ASC Review: Interdimensional Tunnels of the Sluggobs

Interdimensional Tunnels of the Sluggobs (Chomy)

S&W (OD&D) adventure for PCs of levels 4th-5th

I am reviewing these in the order they were submitted. For my review criteria, please check out this post. All reviews will (probably) contain *SPOILERS*; you have been warned! Because these are short (two page) adventures, it is my intention to keep the reviews brief.

The problem I have with S&W (which is to say OD&D) is that because the thing is so "under-baked" it is wide open to tinkering and weirdness, making it difficult to judge as its own entity. While I'm certain that its proponents would call this a "feature" of the system (yay! we're just having fun!) this CAN cause issues for players in that you never know what to expect (i.e. "system mastery" is fairly difficult).

And for the judge of an adventure contest it's...not fun. Because then you end up going by "feel" a lot, which is a pretty subjective way to measure things and not especially fair. Fairness in contests matter.

Chomy is used to creating "real" adventures, and for my money, this one is too big for an "adventure site," but at 24 encounter areas it just fits into Ben Gibson's parameters of "8-24 keyed locations." Chomy's clever like that. Yes, he creates his "sluggob" monster (a mutant slug-goblin creature with acid spit), but he puts the stat block in the text...same with his version of a "half-ogre"...and I can't ding him for that, as it's still "par" for an OD&D monster write-up. I assume the annis comes from some S&W supplement as it's a slightly different (i.e. "S&W adjusted") from its appearance in the MM2; hard to know for certain.

Wild and wooly D&D, this is.

Treasure is...fine. For an seven person party of 4th level PCs in an adventure this size, I'd expect something close to 45K, and Chomy comes in at just over 41K and change. Magic items are all, mercifully, normal. 

Good theme, good concept, tight design. Despite the inter-dimensional weirdness, this IS "just an adventure site," albeit a large one with lots of things going on. It is also solid D&D (****). It may not be my cup of tea, but Chomy knows what he's doing.  Kudos for the wide variety of (sensible) encounters that can be handled in a variety of ways, and for the clear and well-labeled map.