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.
RSS https://tenfootpole.org/ironspike/?feed=rss2
Bryce’s Adventure Design Forum – Featuring… Book Talk!
The link to the product in this review is probably an affiliate link. If you follow the link and buy the product, I make some money. Just thought you should know.
The link to the product in this review is probably an affiliate link. If you follow the link and buy the product, I make some money. Just thought you should 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.
Hey, Natalie from Social Buzzzy checking in. I’ve found a game-changer for Instagram growth and had to share it with you!
Social Growth Engine presents an extraordinary tool that skyrockets Instagram engagement. It’s simple:
– Keep focusing on creating amazing content.
– Cost-effective at less than $36/month.
– Safe, effective, and Instagram-friendly.
Having seen fantastic results, and I know you will too! Boost your Instagram game today: http://get.socialbuzzzy.com/instagram_booster
Best wishes your success,
Natalie from Social Buzzzy
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?
Would love to see this one as well.
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
SP1 The Endless Tunnels of Enlandin is from Basic Fantasy RPG via their website and is free! How is it?
2020 sucks but people have come together to submit a bunch of one page dungeons!
I know its a lot of work but this level of community effort should get more spotlight!
The 2020 one page dungeons have been compiled and are free on the contests website.
Help us Bryce.
https://www.dungeoncontest.com/
You’re welcome.
Looks very interesting and the art and format grabbed my attention:
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/324122/GoldGlory-Garden-of-Bones?src=newest_since
Not sure why Diogo Nogueira,is acclaimed though….i thought he was an MMA guy 🙂
I request the broken castle forest module by gene widel
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zytfH3vo4ABJBvag5qUb4vD2tEiDNXgi/view
He also released a book but its only in print right now
I hate to ask for my own work to be reviewed, but I did something ambitious and I’m eager to see what you think of it. Orig. inspiration: reaction to Revelry in Northgate review on your site. Then I “reloaded” the adventure with more content after playtesting it.
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/236883/The-Lost-Lush-RELOADED
Pub-crawling adventure that duplicates the tipsy weightlessness of late-night wandering from dive to dive on filthy cobblestoned streets, drunk, battered, nauseous, but still on a mission.
Bryce, please do this one! You liked Karel’s Statues a lot (and so did I after your recommendation) and this one sounds very interesting too.
Aw, thanks! I feel like less of a putz if somebody else is advocating for The Lost Lush Reloaded to be reviewed.
If you have your own blog or you just want to email me a paragraph of reader-response (or how Lush played at your table), send me a message at MachuvMajMN@gmail.com and I’ll reply with a free review pdf.
I wrote a Murder Mystery adventure that takes place entirely on a ship. I would love if you would review it!
https://www.dmsguild.com/product/316958/Murder-on-The-Primewater-Pleasure
How about this one, Bryce? Someone above also mentioned it, I think
Secrets of the Nethercity
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/294819/Secrets-of-the-Nethercity
Another ACKS product? That would be great, since the comments last time were very educational.
I’d like to see a review of Rob Kuntz’s “The Original Bottle City”. I’m having a hard time finding a decent analysis of it, which surprises me, considering its pedigree. The fact that it’s a higher-level adventure is interesting as well.
Apparently there’s two editions, with the later one being by Black Blade and having 44 pages (as opposed to the first release’s 32).
I request a review of JN2 by JD Neal its free on the Basic Fantasy RPG website. Its called Monkey Isle. You liked his Sage of the Giants adventure
There is a review in Fight on! #7.
I would like to request a review of Neverland: A Fantasy Role-Playing Setting . I hear its the next hot springs island with a focus on layout and usability.
This looks interesting:
https://www.dmsguild.com/m/product/330694
I’d like to see a review of the Secret of Skyhorn Lighthouse, which is a (free) 5th edition adventure that “is meant to be run at a glance with minimal preparation and a natural delivery”.
https://www.dmsguild.com/product/215629/The-Secrets-of-Skyhorn-Lighthouse
I’d second that. I just took a look through the preview, and it does seem to be a novel approach designed specifically to make it easy to run at the table.
Kelsey is a good designer
I suspect we’d get a mixed review. On the plus side, the layout makes it extremely easy for a DM to pickup and use on the tabletop. Very rich NPCs, good interactions, etc. On the other hand, it’s extremely linear.
Despite my extreme indifference and disinterest towards 5e, I grabbed a copy of this. Bryce says the designer is good and it’s free. For me, it’s worth a look at the very least.
TSR’s B4 The Lost City by Tom Moldvay seems to get alot of love among the OSR crowd. I would love to see a Bryce review of this.
A review of Dyson’s Delve, the free mini megadungeon by Dyson Logos would also be good to see. That too is a popular OSR product that I haven’t seen many reviews of.
