Starstone Handout - Bertram's Manuscript

I've been working my way through Starstone, trying to grasp all the nuances (I'm retyping the module just so that I can force myself to read every word and figure out what's going on - and then I can do a layout of the module that I can actually use :) ). 

Anyway, in the process I typed up Bertram's Manuscript and then made a handout for players, with the italicized words legible and the rest of the manuscript faded (as per the module). And I figured if I could use it with my players, maybe someone else would want it as well.

Here's a link to hi-res versions:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1gu0H9HAEIF2Iznam9Nu8skK0UlEjkvPF?usp=sharing

When Art Works

 Art in adventures is useful for any number of reasons. I use art as reference: both visually ("oh, THAT'S what a Murrful Monster looks like!") and as a kind of shorthand bookmark in the adventure ("I know the Trash Beast encounter is after the four-armed Minotaur - that image is on page...17..."). Sometimes art really helps fill out the layout of the page. A good header or page border  can make an adventure stand out in my mind - I'm thinking particularly of some of the old D&D adventures written in the UK - UK 5-7, B10, O2. 

Mostly what I want from art is that it be evocative. I was leafing through The Gates of Firestorm Peak this morning. I've never played it - I didn't buy it back in the day. By the time it was published I was starting to get overwhelmed by the number of products TSR was putting out and I had discovered Magic: The Gathering (or, as my friend Jim used to call it, "Magic the Moneypit"). We weren't playing much D&D anymore anyway.

But I was looking through it today and several things about the art struck me:

First, the negative. I HATE watermark art on the page. There was a time when I thought it was kind of cool - but now I just find it distracting. It makes the pages just a bit harder to read - and heaven forbid you put italics over a watermark - my old eyes just aren't up to the struggle...

Second, the meh. Headers. I had forgotten how en vogue it became in second edition to use headers and page borders. The thing is, they aren't effective AT ALL. What the UK modules of the past did was a different header for each section (again, kind of a bookmark for where you are in the adventure) and had style. These are just the same two images repeated ad nauseum... I wouldn't mind if it wasn't just kind of page filler - add six more lines of text to each column, please...

Where is this?

Third, the confusing? There's a great image of a guy standing on a narrow ledge in front of a door with runes carved into it.  Thing is... I can't figure out where in the adventure this door exists... I probably missed it somehow? 

Finally, the evocative! I like a lot of the art in this adventure - it really helps set the mood for me. "Giants" staring over a gate, huge skeletons, weird tentacled things and mutated trolls.  Good stuff. In the "really helping me get it" mode, there's a creepy fountain and a crystal room with a bizarre hanging quicksilver pool (which I totally didn't understand until I saw the pic) - heck even the myconid image is evocative (huddled in a group but, to me, still defiant and aloof...).

Here's a couple images (full pagers) that help sell the scenes for me - where a picture really does say a thousand words:

There's this weird bazaar in a great hall - 

with spider-riding duergar patrolling the upper level.

The battle against the BBEG. 

Art does much more for me than just fill in white space. I really appreciate artwork that helps to build the world for me. Dragonlance did this well for me - I got a real feel for the world of Krynn by the consistency of the artwork. Say what you will about late First Edition and Second Edition adventures (oh the many WORDS...), many of them had fantastic art. 

Monday Magazine Classics

A Bar-Room Brawl – D&D Style

Lewis Pulsipher

White Dwarf 11

February/March 1979

“For those of you who would like to stage your own D&D bar-room brawl.”

I like mini-games. I like the game within the game of things like this “adventure,” whether it’s a quick gambling mini-game or some kind of simple “climb the sheer cliff without dying” kind of mini-game. What I enjoy is the break from combat or exploration – from the “normal” rules of D&D and similar games.

What’s presented here is a bit overcomplicated by the inclusion of what we would now call a battlemat and tokens (he calls it a board and tokens so...) on which Pulsipher indicates exactly where the tokens should be placed. Okay.

