This is my ‘ToDo’ reviews list. Except maybe the old stuff. I don’t like reviewing older stuff. I’m not begging, I’m more just organizing the six separate ‘buy’ lists I have and informing people what is on my list.
“It’s on the list” … unless it’s not, in which case you should mail me your request.
Oh man, I don’t know.
Hope you haven’t stopped permanently… I enjoy reading your reviews.
I hope so too. This site is a great resource for checking out OSR adventures. You warn me about the shit ones so I don’t buy them! 🙂
And so do I.
I emailed you about a complimentary review copy of Liberation of the Demon Slayer a couple weeks ago. Let me know if you’re interested…
VS
More reviews on Google+ ?
Hey. You don’t know me… and I don’t know you… but I love your reviews.
I appreciate your (colorful) frankness. If you ever find yourself exhausted from reading ODD / OSR dreck, lacking inspiration to do another review, or just plain burnt out — because I can imagine that running this blog for so many years has got to have it’s low points — please do me a favor and take a short break, then come back to this very post, and soldier on!
I find your reviews immensely valuable, and your review insights point out many pitfalls I can avoid when creating my own adventures. Well done, sir. Well done.
Not yet any review of Beasts & Barbarians ? This is (based on the Savage Worlds) the best universe for Sword & Sorcery I have ever seen. I wrote a bunch a reviews about many of their products : http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product_reviews.php?products_id=96199&customers_id=886920
Hey Bryce, allow me to make a suggestion. You probably already know that WotC is going to release Tales From the Yawning Portal in April, containing seven old-school adventures adapted for the D&D 5E rules. It’s an official bridge between old and new! The adventures are:
– Against the Giants
– Dead in Thay
– Forge of Fury
– Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan
– Sunless Citadel
– Tomb of Horrors
– White Plume Mountain
Why don’t you review (or re-review) the old ones as the launch of the book approaches? And after the book is released, you do a review comparing the old and new, what’s better and what’s worse! That’d be awesome!
Anyway, suggestion made!
Keep on keeping on.
Hi Bryce, I’d recommend taking a look at the Treasure Vaults of Zadabad, and possibly the prequel Well of Souls. I think that TVoZ is amazing, and I’m surprised I don’t see more reviews of it. I wrote my own review on my own blog, but I’d be curious to see your take.
Added to the queue!
And,I need to do a much better job responding to people …
Any plans to review the Hyperborea modules?
– Ghost Ship of Desert Dunes
– The Mystery at Port Greely
– Forgotten Fane of the Coiled Goddess
– Beneat the Comet
Well, I guess now there are! 🙂
Some products to consider:
DCC 91 Journey to the Center of Aereth
DCC 91.1 The Lost City of Barako
adedded
I just found some new and different OSR-style adventures. Somebody has begun translating Danish OSR-adventures to English. Some are at DMs Guild, others at Drivethru.
Try and check out these two:
* Palace of Sweet Dreams (at DMs Guild)
* The Flooded Temple (at DriveThru)
Hey Bryce, if you want to check out “The Invitation From The Blue Baron” that would be cool! I’m curious to know your thoughts on the adventure.
You can get it here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-hlnlR7qn5XSjRiS0FHSnBWYkE/view
and here: http://drivethrurpg.com/product/214418/An-Invitation-From-The-Blue-Baron-A-Collaborative-Dungeon-For-Blueholme?src=hottest_filtered
Elevator pitch: This wonderful forty four page adventure that you hold in your hands was written for Blueholme Prentice rules ™. The book was a collaborative effort between some of the brightest minds in the Old School Role Playing community. Detailed within this book is a twenty two room dungeon, new monsters & spells, and all kinds of interesting twists. The Blue Baron holds his masquerade party annually, and because of this we have added a pile of random tables, which should easily allow replaying this adventure with different results! Grab a few sets of dice, some pencils, paper and few friends and delve into the masquerade.
I know these aren’t strictly traditional OSR, but they are OSR adjacent, neo-OSR, quasi-OSR, 4th wave OSR, etc., so here goes: Crimson Dragon Slayer edition 1.11, Slaves of Tsathoggua, Stairway of V’dreen, and the dungeon map/toolbox aids The S’rulyan Vault and The S’rulyan Vault II.
I only have one suggestion to make.
N3: The Destiny of Kings
One of the very few 1st Edition DnD scenarios to be upgraded and reprinted for the 2nd Edition and it’s not tied to any of the major settings…
Another suggestion, though I do hope at some point you get round to the one above.
Hard Light, it’s a ‘Keep on the Borderlands’ type scenario for the Stars Without Number reworking of D & D.
Thanks for the ‘Hard Light’ Review, any chance fo the other suggestion “Destiny of Kings”?
I don’t see Destiny of Kings in the comments, or on DriveThru?
Here is a link to the first edition on RPGNow/DriveThruRPG
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/110268/N3-Destiny-of-Kings-1e-1986
And the update for 2nd Edition D & D
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/17361/N3-Destiny-of-Kings-2e
I want to add my vote for you to review old / classic modules. You say, there are enough reviews out there on them. I think nostalgia makes it hard for other reviewers who played them as kids to do them justice. Also, there is something special to your style. One example I know of is your contrarian view on Tomb of Horrors, which typically gets rave reviews elsewhere.
I think some of them are famous due to having shaped the hobby. Think about paintings from the early renaissance that introduced perspective into art: even though on an absolute scale the execution was flawed, this made them meaningful in a way the thousands of later works with slicker execution can never be. Likewise, the first social investigation adventure, the first with a timeline of unfolding events, the first with an antagonist who is not just waiting in the last room, like the original Ravenloft, broke new ground. You appear to be uninterested in the historical significance of these adventures, judging them rather on their merit for playability, wonder and fun. It would be valuable to get a review on them from that point of view.
If that is still not an option for you, I’d like to request reviewing the 5e Adventures WotC puts out, like Tales from the Yawning Portal, Tomb of Annihilation, etc. These are quite expensive to buy, and I believe you would provide a valuable service to your many readers who trust your judgment.
Dungeon Full of Monsters by RedBox Vancouver
A Field Guide to Hot Springs Island, & Dark of Hot Springs Island
The Field Guide was not an adventure. It’s the player’s guide to the adventure (Dark). It’s also, in my opinion, pretty contrary to the spirit of said adventure itself and not particularly useful to most GMs. Whereas Dark is a GOAT adventure setting IMO.
I wrote a review of each one:
Dark of Hot Springs Island: http://artifactsandrelics.blogspot.com/2017/07/pre-review-dark-of-hot-springs-island.html
A Field Guide to Hot Springs Island: http://artifactsandrelics.blogspot.com/2017/08/more-mini-reviews-pirates-of-drinax.html (the third mini-review)
Good Reviews. And good DM advice in your Sociopaths recap.
I’d love to hear about Dungeon Full of Monsters as well 🙂
Bryce,
do you have any plans to review Tomb of Annihilation from WotC?
Also, I second Hot Springs Island.
Hmmm, I had not. I’m allergic to ToHorrors. But, I’ll put it on the list. All three.
The Isles of Mist is a bunch of free materials: an island hexcrawl, some mini adventures, and the Thedron Barrows, a dungeon with factions. The island maps are beautiful. Hopefully worth your time to review.
Mistress of the Ghost City?
by Alphonso Warden? Ok, it’s on the list.
I’d like a review of Hot Springs Island as well. Also Mortzengersturm by Hydra Collective. Also World of the Lost by LotFP
If you are planning to do Pathfinder products, I’d love a review of Fen of the Five-Fold Maw (by TPK Games). My reaction to it was very different to Endzeitgeist’s review on Drivethru, and I’d really appreciate your take on it.
I hate you ‘Jeff.’ I declare, publicly and forever, that I now hate all ‘JEFF’s!
Oh man, just when you think you’ve hit rock bottom a Jeff comes along and suggests something like this.
I would love to know your thoughts on the most recent edition of The Lost City of Barakus
Seconded on Barakus
This one and Stoneheart Valley from Frog God games.
both on the list now
Hi Bryce !. I enjoy very much your reviews . Because of them , i’ve discovered: Fight on ! Magazine, Stonehell Dungeon, and too many other jewels of the OSR.