Bryce doesn’t review old TSR stuff. Some of it I think he should but he doesn’t
Two that look interesting:
– Xanadu: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/332813/Xanadu
– The Evils of Illmire: https://www.exaltedfuneral.com/products/the-evils-of-illmire-pdf
I request Gradient Descent and Pound of Flesh by Tuesday Knight Games
They are for Mothership by the people who did Dead Planet
I ran that module to great effect from the portal in Operation Unfathomable based on your recommendations. The usability in Dead Planet is spotttt on
Would love to see how they have done with other products
Gradient Descent looks awesome. I like it more than Pound of Flesh, which looks pretty good. But you can’t see GD yet (as of 11/2/20) unless you’re backing the Kickstarter, like me and (apparently) you.
Also, they aren’t QUITE done by the same people. Sean McCoy has his hand in all of them, but he’s not the principle author of any of the adventures. Jarrett Crader is an editor for all three. GD was written by Alan Gerding while the other two were written by Donn Stroud. They’ve all got that Mothership feel, and I have a sneaking suspicion that Crader is the glue that holds them all together.
As an extra bonus, there is no fucking hot pink text in Gradient Descent. Unfortunately they are still apparently allergic to bookmarking the PDF because they want you to have that old timey PAPER feeling. Style trumps usability, from time to time, with the Mothership line.
Gradient Descent was written by Luke Gearing, not Alan Gerding.
What the hell, did I type that on my phone? Yes, I know you’re right
Bryce, you have a spammer loose. See the Recent Comments sidebar above
Anthony Huso’s Dream House of the Nether Prince:
https://www.thebluebard.com/post/don-t-everyone-rush-at-once
High level D&D, as it was meant to be.
Physical only?
Based on the blog, hardcover only for now. PDF in the future
Anthony’s adventures are no joke. I’d recommend his Mortuary Temple of Esma which is in PDF. I think that’s his best one yet. The Dream House looks cool, but it’s serious cash and I don’t have a party that high at the moment.
https://www.lulu.com/en/us/shop/anthony-huso/the-mortuary-temple-of-esma-digital/ebook/product-1z9nnm8w.html?page=1&pageSize=4
Worth the dive in; this thing has high production values. Any DM interested in running high-level, planar adventures should think about looking to get this.
Request: King for a Day
Every review I found for this monster was positive, so I picked it up and tried to read it. I’ve absorbed bits and pieces, but I keep bouncing off the organization. I think it’s good? I really can’t tell.
There are over 200 NPCs with factions and tons of possible events. The backstory has potential, and the setting is rich with early medieval low fantasy. But everything is alphabetically ordered, and all the event descriptions expect you to be familiar with the NPCs, so it’s hard to know where to start in this 370 page tome.
I want The Best RPG Adventure Reviewer to tell me if I should spend the time to get a master’s degree in this adventure or print it out just to burn it. I’ve already spent the money, but my time is even more precious. I was looking for something to run with Wolves of God – King’s setting is a good match.
@ Bryce, I know you don’t review settings and I’m not asking you to review this but if you don’t know about the product linked below, you might want to check it out. I know you are a Gamma World fan and this looks very interesting.
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/285984/Barbarians-of-the-Ruined-Earth-Standard-Cover
If you did want to review it I certainly wouldn’t complain though 😉
Off topic comments: IN spite of loving Thundarr and The Warlord (and, obviously, Gamma World/MA) I get turned off immediately when I see Thundarr and Pirates of DW referenced in a product description. I don’t know why? Maybe, somehow, I have connotations of “cinematic” indy adventure instead of more RPG adventure when I see those associations being made?
Into the Rad just showed up on DriveThru also, I think? Looks like solo “into the odd” setting?
I usually treat myself to an “everything else” DriveThru non-adventure buy around this time of year. I’ll pop them both on and maybe do a short post on all the shit that are not advenutres that I bought
For me, Thundarr in a post apoc game means savagery, super-science, and sorcery. I think the cartoon has tons of inspiration in it but I guess it depends on the type of game you want to run.
Oh, I agree, for sure. But when a GAME references it I have some other (negative) mental association, for the play experience. idk.
Barbarians guy did a free adventure pdf on his blog!
I really liked Hubris, curious to hear how his adventures are!
Links here
https://wrathofzombie.files.wordpress.com/2020/11/the-lab-of-dr-chaostrum.pdf
https://wrathofzombie.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/barbarians-of-the-ruined-earth-and-the-raid-on-the-blistered-bunch.pdf
https://wrathofzombie.files.wordpress.com/2020/11/the-lab-of-dr-chaostrum.pdf
Here is mine; The Wretched Hive, a 27-page OSR “hex dungeon”. I’d love to hear your thoughts”
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/314393/The-Wretched-Hive
And here is the pitch:
A titanic insect god, constantly giving birth to endless larvae. An assassin whose task is to poison the enemies of her faith. Twisted hybrids, half human and half bee, created by devilish biomancers. A pagan cult whose temple was invaded by demons. And these are the good guys! Welcome to the Wretched Hive!
