The Chambers of Ohebis

By Rob Arcangeli
Gallant Knight Games
OSR/Riches & Ruins
Introductory Adventure

“Magical rings, a golden fleece, mystical lamps and dragon eggs. Someone is always after something to make their dreams come true and you are no different. As a group of adventurers, treasure hunters or grave robbers (delete as appropriate) you will, with the aid of dice, miniatures and imagination, delve deep into a dark dungeon in a quest, brought to life by your Referee, to find that object or pile of treasure that will let you retire in peace until the end of your days. That or it can be sold to pick up your last tavern bill…”

This sixteen page adventure features six linear rooms in a small “wizards home” dungeon. A substantial portion is commentary from the designer to the DM, with the rest being uninteresting descriptions, stabbing, and not much else in the way of interactivity.

It’s always a good sign when there’s no map. But I get ahead of myself. There’s no intro here, or background, just a three paragraph eread aloud that says you’re standing in front of a door on a hillside, the home to the wizard Ohebis, which no one has seen in awhile and is presumed dead. Get a looting partners And THEN there’s no map. Just an entry for “Front door” and then “entry hallway” and then “room one” and so on, up to room four. I guess I’ve never understood why people try to describe the dungeon instead of using words. I guess I’m going to bitch anyway about the lack of exploration options, so, providing a map would just set me off more. But it seems so low effort. The lack of a map, the linearity … it just screams that this is not something to spend time with, that someone didn’t really put much thought in to.

Oh, yeah, but there is a lot of DM advice. “Draw out the entrance and place the figures on the map.” I guess you’re just drawing a square? And there’s a decent amount of commentary like this. I mean, A LOT. “Just another room to keep the players on edge!” it tells us. There’s only six fucking rooms! What kind of edge are they supposed to be on? The first two rooms both have spring traps, again, just to keep the party on edge. Uh. Ok. Sure, it also points out that its a hint that there could be a trap further in. I DO like foreshadowing danger to the party and prompting them, through methods like this, to ask questions. And then when they fuck themselves over then its their own fault. But, man, there’s just A LOT of commentary that doesn’t really serve much of a purpose at all. 

You get a straightforward combat orr two. A trap. And that’s about it. There’s no real interactivity here. There’s no wonder. The text is images of words, not words, so I can’t copy/paste in any examples, but, seriously, the first combat room has read-aloud that has the figures turning toward the party and ending with “To Arms!” Seriously. 

There’s just nothing here. A Couple of encounters. That’s it. No evocative read-aloud. It’s just a waste of space. An introductory adventure should be exciting and full of wonder. Hooking the players with the majesty of a lifetime of experiences to come. This is more like the worst of those kiddie adventures T$R produced.

This is $1 at DriveThru. The preview is six pages and provides a good overview ofwhat you will be facing as a DM.

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/485558/the-chamber-of-ohebis?1892600