By Brad Kerr
Swordlords Publishing
OSE
Levels 1-3
You wake up in a bed on a bamboo platform on the back of a 300′ tall woolly mammoth. Pink sky and orange desert surround you. Elephant-shaped balloons drift lazily out of a hole in the mammoth’s back. Enter the Dream Shrine, master its challenges, escape with your life. Just hang on to your teeth…
This 24 page adventure details ten locations in a small portion of the demiplane of dreams. It’s relatable, weird, and could probably be tossed in to any game where “dreamland” makes sense. I’m as surprised as anyone else that a dream adventure is decent.
I’m not a big fan of dream adventures. There’s some kind of a “you can do anything!” nonsense that is generally combined with a “it was a dream!” lack of consequences. And, then, it’s usually some bullshit excuse to just visit a cloud castle or something like that. I don’t know how many dream adventures I’ve reviewed so far, but I AM pretty sure that almost every one of them sucked hard. But, against all of this trauma, I will put my faith in Brad Kerr, who is most definitely Not An Idiot.
This is stated for OSE but the setting and encounters could be, I think, appropriate for almost any RPG. You want to XFiles in to the land of dream? It’s chill. You could use this. Cthulhu now? Champions? No problem. If it at all makes sense to insert some knid of dream adventure then you can probably use this one. As that statement would imply, the environment here is more of a neutral groud than fantasy RPG< and, is built from the stuff of YOUR dreams, gentle reader. Our wanderer table has someone at desk taking a test who has not studied for it, or being naked and embarrassed in front of the party. There’s a clown here. It’s like the Wacky land from the old Loony Toons. And, one of the main antagonists is the Tooth Gobbler, who wants to steal your teeth. The settings, likewise, are generally those from dreams you’ve had. A home familiar to you, a crypt, a weirdly long liminal hallway. The appeal here, in the creatures and the locations, is that of things that are relatable to the players, as dreamers. I don’t know how long people been dreaming about loosing teeth, but I suspect it’s not a modern phenomenon. And it’s this pulling from the real world that makes this a pretty good universal supplement. Of course, that assumes you can accept and get past some of the anachronistic elements of a modern living room, and such. And I hope you can, because this pulling from the “real” world of dreams for ideas and encounters is so much more effective than any of those other dreamland adventures I’ve encountered.
Writing here, imagery and the like, is pretty good. “Tucked among endless rows of fog dappled firs” or “an exhausted middle-aged clown on a wooden stool nursing a cigarette.” Come on man, that’s great right there! How can you not imagine either of those for all their worth given those descriptions. They are the EXACT tropes for each of them. “Endlessly rolling hills; a modest house stands in harsh, late afternoon sunshine. A freestanding door looms in the yard.” Harsh later afternoon sun. There’s a man who can relate to trying to have a cigar on a south facing balcony at 4pm.
And the interactivity here is fine. There are some traditional encounters, or things that could be traditional encounters, but there can also be a puzzle aspect to some of them. A HUGE mouth on a wall, chomping teeth, a room visible beyond it … how do you get past it? Brad offers little in the way of advice, letting the party and DM work it out on their own. With, perhaps, a tid biit thrown in here or there. “If your house doesn’t have a basement then put in a tradorr under a rug. “ Short, giving you advice, without becoming mechanistic in its implementation. That’s what I’m looking for. “
There’s also some decent crossover here. “In the cardboard box: 100 tiny elephants minding their own business.” I can get in to some trouble with that! Or a jack in the box … that steals teeth! Or, giant legs in a rom, walking through it, getting their attention being a possible way to save your life, but, “ Imagine a beetle trying to announce its presence from the floor of a busy bus depot.” That’s perfect imagery! It brings home exactly the situation in question that the party is facing! And Brad has the ability to do this time and again. He’s put in a myriad of things to help the party navigate this land, if only they can figure out a clever use for them. And I’m not just talking 100 tony elephants
At the end is a lady, imprisoned, the demi-god of night wishes. She’ll give you some stat bumps! Oh, and, also, freeing her results ins some GREAT shit going on after the adventure is over. Like ,300 foot tall mammoth walking around the land accidentally stomping on shit. And beggars riding fine stallions. And the lawful gods getting REALLY pissed you freed her after they locked her up. Those are all REAL sweet consequences for your actions. A little window dressing, a little springboard. And an absolute indication that you’ve had an impact on the game world, ala Rients.