If you can have a check at “Descent into Madness” kilodungeon from the Five Cataclysms crew I’d be delighted.
Request
The Storm’s Impending Rage and Hope Cross Village from Rosethrone Publishing.
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/335320/The-Storms-Impending-Rage?manufacturers_id=11655
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/335939/Hope-Cross-Village?manufacturers_id=11655
The preview for this one looks interesting- it seems to be done “differently”: The Barrow.
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/337531/The-Last-Barrow?src=hottest
This definitely requires a Bryce review:
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/319114/The-Banquet-of-Dust?src=newest_print
I mean…
“There are over 100 pages of adventure spread over six maps and pupulated by new creatures and new magic.”
That typo is positively Lynchian
Request: “Hideous Daylight”: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/333639/Hideous-Daylight
Thanks!
Look, a free Patrick Stuart Adventure:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Ed2EeWTTYTeG_z9N7Pk3vrctCXD-9WUh/view
Here’s what I would like: Bryce takes a two week holiday from reviewing. But he does not get to rest. Instead, he spends these two weeks reorganizing the “My favorite of the new old school adventures” page into a series of subcategories e.g. Exemplary Layout . . . Evocative Language . . . Adequate Treasure to Actually Level . . . Jaquayed Maps . . . Satisfactory Hooks . . . Worthy Page to Room Ratio . . . Kuntzian Depth . . . Best Adventures Ever etc. etc. This way it’s immediately obvious why any particular adventure has been chosen for “Best”; furthermore, Bryce can now reference these lists in future reviews for someone who doesn’t understand what, say, “evocative language” means.
This would make the “favorite of the old school” page immensely more useful for aspiring authors, and also, perhaps, for DMs looking for a good adventure. If he gets especially ambitious, he could also organize the best adventures by environment, level, system, social/wilderness/dungeon—but I actually think that’s less useful than the reason Bryce used for determining it one of the “Best”. Anyway, this would make me happy to see, and I think you should seriously consider doing this.
The Palace of Unquiet Repose
I’d love to hear your thoughts on two of my modules. You haven’t been a big fan of my previous modules, but perhaps you’ll like these better, as they are more sandboxy and perhaps a better fit to your preferred style:
Here they are:
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/322051/Throne-of-Gondira
You have heard the wild tales of fabled Gondira, a city built by the sons of giants, with a palace of white marble and gates of beaten gold, now hidden by the jungle and haunted by white apes who walk upright like men.
Can you penetrate the steaming jungles of the south to discover the lost city and bring back its treasures, or will you die before you can set eyes upon the throne of Gondira?
(Written for 5E)
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/342260/Land-of-the-Silver-Lotus
“Sail due east from Iraab, O traveller, to the verdant isles where pale blossoms sway in the moonlight to the throb of native drums. But beware the treacherous hidden reefs, which can shatter a ship and send you to a watery grave before you even set foot on dry land!
If you can make landfall and offer a satisfying bribe to Tiku, the decadent Pygmy King, there are great riches and marvelous sights awaiting you deep within the inland jungles. That is, if you dare to venture past the bleached bones of countless fools who have gone before you into the places that are taboo …”
(Written for Pathfinder)
I’ve added them to my ToDo list.
I’m not overly fond of plot, but don’t insist on open world design. Was that it? let’s find out!
Bryce, is your gmail address still valid? Trying to reach you about Knock zine. Thanks
Please respond Bryce, and check out the Knock Zine. Olivier your…
WORK IS FANTASTIC
I don’t think Bryce reviews zines, does he?
If the zine contains an adventure he might review the adventure. That’s what he did for Fight On magazine
Not so much for Bryce to review it, more so to read and enjoy. It made me happy and its good work.
I am sure Bryce is aware of Knock: the zine includes two articles written by him
I’ve done various things over the years to force myself to write my book. Once, I wrote some blog posts for rpggeek; that’s where they come from.
Hey Bryce, if you’re looking for stuff to review that’s not shovelware, can I suggest “Crypt of the Mellified Mage” and “The Spire of Quetzel”. Both are adventure compilations for Forbidden Lands, a pseudo-OSR game. What makes them both interesting is that the publisher recruited a bunch of big names from the OSR scene (Patrick Stuart, David McGrogan, Chris McDowall, etc.) to write the modules. Might be interesting.
Thanks! Added!