I would like to read your reviews about City of Dark Trolls (Fight On! Issue 14) , about the second half of Stonehell megadungeon ( into heart of Hell ) and finally about DCC module Journey to the Center of Aereth and its two suplemments.
Regards from Spain.
A couple more:
Frostbitten & Mutilated
The Gardens of Ynn
I thought Frostbitten was more of a setting?
And Gardens is just a random generator?
Frostbitten is…but it is pretty glorious and adventure oriented, similar to DCO.
Ynn- not sure; thought it was a point crawl similar to Slumbering Ursine Dunes
The Complete Roslof Keep Campaign
I’d like to suggest Tomb of the Lovelorn, it’s in the same series as The Flooded Temple, Grave of the Heartless and The Dragons Heart and from the preview looks to be one of the more intelligent dungeon scenarios out there.
@ Bryce, I’m curious why you’re bothering to review Pathfnder adventures at all. Pathfinder is the antithesis of old school. I can grudgingly understand why you review 5e products but Pathfinder? Don’t get it.
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Funny/TransformersGeneration2
???
I’m an idiot.
Ahh! Got it
Bryce, I love your reviews. I just wondered if ou had ever read the “Jaunt” series by Roan Studio
No vested interest on my part, I was just curious as to your opinion.
http://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse/pub/8657/Roan-Studio
I just added a few to my list.
I just came here to suggest that too! Nice maps.
You might want to check out Mines, Claws, Princesses
http://knights-n-knaves.com/thescribesofsparn/KK2-FINAL2-opt-a.pdf
I’d like to see you tackle the official BFRPG adventures: BF1 Morgansfort, BF2 Fortress, Tomb, and Tower, BF3 Strongholds of Sorcery, and so on. They’re all free at http://basicfantasy.org/downloads.html. As they’re for one of the first clones, and they don’t get talked about much, I’d like to read your take on them.
Also the later DCC adventures, since you seem to have stopped with those.
Tomb of the Necromancers, for Crypts & Things, since you liked Blood of the Dragon so much.
Lixury Palace of Bones
I think ‘Something Stinks in Stilton’ by the Melsonian Arts Council and ‘Sacrebleu’ might be up your alley.
You may want to read and review this lil’ fella – it seems to fit your ethos and style well.
Sacrebleu by Tito B.A.
http://www.rpgnow.com/product/243550/Sacrebleu?src=hottest_filtered
I’d like to see your thoughts on these:
http://www.rpgnow.com/product/132949/In-the-Wake-of-the-Zorkul-No-Art-Version
http://www.rpgnow.com/product/127617/ZH01-An-Overwhelming-Sense-of-Loss
I’d appreciate your thoughts on Shattered Heart Adventure Path #1, The Ties that Bind, by AAW Games. It was written for Pathfinder but there is also a 5th edition version. Endzeitgeist loved the Pathfinder version but is clearly biased (understandably so, in the circumstances), so a more objective review would be great.
Bryce, you should removed the Dungeon Magazine tag from this review https://tenfootpole.org/ironspike/?p=2219
Thx!
Found another one. Add the Dungeon tag to Dungeon Adventures 40 https://tenfootpole.org/ironspike/?p=2545
http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/245450/Name-Not-Found?src=newest_free_titles
Heir and Back Again
That better not be a pun …
http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/235454/5E-Heir–Back-Again
(un)fortunately not?
For something a bit different, you might review Kellerin’s Rumble (available for free download at Malrex’s Modules). One sentence summary: PCs get to interact with a James Bond villain (complete with crocodiles).
There have been a lot of official DCC adventures published since your last review of a Goodman product. As a DCC fanboy, I’ve really enjoyed one (Enter the Dagon), been underwhelmed by most and disappointed by a bunch. I’d be interested to hear your take.
Edgewise: If you’re willing, I’d be interested in what you found good and not good at table. Have you written about any of this on a blog or forum or google plus, etc?
as a rule of thumb all stroh adventures are really good. i also have enjoyed shadow under devil reef by hook and curtis’ shudder stuff.
‘Do Not Let Us Die in the Dark Night of this Cold Winter’. Some sort of survival-type wilderness thing where the players can save a starving freezing village? Looks really interesting. You should check it out Bryce!
Hey Bryce, I know it’s more of a survey than an in-depth review, but would you be up for hitting some of the more recent One Page Dungeon Compendiums? They’re grab-bags of great/mediocre/crap, but I love stealing ideas and maps from them.
I’d be interested in a review of Necromancer Games’ Tomb of Abysthor, either the original d20 version, the Pathfinder version or the Swords & Wizardry version (for the latter two the Tomb is part of the “Stoneheart Valley” product from Frog God Games). It appears to be highly regarded, and has a lot of stuff in it I like, but there are also a few bits that I strongly dislike (mostly the entries which include the phrase “Lawful Good characters who …”).
I can say that it is one of the most fun dungeons I have run. It has a very good balance of exploration, combat, and sense of wonder; it is just large enough to feel expansive without being overwhelming (which Rappan Athuk tends to be); and it has a good variety of content. It hits a lot of sweet spots, and it has worked nicely in practice. There is one level (Abysthor’s tomb) which is kinda linear and gimmicky, but otherwise, it is very solid.
I want to like Necromancer/Frog God adventures, but find them uninspiring and boring and very mundane ( other than the hex crawl classics line). There is a certain flatness and density of text I find hard to overcome.
That’s my impression too. Walls of text everywhere, and no solid reasons to believe it’s worth the time. Even the art looks pedestrian and samey. It’s a shame, because the production values seem good and we all want to like their stuff. Prices don’t help either.
The Mortuary Temple of Esma, by Anthony Huso (he of Night Wolf Inn).
The Weird That Came to Brigdoltan, a Dolmenwood adventure.
And by my previous post, I MEANT The Weird That Befell Drigbolton, a Dolmenwood adventure
https://tenfootpole.org/ironspike/?p=3584
Whoops, I sure missed that. Thanks.
The Dragon’s Secret by Jennell Jaquays.
Given you regard her as the greatest living adventure writer (and I think the case can be made), I’m surprised you haven’t reviewed this yet.
A sample from the Hexed Places series. (Minimal hexcrawl, on rpgnow.)
Found a PWYW one that looks decent at first blush:
https://www.rpgnow.com/product/250834/City-of-Illanter-Kellerins-Rumble
…perhaps the message is getting out there.
I enjoyed the review. Thanks!
You are a force of nature (in a good way like the tides, not at all like flatulence or dead fish)
Thanks for the suggestion squeen! 🙂
It’s been a while since you’ve reviewed any DCC adventures. I loved Enter the Dagon, but I have been disappointed by a number of other recent releases.
If you have a chance you might really like Ben L.’s “Through Ultan’s Door” Issue#1 – it’s 90% a 30 room dungeon crawl.
https://throughultansdoor.bigcartel.com/
I also admit this is a bit self promotional as I played through this dungeon with the author GMing and later drew the map in the zine.
How about The Castle That Fell From the Sky. http://www.lulu.com/shop/steve-robertson-and-jimm-johnson/the-castle-that-fell-from-the-sky/ebook/product-23854671.html
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/m/product/257155 – latest Hill Cantons product
In the same vein: https://www.rpgnow.com/product/256916/Witchburner . Second-latest Hydra product? I just grabbed this along with the newest from Dying Stylishly, a thematic kin to Gardens of Ynn: https://www.rpgnow.com/product/257113/The-Stygian-Library .
A review of the (deliberately wordy) Witchburner could be combined in a compare and contrast with the shorter (and randomly generated) The Village and the Witch.
I know you’ve been avoiding 5e reviews recently, but what about Dungeon of the Mad Mage? Megadungeon, Undermountain, 23 dungeon levels for characters from levels 5 to 20, different themes on each dungeon level… and even a derelict Spelljammer vessel! I’d really like to see your point of view on this one, so there goes my suggestion!
Thanks!
🙂
JD1 Cess-Pit of the Bog-Mother and JD2 Darkland Moors are small modules by TSR artist Jeff Dee. I haven’t heard much about them either way, and I’d be curious to see what sort of adventure chops Dee has.