This is $10 at DriveThru. The preview is thirteen pages and shows a handful of rooms, but it more than enough to get a hang for the descriptions and the interactivity, and the overall dreamland vibe.
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/487721/the-dream-shrine?1892600
Dr Seuss called…
Seriously, this adventure just sounds goofy and childish.
This! Can you imagine sitting around a table with some friends, rolling dice, using pencils and paper, playing make believe, talking in funny voices, and then the adventure is “goofy” and “childish”? How embarrassing!
If you prefer goofy and childish RPG games, more power to you. Never has been my cup of tea and it’s not the way we’ve played for the last *mumble mumble* decades.
Why not The Best?
Nah. Anachronistic elements are a copout here, need to go deeper for medieval fantasy dreamland
I can buy the anachronistic elements because it’s dreamland for all dreamers, modern, stone age, not just medieval dreamers.
If you hate clowns in games (I can get that, even ASE2), make him a Kabuki theatre guy having a smoke or a Wayang puppet doing the same…
I’ve always struggled to fill “fairyland through the looking glass” type realms with enough stuff. So adding this pocket in there too (with that DCC one & maybe Stygian Gardens + Ynn) just helps me have enough “things to do there” that I can justify having a few doors to feyland and making it a feature of a campaign. Never actually done that trope before for those reasons.
Bryce is starting to lose all credibility with reviews like this.
That’s why everyone needs to make decisions on their own. Something he rates best might not be for everyone. Something he doesn’t like might appeal to some.
This adventure sounds like crap to me. It’s not at all what I want out of a D&D type adventure.
After hundreds? Thousands of reviews Bryce’s cred is JUST FINE
Thank you for wading through the dreck Mr. Lynch. Much appreciated!!!
Not for me, but I can see its apppeal.
I think the D&D dreamlands bar is set *really* high by the Through Ultan’s Door zines.
On that note, Bryce hasn’t yet reviewed #2 and 3. Get him out of his Art Punk Funk.
I suppose D&D means just a set of mechanics to some people, not an implied setting or type of game (i.e. a ‘fantasy adventure game’ along the lines of Howard, Vance, Tolkien and Moorcock). If someone said this was a D&D adventure to me when I was young, I wouldn’t thought ‘Are you crazy?. Since when did Dr Seuss become D&D’? I mean the cover says it all: pink, fluffy elephants and child-like cartoonish art.
It’s a credit to the term D&D can cover such a broad range of meaning to some, but then again it’s not.
D&D covers the entire medium at need. It’s like escalator, or thermos.
I don’t know about that. Joke classes and silly adventures (the legendary “Fluffy Goes to Heck” module comes to mind) are pretty much as old as the hobby.
Personally, I’m not getting a Dr Seuss vibe from this (at least from Bryce’s description of the adventure.)
Are EX1 & EX2 along the lines of Howard, Vance, Tolkien and Moorcock?
could be a reason last time someone ran EX1/EX2 was 1994
But does that make the (Gygax authored) modules Not D&D?
Lewis Carroll almost exclusively, through and through – EX1/2 are just Alice in Wonderland, in D&D format.
Yeah, EX1 and EX2, while not my cup of tea either, were light years better than this drek.
What’s with all the negative comments lately? Everyone seems obsessed with straight medieval fantasy and hating on “art punk.” I swear it wasn’t always like this.
Must be a parody question. Bryce’s schtick is intense negativity. It’s unsurprising that individuals would likewise voice negative opinions on his site.
Bryce’s schtick is not intense negativity, he just doesn’t mince words. The negativity comes from the facts that he’s fairly indiscriminate in what he buys for review and that the majority of published adventures, regardless of personal preferences for flavour and play style, aren’t fit for purpose.
No, it’s intense negativity. He doesn’t mince words, true, in an intensively negative manner the vast majority of the time. It’s most definitely his schtick.
“An intensively negative manner the vast majority of the time” would be consistent with exactly what I just said, yes. I’m intensely negative about stepping in dog doo, I’ve never once had a positive thing to say about it – I’m a real Eeyore that way.
This review embodies quite a bit of positivity. I guess everyone is trying to make up for that in the comments section?
@ Another Anonymous Asshat, well at least you know you’re an asshat. Most people don’t possess that level of self-awareness, so kudos.
I wouldn’t say Bryce’s “schtick” is intense negativity – his “The Best” list is hundreds of entries long. I think Bryce is just prolific with his reviews, and since more products are bad rather than good (by volume), more reviews are negative rather than positive.