It’s a one-page outline for how to run that bar fight. I haven’t used this in practice, but it LOOKS like it should work out just fine. The rules, such as they are, are pretty scant. Two paragraphs, really, and most of it is just abstract advice along the lines of “standard D&D rules and common sense are used. If an unusual event like a falling chandelier or thrown chair occurs, the result should be figured as seems logical in the circumstances.” Um... thanks?

This really isn’t a scenario or mini-adventure – it’s little more than permission to run a good Old West Saloon brawl in D&D with some stories of how it went down in playtesting.

My whining aside, there are 23 NPCs that can be used for a fun little bar brawl and the board and tokens are a neat addition.

 

Other reviews:

Not a lot out there:

https://www.enworld.org/threads/white-dwarf-the-first-100-issues-a-read-through-and-review.325009/

 

Monday Magazine Classics

 The Hall of Mystery

Don Turnbull

Dragon #21

December 1978

“A section deep in the Greenlands Dungeon.”

Don Turnbull brings another section of his Greyhawk/Blackmoor-esque Greenlands Dungeon to light. Unlike Turnbull’s previous entry on this blog (The Lair of the Demon Queen), he keeps most of the writing direct and to the point, only occasionally straying into commentary like, “Normally the main hall is guarded; in Greenlands the Guardians were two Umber Hulks.”

The monsters here are tough (Succubus, Night Hag, Mind Flayer, Flesh Golem, 4 Trappers, etc.) and the mechanism to “beat the room” will have players puzzling for some time. There’s teleporting to other rooms in this weird monster zoo – and even that mechanism is a trick of sorts... Treasure is frustratingly abstracted (again!). He suggests a monster called a Magic Absorber (From Alarums and Excursions 12...) as another “mess with the players” kind of monster... ugh...

This is another example of early dungeon design. It’s clear that this was played as a game – not as amateur theater or storytelling with dice or as roleplaying a character arc or whatever we do these days. Here’s an environment. Here are the obstacles. Your characters and your brains are the tools you use to overcome them.

So I would compare this to a less developed Tomb of Horrors or a more focused (but still less developed) White Plume Mountain. It’s clearly an artifact of its era – bringing with it all that that implies.

I don’t think I’d use The Hall of Mystery per se. Maybe drop it into something like the above mentioned adventures (because, you know, they aren’t gonzo and deadly enough by themselves...heh) or it could be a fun one shot – maybe at a convention or something.

 

 

Other reviews:

Not a lot out there:

 

https://landofnod.blog/2012/11/10/dragon-by-dragon-december-1978/

 

 

 

 

Monday Magazine Classics

 The Lichway

Albie Fiore

White Dwarf #9

October/November 1978

 “A mini-dungeon for a part of 6-8 1^st level adventurers.”

 One of the early full-fledged adventures, and still highly regarded in the circles in which I move.

 Fiore gives us just a brief paragraph of background, a few notes on running the adventure and four “Rumours gathered by the party in a village tavern.”

 Right away the map inspires me. It’s a conceit of mine that an interesting map elevates a boring adventure. In fact, a good map (and that’s a moving target for me – at least it should look interesting with its connections and features) raises the bar a little on my estimation of an adventure. That is, if I buy into the map, I’m predisposed to enjoy the adventure. Art can do the same thing sometimes for me.

 So, the map gives us a main entrance but several other ways into the heart of the Lichway – and a variety of interconnections as well. Water is used to good effect in the dungeon. The secret doors and the tricks and traps are suitably old-school. They make sense within the context of the dungeon. Notably, there are rival NPCs already here, doing their own exploring, who can become allies, adversaries or just another obstacle to overcome.

 The main monster here is a Susurrus, a strange Fiend Folio monster whose “song” (the sound of wind blowing through its exoskeleton) causes undead to “sleep the sleep of the dead.” One of the first books I bought for AD&D was the Fiend Folio. I thought the Susurrus was a... strange monster (no flumph or flailsnail perhaps, but odd nonetheless). I didn’t see a use for such a creature as this. But the Lichway gave it some purpose. It’s still an oddly specific creature...

