" encounters, level ranges, etc...is just guesstimating. At best.

Anyway.

Fun little contest. Nice to see so many people doing awesome stuff.  Lots of variety, different styles, nice maps, creative ideas. People playing these old D&D games are a pretty marvelous bunch...still. And that's great...that's hopeful. And all the enthusiasm...double the number of submissions as last year!...is also very cool. It would seem that a lot of folks have been hipped to Ben's contest, either through his web site, or the CAG server, or other people discussing it on-line. That's wonderful to see. Very positive.

Yeah.

All right, that's enough for now. I'm scheduling this to post February 3rd. Hope people found something useful in my reviews. For other reviews...focusing on different aspects of the same adventures, and many offering differing opinions from Yours Truly...you should check out the following links:

https://coldlightrpgpress.weebly.com/

https://thegloomyforest.blogspot.com/

https://www.youtube.com/@OwenEdwardsBooks/videos

https://tinypinktentacle.wordpress.com/

Cheers, folks!

: )

ASC Review: The Tower in the Lake

The Tower in the Lake (Matthew Lake)

B/X for four to seven PCs of 3rd-5th level

And so we come to the end of our list. The Tower in the Lake was actually the 25th adventure received, but it was updated with a re-scanned map to make the walls clearer...no big deal. Will we go out with a bang or a whimper? That's the real question.

For my review criteria, you may check out this post. All reviews will (probably) contain *SPOILERS*; you have been warned! Because these are short (three page) adventures, it is my intention to keep the reviews short.

I'll save you the suspense: this adventure is so good that I have almost no notes.

Only quibble would be with the Magical Library: magic mouth isn't a spell in B/X (although a wizard like Thassalius certainly might have researched one), and spell books don't work like this in B/X (PCs only know the spells they know)...but since they don't impact anything (not even treasure), that doesn't matter at all. 

B/X system mastery is on full display. Wonderful...really shows what can be done with the system. The problem with B/X is the lack of durability at low levels and the lack of long-term play value after reaching Name level. But for a small, mid-level adventure like this? B/X can be really effective. 

This is an adventure site, but it's a large one: 23 encounter areas. It will probably take more than one night to complete, but not necessarily because its many nods to verticality (pits, slides, whirlpools, etc.) can be used to bypass content. However, the adventure is so cool, players will probably want to plumb its (literal) depths.

Danger level is fairly high...but not impossible!...for this level range. Probably should take at least six PCs into this one. For a party of six 4th levels, I'd expect treasure take to be about 34K total. Treasure total? 40K (and up to 8K of that is destroyable). So...perfect?

Theme is tight and well done. Creativity is delightful. I'm not going to tell you anything about this adventure, because you should have your B/X DM run it for you. If you play a different edition, you can try converting it, although for AD&D you'll want to increase the level range...maybe a 5th-6th average with adjusted magic/treasure. Monster use is excellent, making good use of B/X stuff with a couple unique guys (well-described and fully statted) that are perfectly acceptable. Some DMs will complain there are no hit points listed for the monsters, but that doesn't bother me when everything can be found in the rule book.

This adventure is a triumph and gets the full five stars (out of five). Matthew Lake should be very proud of what he's wrought. Exceptionally nice way to finish these reviews.

*****

ASC Review: Tower of the Necromancer

Tower of the Necromancer (Riley)

S&W (OD&D) for three to four PCs of 1st-2nd level

Coming to the end of this review series; this Swords & Wizardry adventure was actually the 11th one submitted, but it was pulled back to have some bits cleaned up. The polish shows.

For my review criteria, you may check out this post. All reviews will (probably) contain *SPOILERS*; you have been warned! Because these are short (three page) adventures, it is my intention to keep the reviews short.

Let's talk about the "rope-a-dope:" you show your opponent (in this case the players) one thing, but then you hit them with another. Here we have a nearby tower of a known figure (Santha the Conjurer) that seems to have been taken over by some necromantic forces: reports of undead sightings and the sounds of ghostly moaning leads the villagers to speculate some sort of Evil Force has taken over the place.

Now, if I'm the player of a 1st or 2nd level character, a "necromancer" (10th level magic-user, capable of casting 5th level spells like animate dead) sounds like bad news...like, really bad news. I've written necromancy-heavy adventures before that I had players walk away from...despite the promise of good spoils...simply because they decided "we don't have enough clerical power to handle this." Fear (of death) is a Real Thing in a properly run D&D campaign, and prudent players aren't ones to simply throw their characters into the fire because an adventure site is "there."

However, as suggested, it's all rope-a-dope: there is no necromancer. Santha the 4th level conjurer has been conducting some magical experiments using captured blink dogs; the result: potions of invisible flesh that makes Santha's hired mercenaries appear as skeletons. The moaning is just the howl of captive blink dogs howling in the caves beneath the hillside tower. It's still a low-level adventure site, perfectly suitable for the PCs...assuming they're bold enough to check it out.

Riley's system mastery of S&W is evident in his execution: The adventure is easily run using the S&W book and while I have some quibbles (how does Santha have a charmed ogre? Did he use a scroll of charm monster? Okay, what about the glyph that guards his chamber?) they are minor. Even the fact that a 4th level magic-user is "conducting magical experiments" is OK...S&W doesn't place any stipulation/minimum level on MUs pursuing this kind of activity. All good.

Danger level is fairly high for a party of only three to four PCs: parties could easily blunder into (up to) eight mercenaries in the tower (supported by a decent magic-user: love to see a low-level antagonist packing a sleep spell!), while the lower level features lairs with up to six giant ('smaller') spiders, all packing deadly (if weak) poison. And the humorously named quantum ogre (he blinks!) is a pretty rough fight for a group of only four PCs. But for seven or eight? I'm okay with that.

Treasure is low, even for low level PCs: I would like to see a bit more than 5,000 g.p. worth, and this one comes in at less than half (2,514). However, there are a handful of VERY nice magic items, not to mention blink dog puppies that can be rescued. ALSO: x.p. for monsters is fairly good at low levels (assuming the party can survive and defeat them...see the note about danger!). I think that, in this case, the trade-off is fine. Probably wouldn't use this as a first adventure for low-level characters, but it's a great second excursion...the kind of thing that could get the PCs that level up they're looking for (after already banking some experience). ALSO, it would be easy to throw in an extra 2K in treasure: a couple gems, a gold choker on the ogre, and a box of silver for the mercs can close the gap. It's not like trying to make up 10s (or 100s) of thousands of treasure discrepancy.

This is solid D&D, easily four stars (out of five). Taking it to the next level would be fine-tuning the encounters/treasure, and including some ideas for the long-term repercussions of PCs not interfering. But great job.

****

ASC Review: The Warm Caves of the Ts'Ai Dragons

The Warm Caves of the Ts'Ai Dragons (Sneedler Chuckworth)

"OD&D" for PCs of 5th-7th level

*facepalm*

For my review criteria, you may check out this post. All reviews will (probably) contain *SPOILERS*; you have been warned! Because these are short (three page) adventures, it is my intention to keep the reviews short.

We now reach the part of our program where adventures came in after the deadline for submission. This isn't going to have an impact on how I rate these adventures...if they're on the list, they're on the list and Mr. Gibson ("the Big Boss") has deemed them O.K. However, when it comes to tie-breakers and such in my final count, I'm going to give more weight to the adventures received earlier. Just a 'heads up.'

On to the show!

The author, one Sneedler Chuckworth, states this adventure is for OD&D. Except that every monster in it is from AD&D. Magic items list their x.p. and g.p. value as if they were from AD&D. Book magic items are taken from AD&D books like the UA. Spells are referenced that don't appear in any OD&D book...but do appear in AD&D.

This is not an OD&D adventure. Unless Chuckworth has no idea what the hell is in OD&D.