Also, Malrex (“Red Prophet Rises”) has a new one: Standoff at Sandfell Sea Fort.
Another thing you might want to check out is Dead Planet for Mothership – It’s a couple adventures and adventure generators – a bit a kit, but it’s fun and clever. Also gotta be a change of pace after all these drippy 5E things – space horror pastiche!
The Book of Terniel for…Pathfinder. I would actually run this thing! (a PF adventure no less). There are some things that can be done better, but the layout, flavor, internal consistency, player agency, and formatting are excellent and work harmoniously together- really done with the GM and play at the table in mind. I feel like more adventure writers should read this thing just to see what a good layout looks like for adventures.
ok, but this if this is a troll … I’m reposting the midwestern truecoat movie clip again.
Not a troll.
ok, a week fromtoday
Sadly the publishers future offerings went in the opposite directions; I think likely trying to emulate Paizo and others. Ugh!
Gah! Fuck you Evard, why you have to ruin my day with the news that the follow ons sucked? This thing is clearly one of the best PF adventures I’ve seen, easily.
Well, the “ good news” is that the publisher seems to take feedback pretty well. This was his response to my feedback on DT:
“Gotcha. I did try out some different things. The shorter read-alouds with supporting bullets is a good example, and I prefer the prior (Terniel) style to the latter (Sunken Temple), which I’ll use in the future. Part of the reasoning for longer text was an attempt to invoke specific atmospheric themes. The artwork was handled differently as well, I had everything up front vs ordering up specific pieces as the project continued. That wasn’t a conscious choice, just a bi-product of my process. I really appreciate the feedback, and will incorporate your thoughts into future work.”
Since I like to find weird and interesting stuff for you to review…”Darkmoor RPG: Once Upon a Time there was a Swamp”…the Darkmoor description is fascinating…
“Darkmoor is a game set in a self-deprecating fantasy universe, full of action and magic, where anything is possible! Giant apes and huge, colourful pandas train in the art of kung fu in remote monasteries in preparation for the Steel Fists Tournament. Huge robot toys chase one another through different parallel dimensions waging an automated miniatures war. Coins, jewelry and all kind of possible treasures pop out of the monsters you just killed in dungeons created by crazy robot butlers
Have no clue if this thing is any good…but that’s some crazy gonzo shit.
Bryce, Pacesettergames is having a sale right now. All PDFs are $2 piece. I know you’ve reviewed a few of their modules before but there’s a bunch more. You might want to take a look
http://www.pacesettergames.com/
I’ve never heard of any of these!
Bryce, Pacesetter Games is currently running a sale on all of their modules. PDFs are only $2 each. Might be worth grabbing some to review. http://www.pacesettergames.com
Well, that’s odd. Posted twice an hour and a half apart lol
I still maintain if you want to be taken seriously as a reviewer you need to review material such as Dark Tower, Caverns of Thracia, WG4, and so on so that folks who know exactly how good such material is can judge YOU on your reviews.
The only way he can be taken seriously as a reviewer is to review the classics? Yeah, okay. I keep waiting for your drum to break so I won’t have to keep hearing you beat it anymore.
Suck my drum.
Clever. Why don’t you Darwin Award yourself, you waste of skin
Invasion of the Tuber Dudes? No reviews but it looks Brycey.
Bryce, can you resist doing a review of RPGPundit Presents #59? (You will understand why when you read the title.) Or is that one safely left to the Prince of Nothing?
I was on the brink of failing my saving throw; too bad I have already reviewed parts of this series: https://beyondfomalhaut.blogspot.com/2017/10/review-rpgpundit-presents-1-3.html
I’ve sworn off Pundit stuff until I hear someone say he’s written something more serious. The last few forays in to Presents have each seemed like one little idea expanded upon a little … “there’s a castle with a guy living in it”
“While the source material could theoretically be interesting it is conveyed with textbook bluntness that utterly strips it of any potential to inspire or amaze. The best that may be said of it is that it is functional and executed with a workmanlike efficiency that makes it easy to adapt it into one’s homecampaign. Like a reverse King Midas, Pundit’s touch never fails to turn gold into lead. Try again. 3 out of 10. ”
Apply judiciously where needed.
Bryce, have you had the opportunity to look at « What Ho, Frog Demons », Hill Canton’s latest release?
Another thing that might interest you is « Witchburner » by Luka Rejec
on the list now, both
I was wondering if The Pretty Girl is up for a review? The Tar Pits of the Bone Toilers. Happy to send a complimentary copy.
I shall inquire, but work is hitting her with 12 hour days, so lets not hold our breathe’s
If you would . . . https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/265138/Off-Track-The-Uncharted-Swamp
on the list now
Requesting “Horse-fondlers of Greater Aione” by William Morris.
Fight on! Issue 14 seems to have slipped by you. Wpuld esp. like to read what you think of the Troll lord level from the megadungeon A Darkness Beneath wich can be found it that issue.
Well, the FO website appears broken, I don’t see #14 listed there anyway, just 13, and the message boards seem to imply the troll are in 15?
http://www.lulu.com/shop/ignatius-umlaut/fight-on-14-pdf-version-20122013/ebook/product-21411519.html
No, the final level (don’t know what it’s going to be called) is supposed to go in #15, when (if?) that ever is released, but the Troll Lord Citadel is in #14.
Thanks for the assist. I swear I looked and couldn’t find it. I’ll grab it.
A Fabled City of Brass, by Hudson (he did Night Wolf Inn). It looks gorgeous enough, but reviews are sparse.
It’s not Hudson. It’s Huso.
Yep, looks like an Autocorrect in action!
FYI: Looks like there is a duplicate menu item for this page in the drop-down “About Byrce”.
Looks like anything with an & or ‘ in the title got dup’ed somehow. See what I can do today.
The Dreaded Tunnels of Ruxabar.
It’s currently free on DMsGuild … An 5e Adventure for levels 8 to 9 … maybe worth a look 😉
Hey Bryce, you tagged the adventure linked below as a Dungeon Magazine adventure and it isn’t
https://tenfootpole.org/ironspike/?p=3674
Thx. Fixed.
In your recent review of The Dog Who Would Not Bark, you wrote: “I’m interested, lately, in lower page count adventures. In contrast to the overwritten stuff that seems to dominate the market these days I was thinking about the opposite end of the spectrum. What was G1, like, eight pages or something? [..] Finally, just how hard is it to make an adventure for publication? How much effort is it to get something short, dense, and at least adequate in a form that other people can use?”
I’d like to respectfully submit my first published work for your consideration in this category:
The Quest for the Dungeon Terrier
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/268182/Q1–Quest-for-the-Dungeon-Terrier
I love reading your reviews, so I submit this in full knowledge that you are likely to rip it apart, but I hope I’ve learned enough to not make you sick by reading it. Also, it is PWYW, so please don’t pay for it unless you actually want to.
Thank you for reviewing my module! I’m glad to hear the feedback, and I will work to improve it and future publications.
Direct link: https://tenfootpole.org/ironspike/?p=5878
You might want to look over “Curse of the Lost Memories (5E)” (Griffin Lore Games) it claims to be the start of an ‘adventure chain’ (groan), but I like the vibe of this one, anything that actually mentions the term ‘murder hobo’ in a contextural reward situation might be worth looking at
$20 and 220 pages for the PDF … this may take a couple of weeks; I’m running con games this weekend.
The Winghorn press modules are pretty popular among the 5e crowd right now. I’ve played and read a few of their modules. While I would not DM these modules myself, they’re sort of interesting. The writers claim it is possible to run them on the fly, without reading the module ahead of time (very unusual for 5e stuff!). The writers could use some pointers on making them flow better. I’d like your take on one or two of them.
Have a look at “Winter’s Daughter”, the latest from Necrotic Gnome. Regardless of the content of the adventure, Gavin has done some interesting things with layout and design that I think will interest you.
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/270795/Winters-Daughter-OldSchool-Version?term=winters+daughter++
I see why you suggested it, Chris S! Makes sense.
Along the same lines, Bryce, I’d like to hear your take on “The Antrhopophagi of Xambaala” from North Wind Adventures.
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/248582/The-Anthropophagi-of-Xambaala
Full disclosure: I have done work for North Wind, including on this product.
