By G Hawkins
Self Published
OSRIC
Levels 4-6
In the days before the rise of the Jade Empire and the rule of the serpent men, the enigmatic axolittians reigned in Halith Vorn and there built their cities amongst the reeds in the swamps and caverns below. They mastered sorcerous arts and paid homage to devils and terrifying elemental beings. In the end, their serpent men slaves rose up and rebelled against their rule, driving the axolittians into the lower caverns; there they lingered on, slowly degenerating to a primitive and base level. In turn the Jade Empire was cast into ruin, and the former slaves of the serpent men occupied parts of the once great city. Finally came the Cultists of Thul, worshipers of disease and inheritors of serpent man sorcery, enemies of civilization and the Baron in Longfelt, searching for a weapon of great power…
This 120 page dungeon contains numerous levels and rooms all centered around an evil cult in a ruined city/civilization/cavern and its neighbors who hate them. Evocative descriptions, interactive encounters and situations, with formatting that works and great design. This is the adventure you were looking for.
I do, what, twelve or so reviews a month? Usually of shorter adventures; it takes me a few days to work through them. The hundred-page-plus stuff is piling up on my todo list because I have to review them as time allows in inbetween other adventures, since it takes often weeks to absorb them. But, then this came out. I got it and set to work. Generally, I think, I might find one adventure a month or so that is not terrible or even good. Then something like this comes along; something that is not just good but is FUCKING GREAT.
Like most reviews of good things,I don’t even know where to start on this. The very first words are the background. Does Hawk drone on and on and on? No. The designer gives us a short paragraph that sets up the dungeon and situation and then moves on. It’s enough to get us oriented as to whats to come and doesn’t get up its own ass. Perfect. The Hooks? How about “We received a strange report from the village of Hroogpith. Something about pestilence assailing the village; and the village blacksmith’s deceased grandmother rising from the grave and eating his leg or something” See that? That’s fucking specificity. That’s what makes your adventure evocative. That’s what gives the DMsomething to work with. A faction table? Sure. Everyone is evil, but, also, they all hate the evil cultists. That was cute. ?
The designer knows what the fuck they are doing. An NPC is a short stat block, where needed, followed by a terse personality. Dude oils up and “Poses to show off his figure before combat,” Noice! The start village is short, doesn’t overstay its welcome and yet is described with a great vibe. You KNOW how to run this place from the terse but evocative descriptions. Edge of the swamps. Smells of fish oil. DIlapidated. Shrouded in mist. Corpses lying in the streets rotting and bloated and covered in flys and maggots. Oh … ope! That is, after all, why you’re here. ?
The formatting here is clean. It’s easy to find information with a decent number of cross-references. Bolding and whitespace are used effectively to help the DM locate information during play. Boxes and shaded text and bullets … not becoming an eyesore but used effectively. The designer knows WHY they are using these techniques and it shows.
The writing proper is somewhere between good and great. “A field of corpses lying half-submerged in the mud. A thick cloud of flies blankets the area; the air heavy with the droning sound of their wings. The corpses are bursting with puss and filth” Heavy air. We’ve all experienced that. A FIELD of corpses. THICK clouds. Not a large or big to be seen here. It’s terse. It’s evocative. “A gnarled, weeping, leafless willow tree stands by a black stone monolith.” Gnarled. Leafless. “Water cascades down a shaft; mist swirls out of the opening. The sound of crashing water echoes up from below” These are almost impressions of a room rather than a description of a room. And, frankly, I like that best. I’m sure some fuckwit will take the wrong message from that statement, but, I think you want to communicate a message, a vibe, to the DM. The DM is the designers greatest asset. Inspiring them, getting the vibe across to them, that’s the key. Then they can expand and expound on the situation, the description, whatever. Like the NPC doing poses. That’s enough for the DM to run with, to be inspired by.
And situations abound! I love situations! Not just a room stuffed with a monster to hack, although there is certainly a place for that. But, also, everyone hates the cultists. And, also, they are all evil. So, enemy of my friend? But they are assholes also. And then there are things like this, a prisoner in a cell: “Lealock, merchant (frizzled hair, lesions on body, ripped clothing); fetal position in cell corner, rocks back and forth whispering ‘My good little doggy, my good little golden boy’: if released, runs screaming to area 11 and throws himself down the pipe—this alerts the cultist guards in area 10” FOOL OF A TOOK! Not just the dude, and roleplaying with him, but also consequences of NOT handling him.