Barrow of Sorn:
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/344994/Barrow-of-Sorn
$1. Short, terse reasonably evocative writing; pretty good layout; easy to scan and run. Not going to blow minds but some interesting things in it, well worth $1 as a good low level intro adventure.
This one looks good : https://magickuser.wordpress.com/2020/08/05/hidden-shrine-of-setebos/
For ITO. It tries hard on ergonomy. The “mood” entry partially works IMO but is interesting. Some cool tables and many good ideas.
Love to hear your opinion on this one.
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/341396/The-Palace-of-Unquiet-Repose-OSE-Version?src=hottest_filtered
I request Stonehell part 2! I think it came out when you were on break and its where things get strange 😀
This small one looks cool https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/341263/Zaratazarats-Manse
Gus L is making adventures again! Rejoice!
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse/pub/18552/Ratking-Productions
Priced at 1$ too!
Cool!
Not sure if bestiaries are your thing, but I recently released this one that is pwyw but also donates to charities if money is sent its way! It’s beasts and dragons almost exclusively, but has magic items and subclasses as well!
https://www.dmsguild.com/product/344859/Eoth-Khalstans-Revised-Encylcopedia-of-Great-Animals–Draconic-Beings
This is massive but maybe you could review the first adventure in the series.
https://greyhawkonline.com/riveradventure/
You asked for it, you got it. Toyota
You asked for it, you got it. Toyota
You asked for it, you got it. Toyota
You asked for it, you got it. Toyota
You asked for it, you got it. Toyota
You asked for it, you got it. Toyota
You asked for it, you got it. Toyota
*sweats with nervous energy
Here is something: The Hidden Shrine of Tmocanotz (S&W), from Frog God Games.
I would purchase and review it, but having had stuff published by FGG, it would not be the right thing to do.
Rappan Athuk you mean?
Cloister of the Frog-God (in RA), bits and pieces in Tegel Manor, and material in Wilderlands of High Fantasy.
Very cool! I did not know you worked on 3e wilderlands! How much of the recent published Tegal Manor is you?
Bits and pieces remain, but the bulk of the new version is Bill Webb and Thom Wilson. Cloister was actually assembled from bits and pieces of recycled Tegel content (mostly my ideas for the dungeons, and two mini-dungeons originally developed for the wilderness areas). In fact, a blog post on this is forthcoming *very* soon!
I hate to shill but I do so only because I want advice on how to improve.
I wrote ‘Sulphur and Snuff, A Devilish Performance’ and released it for free on my blog very recently. It’s a rather dark horror-heist/rescue dungeon for OSR games.
Johan Nohr, the MORK BORG artist and graphic designer praised the visual-style/map and another commenter said that ‘this is better stuff than many published dungeons’. So I guess I haven’t written garbage like I thought I had.
https://foreignplanets.blogspot.com/2021/02/sulphur-and-snuff-horror-dungeon.html
I be extremely grateful for any advice (from anyone).
ack
To gross? I understand. I almost gave up because of how vile the content was. “ack” can I quote you on that?
Hehe. That’s IT speak for “I acknowledge” IE: I will do it. 🙂
Uh oh. I would have been happy with “ack” – Bryce Lynch (tenfootpole). I’m nervous now! Let the nervy quadruple-checking begin!
For a change of pace, may I recommend Night of Blood for WFRP?
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/259967/WFRP-Old-World-Adventures–Night-of-Blood
This is proper old school Warhammer, an adventure originally from 1987 by Jim Babra. It only has some 7 pages, and is basically a one-shot in a scary inn. Surprisingly sandboxy and open-ended.
The Hidden Colony of Layanaka is a Caribbean themed dungeon set in the Sola Archipelago. Once a colony of refugees from a Prison City this place is now in ruins victim to a terrible parasite.
This is an interesting new adventure available on drivetrurpg: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/347216/The-Hidden-Colony-Of-Layanaka
Heya, I’m the author of the adventure so I’m seconding this review 😉 ! Would be great to know what you think. If you want I can send you a review copy for free!
Please review Descent into Avernus just so I can hear you tell us all the reasons why it sucks, badly!
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/312984
Castle of Mirrors. Something to get rid of your Ennui, Bryce.
Second
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/258599/Forbidden-Lands-The-Spire-of-Quetzel?src=hottest_filtered
This is an interesting product, with 3 adventures, one by Patrick Stuart.
Ehh, 4…interesting authors too:
The Spire of Quetzel by Patrick Stuart (Veins of the Earth)
The Bright Vault by Chris McDowall (Into the Odd)
Hexenwald by Ben Milton (Maze Rats)
Graveyard of Thunder by Karl Stjernberg (Rad-Hack)
on its way
Necrotic Gnome just released a bunch of adventures:
https://necroticgnome.com/blogs/news/new-old-school-essentials-adventures
Speaking of Ben Milton, would also be interested in your thoughts on The Waking of Willowby Hall.
