By Guy Fullerton Chaotic Henchmen AD&D Levels 2-3
Chaotic Henchmen
AD&D
Levels 2-3
… After clashes with inhuman raiders—some with armor fused to body like a second skin, and bewitched with unexpected powers—it becomes clear they are in league with a yet-undiscovered malefactor. Some of their recent tracks lead to the crater.
This fourteen page adventure uses six pages to describe a thirty-six room multi-level dungeon. Compact and efficient, it presents an environment that supports exploration, role playing, and interactivity. He does this seemingly effortlessly, with well organized room descriptions that are neither minimal or verbose. It has exactly as many words as it needs
So, big ass crater. In the middle is a massive outcropping with a fortress carved in to the top. At night the crater fills with mist. And, unknown to the party, it also gets tougher at night as otherworldly guardians emerge. Interestingly enough, you can also gain substantial treasure robbing the place, in the daytime, with not too much trouble. Thus the cycle begins anew: the players push their luck, trying to explore everything and steal anything not nailed down (and some that is.) Just one more room .. .and then it’s nighttime and things get hard. Or you stumble on an 8HD monster with an 18” move. This is great design. A couple of tough guys running around, some lesse monsters, a push your luck element … Exciting D&D ahead!
Interactivity here is good. Aside from big monsters chasing you, you have glass walls to shatter, statues to fuck with (multiple ones in multiple ways), cauldrons to bubble, weird-ass traps/locks to disarm. D&D’s exploration elements must include these interactive elements. Not all bad. Not all good. Some bad. Some good. Some just ARE. A neutral environment will of things to mess with. It harkens back to the interactive elements of some the best adventures written in the early days … or at least the best parts of them.
Supporting materials are great. The map has loops and multiple stairs on each level. Some rooms have windows. Some hallways are different sizes. There’s a side-view to show how the levels work together with the crater. There’s a summary sheet with all the monster stats. The wanderers are doing somethings. All of the little things that contribute to helping the DM are present. Magic is magical and well described. “Uneven frogs’ eyes, cauliflower ears, and a barbed-tongue handle all protrude from this golden hand mirror—its frame suggesting a gaping, toothless maw.” Oh, yeah, blood activates it. A specific description, a visceral activation, and a non-standard but understandable effect. The way magic items should be.
The writing is solid, and organized. The rooms start with a title. “4. Shrine.” You now now all of the usual stuff that should go in the room, so Guy can concentrate the rest of his text on the meaningful/actionable parts that contribute to the adventure rather than the trivia of what a shrine is. The Petrified Library has “Three rows of granite shelving support hundreds of useless stone book sculptures …” BAM! Done! Now the business of the room can begin, describing the books that are real and how they work. Or “Bridcage: 4 ft wooden cage encloses a pecked, rotting humanoid lower leg, and a few gray feathers.” The rest is a little DM text describing the cage.
Go ahead, stick your arm in that arm sized hole. You know you need to unlock the door. And we ALL know what’s going to happen. But then Guy turns it back and makes something unexpected happen. The party freaks, challenges to overcome under pressure and only bravery wins the day. Go ahead. Do it again …
You can talk to most of the intelligent monsters and guards. They want things. They are not necessarily friendly, and bloodshed will almost certainly happen, but a conversation can lead to melee while “They Attack” monster encounters all lead to the same place: D&D as tactical miniatures combat. B O R I N G. By inserting some motivations and the possibility of parley the role of the adventurers becomes so much more interesting during play.
There are few negatives. The side-view map could be a bit clearer, it took me a few minutes to figure out what was going on. I got the general gist immediately, the way side-view maps allow for, but the extra detail took me a second, especially on the undercaverns. There was also an opportunity lost, I think, to include some humanoids. If the baddies treat with evil humanoids them then an evoy party or two, in the rooms or wanders table, may have added yet another element.
Guy knows what he’s doing. He understand supporting the DM. He understand what’s important in an adventure and he he understands how to write it well to be evocative and yet scannable. I know I get shit for saying it, but the best adventures today dwarf almost all of the older/original ones.
This is $5 at DriveThru, and a Print version is at North Texas … and maybe after? Black Blade would know if they have extras. The preview is four pages and hows the side-vide map and the first fourteen rooms. It perfectly represents what you should expect once you buy this. Note the use of Day and Night sections for rooms, and the paragraph form used to concisely convey information. This is what everyone writing paragraphs is striving for (well, most anyway) but fail to achieve.
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/277684/The-Withered-Crag?1892600
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Bryce said, "I know I get shit for saying it, but the best adventures today dwarf almost all of the older/original ones"
Then maybe you should reverse your previous position of not reviewing the old TSR staff so that we can all see, based on your criteria, just how much they fall short of the best new stuff. You slogged through 150 issues of Dungeon Adventures crap. If you were willing to do that. you certainly can review the TSR modules.
