OPD 15 Review - The Locked Library of Somi Bodleian

A hidden library where a wizard of no small skill is busy at work trying to translate spell books from her master whom she betrayed and killed.  She is aided by sorcerous fairies who spring traps and generally irritate intruders.

Organization: Map top left, background/"hook" top right, map key bottom.

Clarity: The map.... sigh.  I'm sure at a better resolution than I have it (I got this off the OPD website so I don't know what's going on) it looks nice.  It's almost unreadable.  Like you're looking at things through a sheet of ice... That said, the writing is generally pretty clear, explaining some of the fuzzy blobs on the map in a way that I got the gist of the place.

Usefulness: Well... if I wanted to plant a Maguffin somewhere and send the party off to look for it, this might be at the end of the rainbow.  It's okay.  I don't like the heavy reliance on teleporters and the "magic won't open this" locks.  I did rather like the surprise in the treasure room, but it won't be to everyone's taste.  The "boss" encounter is okay. The fact that tactics are mentioned (briefly) is a good touch. 

Subjective: This shows me what makes the old school blue/black and white maps much simpler to use - even when the resolution is low, you don't lose so much you can't use it.  I imagine that this map is rendered nicely - tiles and gold piles and book shelves and portals.  I guess I might index this as a "lair" maybe for a random encounter or, as I said above, housing a Maguffin.  "The Spellbooks of Damaraiausouondon the Unpronounceable" or something...


Affiliate link to the 2009 OPD Compendium

OPD 14 Review - The Smugglers' Caverns - Level 5

The Smugglers' Caverns - Level 5

A Smuggler hideout that is connected via a semi-secret tunnel to an ancient, undead filled cult's temple.

Organization: Standard org: Map on top left, general info/background top right, map key bottom. There's a new monster introduced - Brain Slugs.  Not a bad monster concept.  My issue is that they (and rust monsters) only appear on the wandering monster list (which has these two and zombies).  Why are there potentially 1 or 2 Rust Monsters showing up every so often?  At least the brain slugs have a connection to the undead in the temple... But they seem more like a set-piece monster than wandering...

Clarity: I'm not a fan of the hand-drawn map, not because of the hand-drawing, but mostly because of the lack of contrast. Still, it's serviceable...  Not everything is clear in the writing, however.  Room 8, for example, says "Approximately half the room is filled to floor level with sea water..." I THINK I know what that means - that the east side of the cave is "scooped out" kind of... Probably an issue with my perception though.  Less clear is the west door at 10 that is "locked from the outside"... Does that mean it is locked in such a way that you can't get to it from the outside or that the lock is on the outside?  I would say the latter, but I'm not sure that's the author's intent (and it very much could matter). And there's a number 11 on the map (clearly a trap), but my copy of the OPD doesn't have a key for it - though there's plenty of space at the end of the adventure to add another location or two...

Usefulness: I'd use this.  I have a sneaky, semi-organized smuggling/slaving gang in my campaign and they need lots of little hideaways to store their wares between acquisition and sale...

Subjective: My griping aside, I could and probably would use this little OPD. 

One more kind of oddity here - it is clear that the author expects the smugglers to be a "surprise" to the PCs exploring.  The numbering suggests the party comes to this location from above (possibly level 4 of some un-named dungeon?). Even the writing in the smuggler's caves suggests that they are approached from within, not from above or from the sea or even breaking into the west door...