I can hear Bryce already complaining about the preview. It doesn’t show any of the meat of the adventure. However, that town map is nice.
Contrast that with the preview for Winter’s Daughter which is twice as long and gives you more of an idea of what you are buying.
The “Winter’s Daughter” preview is nice, that’s for sure. Is all of that at the publisher’s discretion?
Not sure but I assumed (you know what they say about that) that previews are set by the publisher.
What about Courtney Campbell’s Dread Eerie?
To the End of Time – an Epic One-Shot by Richard Jansen-Parkes of Winghorn press, looks to be an interesting way to ‘end’ campaigns, with the hero’s plucked from certain death, just long enough to perform one last, critical task.
https://www.dmsguild.com/product/207506/To-the-End-of-Time–an-Epic-OneShot
I just heard about Sly Flourish’s Fantastic Locations, which describes itself as “These sites and structures aren’t full adventures. Instead, you and your players build your own stories in these fantastic locations, then you populate them with the monsters that fit your story.”
I wonder what Bryce thinks about whether this is useful for GMs and whether it actually manages to do what it claims it does.
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/186334/Sly-Flourishs-Fantastic-Locations
You might want to look at ‘Distress Call’ by Angry Golem Games.
This adventure was originally written for Starfinder, but has been converted to Stars Without Number. Looks to have an interesting plot, not so good hooks, a foreign language to English translation issue in it’s original form.
Sadly the preview does not show any of the adventure itself, just the table of contents and a single full page illustration that was not in the original story.
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/272353/Distress-Call–SWN-Compatible
Mr.Bryce,
Two of the people who helped designed the Balder’s Gate series of video games recently put out this. I am curious to see how professional video game designers will do by your review standards.
https://www.dmsguild.com/product/269398/Heroes-of-Baldurs-Gate-5e?src=newest_in_dmg
I humbly submit my very first published product. It is a low-level crawl through a frozen wasteland, it was made in the pamphlet dungeon format, so it is literally just a single, front/back, A4 sized adventure. I tried to make something that can be ran almost immediately with almost no prep time.
The Frozen Province
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/273859/The-Frozen-Province?src=newest_since
(Im a sucker for your reviews and a I tried to apply a lot of what I learned here)
Two requests: (i) Shotglass Adventures Volume 1, from a successful kickstarter, now on DriveThruRpg; it looks promising but pricey; (ii) In the bargain basement, Krillo’s Tomb (also on DriveThruRpg).
on the list.
A scenario that begins with the PCs being asked by a pair of Goblin children to save their clan.
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/275682/From-the-Mouth-of-Babes
Added
I’m sure you’re aware of these, Bryce but in case you aren’t..
Three new Advanced Adventures from Expeditious Retreat Press
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/274219/Advanced-Adventures-41-The-Forgotten-Grottoes-of-the-Sea-Lords
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/274221/Advanced-Adventures-42-Dead-In-The-Water
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/274222/Advanced-Adventures-43-The-Warrens-of-Zagash
Yeah, I added them.
It might be a bit out of your scope since it is more than just an adventure, but Silent Titans looks extremely cool and I would like to know if it is worth my group’s time.
Bryce: I enjoyed your interview on False Machine. You were more “urbane” (if that’s the right word) than I expected.
When you described you sorting method for reviewing products (inversely by price) I understood why the Fabled City of Brass has yet to make an appearance. I’ll stop holding my breath.
Me too. You also had way more radical hair than I expected.
Hey Bryce, If you find the time I would greatly appreciate it if you could take a look at my adventure.
It was written for a little contest in your new forum and squeen suggested to bring it to your attention … so here it is:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/141P_gPYoNaNLBRXD44FpUGwn6FyGlB-I/view
Since you seem to like Tunnels & Trolls adventures, I think you should check out both “The Dungeon of the Rat” and “The Skolari Vaults”. They are new(ish), apparently fun and well regarded by the T&T community. Yes, there is a T&T community out there–
A new megadungeon was just released today at DriveThru (with pretty much zero fanfare). It’s cheap at 10$, but pretty big. It’s called Gunderholfen.
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/265629/Gunderholfen
I was just about to suggest this one as well.
I know it’s kinda petty of me, but having a map or two up front in the preview would go a long way towards helping me decide to splurge on this one.
I think I am a map bigot.
There’s a map pack for that one too. It can be previewed: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/276045/Gunderholfen-Map-Pack
Thanks! Looks pretty good.
Bryce, you have a spammer loose, a vampire spammer no less. Multiple posts from this asshat. Stick a sparkly stake through his heart. One example is linked below.
https://tenfootpole.org/ironspike/?p=6026#comment-8562
Thx!
Guy Fullerton has a new one out. His “Many Gates of the Gann” was pretty damn cool, so I’m curious to see if you think this one holds up.
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/277684/The-Withered-Crag
I just finished reading through Skerples “Magical Murder Mansion,” which is subtitled “A Challenging Funhouse Dungeon.” It reads as an excellent adventure, exactly the sort of thing it claims to be – just like “Tomb of the Serpent Kings” claims to be (and largely is) the canonical beginners’ dungeon.
It’s also an interesting counterpoint to my own “The Magician’s House,” since they are both romps in the house of an absent wizard. They are very different, though…Skerple’s take is more old-school in every way, as well as more deadly. Bryce, I think you’ll like it. Check it out.
Just putting in my two cents. Your reviewing style is excellent — even when you don’t like something, I read one and I know exactly what I will find useful in the product.
– 100 Bushels of Rye. I have this one, and never had a chance to run it, even when I was running Harn in the dim recesses of Time.
– The One Page Dungeon contest entries. Just a sentence or two is fine. My own entries are usually pretty crappy, but there are always one or two real gems every year, and a lot of them have interesting ideas buried under the dross.
Two more suggestions, both to be found on DriveThruRPG: (i) Everyone Plows the Graveyard Farm, which I suspect you might like; (ii) No Rest for the Wicked, which has a load of old waffle as a preview rather than details of what the adventure is actually about.
added to the list
Some of the recent things I’ve bought (and liked) that I haven’t seen here yet:
Patrick Stuart – Silent Titans (beautiful art, purple prose, good riddles)
Ben Laurence – Through Ultan’s Door #2 (just out)
Zzarchov Kowolski – City of Tears (great vibe, the labyrinth, like most, might be boring in play)
Zzarchov Kowolski – The Punchline
Anthony Huso – Mortuary Temple of Esma (my favorite of his)
Anthony Huso – Zjelwyin Fall
Anthony Huso – A Fabled City of Brass
Gabor Lux – Echoes from Fomalhaut 5
Gabor Csomos – Lost Valley of Kishar
The new Greg Gillespie megadungeon, HighFell, is out. You were enthusiastic about Barrowmaze but much less so about Forbidden Caverns, and I’m curious to see where you come down on this one.
Yes. Interesting author but no preview. Riddled with grade school typo’s I can just about handle on a labour of love but he’s also asking top dollar even for a PDF so you’d hope that’s not an ill omen. I second the motion.
Yeah another vote for this one as there is no preview so I have no idea what it’s like. I find it hard for myself to pay $35 for a pdf, it just feels a bit pricey not having a physical object in my hands dishing out that amount of cash. If you’ve got awesome (and expensive) art in a product I can sympathise with the price tag to some degree, but as I understand it that’s what the Kickstarter is there for.
Ok, I just bought $53 worth of expensive shit based on these last few comments. I’m just gonna go ahead and blame all of you in advance.
I’m responsible for the Silent Titans, Ultan’s, Anthony Huso, Gabor, etc. suggestions. I thought I was signed in, but it didn’t take. Just so you have a name to blame. You’re right, lot of it is expensive. I’ve bought all of it over the past year, some of it just recently. Silent Titans is cool, but I’m wondering how difficult it will be to actually run it at the table as is. Anthony Huso’s stuff is only on Lulu (I think). It’s high-level AD&D with the exception of Zjelwyin which is a low-level astral plane adventure. Cool Fiend Folio monsters, but the abstraction of astral adventures is tough.
I didn’t make the Highfell suggestion, but I’m curious about it. I own (and like) Barrowmaze, but I just ran a sky fortress adventure of my own creation in my local game, so I’m not ready to shell out for another one just yet.