Necrotic is on its way and i’ll add Willowby to the list
Thank you for being awesome Bryce!
Requesting Baklin by Gabor Lux
ALERT CITY ALERT
I’d appreciate it if you took a run at the initial batch of Lankhmar modules that have recently come out. Can get much more of an OSR base than that, but of course the devil is in the implementation; lord knows the old TSR modules for the setting didn’t cut it.
Halls of the Blood King, by Diogo Nogueira
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/348880/Halls-of-the-Blood-King
I’ve heard only good things about it ’til now. But I want to know if it’s 10 ft. pole material.
It’s coming
The High Moors looked pretty intriguing from the preview — a hexcrawl with some weird elements and stuff to poke and prod. Just turned up recently.
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/348934/The-High-Moors-OSE
That looks familiar, I think Bryce already reviewed it. Oh yeah, here’s the link
https://tenfootpole.org/ironspike/?p=6631
The OSE version was released a few days ago, it was 5e-only before.
Doh! How did I miss that?
Requesting:
Ben Miltons Labyrinth
Gradient Descent and Pound of Flesh by Mothership
You have reviewed Gabors Echoes before but I am curious of your review of the Hexcrawl in issues 3 and 4. How does Gabor stack go against John Stater and Nod?
Also requesting a recent issue of Nod by Stater, has the quality kept up?
Candlekeep Mysteries. It’s an adventure anthology featuring a number of authors I’ve never heard of. Just curious where WotC proper is at the moment.
In a deep, dark place surely.
New NOD 36 is out! First in 2 years I think from Stater he worked on a new mapping style and layout too!
What you think? Halfling hexcrawl, filthy hobbitssZZ
Please review a simple dungeon by Micah Anderson. It’s free.
https://micah-anderson.itch.io/a-simple-dungeon
Adding to the above, the guy loves the idea of his dungeon being reviewed! Here’s a quote: “Saw someone linked A Simple Dungeon on a review request thread for tenfootpole and I gotta say I’d rather be fucking shot than have Bryce review my shit”
https://mobile.twitter.com/micaholism/status/1378765960505606146
There is a new Dungeon Age adventure that might be worth your while: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/354011/Witches-of-Frostwyck-A-Dungeon-Age-Adventure-5e-and-OSR-versions
Gabor’s Castle Sullogh (EFF#8).
I put this on my list, but, really? You think Melan write something bad?
Baklin? City Sups are mad hard
More than that though, its interested to see your anaylsis on why its good.
Godfather good movie yeah OK Bud but why. Thats my eye go to
Also shout out to Nod 36. I hear he is good but its his first in 2 years?! The people need to know you know
Nope. I just read it and was pretty enthusiast. The first short adventure is also pretty fun
I sense a challenge.
Gabor is Unbalanced Dice Games confirmed
It would be an honor if you reviewed the adventure I posted to my blog here:
https://captainahabsleg.blogspot.com/2021/04/she-who-is-fortress-in-dark-water.html
Castle Roan looks amateur but possibly charming
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/355163/Castle-Roan
It does look charming, doesn’t it!
Did you know what was inside before you suggested I flagellate myself?
I cant wait for the Nod review. Save us Stater, show artpunk the way
I oculd have sworn I did this. I’ll reprioritize it
I am as ignorant of it as you are.
Great news! NOD 36?
This makes me wonder what has been lost to Brycedom for all time.
Masterpieces of criticism, written yet not scheduled for release or nay pray for the phantom submit button.
It tells us everything is okay.
But pray tell, when the time comes.
And it does for us all.
Nothing is ok.
Except dogos
I’d be interested to read what you think of my adventure, Ominous Crypt of the Blood Moss. I’m always looking to improve my adventure design.
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/319604/Ominous-Crypt-of-the-Blood-Moss
Would love to see what you think of my zinequest adventure if it tickles your fancy! https://olobosk.itch.io/trashplanetepsilon5
Mothership has some interesting modules with some different design choices- how about Gradient Descent?
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/332853/Mothership-Gradient-Descent
Gradient Descent is an interesting one to consider because it’s kind of like a sci-fi megadungeon.
I have another adventure out. It was written mostly-currently with _The Pit in the Forest_, and is similar in some ways while being a bit more open and ambitious.
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/353923/The-Bleak-Holdfast-of-the-Heartless-Queen
The black wyrm of brandonsford .
holy fuck, im two pages in and this one seems good!
I took a look at the preview and bought it – looks really good so thanks for the suggestion Mage Hand.
The author’s previous adventure got a “no regerts”; this one might be “the best”.
I knew you would like it
(I didn’t write it or anything.)
