By John Abner
Lichyard Games
OSE
Level 1
Kragnuk and his band of goblin rebels had been traveling for days and their stomachs were thin. He knew it wouldn’t be long before they turned on him. But something told him his luck was about to change. A new lair was near – he could feel it, almost see it. The Watcher had borne witness to the birth of technomagical marvels, observed their inevitable abuse, and recorded every fiery detail of the fall of an ancient empire. It could bear no more and sought for release. But to whom could its burden be passed?
This 26 page adventure uses ten pages to describe twelve rooms. It’s using a “Read Aloud+Statblock” format for most things, meaning not much in the way of interactivity. Random trivia abounds … to no real end.
Ohs Nos! Some goats have gone missing! And now a local family is missing also?! The village decides, rather than mobbing it up and no information to go on, to send a small group of village n00bs to the local evil ruins. We don’t get the missing families name until way late in the adventure, the rumors have nothing to follow up on. If you prod me to tell the party that Frank and his boys been up to the ruins, then you damn well better give me a sentence on what Frank and his boys know. Because the fucking party is going to go asking around for Frank and his boys to get some information. There is this disconnected nature between whats written in the text and whats implied by the text that is prevalent throughout this. As if things were written down without really thinking about the implications of it. I’m not saying we have to agonize over it (thats reserved for the room description, which I want you flog yourself over for each and every one) but just a quick lookover for dangling plot threads would be nice. Like ol Frank and his boys.
Ok, so, evil space empire fell a long time ago. Buried in these ruins is The Watcher. He’s dying and needs a replacement. He’s using the goblins to lure someone in who he can transfer, in not a nice way, his duties to. I’m not a fan of the lure you in” pretext adventures, but, ultimately, it’s just goblins in a ruin with a couple of techno looking rooms.
Ok, so, we’ve got twelve rooms. Let’s look at one of them: This chamber is empty except for debris, dust, and cobwebs. Many footprints can be seen arcing toward the far-right corner.” Ok, so, nothing really there. It’s a lame description though. Instead of saying its empty there should be a description that leads the party to say that its empty. I wouldn’t not even imply anything about the footprints, unless they are SUPER obvious. I might mention dusty or dirty in the description and then wait for the party to follow up with questions, at which point I can mention footprints to them, as the DM. A good room description delivers a vibe of the environment to the party, and inspires the DM to riff on it, expanding upon what the designer has actually put down on paper. It also teases a bit. You want to kind of hint at things in a read-aloud. It’s up to the party to [ay attention and follow up with questions, about things like looking at the dust. It’s this back and forth that is at the heart of D&D, the back and forth between the players and the DM. The DM providing a description and the players following up on what the DM has said and then the DM following up on that and so on. By just outright stating, in the read-aloud “You see footprints” then you are destroying this experience. Again, unless it’s super obvious.
A second example, if you please! “
This column-lined hall is dominated by a fearsome sculpted demonic face at its far end. Its open mouth forms a portal into an adjoining room. Its tongue unfolds into a 3-step dais. Goblins sit around a softly glowing pile of embers, jabbering in their high-pitched tongue.” In this we see just a read aloud description followed by only a stat block in the DM notes section. Nothing more. Which is too bad, the whole demon mouth and tongue thing could have been cool.
For All Sad Words Of Tongue And Pen, The Saddest Are What Might Have Been, as they say. It’s just a fight.
And, I note, another oom tells us that the goblins in it will react to a fight in that demon tongue room. Better, yes, to put that information in the demon tongue room? The DM needs that information there so we put that information there, not buried in an appendix in small print? Or in the next room. There are other missed things as well. At one point you have to climb up handholds in a piller to reach an upper room, coming up through a small hole in the ground. Thee are two goblins in the room, with spears, who stick you as you come through. And absolutely NO notes about that. Just tha they have spears and stick you as you come through. COME ONE. Falling advice? Can’t clamber up advice? Takes three turns to get out? ANYTHING? That’s a nice setup, but it’s implemented so piss poorly that in the end its just another boring old fight.
“Hidden among the rubble is a wooden chest containing the clan’s booty.” Worry not, gentle reader, the treasure in that chest is not detailed. We are told, in the beginning of the book, to roll on the appropriate tables in the OOSE rule book for treasure. Well fuck me sideways. What the fuck is the fucking point of buying this fucking thing then?
“The door to this area is made of an unknown metal and secured with a bar. It appears to have been airtight, for when it opens, there is a noticeable hiss.” This is a travesty. It’s a barred door. You don’t do read-aloud for shit like this. You tell the fucking party that its a barred door and let them describe opening it, only to respond with the fucking hiss. “We go through the south door” Oh, it was barred and made of a strange metal and it hisses as you open it.” Remember when I said that the implications of what was being written were being ignored?
Finally, I want to talk about the control room in the dungeon. It’s got the required crystal things to play around with to make different things happen. AND ITS TOTALLY RANDOM. There is no pattern to figure out. There are no clues. You just insert shit and roll on a table. Maybe you see some colored liquids flow through pipes. Other than that you have NO IDEA what the impacts of what you just did were. Not that it would matter anyway since it’s completely random. This is not interactivity. This is random for the sake of random.
Just a hack.
This is $4 at DriveThru. The preview is seven pages and you get to see several of the rooms. Good preview!
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/519369/eye-of-the-watcher-for-old-school-essentials?1892600