I am sorry to continue harping on this, but dammit, I'm going to continue harping on this: every edition of D&D is different. Yes, they have similarities. But they are different: they play different, they have different expectations of design, they have different levels of depth and complexity and different ramifications of long-term play. They are even designed with different objectives (comparing introductory Basic games with the more robust Advanced game, for instance). 

"Oh, it's all the same! It's all just D&D!"  No, it's not. 5E is different from 4E is different from 3E is different from 2E is different from 1E. Sure, 1E is more compatible with 2E than it is with 3rd or 4th or 5th...but it ain't the same. If you give a group a 2E PHB, DMG, and MM and then ask them to run something like A3: Aerie of the Slave Lords without any 1E books, they are going to haver a damn hard time. If my group plays OD&D and I buy an adventure that says "For OD&D" and then the monsters include quillans, sheet phantoms, fire toads, caryatid columns, earth dragons, and flail snails, then NO, I AM NOT GOING TO BE ABLE TO PLAY THIS ADVENTURE.

"Just buy a Fiend Folio! You know those monsters are in the Fiend Folio!" Yes, I do. Because I am an old geezer who's been playing D&D for more than 40 years and who has played nearly every edition of D&D. But you know what? Writing this for ME is a stupid, stupid idea, because I play AD&D and if I see an adventure that's "written for OD&D" I'm going to ignore it...even though it's filled with AD&Disms. Because I Don't Play OD&D.

You want to write for AD&D? Write for AD&D. You want to include an AD&D monster in your OD&D game? Then fill out a stat block for it in the style of OD&D. Other designers have done that for this contest (see the Banshee entry for ShockTohp's ACKS adventure)...that's the RIGHT way to incorporate stuff from other editions. OR you could just write for the appropriate system, i.e the system from which you take the BULK of your material.

I feel for this author. When I used to run OD&D, I liked to use the Fiend Folio on occasion myself. But I was doing that for my home game, NOT for publication. Not for other people. 

Treasure for this adventure should be around 112K. Total treasure count is just under 154K, and that's ignoring the magical items x.p. amounts (because OD&D doesn't award x.p. for magic items...duh). Still, too much...and if it was an AD&D adventure it would be WAY too much.  But, in the end, I don't really care; I'm just annoyed. This should have been a pretty good adventure. Instead it shows me the designer doesn't know what they're doing.

One star (out of five). Do better. Show that you understand there's a difference between one type of D&D and another.

*

ASC Review: Galactic Funtime

Galactic Funtime (Shawn Metcalf)

SWN for four to six players of 3rd-5th level

Ugh...I haven't been looking forward to this one. Stars Without Number isn't my cup-o-tea and it's been a loooong time since I even looked at the rules. My apologies to the author in advance.

For my review criteria, you may check out this post. All reviews will (probably) contain *SPOILERS*; you have been warned! Because these are short (three page) adventures, it is my intention to keep the reviews short.

My knowledge of SWN is pretty limited. I read it a while back, and thought it might make a good system for modeling the WH40K universe with a B/X chassis. But that ain't what this adventure is.

THIS adventure is Aliens (giant mutant spiders, actually) take over the local Chuck-E-Cheese. Players land their spaceship in the parking lot, decide to investigate, and hilarity ensues.

Um...

We have a map of the Galactic Funtime complex. Three types of spiders: "typical," "large," and the unique "Soapy the Spider," a huge, intelligent version...these are the only encounters you'll have. They're not poisonous or anything; they just do damage, sometimes attacking in swarms. 

Players that survive can carry off video game cabinets and sell them to collectors off-world for 1d4x1000 credits each. I have no idea if this is a lot of loot...my recollection of SWN was that x.p. was not awarded for loot, but rather for accomplishing "missions." So...what's the mission here? Getting loot? Killing spiders? No mission x.p. award is given in the adventure so, um...yeah.

I don't know why Gibson wanted SciFi submissions; they don't really grade out along the same scale as the D&D stuff. This thing seems...fine. But I don't know. It's outside of my wheelhouse and probably won't crack the top eight on my list.

Three stars (out of five) with a "-" because, while playable, it's boring, and I don't find myself as amused by the subject matter as some folks might be. 

***-

ASC Review: Wailing Tower

Wailing Tower (ShockTohp)

ACKS for PCs of 4th-6th level

Okay...an Adventurer Conqueror King System scenario. ACKS is, from what I can tell, mostly a spiffed up version of BECMI. It has its devotees. For an adventure of this level range, it's mostly in the "A" part of ACKS, and can be judged much the same as a B/X (or, rather, BE) adventure.

For my review criteria, you may check out this post. All reviews will (probably) contain *SPOILERS*; you have been warned! Because these are short (three page) adventures, it is my intention to keep the reviews short.

This one is almost good (I don't write that to be facetious). I'm not a fan of ACKS, but this one nearly hooked me. Great premise/concept: an aging and mostly abandoned monument (museum/tomb) on the edge of town is inviting someone to steal the goods on display. The kicker is that the "goods" are guarded by a piece of fantastical dwarven engineering: a crystal observation dome surrounded by a reservoir of water in creaky "clocktower" that sports spouting fountains and is driven by an ancient water wheel. 

Time pressures abound: another group (a thief NPC and his bandits) have a plan go dig into the chamber not knowing this will activate the 30 odd living statues that guard the exterior. A rust monster is nibbling at the main gear wheel's spindle, and will destroy it if not stopped. Also, there are some giant hawks nesting in the tower that will return shortly and provide additional complication.

Getting through the crystal dome without accidentally flooding the tomb and destroying most of the treasure is the main "puzzle" of the adventure, with the author providing several possible solutions. There is also a banshee haunting the place (new monster for the system, full stats provided in text, slightly different from the 1E version, but not bad) who is a puzzle herself...although violence works as a method of "resolving" her.

This is a GREAT "adventure site:" it is small (only a dozen or so encounter areas) but complex enough to engage and occupy the players...the perfect kind of opportunity a bunch of rapscallion treasure seekers might stumble onto. THIS is a great example of what I believe the ASC is all about.

Now for the execution: it is, unfortunately, a little weak in the nuts-n-bolts. The puzzle for opening the crystal dome is pretty complex...the kind of thing one might have to figure out in a video game after wandering around for a loooong time, trying various combinations. Not very fun D&D, IMO. And I find it unlikely a group of 4th-6th level PCs would be hoarding a scroll with the 6th level spell lower water (one of the alternative solution presented by the author); two scrolls with dimension door is only slightly more probable. Depending on the group, this could be a decidedly frustrating endeavor, likely to end in a flooded loot vault.

And let's talk about that loot. ACKS, much like the Basic systems on which it's built, is a system that awards x.p. for gold. For a party of 5th level characters (say five PCs), I'd be expecting a treasure take of around 30,000. The wailing tower offers only 8,400 total, and that's IF the party can manage the treasure without flooding the compartment. Break the crystal dome, and that amount is dropping to a maximum of 5,700, with 3,300 of that only be recoverable finding some way to drain the water. Harsh! And fixing the banshee issue (a second "puzzle") offers no tangible reward, either.

The monsters, other than the banshee, are all pretty light-weight...unless (I suppose) the PCs are caught outside when the living statues get activated. My estimation of a SMALL adventuring party (five PCs) is based on the fact that the encounters here are so small in number: ONE rust monster, TWO giant hawks, ONE banshee, SIX bandits (and their T6 leader). This is pretty small fry. The main challenge of the adventure is the puzzle vault.

This one's getting three stars (out of five). It's creative, it's engaging, and it's tightly themed. But the overall danger level is low, the treasure count is abysmal, and the puzzle thing can be frustrating for some (many?) groups, given the format (a tabletop RPG). It's not quite "solid" D&D, but it's a pretty good effort.

***

ASC Review: The Grand Retreat of the Great Sage Tellah

The Grand Retreat of the Great Sage Tellah (thanateros777)

"B/X, etc." for PCs of "mid-level"

Man, people reading these are just going to think I'm a jerk, huh?