Is "the old TSR staff" an artifact? If so, what are its powers?
That's my tribute to bryce-like typos.
I rate your reply both terse and evocative.
Maybe I should write an adventure.
Perhaps Bryce can review the 5e updates to Keep on the Borderlands and Isle of Dread put out by Goodman Games.
Compact, efficient, evocative definitely signify old school. This sounds really good. And Guy has written some great stuff. Thanks for the review Bryce!
I figured this one would be good, just from the cover. Any adventure that manages to make a black, white, and grey cover look so aesthetically pleasing is probably actually *trying*.
Going into my shopping cart for sure.
"...They are not necessarily friendly, and bloodshed will almost certainly happen, but a conversation can lead to melee while “They Attack” monster encounters all lead to the same place: D&D as tactical miniatures combat. B O R I N G. By inserting some motivations and the possibility of parley the role of the adventurers becomes so much more interesting during play."
Should probably fix that bit. Reads like you're condemning the module, not other authors' encounters.
For Guy when he comes around: What is it about the crag that's "withered"? Is that word indicative of something unusual?
On "withered," if you don't mind spoilers, check out the first page of the rpgnow preview.
Tactical combat was never boring for me, especially when combined with all the other elements as mentioned! It's been a part of my gaming since the early 1980's!
I agree. I love combat in D&D. I'm not too keen on the overemphasis on tactics in editions like 3rd and the abomination that came after 3rd but I always enjoyed killing monsters and taking their stuff. However, it can also be fun to play one group against another and then sit back and watch the chaos. Factions baby, factions!
Tactical combat is 3e/4e and the way SOME people play earlier editions. When combat is all there is then the game is boring. Talking, exploring, zany combat plans ... that all adds richness.
Worth noting is that there is a much greater page-count in the tiny "Quick Preview" as opposed to the "Full Size". I usually click the later, but now I'm going to have to start checking both.
Thanks for buying, reading, and (of course) giving feedback on my and others’ modules! This was a bright spot on a hard day.
I will enable direct sales of the custom print version later tonight, after helping my 10-year-old clean up after his bad judgement vs the neighbors trash cans...
not trying to be a dick here, just a genuine question...do u have any legal concerns about using the AD&D trademark and indicating compatibility without WOTC approval?
A friend who was running Mischief Inc / Fireborn games, got their method from Chaotic Henchmen. They had a disclaimer saying, "Advanced Dungeons & Dragons and AD&D are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast, and are used without permission.
Mischief, Inc. and this product are not affiliated with Wizards of the Coast."
No legal concerns, nope. It is allowable to indicate compatibility with a trademark, properly disclaimed. (Work with a lawyer to get the details right.)
Thanks for that quick and clear reply! good deal!
Will it be available in hardcopy via DriveThru?
You can order it directly from the author.
http://www.chaotichenchmen.com/p/orderi ... chmen.html
When hafl-way through (even took the paypal info) and then said "not available".
I re-enabled direct sales of the custom print (detachable cover) version, so the order button works again. (I temporarily disabled it after my printer broke, because I couldn't print postage. Then real life got in the way for a little bit. That, and I needed to spend time on the production of the Saving Throw Fanzine.)
Thanks Guy. I wil try it again.
Black Blade sold through almost all of the stock for The Withered Crag at North Texas....
Hey Bryce, I checked out your review of the other Chaotic Henchmen module Fane of the Poisoned Prophecy. You said it was a keeper with a few flaws but I had the thought that it sounded like a No Regerts based on your review, although it doesn't have the tag.
Regardless, keep up the good work, your blog is an absolute gold mine for a fledgling GM such as myself;
Bryce also awarded F3 Many Gates of the Gann "the best". I'm intrigued to know what happened to F2 though, since DTRPG only has F1, F3 and F4 listed.
As I recall, F2 was never released, OR has not yet been released.
I've playtested parts of F2 with Guy in the past, and I think he still plans to release it, and to reprint F1 at the same time. I'm sure he'll chime in with more specifics.
There's nothing more AD&D than releasing the first of the series and then withholding "T2" for six+ years!
Great module with withered crag. Since I have a group in the right level range I'm putting it in that campaign as a "X" on a treasure map, for a 1-2 session palate cleanser.
F2 still isn’t fully fleshed out. My players never went that direction. As Allan said, I’m slowly playtesting bits and pieces for one-shots or at conventions.
Guy is on my list of favorite RPG authors who simply doesn't publish enough stuff. I bought Crag at NTRPG con and still haven't read through it yet! Saving it for my late summer vacay trip, and I know it will be good...