There are so many other details here that are great. A timeline for the village. Not a static place but a living place and shit WILL happen as you rest and fuck around. A whole booklet of additional resources, like a time tracker and henchmen sheets to track things with. These things are fucking great and go a long way to show someone who is actually RUNNING a game and an understanding of what you need to run a game like this. I don’t comment on art frequently, but, personally, the art style here appeals to me. I’m not sure it contributes as much, specifically, to individual situations going on, but it does contribute to the overall vibe.
This seems like a good place to comment on the maps. They are fucking great! Complex, with caverns and rooms, water features, chasms, good same level features. There is a sense of verticality in many of them. Claustrophobic tunnels and wide open spaces with all that entails for encounters in them. I need to up my map vocabulary to better relate their complexity. Hmmm, not so much complexity as it is variety and … opportunities for gameplay? Whats a word for that? “Enables better/more interesting gameplay.” Seems like in fifteen fucking years I should have figured that out by now.
But, also, I would have put the business names on the village map.
I’m a big fan of this. I wish I could better convey all that makes it work. The factions, the cultists proper. The interactivity and variety of types of things to do and explore. It’s really all of the components integrated as a whole, working together to bring something more than the sum of its parts. Design.
This is $12 at DriveThru. The preview is 25 pages. More than enough to show you the clean formatting, the great maps, and a variety of encounters and text overview. Great preview. Hawk has done just about everything right to produce to a great adventure.
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/508270/pestilence-at-halith-vorn?1892600
Hawkins is really consistent, huh?
I have several of his adventures, and have enjoyed them all. I already ordered the hardcopy version of this module, but haven’t gotten it yet.
Absolutely! I would highly recommend Hawkins’ modules!
Does G have the not a moron designation?
IS IT TIME
WHAT DOES THOU SAY BYRCE
Sounds great but a little…gross? Author seems obsessed with slime/goo/pus
Thanks for the review Bryce, as always, much appreciated.
I read that introduction and couldn’t shake the Dwellers of the Forbidden City feeling. It was evocative though. I found a rotting deer carcass in the woods once. Nothing about that experience will ever depart my memory. The intro hit me that way. Like Cold Gin, live.
After the jab comes the hook. Paragraph 2 is where I was fairly convinced that Lynch was going to mark this thing like the stench of pissing on the engine of a 1984 Reliant station wagon.
I am thrilled to be wrong. This is first-class work. Killer, killer stuff.
The module’s level architecture, factions and cults leans more as an homage to Jacquays’ “Caverns of Thracia” (G. Hawkins mentions this in the intro).
Not a fucking idiot sigma?
New tag
” I need to up my map vocabulary to better relate their complexity. Hmmm, not so much complexity as it is variety and … opportunities for gameplay? Whats a word for that? “Enables better/more interesting gameplay.” Seems like in fifteen fucking years I should have figured that out by now.” – Bryce
I think the word you’re looking for is “potential” – as in “this dungeon is loaded with potential!”
1) Everything Hawkins does is awesome. I was lured into Gunderholfen with Bryce’s description of “Keep on the Borderlands as a megadungeon.”
2) I’m also getting “Ambphibia” vibes with the intro. If you know, you know.
I just received my hardcopy and looks great! I see on the review a mention of a booklet with time tracker etc. My hardback doesn’t have one attached. Am I missing something? All I see is a small table on one of the pages. Is it something the pdf would have separately? Or did DtiveThru just not do a good job I wonder? Truth be told, the printing on this wasn’t great. There’s a bit of a “lip” on the page borders, and several pages at the back were glued together in small spots, which was annoying to gently separate.
Hi Theo, that’s a shame about the print quality. I’ve only ever had an issue with one order from DTRPG and they were great about sending out a replacement, it might be worth reaching out to their customer relations team. Send them photos of the issue and I’m sure you’re likely to get a new copy. And you’ve got access to the bonus file via the CAG channel.