 Tiny print and lack of whitespace make this hard to use, but the information is presented clearly enough that I’ve been able to run this with just a read-through.

 Gripes: most of the treasure in the adventure is pretty specific until the “big treasure” which is simply “gold candelabras, gems, jewelry, silver flasks everyday objects, tools, weapons (none magical), etc. (The total value of the hoard is left at the DM'S discretion.)” Dangit! You told me in one room that a “Loose stone in N. wall conceals 88 g.p. and 89 c.p.” but the big treasure is just “You figure it out DM.”

 Like many adventures, I think you’d want a highlighter – or at least a quick summary page of NPCs (there are 14 individuals named if I counted correctly) along with a handful of monsters and undead (well, there’s a lot of “sleeping” undead...).

 

Other reviews:

 

https://www.enworld.org/threads/white-dwarf-the-first-100-issues-a-read-through-and-review.325009/

https://forum.rpg.net/index.php?threads/in-which-i-read-white-dwarf-from-issue-1.405199/page-6

 

https://www.dragonsfoot.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=38&t=22832&p=1208631&hilit=Lichway#p1208631

 

https://princeofnothingblogs.wordpress.com/2020/03/12/review-white-dwarf-9-lichway-due-diligence/#:~:text=A%20mere%204%20pages%2C%20Lichway,the%20mind%20of%20the%20GM.

 

 

http://rolesrules.blogspot.com/2013/09/the-lichway-white-dwarf-9-review.html

Monday Magazine Classics

 Lair of the Demon Queen

Don Turnbull

White Dwarf #7

June/July 1978

 

“A difficult but rewarding section of the Greenlands Dungeon.”

 

This is what we might call a “drop in” encounter area today. Maybe. I don’t know. Maybe it’s just Don Turnbull teasing us with what his clearly-inspired-by Greyhawk and Blackmoor dungeon was all about.

Sprinkled in with the requisite room and creature information are tidbits of design advice and Turnbull uses a conversational tone that makes this a little hard to use. You’ll need a highlighter at the very least to use this. I think I’d do a quick one-page summary.

 “These rooms may be inhabited by guardians of the Queen’s lair – say evil elves which fire arrows at an intruding party. My choice of occupant, however, was the Disenchanter (one in each room). This is one of Roger Musson’s creations...” Summary: Disenchanter (each room) replaced after killed

 So much of the prose here is of the commentary variety “So, to return to the poem...” “As an added incentive, of course, some treasure can be put in...” “Let’s hope they realise the meaning of...”

 There is a long poem (spoken by a magic mouth, of course!) that the PLAYERS have to work out the meaning of to be able to “beat” this room. This whole set piece feels very look how clever the DM can be to me. That’s how we used to play, so I don’t have a problem with it. The content is interesting enough – a little “funhouse dungeon” for me, but it seems to be pretty true to the source material (I hate hate hate disenchanters – they are just magic killers and really would have little place in any true ecology... like rust monsters and luck eaters and... but I digress – Source Material being Castle Greyhawk and Castle Blackmoor).

 As a player this would be fun and memorable. As a DM this would be a nightmare to run as is. I get accused of using too many words when I write adventures – but there’s just so much commentary that it really gets in the way of trying to work out the details.

 And then there’s the dearth of details... “The tombs, marked D, can be designed to suit the taste of the DM. Each will contain a member of the Undead class and some treasure. In my case the Undead were pretty powerful but the treasure in the tombs was excellent and contained a number of useful magical items. In particular, I left a few scrolls around with Cure Serious Wounds spells - the least I could do in the circumstances.” Wait... what? This thing is just over two pages long, with only five areas detailed... and this is the “detail” for one of those five areas...