I agree about Silent Titans being a bit rough for the table. It’s unfortunate because it’s clear that while Stuart was being experimental with the structure, he was doing so in order to increase usability. But the bullet point lists are too long (bullet hell) and the indentation is hard to see, and the maps are hard to decipher. Too bad because there are a lot of excellent ideas that don’t quite reach fruition IMO.
I really wish “RPG inspiration books” were a common product. The concept gets brought up every time there’s a debate about the value of out-of-the-box utility/gameability, but I think Stuart could truly thrive if he didn’t have to worry about fitting his ideas into the framework of an adventure module.
This comes down to the whole question of whether people get gaming materials to read or to use. Personally, I’ve seen too many of the former and I just wouldn’t waste my money on inspiration alone. Good ideas are easy but execution is hard. I’ll pay for good execution every time.
There is a super simple and pretty innovative adventure called Halflings and The Hive on Exalted Funeral’s page for free. It’s one of the FreeRPG day offerings. It might be available elsewhere. It’s incredibly short and it is filled with useful and unique looking ref-aids. It took me a few minutes to comprehend that it was an adventure the first time I looked at it, but once I was able to wrap my brain around, it looked like it would be incredibly easy to have have a good session with or just completely run on the fly. I am curious what your take on this one is. It’s free so if you want to sneak in an easy one between the expensive, gigantic modules you just bought, this might be a good one.
Thanks for tackling HighFell so fast. I’d really like to see some coverage of this Melan work: sounds intriguing.
https://beyondfomalhaut.blogspot.com/2019/07/module-nocturnal-table-now-available.html
Curious about this one…came across it while browsing the depths of DTRPG…
Frozen Fortress of the Winter Warlord
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/128327/Frozen-Fortress-of-the-Winter-Warlord?filters=44827_0_0_0_0
And because…I just have to with Bryce…the best selling 5e adventure on DTRPG…at a whopping 40 bucks (and 4 5 star review heh)
Calls from the Deep
https://www.dmsguild.com/product/280922/Call-from-the-Deep
Also this:
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/272385/Eyrie-of-the-Dread-Eye-5E
Descent into Madness: First Steps
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/284503/Descent-into-Madness-First-Steps
(Which is a sequel to “The Sunken Fort”)
-and-
Mad Mask Spire
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/281441/Mad-Mask-Spire
Full Disclosure: I was in the original campaign these were run for, and am the other author in that publishing group.
You may enjoy the 100 Clones of Timothy the Wise. It’s a Five Cataclysms adventure, and it’s extraordinarily gonzo. Maybe one of the most gonzo things I’ve ever seen with a hyper-Vancian patron.
What about this thing…advertises itself as a beast of a dungeon, has 5, 5 star reviews…and an automatic disqualification for me cause i fucking hate unnecessary ap’ost’rop’he use.
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/284600/Chaalt?src=also_purchased
oh it’s a Venger thing too…that explains the apostrophes
Hole in the Oak?
Seconded. Hole in the Oak is great. Very imaginative
wot about Geoff McKinney’s AD&D modules
Here’s one for ya, Bryce. It’s a freebie. https://www.thebluebard.com/post/palace-vulre
Cause you hate me? I took a look.
It’s an interesting format, but you can’t get the sense of the room easily. You have to look at five or six columns to figure out what is going on and get the room and relate it to the players. I suspect it makes more sense as a “personal note taking” format. IE: you already know what’s going on and your memory just needs prompting.
I thought you’d find the format……interesting. Still, the maps are nice (for me anyway)
Same author, looks interesting.–http://www.lulu.com/shop/anthony-huso/geir-loe-cyn-crul-digital/ebook/product-24229481.html
Curious about this new one, which has received a bit of buzz. Conceptually interesting, at the least:
Trilemma Adventures Compendium Volume I
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/286792/Trilemma-Adventures-Compendium-Volume-I
I know Bryce doesn’t want to review the originals, but I think it would be great to see his take on some of the early modules, especially the hot messes like UK1. Or at the very least, if he’d review some of the non-TSR classics that he name drops all the time, like Kegals and Thracia.
Oh yeah. Bryce, ever consider reviewing some of the one-off modules that were published in Dragon magazine? I know, I know, it takes a certain bit of sadism to suggest this to you, but you might find some hidden gems, like Citadel by the Sea in issue 78 (it uses humanoids [orcs] to great effect).
Bryce you might want to look at Tower of the Moon, a werewolf themed adventure with at the moment only one detailed review suggesting good ideas, and disorganized room presentation.
It’s a Pay-what-you-want on DriveThruRPG
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/289553/Tower-of-the-Moon
Here is the review I mentioned on Beyond Formalhaut
http://beyondfomalhaut.blogspot.com/2019/10/review-tower-of-moon.html
Yeah, I actually wrote a review of it yesterday morning. It should pop in about a week or so.
You might want to have a look at a scenario called ‘Goddess of the Crypt’ available at the blog Magick is Free, lots of inventive grotesquery.
https://magickuser.wordpress.com/2019/07/16/magick-is-free/
I’ve heard good things about this one:
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/248582/The-Anthropophagi-of-Xambaala?term=anthropophagi
This sounds very interesting:
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/246611/Stjernheim-The-Siege-of-Deepknell-Hold?filters=0_2110_0_0_0
He did it already: https://tenfootpole.org/ironspike/?p=4509
Hey, how about Grinding Us, the sequel to Grinding Gear & Forgive Us . . .
I recently found my signed copy of Gary Gygax’s Necropolis. You should review that one. Haha, no I’m not that cruel! It’s a 280ish page hardcover adventure in a bunch of pyramids written in a wall of text like only Bryce could enjoy.
Here’s a quote from the final dungeon, for your amusement: “Features in Areas B, C, and D are time-wasting annoyances. E, F, and G are meant to eliminate bad play early on by removing characters run by inept participants in an adventure that demands at least competent veteran, possibly expert, ability.”
I’m interested in your thoughts on Swordfish Islands’ new 5e adventure, The Tomb of Black Sands. The PDF is $5 on their website, $7.50 (on sale) at DriveThru. It looks really cool. Anybody pick this up yet? I don’t play 5e, but I’m sure I could wing the conversion on the fly.
https://shop.swordfishislands.com/the-tomb-of-black-sand-digital/
To save you from any more of the Plague, Famine and War series, might I suggest the recent flurry of DCC Lankhmar adventures. You might like #1, Gang Lords of Lankhmar (Harley Stroh).
Bryce, how about blocking this Lord Mark turd? He has to insert his vampire bullshit into every one of his responses. It’s badly disguised spam, nothing more. https://tenfootpole.org/ironspike/?p=6301#comment-9270
I thought he was mocking the vampire spam thing (and weirdly, that is a thing which exists) by doing a character schtick…
Bryce! I think you’d rather enjoy ‘Descent into Madness: First Steps’. Huge wacky dungeon with *gasp* map inserts for separate zones, AND monster stats right in the room descriptions!
I too would be interested in your review of « The Tomb of Black Sand »
Melan’s Castle Xyntillan is out!
https://emdt.bigcartel.com/product/castle-xyntillan
Slick marketing move forcing those with no self control to pay for the full Hardback+PDF as the only initial option.
I’d buy a physical product all day any day over a PDF so there’s nothing “no self control” about it for me. Having said that, not sure why he doesn’t offer PDF right from the get go. He makes quality products but not sure I want to drop what would be for me, $66 on any one product. Maybe I can sell some old TSR stuff I’ll never use to fund it. Hmmmmm
I’m looking forward to your review of Castle Xyntillan.
In the meantime, have you ever read The Lost City of Barakus by Frog God Games (the Swords & Wizardry version)?
Hmmm, no, I’ll add it.
Barakus is one of my favorites, although in fairness I haven’t actually run or played in it yet. I’m planning to use it as the central starting point for a future campaign, adding The Shattered Circle, The Red Prophet Rises and some homebrew to the sandbox.
I just got Xyntillan in the mail today. It’s pretty great. Oh yeah, and Kent’s in it.
Melan hand delivered me a physical copy in Ohio. I should have a review soon.
