The Summoning

By Joseph Mohr
Old School Roleplaying
OSRIC
Levels 10-14

The sect has not been heard from now for hundreds of years. A few ruins and relics of their order can still be found for those who know where to look for them. One such place is a long forgotten cave complex once used as a temple to their order. There are a few whispers about the cult making a return. Children have gone missing. Strange symbols have been painted in prominent places across the land. Rumors of their imminent return are on the mind of many in the land today. No one knows for sure if there is any truth to any of them.

This 27 page adventure uses about eight pages to describe about 27 rooms in a simple cavern. More shovelware from Mohr, it’s poorly produced, full of errors, and consist of little more than hacking un underdescribed chambers. 

Tricked! I was tricked in to buying this! Tricked by my own incompetence in selecting adventures, anyway. Whatever qualities Mohr has, he’s a master of designing a cover and blurb that instantly draws me in and makes me buy something … without looking at the designer or publisher first. I’ve caught myself several times in last few months, before I hit the purchase button, but this one slipped through. And thus we find ourselves here. With a theme of, shall we say, not giving a shit.

The map is, at first glance, fine. It’s mostly a cave with stream and pools and several nice topology features. But then we get to play the Find The Key game. The key numbers are small and, if its possible, in the same font as the gridlines? The same line width as the gridlines? In any evet, they are disguides. You have to really hunt to find them. And I don’t like spending my time and energy just trying to figure out which rooms the party is in on the map. Or, where the next key is so I can check to see if there’s something over there that can see/hear the party and react. I prefer a little reaction note on the map, to draw my attention, but i’d settle for a number I can see, especially in a large wide open cavern type map like this. For it’s size it’s a surprisingly compact place, with the encounters almost on top of each other. I think I counted a 10HD a 20HD and another 10HD encounter almost all on top of each other at one point. The design of the encounters, their placement, is pretty shitty, with illegible keys on a map that is too open and too cramped with encounters for its openness. And, of course, there’s no order of battle for the cultists. Just stand around and get slaughtered dudes!

Speaking of those cultists. Most of them are level ten. At least the ones that are not higher than level ten. If I recall my distributions correctly, I suspect that every level ten character in the entire world is present in this cave. What is it, one in a hundred thousand or something like that? Well, there’s a dozen or so of them in this place.

The encounters are hacking. Oh, there’s a trap now and again, like a rockfall, but it’s mostly hacking. A 20HD golem. A 10HD mist. A dragon turtle. Eight ropers in a room. That’s it. Just walk in a room and stab something. Nothing more complex than that. No nuance. Just a stabfest. This is the WORST way to write a high level adventure. I’m not even sure why th Grand Druid and Master of Autumn decided to go on this adventure. 

Did I mention the green slime? It has 20HD and 2-16HP and is worth 4000xp (plus forty per hp, of course.) Nice! A typo you think?! Perish the thought! 

Ah, but what about our use of language, you ask. Here, then, is the description of room one: “The trail up the mountain leads an area just outside two entrances to the caves. A stream of water rolls down the higher reaches of the mountain and into the mouth of the cave. A pool of water gathers near the north entrance. A short set of steps has been cut into the north cave entrance. The southernmost entrance is much wider but is more difficult to climb. “ This is, literally, just a description of the map page. If you looked at the map and write a description this is what you would get. Other rooms have such magnificent descriptions as “A child’s doll has been left here on the steps.” Or, perhaps, you enjoy backstory and padding in your descriptions? Worry not, this adventure has you covered! “A large fish has swum into this area from the larger pool at area 18. That pool also connects to an underground stream and a much larger lake miles from here.” Yeah! Now you know why there is a fish here! 

High level stabbing with minimal descriptions. That’s all this is. And it’s poorly done at that.

This is Pay What You Want at DriveThru with a suggested price of $3. The preview is seven pages and show you none of the keys. Poor preview, not giving you any help in making a purchasing decision.

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/498578/the-summoning?1892600