For my review criteria, you may check out this post. All reviews will (probably) contain *SPOILERS*; you have been warned! Because these are short (three page) adventures, it is my intention to keep the reviews short.

A "mid-level drop-in funhouse adventure for B/X, etc." That's what it says on the box. Well, now. I know B/X like the back of my hand, and "mid-level" for B/X is 7th level. So that's how I'm going to treat this one. ALSO: please note that I do enjoy the (occasional) "funhouse" adventure...see my numerous blog posts on White Plume Mountain over the years.

How much should I drag this out?

It's not good. We'll start with the basics: for a B/X adventure of this size (20 encounters...a tad big but within contest parameters) a "mid-level" party could expect to find somewhere in the neighborhood of 261K, all monetary (because B/X doesn't give x.p. for magic items). If the PCs were able to pull out every last scrap of loot, they get a grand total of 21,100 g.p. value. Pitiful.

Then there are the encounters: illusionists (no such thing in B/X). A necrophidius (not in B/X). "Clockroaches," "assassin vine," "mycelian," and "shocker lizards" (I've never even heard of these things). Water weirds (not in B/X). Guardian familiar (not in B/X). That's a helluva' lot of "etc." No stat blocks are provided for any of the monsters.

Usability is an issue. Decent map, nice and clear. But the three pages of text are not only crammed together, but using a font that makes reading this a thing of torture...it is the proverbial "wall of text" which makes table use a nightmare, even on maximum magnification. At least the monsters are highlighted.

Yes, it's another negative review. And I'm sure many readers assume/believe that I take great glee in being negative, of being critical, of looking for every possible flaw. And probably I do...to some degree. 

But part of why I'm doing this is in aid of helping folks. Not just the author, but other people who might want to write/design adventures. Because writing an adventure for publication...something to be read and used by other people...requires a different standard from what DMs do when jotting down notes for their home game. It requires a different degree of care and attention. Because other DMs aren't you, Mr./Ms. Author...and they can't read your mind.

Let's elevate our design chops. Yeah, we're all amateurs (for the most part). If you're writing/designing for WotC you're probably not reading this blog; you're probably not entering contests like these. If you're a professional adventure writer, this info ain't for you. But if you, like me, are just an amateur or (glory be!) a semi-pro, please take this advice to heart:

Choose one system. Learn that system. Design/write for that system. 

System matters. This adventure gets one star (out of five) because the author decided that system doesn't...and it thus fails to work as a functional module for anyone looking for a "B/X, etc." adventure.

*

ASC Review: Arena AEmilia

Arena AEmilia (Zed)

B/X for PCs of 4th-6th level

Mm. I was wondering if I'd see one of these.

For my review criteria, you may check out this post. All reviews will (probably) contain *SPOILERS*; you have been warned! Because these are short (three page) adventures, it is my intention to keep the reviews short.

Well, now. It seems I must explain what an "adventure" is. 

Strictly speaking, adventuring is the activity that players engage in when they play D&D; Moldvay's (B/X) glossary defines an adventure as "any session where a DM and players meet to play a D&D game." However, the textual description is a bit more specific:

Each game session is called an adventure. An adventure lasts for as long as the players and the DM agree to play. An adventure begins when the party enters a dungeon, and ends when the party has left the dungeon and divided up treasure. An adventure may run for only an hour, or it might fill an entire weekend! The amount of playing time depends on the desires of the players and the DM. Several related adventures (one adventure leading to another, often with the same player characters) is called a campaign.

In the (later) Expert set, the scope of where an adventure takes place is broadened to include the wilderness, defined as all the area outside of the dungeon. And yet, the dungeon is ever the focus of the Dungeons & Dragons game.

A "dungeon" is defined by Moldvay as "a place, underground and often among ruins, where characters adventure." Again the textual description is more broad than that:

It is the DM's job to prepare the setting for each adventure before the game begins. This setting is called a dungeon since most adventures take place in underground caverns or stone rooms beneath old ruins or castles.

Note that Moldvay states MOST adventures take place underground...not all. In the Dungeon Master Information section of the Basic D&D rules, Moldvay provides a "step-by-step guide to creating a dungeon." The second step, DECIDE ON A SETTING, makes clear that not all settings need be underground, as his list of "common settings" include castles, towers, ancient temples, strongholds, and towns. Not every "dungeon" need be a ruin, cavern, or tomb.

However, the setting (where the adventure takes place) is, as stated, the second ("B.") step of creating a dungeon, i.e. creating the place where adventuring will take place during the game. The FIRST ("A.") step is the choosing of a scenario:

A. CHOOSE A SCENARIO

A scenario is a background theme or idea which ties the dungeon together. A scenario will help keep a dungeon from becoming a boring repetition of "open the door, kill the monster, take the treasure." A good scenario always gives the players a reason for adventuring. The DM should also design a dungeon for the levels of characters who will be playing in it. A good scenario will also give the DM a reason for choosing specific monsters and treasures to put in the dungeon.

This, I would argue, is the HEART of adventure design. Without a scenario, there is little reason to adventure...D&D simply becomes a game of rolling dice until resources are expended or boredom overtakes us. The scenario provides context for adventuring; it helps focus the players and promotes active engagement with the setting (i.e. "the dungeon") where the adventuring is taking place. Readers might note that this paragraph on scenario choice provides at least part (if not most) of my judging criteria. 

SO...let's look at this Arena AEmilia. It provides a setting...a place. The place is stocked mostly with NPC characters, though there are a few beasties in animal pens. The NPCs are given some personality notes. The setting has a map. There is treasure listed...in exceptionally poor amounts for adventurers of levels 4th-6th.

But there is no scenario presented. 

There is no reason for PCs to go here. There is no adventure. There is an arena. There are people. There are shiny silver coins in their purses. I suppose you can kick open doors and stab people for their purses of silver coins, but I'd like to think we've long since evolved past that type of play. This is D&D, not Greg Costikyan's Violence RPG.

This is not an adventure. It receives the coveted zero stars (out of five) award.

ASC Review: The Bridge of Ptelemegesser

The Bridge of Ptelemegesser (Peter McDevitt)

B/X or OSE (B/X) for...huh? (no level range listed)

Well, at least it's short. 

For my review criteria, you may check out this post. All reviews will (probably) contain *SPOILERS*; you have been warned! Because these are short (three page) adventures, it is my intention to keep the reviews short.

One page plus a map. Seven numbered encounters. Even though it calls itself an "adventure site" (and to be fair, Gibson suggests an encounter range of "5 to 25"), this is too short, too devoid of adventure to really be an "adventure site." It's more of a single encounter scenario...at best I might classify it as a "lair."

Site is written to be dropped into a mountainous area when PCs are "hexcrawling." This suggests a group of 4th/5th ("Expert") level characters. Group finds a long, stone bridge spanning a gorge with a drop of some 140' into a  narrow lake. But there's a giant rhagodessa hanging on the bottom of the bridge, waiting to ambush the last crossing party member (or the "lone scout") and drag them back to its lair: a cave some 50' below the bridge in the cave wall.

As a single encounter of a larger adventure this is pretty good...though bridge encounters are the kind of thing you can only ever do once, or they get old (see the pterodactyls of X1 or the Tasloi throwing boulders in I1 for other examples). This one is creative and probably won't elicit too many boos-hisses when you spring it on the players (they were looking for pterodactyls...how were they supposed to know the threat would come from underneath!). I like it, and could see myself dropping it somewhere.

But it's not going to provide "an evening's entertainment." Even if the PCs decide to explore the other two (connected) caves, there's just not much here to occupy their attention.  Treasure is weak...maybe a couple thousand? Not much for a party of 4th-5th level characters (which, again, seems about right for this encounter). 

This one should probably get ZERO stars out of five, because it's incomplete (in my opinion). However, it's within the guidelines set by Ben, and it's a fine little encounter. I'll give it two stars (out of five) because it's a creative bridge encounter, with the caveat that the "work" needed to make it a playable adventure site is "filling out more adventure site."