 The titular Demon Queen does get a full three paragraph treatment, most of which is good role-playable detail. Until we get to treasure... which is rather abstracted, “The treasure (in a box under the bed) was of course very rich. In my room there were coins, gems and jewellery worth a total of 8,300 GP and two very powerful magical items – a Ring of Three Wishes (full, untarnished wishes, of course) and a Rod of Rulership. When added to the treasure elsewhere in this area, the total GP value was 13,700 and there were three scrolls, a Potion of Heroism, a good book and a dozen other pretty good magical items (plus a crocked sword just to add spice).”

 As a glimpse into the history of adventure design and the early days of the big dungeons, this is invaluable. Turnbull give us lots of commentary on what and why – all to the detriment of usability... As an encounter area, it’s okay. Like I said above, I’d make a one-page summary and maybe a handout with the poem (I know the players are supposed to listen carefully and take notes and whatever... yeah, not how I roll.)

 

 Other reviews:

I’m sure there are more, but all I could dig up was this brief comment:

https://www.enworld.org/threads/white-dwarf-the-first-100-issues-a-read-through-and-review.325009/

 

And this:

https://forum.rpg.net/index.php?threads/in-which-i-read-white-dwarf-from-issue-1.405199/page-4

 

 

 

Monday Magazine Classics

A Place in the Wilderness

Lewis Pulsipher

White Dwarf #6

April/May 1978

 

Pulsipher names this one-page description based on Jack Vance’s The Dragon Masters a “set-up” which “may be incorporated into your wilderness.” That’s a pretty apt description. I’m not sure it qualifies as an adventure (or “scenario” as WD was likely to call them), but it’s got the elements: setting, conflict, hook...

 This very much reminds me of The Wilderlands of High Fantasy from Judges Guild, those paragraph long hex descriptions. Take one of those paragraphs and expand the information to maybe 2/3rds of a page and you get this “set-up.” Bare-bones stats are given for Tracker, Heavy Trooper, Weaponer and Giant, none of whom appear in the previous paragraphs... (I assume “Weaponer” is the “50 rabble at arms,” but that’s just my guess).

 So, we’ve got a human settlement which breeds and trains dragons. There’s maybe a little north of 300 people here: “50 rabble at arms, 10 various specialists..., 8 heavy armoured horsemen..., one sixth level fighter chieftain, 80 women, and 160 children and old people.”

 Treasure is abstracted: “The primary treasure is dragon females... There is also a cache of precious metal and stones as the referee thinks appropriate.” Sigh...

 A paragraph is given to the Dragons, clearly the focus of this “set-up,” with bare-bones stats appearing for each type of new dragon (HD 1+1 to HD 5) with one glaring omission.

 Spider: substitute for a horse

Termagants: smaller than men, intelligent

Blue Horrors: larger, quick, intelligent

Murderers: not intelligent, heavy and low to the ground

Fiends: strong and low to the ground (“low enough to run underneath”)

Juggers: “ponderous and huge” [no stats given, though one assumes bigger than Fiends, so maybe HD 6 or 7?]

 Typical of the era, this is a page of inspiration, not a “complete adventure” as we’ve come to know and accept the idea (and, maybe, abuse the idea). That’s not to say it’s bad or incomplete. It is clearly a product of its time and it is adequate for what it sets out to do. This is certainly something that I could riff off of at the table in a hexcrawl, for example, or throw out as a rumor to the party and develop it further if it was something they wanted to pursue.

 

Other reviews:

I’m sure there are more, but all I could dig up was this brief comment:

https://www.enworld.org/threads/white-dwarf-the-first-100-issues-a-read-through-and-review.325009/

 

And this:

https://forum.rpg.net/index.php?threads/in-which-i-read-white-dwarf-from-issue-1.405199/page-4

OPD 12 Review - The Wreck of the Lord Niklas

Ten "above water" areas of a wrecked ship (presumably, the PCs won't want to investigate the underwater portion of the ship... silly designer, that's probably where they'll want to go first...). Probably low mid levels.

Organization: Not much to say. Generally follows the standard format. The text boxes keep the background and GM info separate from the key.

Clarity: Highlight PLEASE. There's a lot of words here, considering the format, and drawing out what is important, especially in multi-line room descriptions, takes away from the utility. Still, it's one page... maybe I'm too needy...

