By Yochai Gal
Self Published
Cairn
Two weeks ago, Aldra, the beloved butcher of Isthmus Town, suddenly vanished without a trace. Some days later, a local teen reported seeing a man swallowed up by the earth near Deadmill. Others have also gone missing. Now, the townsfolk are left wondering: Who might be next?
This little 24 page digest adventure presents a classic setup: a small village with some shit going on for the PC’s to investigate and then fix. The NPC’s and situations are real enough to be more relatable than usual, and the text is focused on DM using it for gameplay. This is a basic adventure done well.
Hey, just don’t fuck up your adventure and I’ll probably be ok with it. I might not drool over it and gush but I won’t hate on it.There is nothing really wrong with this adventure. In fact, I think it grounds itself pretty well. The asshat reeve (always a good villain choice!) and a meek selfish POS farmer have been defrauding the tax collector. One night they get caught by the butcher and the farmer knocks him and drags him to an old mound where an entity rips out his heart and eats it. Hmmm, that took a turn, eh? Turns out ol meek farmer found something and it’s been promising him power. The reeve is kept complicit by fear and selfishness. That’s all pretty relatable. It’s a nice solid grounding in human emotion and character that the adventure then leverage with its “fantasy RPG” elements. And that’s gonna give the DM a lot more to work with than just generic NPC’s in a generic village. On top of this lets add in the tax collector. Just as a coincidence, he’s gone and fallen in to a time loop at an old ruined mill. Every 30 seconds he comes out of the door and stumbles in to quicksand and dies. He, also, is kind of a real person; he likes old stories, from a historian point of view, and collects them and was out looking at the mill. Old Gran knows, he used to talk to him a lot. The tie in to the reeve thing is interesting, just a coincidence, but any DM should be able to use it to amp things up. And then there’s Annafanax. “An elder half-witch living deep in the [the nearby deep wood]” Also “ She eats mostly fungi, as well as the occasional rude traveler” Fun! Sh’es not really evil. Or, maybe she is? We’re looking more at a force of nature type of thing here. SHe’s got a very Witcher setting vibe to her. She doesn’t really care about whats going on. But, she is exploiting the time loop death to charge up a Wisp with the tax collectors death agony. She just wants to use it to open a portal she’s interested in. The … banal? nature of this is so appealing. She’s not really an antagonist. There’s a nice little column or so backstory that explains all of this in a very relatable way. It cements these NPC”s and their motivations in the DMs heads. See, I will read your backstory; if it’s not shitty.
There are some supporting NPC’s, the granny, the dumb kid who works the inn, the butcher’s wife and so on. Just enough information to bring them to life so the DM can riff on them well when the party comes a calling to question them. And the rumors. ALL of the rumors, here, point the party in a direction. “A hunter drags a large net stuffed with dead quarry. There is blood on his shirt. “Have you been through the Downs lately? A wind is blowin’ from the East, carrying with it something foul, like death rolled over.”” Well now, thats the butchers body rotting in the fens. The rumor gets the party going that direction, they do a little explore and find the body, his heart ripped out … the rumor led to something. The other five, also, get the party moving towards a person a place in which to take off and that will lead to more. It’s an interesting take on the rumor table, different than the traditional BreeYark model.