I’d love to see “In the Shadow of Tower Silveraxe.” Thanks!
https://gelatinouscubism.itch.io/in-the-shadow-of-tower-silveraxe
Got to ask for Baron’s Gambit by Matt Finch. Bundled with the S&W boxed set KS.
Ohhhhhh! New FINCH
Its been a minute dudes a master but has stepped away from modules.
Not a super big fan of the underdark ones Cyclopean Deep but its hard to tell how much is frog god/ the editors with some stuff. I think the new Iron God is way worse for example
From my periodic deep dive into DTRPG:
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/357751/Stories-from-the-Slough?filters=0_2110_100_0_0
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/357132/Sparkless?filters=0_2110_100_0_0
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/356517/Medusa-and-the-Cursed-Forest?filters=0_2110_100_0_0
https://www.dmsguild.com/product/356191/The-Bone-Alchemist?term=The+Bone+Alchemist
From The Smart Party Podcasts blokes
Silveraxe. https://gelatinouscubism.itch.io/in-the-shadow-of-tower-silveraxe
NOBBOC!
NOBBOC! I’m drunk NOBBOC!
Cheers!
The Haunted Hamlet and other hexes. Not sure you can find it in pdf(?) it was a zinequest thing. Not perfect according to your standard, but still really well done with cool ideas, short, concise, with substance.
.
Requesting new Through Ultans Door issues!
I think Stories From The Slough would be a good choice.
New Dungeon Age adventures! A big one another about orbital space vampires. I know you like yourself some Dungeon Age, Bryce.
The Wild Wolves of East Wood, seems to be trying to do the right things, but the presentation is a but too cutesy for my taste.
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/278360/The-Wild-Wolves-of-East-Wood–5E-Compatible
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/358910/The-Darkest-House?src=hottest
Expensive- curious to see how innovative it is, and Bryce’s take on it.
I just got the new Matt Finch, Death Ship of the Roach Princess, in the mail today. I gave it a read through and think it’s worth a look. It’s a low-level puzzle/trap adventure with inter-dimensional, planar elements.I liked it. It’s a cool weird fantasy take on classic sword and sorcery. It’s a good example of low-level D&D not having to be boring, rats in the cellar or kobolds in a hole affairs.
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/346989/Death-Ship-of-the-Roach-Princess-Swords-and-Wizardry
It’s depressing to see reviews of so much clumsy offal when there’s more intriguing stuff out there then ever. There’s 4 issues of Ultan’s Door you haven’t looked at. There’s tons of new OSE stuff.
Why are you doing this to yourself man? It’s positively masochistic.
Speaking of masochistic … I wonder if is that business card I recently gave out will be followed through on?
but, in all seriousness, I’m getting rid of my ToDo list. Then It’s off the blue skies and green pastures forever!
This is a joke yeah? Your To Do List and responsiveness to us is one of the reasons I found you and keeps me coming back.
Honestly Bryce you are the cool town
Hi, how are you?
How can I send a pdf to you for review our module?
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/364439/The-Pit
Regards!
He does not take PDFs! Bryce buys everything himself to stay impartial! He is more than willing to review your stuff though.
His tips have given many commenters on here the tools to be good module writers! Some have even ended up on the best directly from this site!
I think Graveyard Worm is one example? Ben Milton is another for sure. Too many to list!
Necrotic Gnome’s The Isle of the Plangent Mage
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/348884/The-Isle-of-the-Plangent-Mage
Curious if it lives up to the general quality level of the rest of their releases. Thanks.
Holy Mountain Shaker is also out now: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/363966/Holy-Mountain-Shaker
Temple of 1000 Swords by Swordlords Publishing
(The creators of Hideous Daylight.)
Gilded Dream of the Incandescent Queen–Dragonsfoot #25: https://www.dragonsfoot.org/ft/
The Siege of Timberhollow, the cover gives away that it’s a wolf based adventure, but the preview what’s inside seems to be doing the right things.
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/366457/The-Siege-of-Timberhollow
This looks interesting
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/357799/Tomb-Robbers-of-the-Crystal-Frontier?filters=44827_0_0_0_0
Very curious about this one:
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/358825/In-the-Shadow-of-Tower-Silveraxe
I love a good starting site kind of module and hope this one turns out solid.
The sequel to “Prey of the Black Wolf” by Dark House Rules Games, is out now. “Clan of the Black Wolf” is up on DMSGuild today!
$15 and no preview? Yeah, pass
I’d like to suggest ‘The Weathered Well’. The preview covers the introduction to the adventure and the author clearly lays out what type of adventure it is and gives some general advice to the GM on how to run it, including clear instructions to read the thing through a few times before attempting it.
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/364705/The-Weathered-Well
These have all been added to the list.