Any chance of some love for DCC? It’s been four years since you’ve last reviewed a Goodman games adventure, and you tend to like them. Also, there’s a lot of third party adventures and they seem shamefully underrepresented – especially compared to 5e, which I dare say doesn’t produce nearly as much good content. How about some DCC Thursdays? 😉
I would like to see more DCC materials, too.
Add my voice to that. More DCC reviews please. I’d much rather read those than 5e and Pathfinder chaff.
Most DCC adventures these days are crap and formulaic. No one seems to be able to write anything other than funnel adventures, and anything not written by Stroh is usually some form of mediocre.
I have it, but haven’t read it yet. Curious for a review of Lost Treasure of Atlantis: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/296269/The-Lost-Treasure-of-Atlantis?src=hottest_filtered
When are you going to review Black Maw, so I can say “Almost as good as WG7 Castle Greyhawk!”
You wound me sir!
Bwahahaha! Troll level over 9000 unlocked!
I had mostly the same reaction as you did with that module. I was baffled at first, then eventually realized it wasn’t the real thing. Dammit Lorraine Williams, why you have to do that!
I don’t see a review of the 2nd half of Stonehell. Am I just missing it somewhere?
It’s pretty good! I have used components in my games and it’s run very well. It’s hard to find higher level, well designed, dungeons and this is definitely up there!!
Thanks! Do you know what the approximate level range is? Also, is it as stingy on treasure as the first half? I thought it was ridiculously light for, as Bryce would say, a gold = xp game.
How about The Sky Tree by Sharp Mountain Games? The cover looks very interesting.
Geoffrey McKinney is a goddamn, mad genius. A 78-level B/X megadungeon of roughly a thousand rooms, for character levels 1-10. All in two-page spreads per level (map/key). The entrance is the Cave of the Unknown from B2 with connections to the Caves of Chaos. The entire thing is in the preview. The only downside I see is no stat blocks, but anyone can easily whip up 12-15 single-line stats in 10 mins before play.
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/295151/Mikes-Dungeons
Hey friend, I’ve been an RPG writer on licenced products (Dragon Age RPG, Star Trek Adventures, etc) for about six years now, and this is my first foray into producing me own self-published work. I’m fully prepared for any review have criticisms, but I expect to take them on board moving forward.
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/299115/Face-the-Music–5e-Encounter
I’m grateful for any review that appears on my products, and I’m immensely thankful for your time.
If you have any questions, or you want a complimentary copy, feel free to DM me at @ozmills on Twitter or email ozmillsrpg@gmail.com
Best of luck!
Oz
Spencer Crittenden (of HarmonTown and HarmonQuest) wrote a 5e module called Color of Chaos – https://www.dmsguild.com/product/296456/Color-of-Chaos – I’m leery about trusting the reviews that have popped up on DMsguild because it sounds like those people are just fans of the shows, but I’m genuinely curious if this module is any good. I hope you will be too now that I’ve pointed out this adventure’s existence!
LC1: Assault Against the Menace on the Mountain, by Big Dragon Games. Came out in 2013, you did the other three modules they’ve put out to date, but not this one. “A Roman-themed module based on the story The Very Old Folk by the master of pulp horror H.P. Lovecraft”.
Autarch’s “Secret of the Nethercity” would be nice. Looks like a decent-sized crawl, with a rather wide level range.
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/294819/Secrets-of-the-Nethercity
Took a look at this one…I wasn’t super-impressed. It’s big and there’s a lot going on, but it’s mostly combat and traps IIRC. It makes a nod towards faction play, but I thought it fell short on that score.
I’ve been running this one for a while, and it’s honestly kind of a slog. Push open a heavy stone slab door, get paralyzed by a mummy, throw fire at the mummy, take treasure, repeat.
Still wouldn’t mind seeing it reviewed, though.
An oldie that seems to have slipped under your radar, by Shane Ward, who you’ve reviewed a number of adventures by: The Lizardmen of Illzathatch.
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/140087/The-Lizardmen-of-Illzathatch
I do like Sly’s Lazy DM advice series; wondering how the adventure he penned stacks https://www.drivethrurpg.com/m/product/296843
I’ve got Lizardmen, Sly/ Flourish, Nethercity, Face The Music, geoffry’s Mike’s dungeon, and the rest added to my ToDo list, officially. They should be showing up shortly.
Thanks to everyone for keeping an eye out for product! That is, surprisingly, one of the hardest parts of this.
Petey’s Pork Pie Emporium has been a ride to read and is on my to-run list. Has interesting ideas and bizarre art. I got it because of a youtube flip-through of the pdf. Would love to hear your thoughts on it.
https://www.dmsguild.com/product/284010/Peteys-Pork-Pie-Emporium-Dwiergus-1
Glad to see you enjoyed it! Did you ever get to run it with your players?
I’d love you to review Magical Murder Mansion by Skerples, and maybe the new Frog God Games version of Tegel Manor, especially in comparison to Castle Xyntillan
Yaaassss
Having just flipped to Tegel Manor, it does seem to be one of Frog God’s better recent efforts.
Just realized that Gabor Lux is one of the credited authors for Tegel Manor too. No wonder this thing is better than most other frog god offerings (I know people love RA but my ADD kicks in with most of the “lots of text and 500 pages” type endeavors, much less so with this behemoth).
It’s always interesting to download a bundle from DTRPG…just did with their AU Bushfire related bundles (always a good thing to do…plus it’s a good deal for a lot of content, though the content is likely crap). Will let you know if anything sparkles in the pile.
Uh, i received a post about the review of some adventure called “Lair of the Shorlee Wyrm”, but clicking the link got me a “not found” message and indeed that review seems to be nowhere in the blog that i can see. Any idea of what might be going on?
The Grande Temple of Jing, because I am both a sadist and a masochist. This thing has me so perturbed, can a product be really good and really awful at the same time?
Here’s some oddballs I recently stumbled across while browsing DriveThru that didn’t turn up when using your site’s search:
PO-1 The Stolen Child
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/134488/PO1-The-Stolen-Child
FM-1 Baba Smerta
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/137402/FM1-Baba-Smerta
FM-2 The Temple of Asibare
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/138888/FM2-The-Temple-of-Asibare
HS2 The Forsaken Burial Vaults
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/142705/HS2-The-Forsaken-Burial-Vaults
YS1 The Outpost of the Outer Ones
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/145681/YS1-The-Outpost-of-the-Outer-Ones
added
Add the the new Skerples and FGG Tegal Manor too!
You’ll probably hate me for this, but could you add Citadel by the Sea, a module found in Dragon issue #78, to the list? It’s probably one of the best of the modules that were published in Dragon before they created Dungeon magazine. On the other hand it probably has the same three column bloat problem that Dungeon had.
No reason for him to hate you because of this one: it’s a solid adventure (and he won’t have to read 50 issues of Dungeon to find that out). I’d love him to tackle the Dragon magazine run: there was only about three dozen total, and some of them were quite good: a much higher hits ratio than Dungeon.
Jungle Tomb of the Mummy Bride by John Stater!!!
So, I just bought this because the preview alone convinced me. Thanks for finding this, whoever you are.
You are very welcome!
Trilemma. One of the best hex crawls I have read.
How about this one, Bryce? You’ve favorably reviewed other Rosethrone stuff in the past >> https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/280123/The-Chantry-of-the-Deepflame
tldr: Magnificent. Unrunnable. at 244 pages it should be a third again longer.
Wait, are you saying the module needs to be longer??? That’s a first.
Chantry of the Deepflame is 244 pages?!
Yep…less text density than most modules though.
Publisher here – I don’t know if it should be longer, but it definitely could be better organized and could use a couple more editing passes. It was years in the making and I finally just pushed it out the door… Unrunnable? Maybe. I think there’s some good ideas buried in there but, yeah, I think you’d have to really want to tackle it to make it work. Maybe someday I’ll revise it and others to make them more “table friendly”. As always, Bryce, your input is hugely appreciated, even when you hate something 🙂
Can John Stater and the mummy bride deliver us from the swarm DTRPG drek?
John Stater has nothing to do with The Mummy Bride. He only reviewed it.