The mill thing is nicely done situation. It has elements of puzzle to it, in that the party needs to figure out how to do the things they want to do without falling afoul of the rotting, sinking mill, etc. And, after the village investigation there’s a little dungeoncrawl to resolve the butcher situation. Both can end up in bad way, with a rift to another place/sinkhole in one and a lich queen in another … nice little touches that can impact the campaign … but not become overwhelming to it. “Yup, on my way to the front to guard to old forest. THings aren’t going well there ….” Oh, sorry sir, good luck to you, me? Nope, first I’ve heard of it …
The text is clean and easy to read and locate information. If I had a couple of complaints it would be, I think, in the writing. The various encounters and locations are … I don’t know. To it’s credit some are fact based, so a hidden trap on a path doesn’t really bother with a description … it doesn’t need one. But, also, “The creek terminates in a small bog just a few minutes’ walk south of White Tower Fens. A smell of rot and decay permeates the area. On the west end of the bog is a large mound of grass and detritus” So, this is not terrible, but, also, the wildlife found in a bog? We get smells but not sounds. It just feels like an incomplete picture. And most of the locations are somewhere in this range, a little fact based and a word or two to spice it up. It could use a little more in this area. It’s not BAD, and it’s not padded. But, also, it’s not really giving the DM more a lot to riff on. I suppose I could be persuaded that this is in the right part of the spectrum of acceptable descriptions … it’s just not where I prefer it to be. Hence the Not Bad designation. Bah! Humbug! I’m unsatisfied but I can’t really complain.
I note, also, that while I enjoy (meaning: find useful) the village people and the mill, and the various smaller locations throughout the wilderness (and, in fact, almost everything about this) I am also a little let down by the dungeoncrawl, perhaps because of the descriptions. This feels like it should be the climax, logically, but it is a little straightforward. I don’t get a descent in to the darkness with a torch vibe, exploring the unknown in fear, or really , much of anything from it. There’s a good viscera sac now and again (always love a viscera sac!) but it can feel a little hollow.
But, also, this is free? From a production values standpoint this may be the one of the best, if not best, free things I’ve seen. And it’s certainly not making me angry. As a free intro adventure I think this is hitting VERY well. I don’t know that _I_ would use it as an intro, but for just another Tuesday night? Absolutely.
I note, also, that there are hints of a larger gameworld here that are very intriguing. Almost like the game world factions in the D&D Organized Play garbage. But integrated well. The Cities are giving that same kind of vibe they did in that … what, Blood of the Juggers Rutger Hauer movie? Nicely Done. Other random notes: Twin Lakes DO appear in the adventure … a hurdle some can’t seem to do, and does the title remind anyone else of a Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew title? That’s kind of fun for an investigation!
This is free at DriveThru.
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/500557/cas-1-trouble-in-twin-lakes?1892600
Sitting at home, transfering this nice little adventure into Obsidian.md for easy usage on the table or online.
More infos about the setting of Vald are to find in the Cairn 2e Warden’s Guide. Also available for free, this is *the* book I would love to have available 40 years earlier. Such a trove for any new and experienced GM/DM/Warden/Referee.
You’ll find it, looking for Yochai on itch.io
Notorious ArtPunker writing for a vacuous pseudo-system gets a No Regerts.
Has the shark been officially jumped?
Wait… you think Yochai Gal is an artpunk? His writing is very straightforward, and the artists he contracts do conventional images in traditional layouts… what is your definition of artpunk?
What started as an understandable hate towards design over substance has turned into a hate for any adventure that
1. Has art that is not made in windows paint
2. Is made for a system that is not B/X adjacent
Reminds me of a comment on the review of Gus L’s module Tomb Raiders of the Crystal Frontier. Bryce gave a glowing review, Gus commented appreciatively and with a nod towards incorporating the criticisms, then some anon responds to Gus with “You seem thrilled at the review, rather unlike the defensiveness. Ever thought of crossing over into the old-school side?” A totally vacuous comment, as though Gus’s adventures are somehow not already old-school, or are made worse by also looking cool as fuck.
I’d like to say the anti-artpunk sentiment devolved into tribalism, but I’m not sure it started as anything but. Good points are made, but rooting the critique in the idea that artpunkers are “undesirables” who represent enemy invaders was a serious misstep that hobbled any constructive dialogue from the start. IMO.
90% of OSR people think that old-school means faux 1980s black and white art
Gus and Gal get shit in the comments because they’re nasty people, not because they’re ArtPunks. Witness the lack of shit for say, Brad Kerr or Ben L.
