Infested Perch of the Mammoth Egg

By Dan Collins, Paul Siegel
Wandering DMs
OSR
Levels 1-3

Something is poisoning the land – livestock die, their bodies riddled with parasites, and a foul stench drifts from an ancient, long-abandoned temple. Locals whisper of a monstrous hatchling, born from a tainted egg and rotting from within. Treasure-seekers speak of a golden idol hidden in the depths, but none who entered have returned. Whatever festers below is spreading, and ifleft unchecked, it won’t stop with cattle.

This five page adventure uses just under two pages to describe an eleven room dungeon based on a small Dyson map. It was a youtube broadcast to create a dungeon in two hours. It’s better than most of the crap put out, and shows a certain flair for an interesting situation. This places it solidly above average, but that says more about the adventure market in general than this one. In the end, it doesn’t suck.

I’m going to hit this one extensively. It’s five pages. The front cover and back cover are two, and contain nothing of note. There’s a page of background information that also has the map and the wandering table. I might remove the back page and/or put the fluff on the back cover or front cover. This would free up room on the map/wanderer page. In particular, the map and wanderers are reference material, but the background information and notes about 1sp=1xp are generally things you only ever look at once, hence the move off of the reference page. The wanderer table is a little bland, just monsters, although “evil pixies” gives a hint of whats I’m suggesting: uses the freed up space to put in something that the wanderers are doing. Just a little nudge for the DM to riff off of. And then, maybe, put in some dungeon dressing, what the walls/doors/moisture is like; something for the DM to look at during play to beef up and nspire the room descriptions they will be riffing on. FInally, I note the Dyson map. It is what it is, but, also, I doubt it’s sacred; slap on an asterisk or a little monster label for those rooms that might have a monster in it making noise or that could react to the parties noise. IE: the reference page should be a great reference page.

The eleven keys take up just under two pages. But, also, there’s a lot of whitespace there. If you are married to just eleven rooms that’s not bad. The first room reads “1. Eight human veterans stagger toward the exit, their bodies ravaged by infection. Half are weakened (-2 to attacks), while the others are too sick to stand. Their eyes are fevered, and their treasure weighs heavy in their hands – 2 gems (20 sp each).” (then a terse stat block) I like this. I might give it a room title, llke “Boggy hallway” or something, to anchor the description to come. You want the DMs mind the right place, oriented and preloaded, for the description to come. I know that you’re using “veterans” as the monster type, but I might riff a word or two more to make them a hdge-podge of military uniforms, deserters, or something. Not evil, just a ragamuffin band. I love the ravaged and staggering words, staggering in particular gives great imagery. Eyes fevered, great. Maybe “yellowed eyes” or something also. I’m not sure “treasure weighs heavily” and “two gems” match up there, but I like where it is going. Barely able to lift their gems or something? But a pretty good job overall. Lso, 2 gems? Come on, there’s a ge table in the back of the DMG; use it.

Room 2. “A massive nest formed from a tangle of branches and debris fills this chamber, crawling with giant centipedes. Shattered remains of giant eggshells litter the floor – one among them is somewhat more intact, its occupant having successfully hatched.” Massive is a great word. I like the “tangle of branches”, that also is great imagery. Shattered remains of eggs … perfect. The next crawling with centipedes … oooh! Great! I might add a smell or a moist floor also; you want them quaking in their boots when they walk in that place. 

Room 3: “Two towering statues stand in alcoves along the western side of this hall. A near-invisible tripwire stretches between them – disturb it, and they will crash down in a shower of stone and dust. “ Towering! Great! Some argonath imagery there! I’m not usually a trap and door porn guy, but I might add a peg description or just a BIT more in the statue descriptions. Both holding out their hands in a “STOP” sign or something? Just a few words more to cement things. The top in shadows?

Room 4: “Steps lead down to a shallow two foot deep pool of murky water, fed by a cracked and blocked fountain in the center of the room. The cause of the blockage – a small pouch of 12 gems (100 sp each) – lies wedged in its spout. Swarms of flies buzz across the damp stone walls.” A few mpre adjectives. Crumbling steps down? Slick? Moss-covered? See how the water is “murky”? Why arent the stairs something? You can go too far with this, but I’d dump something in. Also, a small pouch? I think not. Small is boring. Cracked leather? Furry sealskin? Something more interesting. I like the swarms of flies, but, also, I might do a little more. There is little implied risk here. Why not put the flies around the spout? Maybe it’s a dead rat filled with gems? Hence the flies? Something to give the party just a little pause in the spout situation. Make them adventure with trepidation … even if it doesn’t play out every time.

I’m going to stop here. These are all general pretty good. A plague mask poison gas magic item also, so, some nice theming in places, although another couple of words would be in order. The rooms are a little disconnected from each other. A more consistent overall design, with things leaking over from room to room, would have been nice. Overall though, not bad. I might have given it a Ne Regerts if it were just a longer and/or the room descriptions were just a bit better or the design was bit more intentional. Pretty decent effort though; I would not be angry if this were likt one of those old 3e era pamphlet adventures. A little generic, but chill.

This is $1 at DriveThru. I know there are only two pages of rooms, but the preview is only two pages, one of which is the cover and the other the generic intro/reference page. Stick in a page of the keys so we know what were buying.

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/518555/wdm05-dungeon-design-dash-5-infested-perch-of-the-mammoth-egg?1892600