Probably not the place to do this, but is there any chance of you doing an index of the Oriental Adventures adventures from all the Dungeon Magazine reviews that you did? Possibly with a simple one, two or three star rating?
The Beast of Graenseskov looks interesting. Apparently it focuses on mystery and exploration.
https://www.dmsguild.com/product/180558/The-Beast-of-Graenseskov-An-Introductory-Ravenloft-Adventure
Looks like a Brazilian Publisher doing OSR stuff:
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/361137/The-Cursed-House?src=hottest_filtered
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/364439/The-Pit?src=hottest_filtered
I’m working through the requests
Woo love you Bryce ! New Gus L and Luka OSE adventures on DTRPG too!
We’re proud of this, but like anything, it has its flaws. We’d be interested in what you thought. Also, got my meds sorted out and promise I won’t say a word except to silently agree…
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/135316/The-Ruined-Abbey-of-Saint-Tabitha
No agreement is needed! We hope you can find the adventure design helpful though!
https://into-the-dark-rpg.blogspot.com/2016/07/bryce-lynchs-adventure-design-tips.html?m=1
I made this 14-page mistake. It’s supposed to be an open-ended, 1-2 session city adventure. Heist movie aesthetic.
DrivethruRPG: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/366643/
Itch: https://notsupposedtogetjigs.itch.io/the-fight-job
Would love your thoughts/derisive comments.
Please consider looking at this one, “The Blackapple Brugh”.
https://basicfantasy.org/downloads/KH1-The-Blackapple-Brugh-r16.pdf
Thanks.
Echoes in the Graveyard for Mothership
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/336695/Echoes-in-the-Graveyard
https://mattumland.itch.io/echoes-in-the-graveyard
That Desert Moon of Karth sandbox space western zine, interested if it works
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/363849/Desert-Moon-of-Karth
Requesting Fortress of the Ur Mage
Its the FOURTHCORE guys 5e adventure, they have nerd credited can they keep up?
Also requesting their CC1 adventure if you have not, thats FOURTHCORE though. 4e trap dungeon people really like
Link is at https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/170894/Fortress-of-the-UrMage
Btw
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/370241/SOS9-Beneath-Bernhold?src=newest_since
This thing for the cover alone….and the interesting maps and the way the “blurb” is written.
I’d like to request a temporary moratorium on 5e reviews, please.
Ok. I write about five reviews ahead of time, to account for ennui, so after those clear out I’ll cut em out for the foreseeable future
Thank the gods!
Two new dungeon age adventures
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/354011/Witches-of-Frostwyck-A-Dungeon-Age-Adventure-5e-and-OSR-versions
Other one is grave Titan harvest
Also interested in holy moutian striker by Luka (the UVG guy)
Also more Kelsey Dionne reviews would be cool
Rosethorne publishing also a champ
Gradient descent is the mothership megadungeon
WE LOVE YOU YOU MAKE LIFE OK
Since I like to give Bryce headaches:
Some 5e stuff:
1. Domain of the Nameless God: 11 5 star reviews! Promises many PCs deaths and ways to die!!!
https://www.dmsguild.com/product/313854/Domain-of-the-Nameless-God-5e-horror?src=also_purchased&filters=0_0_45393_0_0_0_0_0
2. Shore of Dreams…30 5 star reviews!!! Many proclaiming to be the best 3rd party adventure ever run!!!
https://www.dmsguild.com/product/232354/Shore-of-Dreams?filters=0_0_45393_0_0_0_0_0
3. Trust No One…i mean, assassins, factions, and the title…another 5e adventure. By Keith Barker (Eberron guy)
https://www.dmsguild.com/product/254452/Trust-No-One?filters=0_0_45393_0_0_0_0_0
Perhaps all these will highlight 5e qualities that we can quantify?
You are a horrible human being
Get a room you two … where the middle finger can stroke the tentacles
A bit curious of Shore of Dreams myself. Sounds Amazeballs! but is it?
It’s shit. I’ve reviewed it for my Czech-language blog
(google translated here:
https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=cs&tl=en&u=https://zpatky.wordpress.com/2020/03/15/recenze-pobrezi-snu/)
But it’s shit in a very ridiculous fashion!
Yes, this is a known fact 🙂
To be clear, I expect most of these to be somewhere between bad and and really bad. But that’s the fun of it.
I see what you did there
Bloom by Daniel Hallinan (for Mothership).
In an attempt to rescue Bryce from self-imposed purgatory, may I second Holy Mountain Shaker and add Date of Expiration.
For a savior I doubt Luka is it for Bryce
Bryces history with him has much to say.
Others can delve more.
God effort
Hi Bryce! Would love to see a review of my Nordic folklore-inspired dungeon for Knave.
Cheers!