No Artpunk is the dumbest idea for a “movement” I’ve ever heard. Can it even be considered a “movement” when the goal is to suppress artistic differences and mock new experiments in creativity?
What’s the opposite of a revolution – a devolution? A regression?
Its not about suppressing creativity but about a calling out a flood of products over-emphasizing (lets say artistic and creative) layout and artwork but at the same time totally neglecting the whole aspect of this being stuff for a game that needs to be useable and produce good results at the table.
No one will reject a good module just because it has non-traditional artwork.
For certain people Artpunk is content written by authors without a far-right / alt-right political leaning.
But that’s probably just be projection.
There are far better reasons to detest Mr. Gal than “artpunk-itude”.
I’ve no idea what you’re referring to, but I’m certain there’s nothing detestable about him. Yochai Gal has made many fine contributions to the NuSR side of this niche hobby. It’s time to step back and take a deep breath. Please reconsider your frame of reference if you find yourself DETESTING smalltime TTRPG writers. This comment section should be ashamed of itself sometimes.
“I’ve no idea what you’re referring to, but I’m certain there’s nothing detestable about him.”
– This sentence is delightful. I’m going to cross-stitch it onto a pillow and keep it on my couch.
“Yochai Gal has made many fine contributions to the NuSR side of this niche hobby.”
– Frankly, I have no issue with this. I think Cairn is fine. I was actually interested enough in it at one point to buy a copy on Lulu with the expectation that I might run a game for my kids because of its simplicity. Interested enough that at one point I made the mistake of asking on a certain Purple OSR Discord server run by Yochai if I could post a Cairn conversion of Gabor Lux’s adventure “EMDT47 The Barbarian King”.
I can no longer post in that Discord server. Which transitions nicely into….
“It’s time to step back and take a deep breath. Please reconsider your frame of reference if you find yourself DETESTING smalltime TTRPG writers. This comment section should be ashamed of itself sometimes.”
– Assuming you were being truthful about your ignorance, you might be amused at how ironic this perspective is. I don’t care about the politics of my game supplement authors. I don’t care if they like Bernie Sanders, Rand Paul, Kamala Harris, or Donald Trump. All I care about is whether they make good stuff. What they do in their free time is their business.
But Yochai doesn’t agree. If you are not aligned with him politically, he will do everything he can to ensure that you are excluded from any space where he has influence. This makes him a detestable person in my opinion.
So try this experiment: take your above-quoted sentiment about “reconsider[ing] your frame of reference if you find yourself DETESTING smalltime TTRPG writers” and post it in Yochai’s Purple discord. Let us know that goes for you.
Ah, so the “artpunk” thing is just personal dislike and politics. You support MAGA type politics and you call people who don’t “artpunk” as an insult.
At least you’re being honest somewhere in there.
Groggy‘s last comment can‘t be replied to, but is exemplary in its vile dishonesty.
Political opinions or bigotry of any kind I can swallow, but not letting me talk on the discord server you run or comment on your blog? Villainy of the worst kind!
Yochai gal is a lying rat and serial canceller that slanders people like Alex Macris or Gabor Lux without evidence. He cancelled Jim Parkin and removed any attribution Cairn owes to him (a work entirely composed of other people’s work) in subsequent editions. People that support him are scum.
Cancelled! Oh no! Such power that cancelling.
It’s tragic how no one can buy their books anymore and they are forever banned from Kickstarter and DTRPG. I heard they can’t even be buried in a churchyard or get a bank loan anymore. Shocking that it could happen to a pair of moderate apolitical fellows like that…
Here. Take these pearls and clutch them until you feel better.
Is your argument that this behavior is fine because Yochai Gal is ineffectual and bad at it? Such an interesting concept of morality from the same people that associate with furry greaser groomers.
https://www.reddit.com/r/osr/comments/lyrmt1/abuse_allegations_against_auratwilightpaimon/
The truth is that a lot of people on the far left in this corner of the hobby, and the NSR is explicitly far left, have done questionable if not openly criminal things in their bid for popularity, and Yochai Gal is one of them.
https://open.spotify.com/episode/4sDVmlxCVTc0UoJ0TRYP13
20 minutes in. Again, where is the proof? If it is true, why does this need to be alluded to vaguely.