Usefulness: So you were just at Mollie's Roadhouse? Half a day's ride up river you see the bow of a merchant cog tilted out of the water, resting against a huge rock. It's a "side trek" or a diversion or, maybe, an entry on a "random encounter" chart when traveling the trade road. The main opponent here could be used to great effect, especially if not killed here...

Subjective: Hate the map, but it communicates what it needs to communicate. I'd drop this in a sandbox or, as I noted above, maybe in a random river encounter chart. I can't imagine spending much more than an hour (real time) here, probably less (though those pesky players have a tendency to . I like the main opponent. I like the special rules (slippery deck).

Affiliate link to the 2009 OPD Compendium

OPD 11 Review - Mollie's Roadhouse

Okay, we're in the first year of the OPD contest, and less than a dozen reviews, and this is at least the second entry that pushes the bounds of the concept. This isn't really a dungeon, or an adventure.  It's a simple location. 8 keyed places on the map. There will be more words in this review than on the entire OPD. Appropriate for any level.

Organization: I can't believe I'm going to say this, but... I wish this was better organized. No, that's not right. I want a little more... substance I guess.  That being the case, the organization serves the purpose.

Clarity: Crystal clear. I know what is where.

Usefulness: You might think I don't like this. Actually, I think it's very useful. I'd keep a folder of these kind of "waystation" locations handy. You're traveling up the river, you stop for the night at (shuffle, shuffle) Mollie's Roadhouse. Not much here...

Subjective: Hate the map style and wish there was just a little more substance - like one sentence descriptions of...well...everything. The barn, the stone circle, the religious pilgrims, the lost child... Still, I'll print it and index it and keep it handy (with some one sentence additions, I'm sure...)

Affiliate link to the 2009 OPD Compendium

OPD 10 Review - The Well of Wounded Souls

A labyrinth.  Normally I hate labyrinths and mazes but there's a decent mechanic here ("Dungeon Fog") that might, along with its solid theme, make this tolerable. The set up is okay, but doesn't really give my players any reason to go there. Only 8 listed locations, but that's a little deceptive, as there are also 6 trap locations. Three more areas labeled E (presumably "Empty" though there's nothing in the key to indicate that) could be areas for expansion as well. Most of the adventure here is trying to get out of the maze, so probably any level PC could tackle this one.

Organization: While this OPD generally uses the "standard format," it does it to good effect.  Right column is general information, left column is individual areas.

Clarity: AWFUL map resolution. The original has layers you can turn off to print a players map. Hopefully the original also has a clearer map. I haven't yet encountered one in the wild with a better quality map, but I haven't exactly been beating the bushes to find it either.  As I said above, the format is put to good use, though some bolding or underlining could help pull things out. Also, boxes around Traps and Encounters would offset those better (as they are likely to be accessed numerous times during the adventure).

Usefulness: I dropped this in an extraplanar space that I created for an adventure. I just changed up the motivations a bit (the PCs needed to recover the key which not only opened the gate from this place back to the "real world" but was a maguffin for another part of the adventure - oh, by the way, what happens if they don't release the souls, but they leave the "back door" unlocked when they leave? Hmmmm...) I like this. It has some very specific possibilities.

Subjective: Well, I've used it already, so that tells you something. This was one where the map actually drew me in (no pun, sorry) even though it's not of stellar quality and it's a maze. I'd like to see this expanded a bit. This is the kind of place that could really benefit from the Two Page dungeon layout...

Affiliate link to the 2009 OPD Compendium

OPD Review 9: The Omeous Portent of the Highlands Meteor

Spellcheck aside, this 14 area adventure has some possibilities, even if I'm not the biggest fan of mixing my fantasy and my aliens.  In some ways, this is sketchier than other OPDs, but communicates the theme pretty well. I'd call it low to mid level.

Organization: Pretty standard organization. Map on the left, background, GM's note, Encounter Key on the right and bottom.