Seriously considered buying this based on the review, then realized I have a POD of the “Bottomless Pit of Zorth” on my shelf and bought it (thru the affiliate link of course – thanks for bringing this to my attention Bryce!) immediately. This is Zorth’s badass uncle and it does NOT fuck around.
Gorgeous line art that fits the vibe and great maps that are a fitting tribute to Thracia, just as it was intended to be. Factions with a purpose, interaction galore, curses, cults, grotesque diseases and mutations, custom magic items, dark magic, unclean gods to unleash, and glittering treasure wrapped in situations to exploit or demolish as the party chooses.
The POD was perfect and arrived in a timely fashion. This is my next adventure. It is going to melt minds and cause skin to drip and slough off. Cannot wait!
Forgot to add a HUGE thank you for including unkeyed maps. My group can’t meet face to face any longer, so having some visual aids to go along with the art fills in most of the gap of what is lost by not sharing a space around a table.
I ran the Bottomless Pit of Zorth at GaryCon (just left a comment about it in that review) and have run that and Nekemte in my home game, and I’ll be picking this up. Consistently good work.
Anyone know if G Hawkins has a blog? I’m looking for some info on Drunpool, which seems to be the only town location not described in his (five?) adventures/tomes. I’D LOVE IT IF HE HAD A BLOG THAT DESCRIBED HIS SETTING MORE.
FWIW I splurged to buy them all as hardcovers and pdfs, and have a band of bards (5e 2014, because it is the LCD system, though would prefer to run it in WWN) wandering the map on a festival circuit. I have changed the hexes from 1 mile to 3 mile hexes so the changes in climate are notas abrupt. n the interim I’ve mapped the town as the site of the 142nd Annual Rutabega and Fishpaste Festival, and the PCs are solving the.mystery of the stolen casks of fish paste.
I am posting back to say that my players and I have been playing in Halith Vorn for about a year, meeting weekly. The content is _outstanding_ and we are having a blast. They have figured out a great deal, worked for and against the factions and still haven’t seen but half of what they could see. There is so much to do, so much to consider and so much that remains either terrifying or _just_ out of reach that they are still debating what to do every time we meet.
My only concern is that sooner or later, they will take on more than they can handle, or decide they have seen enough of the place, and this excellent campaign will come to an end. I have used this book to reintroduce my party of very long-term players to the B/X rules they left behind long ago, and now I do not think I have anything that even comes close to offer them as a follow up. Yes, there are still many great adventures out there of course, but the bar is so high that I worry other content might fall short.
It is _that_ good!
Thank you for coming back and talking about this some more. I wish more people would do this.
I own this in hardcopy and have been tempted to run it. It’s really impressive. My hesitations are:
1. Isn’t the whole party just diseased the whole time?
2. I think there might just be too much ick for my players. Right from the start, everything is disgusting.
3. The factions all seem really off-putting.
But maybe I’m misreading it. Could you talk a bit more about how those issues went at the table?
Thanks!
Regarding disease, if you’re running 1e or OSRIC, the players should have access to cure disease to some degree (at 3rd level for druids and 5th level for clerics). There are contacts in the village who can help with this too if they ask around and there are things that can assist in the dungeon. Otherwise, they’re going to have to play it safe and avoid contact with the cultists until they’ve got access to a countermeasure in some form. Regarding points 2 and 3, I might not be able to help with those if they’re not to your taste for this one, but maybe I could write a follow up adventure: the Hygienic Halls of Halith Vorn. The Great Old One might have some ideas coming from his experience too on how to handle ickiness and disease. Game on!
“but maybe I could write a follow up adventure: the Hygienic Halls of Halith Vorn”
Ah so you’re the beret wearing type who mocks his customers? Just lost a sale.
You are of course free to interpret things any way you would like, but to me, this was clearly meant as a joke, and not one at your expense.
please enlighten us on the beret/mockery connection
also, your mum has syphilis
Beret > John Travolta > refusing Sandy in Grease for being too clean > greasy, homosexual > disease > Halith Vorn..
Yeah, I think it was a perfectly fair, light-hearted response.