However, it also gets a "-" ding because the stat block is wrong for the giant catfish. See page X31 for corrections.

**-

ASC Review: The Moldiwarp's Burrow

The Moldiwarp's Burrow (Woad Warrior)

AD&D for PCs of 5th-6th level

Some really interesting ideas and thoughtful world building in this "adventure;" unfortunately it stabs itself in the face with a distinct lack of organization and clarity. 

For my review criteria, you may check out this post. All reviews will (probably) contain *SPOILERS*; you have been warned! Because these are short (three page) adventures, it is my intention to keep the reviews short.

I'm not sure where exactly to start, so I'm just going to quote the author's opening paragraph:

This module, for AD&D characters Level 5-6 is a combination of dungeon, small settlement and timeline-activated plot. It is not intended to be material suitable for a one-shot, but rather as material to place within a sandbox or campaign. You can, of course, use just the dungeon component of the module, Gnomish Hill. When designing the sandbox, place Skepeside on a frequently travelled thoroughfare in the early game, such as between the major market and the first dungeon.

The author is immediately stepping off on the wrong foot, misunderstanding the point and purpose of the exercise. The Adventure Site Contest is NOT about designing a module that can be crammed into three pages...the directive is to create an adventure site suitable for an evening's (or session's) play. 

*sigh*

Woad Warrior has created a mini-region, complete with human town, local color, recent history, complex plot weaving, etc. but has not done the job of creating an adventure site. Yeah, there's a map of some mole burrows. It is unclear just where the hell these are supposed to be. I've read this thing multiple times, and I just don't grok it. Here's the order information is presented:

1. Opening paragraph (above)
2. Discussion of Gnomish Hill (an area 10 miles from the nearby town): only its recent history is provided.
3. Discussion of Skepeside (human village): overview of the place, its religion, its rulers.
4. Hooks for the village, i.e. why PCs might go there.
5. Hooks for the Hill, i.e. why PCs might go there, including s recommended plot involving the Beltane religious ritual and its intended corruption by the "Moldiwarp" (an evil fairy rat-dwarf) of Gnome Hill.
6. Caith: a discussion of a village boy named Caith and the trouble he gets up to, including various trouble scenarios that might (or might not) involve the PCs.
7. Feeding Tunnels: a discussion of a mole lair...though not where the hell it is; is this in the village? Is it on Gnome Hill? Why would the PCs go here? This is the first time the place is mentioned! With no context, hooks, nothing! What the hell?!
8. A bunch of descriptions of locations in the mole tunnels including "Wine Cellar," "Warrior Cellar," "Library," "Shrine"...what kind of moles are these?..."Nesting Chambers," and "Storerooms" (S1-S4...the only numbered areas). These appear to be the "dungeon" referred to in the opening paragraph. This is also, apparently where the Moldiwarp lives, so I guess these are on Gnome Hill (since he's the referred to as the moldiwarp of Gnome Hill)
9. The Curse of the Maypole: a description of the Beltane plot involving that Caith kid and the moldiwarp.
10. Some box text to read when the ritual goes wrong.
11. Before the Ritual: a description of a bandit lair (Entrance Hall, Bottom Floor, Battlements) with no map, but some NPCs (no stats) with ties to the human village.
12. Wandering Monsters table for the mole tunnels.
13. After the Ritual: discussion of how the gnomes get worked up by the Beltane gone worng and kill all the bandits in the tower, occupy it, then invade the mole tunnels(!) with their war snail...does this have anything to do with the PCs?!
14. New Monsters section including giant moles, giant snails, and moldiwarps.
15. Skull Totem of the Raistling Leaf: description of a magic artifact used in the Beltane plot.

This is then followed by three pages of maps: a hex map of the region, a map of the mole tunnels, and a map of what I think is the surface above the mole tunnels...so, Gnome Hill? Maybe? It sure would be nice if the map was labeled!

EDITING. Adventure writers must learn to edit their work. Reading through this thing multiple times (in an attempt to understand it), I can only draw a couple of possible conclusions: A) the author had a larger work that was cut down to three pages of (what was deemed) the most pertinent bits, but lost the "connective tissue" that made it sensible, or B) the author just couldn't contain themselves and wrote up something big and shiny (without self-editing) and needs to learn a LOT about information presentation.

There are a lot of cool/interesting ideas going on here. But the objective was NOT to build up a micro-region suitable for a mini-campaign. And while the moldiwarp tunnels are nominally appropriate for PCs of 5th/6th level, everything else about this adventure (the town, the kid, the bandits) screams "low level scenario." Treasure count should be something in the neighborhood of 100K, but just eyeballing the loot (I've spent too much time on this already to do an exact count), it appears to be under 50K.  Too low.

This could have been a really good adventure site by tightening the concept: pick ONE thing (the Beltane scenario, for example) and lean HARD into it, excluding all the extraneous detail. Reduce the threat level (do we need 5 HD moles? A giant weasel is 3+3) to 3rd-4th level, maybe change out the moldiwarp for a magic-using spriggan...I mean, there are ways, man. And save the rest of this for when you expand the adventure into a 24 page module with more town stuff, details of the gnomes, buried goods of the Blue Band, etc.

I'm giving this two stars (out of five), even though the IDEAS here could (with a little work) easily boost it up to a 4+ rating. There's a lot of ability being demonstrated, but it needs strong editing. 

BY THE WAY: permanent illusion is an illusionist spell and, thus, could not be cast by a magic-user like Caith (not even from a scroll). Also: why "mini-ballista?" Why not just use heavy crossbow (or even ballista proper...DMG p.107)?

**

ASC Review: The Fall of Saddleroddle

The Fall of Saddleroddle (DangerIsReal)

AD&D for PCs of 4th-5th level

Ah, man.

For my review criteria, you may check out this post. All reviews will (probably) contain *SPOILERS*; you have been warned! Because these are short (three page) adventures, it is my intention to keep the reviews short.

So...pretty decent concept. Sometime in the past, a gnomish city was hit by an earthquake that crumbled the hills, and sunk its population into the ground, leaving only "Devil's Swamp" behind. Rumors abound of undiscovered chambers still waiting to be plundered. There are some mercenaries camped out in the swamp who've already started their delve, but there are multiple ways into the sunken basements.

So, as said. Good concept. Execution is the problem.

Let's start with the map. It's a cutaway vertical, not isometric, but more similar to Haunted Keep in Moldvay's Basic book. That's not enough! It's not enough to see the levels and layers and heights of chambers...for the tactical game play inherent in old edition D&D (especially 1st edition), you need to be able to see the floor layout...because threats are (most often) dealt with in TWO dimensions (because humans and demihumans don't fly). The Haunted Keep, shows the vertical but also shows the standard top-down map. Danger omits this step. And as there aren't even dimensions given in the encounter description, the DM is just left...with nada.

But that's not the only thing that's left out. I'm missing a lot of info that I want for running this adventure. How long do the phosphorescent mushrooms glow if picked? How do the beartraps function (procedurally)? How do the denizens get along with each other (and where are all the lizard men coming from)? What are the mechanics of contracting typhus?

And with regard to to typhus (and the other disease-ridden areas); is the author aware that the DMG already has procedures for contracting disease? 

60 kuo-toa are a pretty beefy encounter for this level of PC...and, yet, this isn't a very beefy encounter at all, because it does not have the normal kuo-toan output of leveled characters that would normally be encountered for a tribe this size. If you just want 2 hit die combatants (they're all F2s), why not make these guys the lizard men (HD 2)? Hell, make "Joopalp" a lizard king...he's already got the trident (not on the kuo-toan weapon list, just by the way...). 

I'll be honest: I don't really understand the rust monsters, the clay golem, the cannonball (no cannon), or the giant octopus.