Clarity: Another plea for bolding, underlining, highlighting, SOMETHING to make the important stand out from the mundane. The map, while not a piece of art, works for its intended purpose. You could almost simply put notes on the map for this adventure (the trap needing perhaps a little more explanation) - you know "10 Orcs Sleeping" or something...

Usefulness: It's a diversion. Again, depends on the players feeling heroic and wanting to investigate the missing farmers. A better hook (how about a random encounter with an alien - or with some of their mooks - that leads to a chase back here?).  I might drop this into a sandbox.  I'd probably edit it a bit - add some more notes for aliens at least.

Subjective.  Not a fan of the SF/Fantasy mix generally, but if I'm going to do it, I'm not going go all Barrier Peaks, so this might fit the bill. If I do this, the aliens will be Mars Attacks! aliens, played for somewhat comic effect.  The Law of Unintended Consequences applies to the Death Ray guns... the players will want them...

Affiliate link to the 2009 OPD Compendium

OPD Review 8 - The Last Defense (A Low Level Adventure)

So this 12 area "adventure" is a simple location with a few low level opponents, a couple cool features and a trap that... well, I don't like it. In the grand scheme of things, this could maybe be a mission to "set off the trap" to keep this "fortress" from falling into the wrong hands...

Organization: It's the standard organization again. I can see how this could be useful - I know what to expect and where to find things. Later, when the OPD contest gets more "artistic" entries, this is going to be a less static category...

Clarity: Well, it all (mostly) makes sense. The map is pretty helpful for communicating the features of the dungeon. I'm not exactly sure of what to make of Area 6 - it is such a potentially cool feature - a column of stone surrounded by a waterfall - but that's all there is to it. Nothing to see here. Move along. What is the "lake tower" anyway? Sigh... So much potential...

Usefulness: Well, this is probably just a side-jaunt at best. It's all about exploration, I get that, but reading through this I kind of kept going "so what?" Still, I might drop it into a sandbox or maybe as a side level in a megadungeon. Like I said, I want to like this so I might go to some effort to adapt it...

Subjective: There are ideas here to mine. A couple irritants are the completely inaccessible areas - you KNOW the players are going to focus in on that... Sometimes a sentence about finding bones or 1d4 cp per hour of digging or whatever might not bug me so much (but would probably frustrate someone else to no end!).

Affiliate link to the 2009 OPD Compendium

OPD Review 7 - Ruined Temple of the Wild Arcana - Outer Chambers

Eight areas of wild, chaos magic (well, six really). I can't even guess what kind of levels this is aimed at - uses terms that are more "new school" I think (like "necrotic damage" - I mean, I guess I know what that means...).

Organization: Standard organization. Little drabs of information, but probably enough to run it. Don't like the "ditto" on the last two rooms...

Clarity: Map took a little puzzling, though the symbols help. I hate teleporters as a rule... Sigh... Key is kind of a wall of text so nothing really stands out. Extra white space...

Usefulness: I have no use for this. That is not to say it is bad. I actually like the idea of "wild magic" or "chaos magic" that the players can encounter/interact with, but I'm not a big fan of the execution here. Feels like the author had some kind of idea, then ran out of steam (7&8 "the same"... ugh).

Subjective: Not my kind of thing.

Affiliate link to the 2009 OPD Compendium

OPD Review 6 - The Ancient Academy

The Ancient Academy by Stuart Robertson

39 room dungeon level. Reminds me of the Lost City (B4) for some reason. Clearly a low level dungeon with pretty mundane low level encounters. This is another abandoned monastery (like the sample dungeon in the DMG).

Organization: A place for everything and everything in its place. Flow is good (standard).

Clarity: Needs bolding or highlighting or underlining or SOMETHING to make the important elements of the areas stand out. The map is crisp and interesting enough for what it is.

