Wednesday, March 28, 2018

OPD Review 3 -The Haunted Hulk

The Haunted Hulk by S J Harris.

A "haunted" shipwreck with 17 areas to explore, a brief (and probably unnecessary) background. Current state of the occupants' attitudes toward one another helpful, also decent theme-ing (considering the limitations of the format). A little bit of a cool "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" vibe. No levels - probably mid-level.

Organization: I'm seeing the "standard format" here. I guess it's been so many years of seeing what OPDs have evolved into that I had forgotten there was a starting point. Map is very clear and useful. Key entries have "monster" or "treasure" or "hazard" set a apart. Nice.

Clarity: Well... I'd like the "monster" "treasure" etc. notations somehow highlighted. Bold would be great... but it would be competing with the area numbers... I don't have a solution beyond printing it and using a highlighter.

Usefulness: This could be a really interesting encounter on the way to or from some place like the Isle of Dread or when chasing Slavers or even having captured the Sea Ghost and your party is out on the open sea.  Is it too deadly? This is D&D baby - you got to know when to fight and when to run.

Subjective: I like this location. It's not going to get slotted in as a feature in any campaign I run but I'll print it and index it and slot it in as a random "high seas" encounter. A solid, if somewhat forgettable, OPD.

Affiliate link to the 2009 OPD Compendium


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