Treasure...is odd. This is a "full-size" dungeon (31 encounter areas) so we're probably looking at close to 100K for this level range. Treasure is close to that amount (thanks to a lot of gemstones)...82K or 132K if you sell all the magic items. But the distribution is odd. Only about a quarter of the locations have treasure, with the largest monetary hoard (some 32K) is with the octopus. A massive vault guarded by the clay golem holds...11,000 silver pieces. I mean, it all feels very random (and perhaps it was generated randomly). I prefer a higher rate of distribution, as it keeps the players pressing on. 

This one needs work. The map...the map kills it for me. Really nice concept, but the theme could be much tighter (the only evidence of gnomes at all are bas-reliefs. Let's have some gnome stuff!). Sorry, but this adventure only gets two stars (out of five) for me.

**

ASC Review: The Copper Circle

FA-1: The Copper Circle (A.M. Jackson/bucolian)

AD&D for PCs of 1st-2nd level

From yesterday's grotesquerie to "Aww...cute." And yet (perhaps surprisingly) it turns out this adventure is solid D&D. Someone was just asking the other day (on a discord server I frequent) for a good adventure for 1st level characters. Here you go.

For my review criteria, you may check out this post. All reviews will (probably) contain *SPOILERS*; you have been warned! Because these are short (three page) adventures, it is my intention to keep the reviews short.

First level AD&D magic-users determine their starting spells randomly...but they're unable to obtain Tenser's Floating Disk from the jump. Jackson has designed an adventure that allows you to find the spell. An inter-dimensional copper UFO...the titular "Copper Circle"...that once belonged to Tenser (name changed to avoid copyright entanglements). Now piloted by a bunch of grey-skinned "psionic pygmies" searching for the lost Tenser, the craft has been temporarily grounded due to "technical difficulties."  

Enter the PCs looking to explore the unknown weirdness.

Stocking is pretty much Moldvay: 12 encounters divided amongst four hostile monsters, two potential traps, two "specials" (friendly/non-hostile NPCs) and four "empties" that still have stuff to interact with. Good treasure: nearly 19K if the PCs were to sell every last scrap of magical treasure (enough to level up 8+ characters of 1st level)...but a lot of that x.p. is going to disappear as PCs bargain it away with NPCs, drink potions, etc...expending their wealth to succeed. But still...plenty here, and a good amount for six or seven 1st levels.

1st level adventures are tough to craft. It can't all be giant rats and goblins and skeletons. There have to be encounters that can be overcome, but that still offer danger. The encounters here are pretty close to perfect. An electric eel that can be VERY deadly...once per day (and can be avoided with caution). An automaton that does subdual damage. A grey ooze that can be detected and outrun (if necessary) or put to death quickly with a little ingenuity. The "tech problems" (a pair of Manes demons) have lost their teleportation ability, making them dangerous (because of their multiple attacks)...but not DEADLY (low damage,  1 Hit Dice). This is excellent variety.

Special rewards for solving the puzzles in the adventure (gaining Tenser's iconic spell and/or getting transportation from the pygmies by helping fix the ship) are great EXTRA benefits...but PCs can still get plenty of treasure and x.p. without solving the puzzles. They are gravy...secret content...that aren't necessary for the adventure to be profitable. 

Solid map, multiple methods of ingress/egress, nifty interaction, appropriate random encounters (love the occasional "electric shock" that only does 1 point of damage, but still gives a saving throw...great!), fun NPCs (love the guy in the hat).  And because of the nature of this "adventure site," it can be dropped down into pretty much any campaign. Heck, it can just appear outside the home town of a group of newly minted 1st level characters.

This is masterful. Five stars (out of five). Good 1st level adventures aren't easy to write. A.M. Jackson wrote a good one.

*****

ASC Review: Foundry Ovens of the Bitter Paramore [sic]

Foundry Ovens of the Bitter Paramore (Nick Alexander)

AD&D for PCs of 5th-7th level

This one is gross. But whatever.

For my review criteria, you may check out this post. All reviews will (probably) contain *SPOILERS*; you have been warned! Because these are short (three page) adventures, it is my intention to keep the reviews short.

Some people dig horror and stuff that pushes (or crosses) the boundaries of "good taste." House of 1,000 Corpses. The Human Centipede. Lamentations of the Flame Princess. Whatever. That's not my bag, and I don't have to watch it, listen to it, play it. But today I'm reviewing it. It's not the most egregious adventure I've read, but it's not pleasant. So we'll see how much my bias colors my review.

The "Bitter Paramore" [sic] of the title (note to the author: "Paramour" is not spelled like that, unless you mean the emo band) is a fire giant (or is he?) that runs a hellish factory of smoke and fire, kidnapping women from around the territory in order to exercise his depredations before burning them alive and stuffing them in metal statues. That's the "PG" summary. Everyone in the "Foundry" (a five-story dungeon site of some 19-20 encounters) is despicable, insane, or both and well-worth putting to the sword. If killing shit without moral quandary is your thing, feel free to go hog wild in this place.

Skipping past the lovingly described scenes of torture and mayhem, let's look at the "dungeon-y stuff" in this hellscape: denizens of the Foundry include a fire giant, a deranged leprechaun, an imprisoned efreeti, a bitter ghost, some 15 verbeeg (half-giants) and their leader, 50 hobgoblins, a flesh golem, and a doppleganger. However, the majority of these (including the main antagonist) have no set locations but instead only appear on a 2-in-6 chance here, or a 1-in-6 chance there. It is possible that PCs will wander around encountering great batches of nothing (or very small encounters), given the random rolling. An actual timeline (as is done with the 1st floor sentries) would have been more advisable.

We also have additional random encounters that include firebats, hargrin, magmen, and para-elementals of magma (although no hit dice are given for those last ones...a bit of an oversight). No order of battle given or discussion of what happens if an alarm is raised and how the scores of guardsmen, etc. react when the PCs begin butchering people. This would have been good information to include.

Challenge level for monsters is thus 'all over the place.' Will a fight with a 16 HD elemental attract attention? How fast do verbeeg patrols react to sounds of mayhem? Will the hobgoblins shrug and look away or will the "paramore" whip them into a fighting frenzy? It's all DM discretion whether various groups are apathetic or whether they swarm PCs en masse. It is even possible to "blow the tank" of the foundry, filling the place with the equivalent of an incendiary cloud, releasing 2d6 magma elementals (again: no hit dice given), and having a 25% chance of collapsing the whole structure, killing everyone inside...including the PCs. Ouch!

Expected treasure take for an adventure this size  should be around the 160K-170K mark. Total monetary treasure barely clears 43K. If you sell every magic item found (don't drink those potions!) you can push that up to 130K. Eh...a little short, but close.

The new spell, Stir Bride of Chlimbia, is too powerful for a 7th level spell. Fortunately, using it in this adventure is likely to kill all the PCs. Probably should make it 9th level and/or place a limit on just how many 12 HD golems (3-30 damage, +2 weapons o hit, and breath weapon equal to current HPs!) the caster can animate with the spell. Used on the rooftop, it'll give you a dozen of these destroyers; again, ouch.

This is (probably) an exceptionally dangerous dungeon with fairly low reward, and a new spell that can have hugely bad ramifications in a campaign. I also find much of it to be excessively distasteful. Taste, however, doesn't factor into my rating, and it's still rather playable. Three stars (out of five) with a "-" for the problems mentioned. It should probably kill a lot of PCs.

***-

ASC Review: Tor of the Vulture Lord

Tor of the Vulture Lord (Alex Edwards)

OSRIC (AD&D) for PCs of "1st-9th" level

This is an AD&D adventure. It says OSRIC, but everything here (with the exception of a "whip +1;" which isn't in OSRIC, either) can be found in AD&D. So I'm reviewing it as such.

For my review criteria, you may check out this post. All reviews will (probably) contain *SPOILERS*; you have been warned! Because these are short (three page) adventures, it is my intention to keep the reviews short.