If you want to be a moral arbiter you should be accountable. Where is the accountability? Where is the proof? It does not come forward because the movement is explicitly political, and caters to resentful communists that are all too willing to believe any lies about their opponents because it distracts them from the misery of their own tormented existence.
The bet that many of these criminals made was that the status quo would last, their opponents would dissapear into the gulag and they would become part of a noble, historically inevitable victory over chuds and people with families or jobs.
Unfortunately for them, the tide has now irrevocably turned. Homosexual fascism is swiftly becoming passe. Its the smell. People are tired of it. If the same gaggle of frustrated goons, furries and perverts want to keep operating in the OSR, they should either come forward with any evidence they have, admit their crimes, or keep operating and now have the same rules they applied to everyone else applied to them.
That Yochai Gal is a fake designer, Cairn is a reverse turing-test, and one would be hard-pressed to find a single rule or table in Cairn that he even did himself is really beside the point.
Ever notice how the people who are most scared of cancel culture almost always turn out to be huge scumbags that are just afraid of being held accountable for the terrible things they say and do?
I mean, why else would you be discouraging assholes getting their comeuppance unless you yourself were an asshole?
I like Brad Kerr’s stuff, and he and Yochai Gal appear on a podcast together. I made the mistake of listening to it, and while Kerr seemed nice, Gal had no problem engaging in a slanderous diatribe against Gabor Lux’s “-ist” and “-phobic” nature, apparently because Lux had just given Cairn a mediocre review on his blog. Didn’t buy it for a second. Gal sounded self-righteous and spiteful. I listened to more, and yeah, Gal came across as petty, and engaging in cancel culture to morally justify bad behavior.
Artpunk prioritizes art sensibilities and “cool ideas” over high standards of game design and playability at the table. *Some* but not all Artpunk practitioners are “Woke” cancel culture people, because Artpunk will let bad actors into the club house in the name of “tolerance” and “inclusion”.
There is no Cairn review on beyond fomalhaut
Deadnaming Jennell Jaquays is pretty shitty behavior.
“Deadnaming Jennell Jaquays is pretty shitty behavior.”
No it isn’t. Get real please. Calling somebody the wrong name is a faux pas at worst. You’d think people who play D&D would have a good idea of what actual Evil looks like but lamentably that doesn’t seem to be the case.
Nobody has any reasonable, legal or moral right, to attack other people for using a name other than a person’s birth name.
It relies 100% on the good will of the individual, and it’s their complete prerogative to accept or deny the request to use the new name.
Would very much like to know the episode where Yochai goes off on Gabor. I listen to Between Two Cairns frequently, and understand they don’t get along, but have not heard the rant. Also, would like to hear about the bad Cairn review. Links please.
So here is what Yochai Gal says about Gabor Lux on the Sepulchre of Seven episode of B2C:
(For Context: Sepulchre of Seven mentions Melan and his blog as a shout out type thing, praising him as “Wise Melan”. If I remember correctly, it’s about a rule for energy draining, but I am lazy and will not investigate)
‘To those who see this person as an extremely problematic figure on many levels it also gives you pause, I also recognize that a lot of people don’t know the whole deal with Melan so this is one other thing to be aware of…”
Personally, I don’t really think that this fits the description of Slander, but I’m not a lawyer.
I don’t know what “the whole deal” is. Gabor has some opinions that I do not agree with, but I do not judge the whole of his character on said opinions, and I feel very comfortable giving him money for what I feel are very good products. I don’t know of any opinions that Yochai Gal holds that I disagree with. I also feel comfortable giving him money for what I feel are very good products.
We need a system that lets us rank dumb comments; this is one of “the best”.