“The Halls of Arden Vul Complete,” the long-promised megadungeon from Expeditious Retreat Press that is… checks DTRPG… over a hundred bucks for the pdf and over a thousand pages…
(Honestly, Bryce, given the price of this thing, I would understand if you decide not to review it.)
If Bryce won’t give an honest review of it, who will at that price tag? Not entirely a rhetorical question.
We can all probably guess what Bryce’s review for this would look like. It’s ERP, so unless it’s very different in its formatting from the dozens of other modules they’ve released, there’s likely large blocks of DM text with important info buried in window-dressing and lore. Real highlighter-land (which is not the worst thing imo).
That said, I plan on picking up the POD when they (multiple books) drop because the artwork I’ve seen is absolutely beautiful. You can get the PDF of the maps for free on DriveThru, and I have to say, that some mega-dungeon. Like Tim Hartin on steroids, and cocaine, and LSD. Pretty drool-worthy.
I’d love to be proven wrong and find it to be tight and easily runnable. ERP’s stuff usually has tons of cool things content-wise and they definitely understand the system they’re writing for, so it’s going to have that going for it. I bet Allan Grohe will do a fair write-up of it.
I’m a sucker for megadungeons, so I’ll probably get it once it comes out in print. It’s gonna be a lot of money, but those maps are very, very pretty.
Just going by the maps, it looks like there’s quite a lot of above-ground content. Not sure how much use I’d get out of that part of it.
Arden Vul…at $109 just for the pdf Bryce would certainly be taking a hit for the team.
Prediction: praised as great accomplishment, but rarely played except as a one-off and mostly bought as a shelf queen by megadungeon completists.
He’s got a Patreon. (Yellow Button on left)
Huh? This is *my* prediction of the book’s ultimate reception, not a prediction of tenfootpole’s review conclusion. If you care for his, by all means, donate away. I don’t need to.
Ah good call. Arden Vul and FGG Regal Manor vs CX would still be sweet
wot about Castle Triskellion?
https://www.and-mag.com/category/download/castle-triskelion-download/
Arden Vul in about a week. I’ve added Trisk & Regal
Can you read 1200 pages properly in a week and write a decent review? What a machine! (I’m assuming you have a real job as well…which might not be such a sound assumption these days).
I did say “about.” 🙂 Plus, I have no job anymore.
Dude, you lost your job?! Say it ain’t so
You know what they say? “Recession is when my neighbor loses his job, depression is when my favorite RPG review blogger loses his.”
Dang!! Sorry to hear that Bryce. Hope things turn around quickly for you.
Eagerly awaiting your review of the Halls of Arden Vul but really sorry about your job loss…
On another note, have you eventually read The Lost City of Barakus by FGG (the Swords & Wizardry version)? I can send you the pdf if you want.
I would love to see a Castle Trisk review. Dude looks like a good guy blogger trooper. I hope its good!
You might enjoy this more than the Adventurers League titles. It’s more of a classic dungeon crawl… https://www.dmsguild.com/product/293544/
The Hoard of Delusion looks really good to me.
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/302841/Hoard-of-Delusion
Seconded
Thirded. Bryce please add to list if you haven’t already
ok. Will do. I took today off. I’ll get back at it tomorrow, which means it pops in about a week.
I can not wait for the Arden Vul review. You put serious effort into your writing and for that to be applied to a dungeon of this size?
I seriously count the days and check first thing every morning.
You are awesome and in these times ? Your work means a great deal to me.
Yeah, considering the asking price for Arden Vul, I’m relying on Bryce’s honest appraisal to decide whether I jump in for this one. Is this thing a beautiful beast full of awesome stuff but suffers from being almost unplayable and requires major highlighting? Or does this tick all the boxes?
Another one for Castle Triskellion too.
No PDF is worth that. There are plenty of dungeons of great quality. This reminds me of the “Worlds Largest Dungeon” gimmick back in the 3E days.
I agree. There seems to be an upward trend in PDF prices recently. For me, it doesn’t follow that if 50 pages = a $10 PDF, that 100 pages = a $20 PDF and so on, which seems to be the logic being pushed here. I’ll pay good money for a print version, but it just doesn’t feel right to charge a bucket load for something with no actual physical production costs.
Well…I keep thinking…how many hours of play would a 1000+ page adventure be? Depending on the writing and content, it could last a long time. A movie costs about $12-$14 where I’m at and it can be 1.5 to 2 hours in comparison. Would a 1000+ page adventure last 80+ hours? Probably would for my group (but my players are slow and take their time).
The amount of art thrown in there, I’m sure it cost a small fortune. I agree, the price is high, but I don’t necessarily think it’s unjustified due to the costs to prepare it (editor, layout, mapwork, art, etc..). I would of rather seen a Kickstarter for this so that prices would of been lower, but without a Kickstarter, I’m not one to fault the price knowing some of the costs that go into this sort of thing.
Killian’s your typical internet dumb ass who thinks he’s an expert on shit he’s never done. Anyone who’s ever published a module knows that the *least* scalable part of a module is the cost of editing, art, maps and layout. The cost of printing an incremental page is nothing compared with the cost of editing, art, maps and layout for an incremental page. This means a long, elaborate module like AV will be expensive to produce even in PDF.
“No physical production costs” = “I don’t think time is worth anything”
Presuming the amount of time per page is efficient, the more time is spent producing more pages should certainly reflect in the price. People who don’t value their own time certainly won’t value mine. Which is probably why so many modules suck so badly.
Page count has little to do with product quality, usability or worth. In fact, most products that are long are stuffed full of crap because people are going by word count and are utterly not built with the GM in mind. A product like DCO provides years worth of gaming and is very user friendly without ever getting into the numbers game.
It’s pretty simple Anonymous and EOTB, it’s economics 101: Law of Diminishing Marginal Utility.
Pretty sure that Economics 102.
(…or I slept in that day. Yeah, probably that.)
As usual, when dumb internet neckbeard is wrong, he shifts the goalposts and smokescreens with Big Words/Concepts. Killian initially justified his price resistance with a point on relative production costs of paper/PDF, which was quickly exposed as wrong and uninformed, so then he switched to how he’s not paying proportionately more for a longer adventure, which is fine, but not his original point.
As for Evard’s quality over quantity argument… that’s not what anyone’s debating here.
Looks like you can buy them now in volumes. 300+ pages for 30$ for the pdf. $55 for hardcover
There’s also a bundle option for people who want to get the pain over with as soon as possible, which I very much appreciate.
I don’t know if you do reviews of introductory adventures included with rulebooks but MÖRK BORG’s sample adventures (Rotblack Sludge) has got to be as close to Bryce Lynch’s platonic ideal as anything I’ve seen.
The Lighthouse of Anan Marath, for S&W:
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/304474/The-Lighthouse-of-Anan-Marath–Swords–Wizardry
Hope you get around to this one – I had a lot of fun writing it!
Lorn Song of the Bachelor by Hydra Cooprerative. Thankfully 48 pages, reads like a breeze, requires no highlighters.
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/295976/Lorn-Song-of-the-Bachelor?
Also adding the Ghoul Prince and all of its 28 pages, by DIY https://www.drivethrurpg.com/m/product/238775
Mammary Tube by Benoist
This one is free right now https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/310162/Beneath-the-Remains
This *better* be as good as the Sepultura album, otherwise the Thrash Metal Gods will be angry! 😉
Best Left Buried is an OSR rpg that’s not quite D&D but it’s close, and it has a couple of adventures that I’ve considered running: The Missing Sea & Spy in the House of Eth (by Zedeck Siew). The former contains conversion notes for running it with other D20 systems, but you can usually just guess what’s going on. Both adventures feature hexcrawls on smallish areas, the former a drained sea with a dying leviathan god and the latter a mangrove swamp town whose automation has hell leaking in.
There are a few other adventures for it released, Spoils of the Gorgon Coast is a build your own decadent collapsed citystate generator by the Goatman’s Goblet blogger and Behind Closed Doors a warhammeresque adventure by the Ant-lerr blogger, although i otherwise don’t know anything about these.
How about “The Wandering Glade” in Echoes from Fomalhaut #06?
I discovered “Bring Me Her Bones.” It is more deserving of a review than most.
Thanks!