I'm going to start with the bad on this one. Because I want to get that bit out of the way:

This adventure is too ambitious for the contest parameters...it is too big, and designed too broadly. It wants to "accommodate a wide level range and be an active location in an on-going campaign;" notice the 1st through 9th level range? And, yet, because of its broad design, it suffers from a lack of specificity: it doesn't actual provide an adventure that provides challenges for all those level ranges, nor does it provide reward sufficient to satisfy all listed ranges.

In fact, the adventure leaves much of this work (because such specificity requires work) in the hands of the Dungeon Master. It provides broads strokes...but leaves far too many blanks to be filled in. Encounter areas give ranges of numbers of monsters that will appear. Monsters are listed but have no hit points determined. Treasures are listed as "1500gp and 6 gems" with no additional value given. This is not a fully developed adventure that a DM can simply read and run. For this site to work, "prep" is going to include doing a lot of the grunt work that should have already been done by the author. 

For these reasons, this adventure cannot receive a three star (or higher) rating. It does not fall into the realm of "playable adventure." 

Now for the good: this has the makings of (the potential for) a really great AD&D adventure! 

It is, as I said, written too broadly. In challenge rating, it can probably function quite well for an average party level of 5th-6th. Well, except for the demons...all the demons.

We'll get to that.

The theming here is great. The concept is quite solid, and the manner in which the encounters interact is excellent. Well-developed. Usability is exceptional, unless you're talking about the map which is ASS (and that is being discourteous to ass). And again with using letters instead of numbers to designate encounter areas? Why in God's name do people do that? This adventure has 26 encounter areas...I know that because "Z" is the final one. Sheesh.

But other than the crap map and the letters, Edwards does a great job of laying out who all's in the cave complex, and where, and why, and how they interact with each other...it's great stuff, short-n-sweet, but with enough to give a DM a great grasp of how to run the whole thing, with good characterization and nifty motivations. Enough motivations that I'm never left wondering "why is this encounter here?" This thing really wants to be a large-scale, campaign-impacting faction fortress. That's great! That's a LOT of entertainment for one's player group and suggests a wide variety of approaches from a number of different angles...not all of them necessarily hostile!  And, again, I love the whole 'bird theme' going on...not only is there consistency of concept (and good use of specific D&D creatures), it makes the whole thing more memorable. "Oh, yeah...the bird guys." That's impactful play: it's stuff that makes indelible memories.

I love the use of the Greek gods Nike and Hecate (reminds me of the AD&D campaigns of my youth as we were all Greek, all day long). Stylistically it's very Sword & Sorcery, which I know some folks will appreciate...and yet it's not over-the-top to the point of bad pastiche (which I appreciate). 

However, I'm not grading on 'style' and I have some mechanical quibbles. While I rather love the mummies and how they are used, the +1 battle axes have got to go...not only does this nerf the mummies actual damage output, it places too many magic battle axes (12?!) in the hands of the adventurers. Similarly with all the monster summoning scrolls: I know Edwards wants his demonologist and his vrocks and succubi (the former for the bird theme, the latter for the S&S vibe), but this isn't the way to go.  Besides, monster summoning does not create permanent conjurations...if such creatures were only summoned using spell scrolls, they would have long since faded from the encounter areas "O" and "U." Find a different way: have Bokon invent (or own a scroll with) a lesser version of cacodaemon, or give him an item (perhaps a cursed minor artifact) that makes such conjurations possible. Heck, perhaps he used a cacodaemon to gate in the vrocks, and maybe the succubus was always at the tor, a prisoner of the Nike priests that Bokon released and is currently learning from/scheming with (and the quasit's just a familiar, natch). There are ways to accomplish what wants to be accomplished without stashing dozens of monster summoning scrolls around the place.

At roughly 59K (before adding magic) treasure is only about 54% of what it needs to be for a 5th level party of adventurers, and for a group of higher level (7th+) it would be a fractional amount, even selling all the paltry items here. The high level NPCs are pretty magic deficient, with nothing greater than +2 and most items just +1...and no special abilities. In fact, other than armor and weapons, the ONLY magic items in the place are potions and the aforementioned monster summoning scrolls. It's odd, but perhaps a stylistic (S&S, mudcore) choice. 

This one gets two stars (out of five), with a "+" because of the strong themes, tight concept, and unrealized potential. It's not playable as written, but the author shows promise.

**+

ASC Review: The Herbalist's Son

The Herbalist's Son (Jacob72)

"Classic" D&D for four to seven PCs of 3rd-5th level

Even though there's a ruined "druid chapel" in this one, there are no druids and the author takes all the monsters and treasure "from the Basic and Expert books." As far as I can tell, it's a B/X adventure and I am reviewing it as such.

For my review criteria, you may check out this post. All reviews will (probably) contain *SPOILERS*; you have been warned! Because these are short (three page) adventures, it is my intention to keep the reviews short.

Man, I went into this one expecting to rant and rage. Written for "Classic D&D?" That ain't a thing! However: this is one of the better small-scale B/X adventures I can remember reading.

Simple enough premise:PCs receive some info that might lead to a lost elvish tomb in a nearby settlement. Going to the settlement, they find some locals...an herbalist and his son...were already investigating the rumors, but have disappeared after hiring some "woodsmen" to help them out. Turns out the woodsmen were actually bandits led by a couple werewolves.

PCs follow the map, find the dug-out entrance to the tomb...actually more of a fairy mound...and explore. 

Decent encounters, including angry elves looking for payback on the ruined fairy village, giant weasels, wraiths (because dead elves become wraiths...duh), a changeling (doppelganger) masquerading as the herbalist's son, insect swarms, and...of course...the aforementioned bandits.  Good mix, good map, good interactivity, good use of tricks/traps.

The imprisoned fire elemental is kind of silly and unnecessary...also, it's probably one monster too many for the size of this thing. And the treasure take is fairly light: not even 7,000 for an adventure that should be rocking close to 20K.  But there's silver jewelry and gems that can be upped in value, and the bandits really do need more loot (assuming they're the ones that crushed the fairy village). The fix is pretty easy here. 

Good theme, good B/X adventure. Wraiths are pretty vicious for 4th level characters, but the PCs get plenty of warning...and I dig the underground river and the "gateway to the land of the Fairies." Really nice. Three and a half stars (out of five). Nicely done!

***+

ASC Review: Crimson Garden of the Crocodile Spirits

Crimson Garden of the Crocodile Spirits (Tristan Shoudy)

AD&D for ???

Oh, joy. No expected level range for players. Guess I'll just have to guess.

For my review criteria, you may check out this post. All reviews will (probably) contain *SPOILERS*; you have been warned! Because these are short (three page) adventures, it is my intention to keep the reviews short.

FFS, the map is upside-down. Though I suppose it's not much of a map: a small "greenhouse" compound of eight encounter areas (mostly one room shacks, sheds, or structures). 

Party is hired to acquire plants from a dead alchemist's compound. Probably think a druid would be useful for such an adventure. HA! It's all undead, baby! Wights, ghouls, skeletons, and the titular "crocodile spirits:" an undead, ghost reptile that attacks like a crocodile, but is immune to normal weapons, and ages characters 10 years "when observed" (save versus magic to resist). There are two such of the latter encounter with multiples of these creatures...so, PCs need to make five saves apiece to avoid a potential 50 year age penalty? Hmm.

No level range. Treasure take suggests 4th-5th level party members, which is much too high for 16 skeletons, 4 ghouls, and a single wight. But five ghost crocodiles? Brutal. A 5th level cleric has ZERO chance to turn a ghost (even if these things can be turned...there's no "turns as" noted here). Saves are going to be in the 14-16 range, so you're looking at 30 years of aging apiece. Mm. Restoration spells are pretty expensive. Good thing there's a single potion of longevity! The party members can fight each other over that!

This adventure has an interesting idea, but it wasn't thought through, and the execution is poor. Saving grace is that this one is pretty short: only two pages plus a "monster stat sheet." Appears to have been a rushed, slapdash effort. Would normally get two stars, but I'm knocking a star off for not listing a level range (if you're going to design an adventure, you need to design for a particular level. AD&D is a tiered system folks). One star (out of five). 