Usefulness: Here's the thing. I keep wanting to say that this is a solid enough dungeon but I keep feeling like I have to write "for what it is." What is it? Well... I guess this is kind of the epitome of what I think of "Old School" dungeons. It's solid, has reasonable "ecology" I guess. Just nothing about it that I would remember the next day after adventuring in it (well, maybe the kitchen... or the debris clearing...). That said, the map is interesting enough to me that I could drop it into that fictional OPD megadungeon I sometimes think about. I'd want to put some kind of anchor encounter here so the players could say, "Let's go back to that place where the... something memorable... room was."

Subjective: Usable if not interesting.  If I had a megadungeon or for some other reason needed a quick low-level dungeon, I could see pulling this out but without some kind of hook, I'd probably pass.

Affiliate link to the 2009 OPD Compendium

OPD Review 5 - The Sea Goddess's Tower

A tower dedicated to the Sea Goddess, long ago abandoned and now shunned. Once a repository of Sea Lore, apparently. 9 areas, this is really more of a location than an adventure, but it could be useful. I'd say low-mid level (like 3-5ish) maybe.

Organization: Nicely laid out - uses the standard format without any "random encounters." Serviceable.

Clarity: Clean map that makes sense. Opponents and items are UNDERLINED - good technique for highlighting without bolding everything on the page. A simple sentence (or fragment) at the top of the tower would have alleviated some (albeit very brief) confusion I had about the missing light.

Usefulness: As is... meh. No reason that some other hearty adventurous types wouldn't have tried to relocate and replace the light over the years. I'd change things up a bit and maybe have it be a random encounter, looming out of the mists in the sea, on a dark night. Maybe they crash into this uncharted mysterious island (and when they finally shove off, they discover they are somewhere else entirely in the great sea). I don't see much of a reason to "go to" this island, so... Like the drifting pirate ship a few entries ago, I might use this as a random encounter on the way to or from the Isle of Dread or when chasing Slavers...

Subjective: Perhaps building up something with the "missing light" would make this stand out to me. I really like the map, linear and boring though it might be. The writing is a little verbose for a One Pager, but gets the information across. If I do a long sea voyage, this is in, but otherwise, meh.

Affiliate link to the 2009 OPD Compendium

OPD Review 4 - Secrets of the Old City

Secrets of the Old City by Simon Bull

This was the 2009 overall winner of the OPD contest.

The sewers of the City of the Kingdom are the ruins of the Old City, on which the new city was built. 18 numbered locations with potential expansion to other levels, or other unexplored areas, this is a decent "level 1" of a megadungeon or a one or two session sewer romp. Opponents are what you'd expect in a low level (I'd say 1-3) adventure, in, you know, the sewers.

Organization: The flow of this works better for me than the "standard format." There's an intro and "hook" first thing (top left) with the map to the right. Random encounters are at the end. Symbols on the map for common items (sluice grate, secret door, etc.). Map has a nice flow to it (no pun intended).

Clarity: Decent use of bolding for opponents. Treasure and the like is still kind of buried. Not sure how much you highlight before everything is bolded... Areas are well explained, for all of their brevity.

Usefulness: If I wanted to build a megadungeon out of OPDs, this is a strong contender for a first level (or at least part of the a first level). There's plenty of expansion points, lots of "sewer stuff" to deal with and some decent opponents. There's several reasons within the OPD itself that might make someone want to visit (training, recovery of items, other "quest" stuff).

Subjective: I get why this won the first contest. It's a really solid entry. I really like the vibe, the presentation, the contents. I might just make a pseudo-megadungeon out of this after all.

An observation...  I guess I'm a sucker for a "good map." That's a hugely subjective thing, I realize, but there's something about this map that draws me right in and makes me WANT to read the key.

Affiliate link to the 2009 OPD Compendium

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

OPD Review 2 - The Final Lesson

Centuries ago there was a school for the brightest and the best. Something happened and it was abandoned. There have been some strange deaths in the area. Maybe there's some relationship here?

This is a hidden "school" with 18 keyed areas. Opponents are primarily undead and there are some nice non-combat encounters. No levels listed but I'd say mid to high level.

Organization: This is really well laid out - the key is clear. I would have put the background before the Random Encounters but that's just a nit.