Castle Broken, POD on Amazon.
In the slightly older and probably overlooked department, we have The Dragon’s Breath, for OSRIC:
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product_info.php?products_id=219823
Goodman Games has a lot of Grimtooth Stuff, I’d love to read a review of yours in regards to Grimtooth’s Museum (88.5 I believe?)
There’s a couple of 5e conversions I’d be interested in getting your take on:
The Ruined Tower of Zenopus: Zach Howard’s (Arch Zenopus) 5e conversion of the Holmes Basic sample dungeon. There’s no map (yet), but he links to Wizards’ online pdf of the original. This is pretty cheap on DMs Guild.
https://www.dmsguild.com/product/301308/The-Ruined-Tower-of-Zenopus
The Sorcerer Under the Mountain: This Newt Newport’s (Crypts & Things) 5e conversion of his own sample adventure in his recent British-style S&W clone, Tales from the Sorcerer Under the Mountain. The 28-page standalone 5e conversion is more expensive as a Pdf than the 200+ pg Tales, so I’m interested if the 5e one is worth it. I like Crypts & Things, but I don’t need another S&W set of rules just to get an OD&D adventure.
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/300639/The-Sorcerer-Under-the-Mountain
The Ruined Tower of Zenopus: Zach Howard’s (Arch Zenopus) 5e conversion of the Holmes Basic sample dungeon. There’s no map (yet), but he links to Wizards’ online pdf of the original. This is pretty cheap on DMs Guild.
https://www.dmsguild.com/product/301308/The-Ruined-Tower-of-Zenopus
The Sorcerer Under the Mountain: This Newt Newport’s (Crypts & Things) 5e conversion of his own sample adventure in his recent British-style S&W clone, Tales from the Sorcerer Under the Mountain. The 28-page standalone 5e conversion is more expensive as a Pdf than the 200+ pg Tales, so I’m interested if the 5e one is worth it. I like Crypts & Things, but I don’t need another S&W set of rules just to get an OD&D adventure.
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/300639/The-Sorcerer-Under-the-Mountain
Sorry for the duplicate.
The Empire of Ghouls for 5e. How well has this lovely dungeon adventure involved as it’s evolved into a monstrosity of a book and adventure compared to the original?
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/m/product/313285
Echoes From Fomalhaut #07 From Beneath the Glacier is out and contains three adventures. Bryce, take a break from reviewing crap and look at these please.
https://emdt.bigcartel.com/product/echoes-from-fomalhaut-07-from-beneath-the-glacier
What appears to be crap is where the fresh gold and talent is! You never know, thanks for digging Bryce
Perhaps, but the ‘fresh gold and talent’ to ‘crap’ ratio is woefully low. Still, I am grateful to him for wading through piles of chaff to find those all too rare stalks of wheat. Gabor Lux/Melan is a great palate cleanser when seeking quality.
Here is a Play Test Version of “Ravenloft: Prey of the Black Wolf” for 1E/2E and 5E. I ran this for both my 1E/2E AD&D and 5E D&D groups. The 1E/2E group has about 2 more sessions to go.
My suggestions for improving it were mainly spelling, layout and editing and map based. The game play went fine in both groups. This is due to be released May 24th:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/a4swiu26a95vlzx/AADEVN0mPUlIy4Rd2Hargg9ba?dl=0
The Official Version of the “Ravenloft: Prey of the Black Wolf”, is now out! It’s $15:
https://www.dmsguild.com/product/314883/Ravenloft-Prey-of-the-Black-Wolf
Requesting a review of Arnold K’s new dungeon, Lair of the Lamb. It’s free.
http://goblinpunch.blogspot.com/2020/04/lair-of-lamb-final.html
If, as a general rule, you’re willing to review this kind of stuff, it would also be nice to see a review of Alex Schroeder’s Caverns of Slime (The Darkness Beneath, level 13).
https://alexschroeder.ch/pdfs/Caverns%20of%20Slime.pdf
I just picked up “Gatehouse on Cormac’s Grag” by David Bezio for Swords & Wizardry White Box, levels 1-3. It’s $3.99, 39 pages, two-column with large font. Features a small wilderness area, town, and titular gatehouse with multi-level dungeon with 134 keyed areas. Seems fairly vanilla, but there’s some neat stuff there – still going through it. Worth a look.
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/315159/Gatehouse-on-Cormacs-Crag?term=gatehouse+of+cormac%27s+crag
He did back in April!
I know Arnold has been editing it for publication dont know if he revised in light of the review
If A Single Small Cut wasn’t too old to review, why not do Raggi’s Better Than Any Man? Currently PWYW
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/m/product/116452
There’s a new Dungeon Age adventure for 5E/OSR, The Obsidian Keep. You’ve like some of their other work.
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/316699/The-Obsidian-Keep-A-Dungeon-Age-Adventure-5e-and-OSR-versions
I’ve been enjoying my recent Kickstarter copy of Lazy Litch’s “Willow.” It’s a 36-pg (incl. cover and end-papers), digest-sized adventure/setting zine. He calls it a micro-setting, but to me, this is an adventure. Trade and travel have ceased in the gloomy, isolated fishing village of Willow due to some dangerous mystery upriver. It has a small-area hex map, multiple adventure sites, notable NPCs with a relationship chart, hooks and rumors, multiple factions, new monsters, and a 15-day timeline of events to drive action. The developing mystery and the timeline are what makes this more than a setting to me. Stuff is about to go down.
It’s $7 on DriveThru. The preview doesn’t show much, there’s no level range given (maybe 3-5?), and the keyed-areas could be formatted better (single-column). That said, I still think it’s worth people checking out. https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/316522/Willow?term=willow+lazy+litch
This one sounds interesting…weird mushrooms and all that….but no preview. Have you done this one (I looked and didn’t see it). https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/313219/So-Youve-Been-Thrown-Down-A-Well?src=hottest_filtered&filters=45582_0_0_0_0
A Shadow over the Greatwood looks promising; you have enjoyed some of the author’s previous works. The premise is interesting, the preview shows worthwhile material, and there seem to be goblin allies of convenience, but still less than honest (which is how I like them).
Just stumbled across this while surfing oldest-of-school miniatures nostalgia-pr0n:
https://images.reapermini.com/static/content/dungeondwellers/DD1_Vanishing_Blackguard_v3_high.pdf
What do you think?
Hi Bryce,
Do you plan to review Dark City Games adventures?
http://www.darkcitygames.com/display.php?series=law&id=11
Thanks,
George
bryce have you considered to do a list of horror-fantasy or better said horror themed d&d or d&d adjacent adventures?
It feels kind of gross to recommend my own book, but you liked The Vanilla Adventure. Plus Worm Witch: The Life and Death of Belinda Blood just got nominated for a 2020 Emmy. It’s definitely not the platonic ideal of a Bryce adventure, but it’s different enough from the norm that you might get a kick out of it.
Shout outs to the Vanilla Adventure and congrats on the Emmy nom
If 100 pages is too many, how about the 20 or so of Beneath the Ruined Wizard’s Tower (free on
DriveThru)? Or Pride and Prejudice, because if you are moving into romance novels, at least make it by a great author.
Can I put in a request for either of the new LotFP adventures? Preferably Fermentum Nigrum Dei Sepulti.
The Brazen Bull, one of three adventures in Rats in the Walls and Other Perils.
I’d like to request a review of A Wizard by Donovan Caldwell. I can’t make heads or tails of this one. It is currently available on itch.io.
Secrets of the Nethercity for ACKS. It’s a kilodungeon, not a megadungeon. Looks great.
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/294819/Secrets-of-the-Nethercity
Darkness At Nekemte.
From the guy that brought us Gunderholfen
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/317631/Darkness-at-Nekemte
Thanks for the heads up on this.
Joseph Robert Lewis from Dungeon Age has a new PWYW adventure out for levels 1-3. It’s a linear voyage on a flying ship across a desert. I’m picking it up because making ship voyages not feel boring or railroad-ish can be tough and I think this might be able to be re-skinned as an ocean adventure. You’ve liked everything else he’s done so it should be a no-brainer.
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/322651/Desert-Angel-Fiasco-A-Dungeon-Age-Adventure-5e-and-OSR-versions