*

ASC Review: The Pit of the Muirneag

The Pit of the Muirneag (Stooshie & Stramash)

LL AEC for four to six PCs of 5th-8th level

Another B/X retroclone...this time Labyrinth Lord (with the Advanced Edition Companion).  The author also makes note that they adapted several creatures from the Fiend Folio. Map is by Dyson Logos.

For my review criteria, you may check out this post. All reviews will (probably) contain *SPOILERS*; you have been warned! Because these are short (three page) adventures, it is my intention to keep the reviews short.

Another "pit" adventure, yet the map is much clearer. This one is also rather large (23 encounter areas), but it's rather light on encounters and dangers (traps and such). In fact, for an adventure aimed at parties of this level, the monsters herein are pretty darn weak. Sure there's a white dragon, but it's only got 42 hit points and it's bedraggled, weak, and restrained in magical chains (there's another smaller one that cowers in fear from fire and only has 14 hit points). Mephits? Encountered singularly? Really?

Sure, somewhere floating around the adventure is an efreeti. But he only appears as a wandering monster or if the party does something to trigger him showing up (like freeing the white dragon...in which case you have an ally to fight him!). Even in White Plume Mountain (an adventure for levels 5th-10th) efreet appeared in pairs. A single creature with a single attack per round isn't particularly challenging to a hearty group of mid-level slayers. Ha...he even "threatens and extorts before fighting." What a wimp!

Treasure should be in the 120K-150K range. Fat chance.  Total treasure in the adventure is barely more than 50K, of which 35K is in the form of jewelry adorning the (chained) white dragon. If you help her you only get a bag of gems worth less than 11K. I mean...that's pretty paltry. Magic items are almost completely absent: a +1 scimitar and eyes of petrification (no save). Great.

This adventure is pretty lame. It's got a good map...but Dyson draws good maps. Two-thirds of one page is used to set up a whole backstory/history of the place and some conflict between Elemental Princes of Evil (from the Fiend Folio) that, while interesting, doesn't have any real impact on the scenario. It's frosting. Bland frosting.

There's just not much "adventure" here. And I can't, in good conscience, give it more than two stars (out of five). There's some puzzle-ly stuff, some creatures to interact with. But in the end, there's not much here...it's a precursor to a greater story. Which (since we don't have the greater story) is a waste of time. Maybe that seems unfair...but other folks have given more using the same contest parameters.

**

ASC Review: Pit of the Red Wyrm

Pit of the Red Wyrm (Jakob McFarland)

S&W for four to six PCs of (average) 5th level

Swords & Wizardry is an OD&D retroclone. I own it; I've read it. I don't play it. It varies a bit from OD&D (which I have played), and I'll try to take those variations into account. But I may not be aware of all the nuances of the system.

For my review criteria, you may check out this post. All reviews will (probably) contain *SPOILERS*; you have been warned! Because these are short (three page) adventures, it is my intention to keep the reviews short.

Again, this one is a "real" adventure: a three level, 23 encounter location. The system (S&W/OD&D) really allows the space to fit such a scenario into a short (three page) publication, without needing to shrink font or cram the text. 

I don't particularly like this one, but the encounters seem about right for the system/character level. Found no grimlocks, naiads, or vampire moss in my copy of S&W; author should note where to reference these. Shambling mound is under-hit diced. Berserkers are over-hit diced, but assume this is an effect of the "insanity peppers" they consume. 

A lot of this doesn't make much sense to me. Why do the berserkers have the box? If the PCs just saw the dragon flying with it in its claws (the "hook" for the adventure) then when did the berserkers have the chance to kidnap the thief, imprison her, get her to unlock it, etc.  Do grimlocks use ballistae? Do the grimlocks manning the ballistae sit around hiding all day without eating anything? Etc., etc.

Treasure is good: 105K for an adventure that should clock in around 80K; however, several loot items are extremely heavy or hard to retrieve. This is fine. Magic is okay...maybe a little low for OD&D, but sensible and well-themed.

The map is tough to parse, especially Level 1 and how it interacts with the wilderness...however, I think I've got it figured out enough. I like the hot springs: good effects, good interactive hazard. The bank notes are also a nice treasure item (especially as value can be adjusted by DMs for inflation rates or currency valuations, etc.). Not sure why a dragon would want these, though...or be robbing banks.

This one gets the "playable D&D" rating from me...barely. It can use some refinement, but an OD&D crowd should be able to stumble through this without too much Fridge Logic bonking their noggins. I might not like it, but it gets three stars (out of five), with a negative asterisk.

***-

ASC Review: Scarborough Shire

Scarborough Shire (Nick Roman)

"AD&D" for PCs of 5th-7th level

*sigh* 

For my review criteria, you may check out this post. All reviews will (probably) contain *SPOILERS*; you have been warned! Because these are short (three page) adventures, it is my intention to keep the reviews short.

While this submission doesn't say which system it's written for, it was suggested...and later confirmed by the author...that it was designed for AD&D.  As such, I examined the adventure through that particular lens. 

Unfortunately, if this is written for AD&D, then the author doesn't know AD&D very well at all.

Sorry, but halflings can't be assassins in AD&D, so an adventure about a halfling assassin guild is a no-go. What's more, halflings can't get up to 7th level in fighting ability. Oh, yeah...and there's no such thing as a multi-class character that has 7th level in fighter and 4th level in thief. Sorry, that doesn't exist in ANY version of AD&D ever...multi-class characters divide x.p. equally between classes, and thief will ALWAYS outpace fighter.

You know what else? Hobgoblins in AD&D have 1+1 hit dice, not 3+3. And their leaders never have 6 hit dice (although hobgoblin chiefs might fight as a 4 hit dice monster). And ogres have 4+1 hit dice not 5+5. 

While we're at it, gnomes can't reach 8th level illusionist either, unless you're using the UA rules and the character has some exceptionally high ability scores. However, judging by the rest of this adventure, I'm guessing the author was just 'winging it,' rather than making a calculated effort.

There are devils in AD&D...lots of devils. I can figure out these are the stats for a bone devil...but why not just say so? Also: this is not how an iron flask functions.

The author appears to be trying to be 'cute' with their adventure. I'm not into cute. I want functional adventures that work within the parameters of whichever game system I'm choosing to use. 

Total treasure is (maybe) half what it needs to be: under 50K in monetary treasure, most of which is in literal TONS of trade goods; fun D&D. Wands with no charges listed...sloppy. Also: there's no such thing as a "mace of crushing."

If I were EOTB, I'd knock off a star for the assassin hiding in the latrine. As it is, this thing gets one star (out of five).

*

Blood Bowl Stars

Superstars.

Pass rushers. Quarterbacks. Shutdown corners. Workhorse running backs. Receivers that are just bigger, stronger, faster than anyone else.  These are the playmakers and game-changers that every NFL team wants to have...and never have enough of.  Players who carry your team to the playoffs...and who can derail your season if injury or suspension keeps them from the field.

Our most recent Blood Bowl games have been great; I really need to emphasize this. We've played humans versus wood elves, orcs versus wood elves, Amazons versus orcs, Amazons versus wood elves...lots of different player types competing against a variety of opponents. And all without roster construction. That (to me) is the most amazing part: we simply say 'play with your sixteen players.'  We don't worry about the player costs. We give everyone two team re-rolls per half. No stars...just roll with what you want (subject to the normal limitations of the team type).

The elves are quite good with their excellent agility and speed. But they're not dominant. And part of the reason they were able to eke out wins against tougher teams (like my orks) is that my son had the luck of the devil when it came to rolling injuries...just boxcars after boxcars. And sometimes that happens in games (it's Blood Bowl, after all); luck doesn't always run in your favor. Each team has its strength, and learning to play to those strengths...and neutralizing your opponent's strengths...is part of the coaching process.

But adding superstars to the game is the next step of our game's evolution.