Yes, don’t take this in any other way than a light hearted jest, though of course this sort of thing can get easily lost on the internet. I think that horrible, revolting places are more evocative than their opposite, hence most adventure sites are the type of place you’d never want to go to in the real world. My comment was merely to highlight that, but in a light-hearted game with a different tone – say Hackmaster 4e – I could definitely imagine an adventure site that is advertised as spotless, clean and sterilised as an appealing place for adventure. Not so sure about that in a vanilla 1e setting though, especially not for my players who are the primary audience I make adventures for. Happy gaming!
Disease is an issue. My 5th-level party handled it in a few ways:
1. They had a 5th level Cleric and a Paladin, so that was a big help
2. They avoided the Thul cultists where they could, attacked at range and touched only what they had to, using hit-and-run tactics. They spent a fair amount of time in Hroogpith early on, which served as a stark warning that if they were careless, they would all die of disease. Despite this, the Cleric cured those in the village he could.
3. There is a magic item available to the party that can cure disease 3x per day. My party acquired it only after the cult was largely routed, but it was a big help
4. There were quite a few failed disease saves, but the party was very careful about using their spells if they even thought they were infected
The ick factor is strictly a matter of taste. My party was _very_ creeped out, but they loved every second of it. I can understand why some players would not want to engage, and that is fine. That choice is at the heart of the OSR, and I respect a party that chooses to walk away from an unappealing challenge as much as I respect ones that decide to meet it head on.
The factions are _very_ interesting. The only truly terrible faction is the Cult of Thul. Yes, the Afraah Cult is evil but they are a slow-burn kind of evil, the insidious evil with long-term plans. I ran them as “evil cultists”, but ones that stood opposed to the terrible in-your-face vileness of the Cult of Thul. My party allied with the Lizardfolk and Shrool and reached a point of neutrality with the Axolittians, though that was touch-and-go for a bit. They worked hard at eliminating the Thullites, and while they clashed with the Afraah Cult, that cult was more than happy to let the party wipe out their hated Thul enemies than face the party head on after they lost a few early skirmishes.
So, the Lizardfolk are staunch allies and the party has gone to great lengths to maintain that relationship and the Shrool have been treated with the deepest respect from the moment they found them. The Cult of Thul is destroyed and the Cult of Afraah as well as the Axolittians – both of which are of the “slow burn” / thoughtful evil, are waiting to see what the party does next without directly challenging them. From their respective points of view, the party is far less vile and far more predictable than the Thullites so if the party is willing to behave themselves while searching for the staff, this gives the other factions time to regroup and plan to seize it when they do return with it. The Afraah Cult has retreated for now, except their spies, and the Axolittians are begrudgingly tolerant of the party’s presence, though they are very carefully watched at all times.
The situation continues to simmer, and I am sure more clashes will occur in the future.
I am replying to my own post and risking both a charge of over-posting and of redundancy, but I feel this point is worth the risk:
Regarding the ick factor, consider that the ‘icky’ part is actually a small fraction of what this place has to offer. The village of Hroogpith and the southern half of the first two levels are the Cult of Thul’s stronghold, but levels 3 through 7 as well as all sub-levels (depending on how you count levels) are all “ick-free”.
The Cult of Thul provides a visceral introduction that none of the other factions could. This device draws the players in. It is these cultists that are destroying the economy of Longfelt, it is these cultists that are raising the dead and their vile presence is a clear call to action to the party.
Once the cult is dealt with or bypassed, an exotic, lush subterranean world opens before the players, one filled with snapshots of a bygone history of a people in decline, caught between the anger of their evil, elemental gods and the legacy of their defeat by their former slaves. Their mist-shrouded monuments, temples and tombs are a mute reminder to their former glory, and the thundering waterfalls and lava flows lead to decrepit temples, extraplanar locations and the outskirts of a ruined metropolis now wholly lost to ancient evils.
There is plenty more to Halith Vorn than disease.
Thank you so much for taking the time to reply. That does make sense. I was probably giving too much weight to the module’s front end but you’re right – there’s a tonne of awesome stuff in there.
Thanks for the kind words, glad to hear it’s a good fit for your table.