No, I sent plenty of negative reviews of various media elsewhere all the time, many of them negatives. Few, if any, glory in the negativity as intensely as Bryce does.
Bryce gets upset, Bryce gets critical, but I think we all agree that his negativity is justified in most cases. It is not his schtick to be negative all the time (the little tab at the top that says “My favorite of the new old school adventures” should be enough to indicate that). He’s not the Simon Cowell of module review. He’s just a guy.
You only hear more negativity because there is more to be negative about, not because Bryce is all about being negative. If you divert your eyes North towards the actual review these comments fall under, you’ll see a common example of Bryce not being negative (because negativity is not “his schtick” – honest, transparent reviews is “his schtick”)
Disagree. Again, I see negative reviews of various media all over the internet. Bryce’s negative reviews are distinguishable from these others in the degree of vitriol, hatred, and intensity of his negativity. He nearly stands alone in this regard and is well, well past Simon Cowell territory.
The No Artpunk trend is petty grognard elitism adopted by people who are incapable of simply ignoring what they don’t like; instead they have a deep-seated need to attack artsy works, to snipe at them from a safe distance, and to be all smarmy while doing so.
Prince’s No Artpunk contests have produced at least a dozen free high-quality adventures, so as someone who can and does ignore what I don’t like I must disagree and give my unreserved approval. You should take your own advice and ignore those people you find so bothersome.
Lots of things produce high quality products and aren’t so exclusionary. Let’s not act like Prince is writing all these things himself – its a collection from across the internet, and all these people remain and produce comparable things with or without the exclusion of art punk from their world.
The label is just deliberately inflammatory, so maybe don’t be so surprised when people get “inflamed” over it.
DP, none of that matters. Be happy for the adventures you like, ignore the rest, skip the drama. Or go start an anti-anti-artpunk contest and use it as a spur to get some great adventures made. Don’t you see the inherent irony of your position here?
I have to disagree. From my perspective, at least, the No Art Punk movement really stemmed from the abrupt glut in the market of products that 1) aren’t really meant to be played so much as read; 2) demonstrated, in some cases, a lack of understanding of the game mechanics they were at least ostensibly written for; coupled with 3) unwarranted adoration and a fierce resistance to any criticism from that Madding Crowd.
I’d add in, for myself, how many lacked any playtesting (or suggested PC levels) which is all too often the tell-tale sign that they’re not being created for play.
Prince’s No Art Punk publications truly demonstrate the high-quality material made by seasoned players with no fluff, bells or whistles.
It’s a counter-movement (and I hesitate to use the term “movement”, since three compendiums of mini-adventures does not a “movement” make). Specifically, NAP is a counter-movement with the idea that everyone else is being wrong, so here’s how to do it right (as if that wasn’t a 100% subjective stance to take).
You guys do your thing, but exclusion just rubs me the wrong way, and NAP is all about exclusion (it’s in the name of it, after all). You might prefer to say that NAP is “curated” and see it as nothing more than quality control, but I bet even the coolest adventure ever would be nixed if it looked even a little like the artists might have spent a bit too much time on it (which is a sin now, indicative only of garbage adventures, apparently).
When you define yourself by what you aren’t rather than what you are, it just comes off as spiteful. All this stems from the name – if the contest were called “Old School Fundamentals” or “Awesome Adventures” or something, it wouldn’t be an issue. But “No Artpunks” has the same connotation as immature shit like “No Gurlz Allowed”; it’s just childish in-grouping to my ears.
I will set aside the humor inherent in attempting to use the term “childish” as an insult connected to anything related to a game about talking trees and blink dogs.
“You might prefer to say that NAP is “curated” and see it as nothing more than quality control, but I bet even the coolest adventure ever would be nixed if it looked even a little like the artists might have spent a bit too much time on it”
That’s obviously silly. There are plenty of great-looking products that are simultaneously bestowed Bryce’s “The Best” and are genuine and brilliant old-school offerings (“Many Gates of the Gann” and “The Spiral of Iron & Crystal” come immediately to mind).
“You guys do your thing, but exclusion just rubs me the wrong way”
Can you get yourself rubbed the right way somewhere else please? We’re here to talk about what makes adventures good (which necessarily entails talking what makes them bad–whether directly or by implication)
NASCRAG has run stuff like this at Gen Con since 1980.