Clarity: Another entry where the map could be clearer. Maybe it's just the copies of the adventures that I downloaded, I don't know. Sometimes the writing is a little too casual ("there is a giant gold eagle statue that is worth quite a bit at the back" for example) but I guess that's the nature of the OPD.

Usefulness: If you need this kind of  "there was a mysterious school but now it's just weird stuff" place - well, this is serviceable. Don't get me wrong, it's a solid enough design, just not my thing. I wouldn't have a place for it, even as a one off.  I might steal the zombie church mice at some point.  Some nice ideas for possible hooks/treasure like a ritual book and some diaries.

Subjective: So I hate these kind of "this room has a test of skill/magic/intellect/whatever" kind of dungeons - except in some extremely narrow circumstances. Also, while I think some of the rooms are interesting, the map is pretty linear, if that matters to you. That said, I'm kind of the fence about this for me. I probably won't print or index it.

Affiliate link to the 2009 OPD Compendium

OPD Review 1 - The Mountain Lair of the Misanthropic Magus

"To gain a huge reward, the characters must rescue the Merchant's daughter Fayona from some Bandits who dwell deep within a mountain, home to a reclusive Magus."

By Sean Wells

Okay. Not a bad hook - and lays things out pretty well. There's a mountain lair with bandits, fair Fayona and a Magus.

There's 42 numbered areas on the map. Enemies include the bandits, spiders, goblins, a golem and the magus, possibly some skeletons, plus a number of traps and surprises, including possible ally and a neat, if very specific, item.. No level range given - I'd say low level, though, but "scalable."

Organization: Not bad. I'd give it a 3 out of 5 or somesuch rating. "Entering the Lair" and "Lair Description" are buried at the bottom of the page. Several rooms have the same basic description and might benefit from a map label instead of noting in the key: "these rooms are empty" "1d4 bandits in each" "mattress, pot, 1d3 goblins in each". Letters like E, B and G would simplify this (I know you'd have to change the nature of the catacombs... small price to pay, really). I'd organize it differently overall, but I can find what I need.  A highlighter would be probably make a world of difference.

Clarity: Well, the map could be less fuzzy - hard to make out some of the numbers. Everything is pretty easy to find (again, a highlighter will help).

Usefulness: I could see getting a session or two out of this - it drops in easily enough - could replace the hook with "friend was kidnapped" and change one of the encounters to reflect that - but you miss out a bit too. Like most OPDs, you have to either prep stats or be really good on the fly (not a big deal - except for the spell caster...)

Subjective: This is "meh" for me. I'd use it for a once-off or if I suddenly had a party track bandits to their lair, but I doubt I'd drop it into a sandbox as a feature. Just about every region has "bandits" so it's a serviceable enough lair with a couple nice twists. A few "funhouse" elements I don't love... Still, I'll print it and index it and have it ready "just in case."

Affiliate link to the 2009 OPD Compendium

One Page Dungeon Reviews - Baseline

So I guess if I'm going to look at One Page Dungeons, I should establish some kind of "here's what I like" baseline.

I want the OPD to be easy to use. Be as creative as you want to be, but I have to be able to use this - probably on the fly when teenagers say, Hey, let's play D&D! That being said, some of the things I will harp on are:
Organization - please make things easy to find
Clarity - please make the map easy to read, highlight important stuff
Usefulness - this is a nebulous category, I admit, but I'll talk a little about whether or not I find it useful
Subjective - this is the final category and it's completely my bias.  For example, I don't really like gonzo stuff. Or cute stuff. Weird is okay, but I have a limit.  Clever is okay, but don't try too hard. Yeah, you may want to skip this part of any review since it'll just be me harping on the stuff I like/don't like...

I'll probably start with a summary of the OPD - maybe even quote the "hook" from the entry itself.

I'm planning on going in chronological order - starting with 2009 OPD contest entries - but the actual order I review will be a bit random...

Affiliate Link to the 2009 OPD Compendium