In a "salary cap" league (like the NFL), it is the hard top on payroll that prevents the wealthiest teams/owners from filling their roster with ringers from top to bottom. But every team has the money to pay some players extra money. Sometimes those players play up to their contract; sometimes they don't. If they don't, they might be cut or traded. However, sometimes it's the coach that gets fired, not the player...and the new coaching staff comes in with the aim of rehabilitating these under-performing stars or 'using them in the right way.' You see it all the time.

But even with all the money in the world, superstars don't just grow on trees. Sometimes you want a blazing pass rusher or a road-grading offensive guard...and there ain't one available. Teams that have stars are reluctant to trade them away...it's hard to improve by getting rid of good players. Not that it doesn't happen, but there is only so much (star) talent available. 

Here are our (soon to be play-tested) rules:

• Each team may hire six star players.
• The maximum number of stars at any particular position is equal to 50% of allowable number for the team. So, for example, a human team can have no more than ONE star thrower, no more than TWO star catchers, no more than TWO star blitzers, and up to SIX star linemen. 
• Not all stars are created equally: each star is assigned a number from one to six. This is the number of improvements the star possesses.
• The first improvement is chosen by the coach; all other improvements are determined randomly.
• Big Guy Stars have only half as many improvements (rounded down) for their star rating as a normal star player. For example: an ogre whose assigned number is "four," gains TWO improvements, one of which is chosen by the coach and one of which is determined randomly.
• Stars have the same chance of injury as any other player; star players who have been injured/killed cannot be replaced until the offseason.

With regard to injuries, I should probably provide our updated casualty table. After the final whistle sounds and the game ends, for each casualty roll D68 (d6 + d8) on the following table:

11-18 Good to Go!:  the player will be ready to play by next game.

21-38 Dinged Up:  the player must miss the next game.

41-48 "Legit" Injury:  the player must miss one or more games; roll 1d6 at the beginning of a game, if the roll is less than the number of games missed, the player is ready to suit up and take the field.

51-52 Lost a Step:  as "Legit" Injury but MA permanently reduced by 1.

53-54 Nagging Issue:  as "Legit" Injury but AV permanently reduced by 1.

55  Bad Back:  as "Legit" Injury but AG permanently reduced by 1.

56  Gone Soft: as "Legit" Injury but ST permanently reduced by 1.

57-58 Severe Concussion: as "Legit" Injury but player acquires the Bonehead trait. If the player already has the Bonehead trait, they acquire the Really Stupid trait.

61+ Dead! Rest in peace.

All right, that's enough Blood Bowl for now.  Yes, yes the Adventure Site Contest reviews continue...but there's playoff football going on, baby! Did you really think I could neglect the BB talk?

ASC Review: The Two Spires

The Two Spires (Louis-Joseph Benoit)

OD&D for three to six PCs of 3rd-4th level

I found this one a bit tricky to parse, and I'm wondering if this is an ESL issue...certainly the author and play-testers all appear to have French names...? Regardless, it took me a couple read-throughs to "get" this one.

For my review criteria, you may check out this post. All reviews will (probably) contain *SPOILERS*; you have been warned! Because these are short (three page) adventures, it is my intention to keep the reviews short.

More OD&D, and more gonzo, but if you're going to do gonzo then OD&D is (perhaps) the right system, given just how rudimentary it is. This one doesn't irritate because it feels like it's built on some fairly developed (or, at least, thoughtful) world building. This is post-apocalyptic (hence the gonzo), but there's a lot of background which explains not just WHY things are, but...most importantly for the players...HOW the elements interact with each other. Players need to have something to react to (that's the game): and this adventure gives the DM the tools for this.

There are "Copper Men," who are a race of telepathic humans (but still humans) with a xenophobic religion and "hand-crossbows" (rudimentary zip-guns) that husband/ride "reptoctohorses" (eight-legged reptilian steeds). Despite the weirdness, they're still just a human faction, and the group encountered in this adventure site is a bunch of pariahs, because they've REJECTED their religion and tried to make friends with other humans and demi-humans.  They are attempting to amass gold to recruit the local orc tribe, a group called the Praise-Song Orcs who are neutral in alignment and hire themselves out as mercenaries. With this extra muscle, they hope to overthrow their zealot religious relatives.

This is all GREAT stuff: yeah, it's weird and (slightly) subverting D&D tropes, but it's still UNDERSTANDABLE. Orcs? Got it. Religious conflict? Yep. Gold for trade, barter, hiring, etc.? Makes perfect sense.  The orcs are their own kind of religious zealot, but it's simply one of balance (explaining their neutral alignment)...very easy-peasy.

These two groups, along with a handful of interesting NPCs (a sage/chieftess of the Coppers, her undead spectral husband, an alchemist/witch and her giant fox companion), have made camp in and around two imposing metal spires rising out of the desert that mark the site of an ancient battleground. A small underground cave complex/crypt completes the area...a perfectly reasonable situation for a band of wasteland marauders...er, "adventurers" to stumble into.

While there are plenty of bargains to be struck, people to interact with, and orcs to kill (should the PCs be "that kind" of party), the real "adventure" is underground in an incredibly tiny "micro-dungeon." While some 15K in treasure is available for the finding, the dangers are either incredibly weak sauce (mummies with 14 hit points? Wraiths with 8 hit points?) or incredibly rough (a seemingly unlimited pit of zombies and skeletons that may or may not be hostile). This is made more confusing by the spectre who has multiple motivations depending on what die roll shows up as a random encounter...? Huh?

This is a nicely themed post-apoc scenario that shows a lot of world building depth and makes me both interested in the setting AND the OD&D system. However, the thing needs a bit of editing and a LOT of tuning of the actual "adventure" section (unless PCs are supposed to get into a bunch of backstabbing mayhem with the orcs and Coppers...in which case, some order of battle stuff is needed). I'd like to give it more, but two stars (maybe 2.5) out of five is all I can reasonably give this one. However, this one shows some really good potential.

**+

ASC Review: The Barbican of Blood

The Barbican of Blood (Mitch Hyde aka dreadlord)

AD&D for four to eight PCs of 6th-8th level

This one is an actual "adventure site;" something a group might encounter wandering around the wilderness. Because of its lack of hooks, it might turn out to be just a single encounter. Hmm.

For my review criteria, you may check out this post. All reviews will (probably) contain *SPOILERS*; you have been warned! Because these are short (three page) adventures, it is my intention to keep the reviews short.

So, there's a small fort//ruin that's been taken over by a wandering lord (9th level fighter) and his small retinue. He's been defending the area in zealous fashion, irritating the local druids and whatnot. His odd behavior is due to being under the control of a vampire who lives in the (mostly linear) dungeon that lies beneath the tower...an 11 encounter affair that involves a bunch of random dangers popping up one after the other. Here they are, in order:

• A hollow statue with a magic mouth, that's filled with green slime spilling out if attacked/broken.
• A slide trap that dumps a bunch of flaming oil on PCs that fall in.
• A cursed barbarian that fights people in a room with odd magical effects.
• A giant chess board room filled with invisible coffer corpses that PCs bump into as they traverse the place.
• A room with a false door that jets fire from the pipe behind it.
• A 1 HD alchemist with his two homunculi assistants and his flesh golem creation.
• A room with a programmed illusion of two 5th level vampire assassins that jump out of the shadows and attack. Also in the room is an alcove containing a sphere of annihilation.

Actually, I'm not going to go on. It's just a bunch of silliness, one after another. There's no choice here...just a question of whether or not the group wants to continue with the gauntlet and face the challenges presented. They may, in fact, be interested because the treasure amounts are stupidly high for this adventure. I'd be expecting something in the realm of 210K for an adventure of this size...this one has well in excess of 314K even without the magical treasure that's here: magic tomes and manuals, spheres of annihilation, bowls of commanding elementals, magic arms, armor, potions, scrolls, etc.

This doesn't quite fall down to the one star level, but it's a LOW two stars (out of five).

**-