I like to suggest a solid 5 of 5 stars.
Idiot
Splitters!
Hard to argue with free. It’s worth a look if nothing else.
All these anonymous and vitriolic posters – classic comment section! Always good for a bit of the ol’ daytime talk show drama sprinkled with outright lies and slander.
Wait till the paternity tests come back and they find out who the father is…
TODAY ON TFP!
I don’t know if our pal Yochai Gal is artpunk by any standard. I’d have trouble describing Cairn as, well anything, or figure out what part of it he even did. Seriously what part of it did he actually design? It seems mostly cobbled together rules from other sources. It doesn’t really have an aesthetic, or lore, or anything.
One can always just check Stuart’s definition for Artpunk.
https://falsemachine.blogspot.com/2018/12/what-is-artpunk.html
But that he calls for people’s cancellation, is a bit quick on the trigger with the Nazi accusation and was an unwelcome guest in many an ACKs or NAP reddit thread is not a subject for debate surely? The NSR is explicitly political. And it exports that sentiment wherever it is allowed.
https://newschoolrevolution.com/2022/05/04/the-new-new-school-revolution
“Knowing Is Half The Battle…
The OSR/Indie TTRPG community is full of bad actors. Identifying and tracking these folks so that they and their followers do not gain an active presence in our communities is pivotal. For one of my favorite examples of this, read this (anecdotal) story from Twitter about a bartender in Baltimore.
There are generally three types of problematic users (other than SPAM accounts of course):
* Simple rules violators. This can be on this server or on others, if there is evidence or first-hand experience from a trusted user or mod.
* A known problem without clear violations. Farming the community for pure financial interests, creating drama to stir up fake Internet points, etc.
* A known bigot or abuser. “Known” here can mean a lot of things, but “previously banned by one or more communities for comments/actions” is a good indicator.”
Etc. etc. Who gets to decide who the bigots are? Well Yochai and his palls apparently. And he doesn’t need to tell you if you are one. Its worth looking into Jim Parkin, his affiliate. Cairn used to credit his work. I wonder if it still does now.
https://d66kobolds.blogspot.com/2023/04/state-of-blog.html
Interesting also that moves are now made towards cancelling Ben Milton, another ‘source of inspiration’ for Cairn.
I think by now, everyone pretty much knows what is going on, and they are either 100% onboard with that or there is nothing I or anyone else can say that will surprise anyone.
But if you want to act as a self-appointed moral gatekeeper of the hobby for the 2% of people that have yet to sit on the fence, the least you can do is show some receipts.
*Cairn used to credit his work. I wonder if it still does now.*
Yes
I have never been more satisfied with my abject ignorance of what occurs among the splinter factions within splinter factions on the fringes of my hobby.
More elf games, please, with extra blink dog.
Amen Gnarly Bones.
I couldn’t help but read the links…didn’t realize I was a “bad actor” and living in a “den of snakes”. The rest seemed filled with hypocrisy and going against their own ‘rules’ that they set themselves. Was bizarre.
Anyways–I won’t make that mistake again…more elf games please.
One of the reasons I love Bryce reviews. He reviews the adventure. End of story. 99.9% of the time won’t even engage in the comment war. Is your ‘Artpunk’ adventure good? Like Blue Medusa? It gets a good review. Is your artless/written in notepad adventure good? It gets a good review. He doesn’t care who wrote it (as long as it’s not Mohr I guess, but even then it’s not about any other reason other than the quality of work).
Blue Medusa is ass though. Bryce would theoretically review the adventure if he ctually read it and not just skimmed it while pushing out a log. Guy doesn’t have a clue
Yeah, not a fan Yochai Gal’s IMO hateful inciting rhetoric. Hard pass on this one.
So glad to see someone fairly new who’s on a good path foreword! Nice also that it’s offered for free. A win for all of us! I also like the mundanity; an adventure driven by motivations of individuals sharing a space, not just some big ‘ol plot!