DrivethruRPG: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/370215/The-Frozen-Temple-of-Glacier-Peak
Itch.io: https://ialath.itch.io/frozen-temple-of-glacier-peak
I don’t know if you’ll ever get to it, but Pound of Flesh, for Mothership rpg is really inspiring & ambitious. Not as huge /daunting as Gradient Descent either.
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/288945/Mothership-A-Pound-of-Flesh
https://www.geeknative.com/135295/the-purging-of-segedwyn-is-a-dd-adventure-written-entirely-by-ai-and-you-can-inflict-it-on-your-players-today/
You say x person meant well but did not try
This is the least effort. Who needs authors make the computer do it
What can computers teach us
will we terminator?
Do you want to play a game?
Imagine feeding each all “The Best” and each all “The worst EvAr” into an AI and seeing what each produced…
Cold Wind Whispering looks interesting. https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/353958/Cold-Wind-Whispering
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/370864/Date-of-Expiration?manufacturers_id=14410
Requesting n a Deadly Fashion by Courtney Campbell, its lotfp and doubt its on dtrpg yet but maybe someone could help with that link
Requesting MIKE’S DUNGEONS: THE DEEP LEVELS
I know Mike saw your review before the writing and has evolved in WORLD for more gamable keying
“Wight Power” by LotFP. This one could be really interesting.
The Lounge Temple of Asavraki, by Classless Kobolds
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/318300/The-Lounge-Temple-of-Asavraki
I’d love to read your thoughts on The Shark Cult of Lankhmar, a city adventure!
I don’t see it?
REQUESTING THIS HYPE Date of Expiration: An OSR Module For Levels 4-7 by Graphite Prime HYPE
On its way
Check out Brewkessel, a zine with the first level of a mega-dungeon for OSE. Really good for a one-man-show.
On its way
We had a blast with Nightcrawlers (Gildor Games), it’s free and “very easy to reskin for your favorite ruleset” as advertised.
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/290796/Nightcrawlers
Added
This might be pain but the man needs feedback. Many folks listen to him since the new world
Professor Dungeon Master (Dungeon Craft)
Mcdeath
Frankenstien
I really think he would listen and your work could improve the craft and access to good materials
Also echoing the new Graphite Prime adv
Can you help me find the PDM stuff?
https://www.questgivers.com/product.php?p=31
Daniel DeFazzio is PDM
https://www.questgivers.com/product.php?p=38
Standby! Also I love you
https://www.questgivers.com/product.php?p=31
https://www.questgivers.com/product.php?p=38
Daniel DeFazzio is the name on McDeath but thats him
https://www.questgivers.com/product.php?p=38
https://www.questgivers.com/product.php?p=31
Daniel DeFazzio
https://www.questgivers.com/product.php?p=31
Daniel DeFazzio is PDM
https://www.questgivers.com/product.php?p=38
https://www.questgivers.com/product.php?p=31
Daniel DeFazzio is PDM
https://www.questgivers.com/product.php?p=38
https://www.questgivers.com/product.php?p=31
PDM
https://www.questgivers.com/product.php?p=38
https://www.questgivers.com/product.php?p=31
Daniel DeFazzio is PDM
Same site /product.php?p=38
Are you some kind of bot with the hiccups? WTF! Once is enough. Get it under control, man.
@Bryce, In today’s review (Death Roach Ship), the cover states it’s for S&W but you tagged it for 5e.
Yeah, it’s for S&W and 5e.
Would be curious to see Bryce’s opinion on my not-an-adventure-but-a-toybox here: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/337406/Lumberlands–Wampus-Country-Travel-Guide-I
I dare (!) to suggest one of mine. That’s a one-page dungeon that tries to give more. With a monster nspired by a medieval legend from western France. https://www.reddit.com/r/osr/comments/r2rnd1/new_creature_and_mini_dungeon_for_ose_bx/
Here you go, Bryce. No Artpunk Vol 1 Bunch of adventure
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/379533/No-ArtPunk-Vol-1?src=newest_free_titles
Who needs papa Google. Seconded this is community work for the kids and their basement dice
Star Dragon Rage by Dungeon Age
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/380091/Star-Dragon-Rage-A-Dungeon-Age-Adventure-5e?src=sub
Requesting Necropolis new frog gg release
In deadly fashion lotfp by Courtney cambell
Witches of Frostwyck by Dungeon Age
Tomb Robbers of the Crystal Frontier by Ratking Productions
Dark Citadel. A new adventure by Joseph Mohr.
https://www.dragonsfoot.org/fe/index.shtml#510
Do it, Bryce. DO IT! 🙂
It’s a megadungeon!!!!
What did I do to you to deserve that?
The Annon from the 29th is much more kind!
Well Bryce, you certainly don’t have to bite on the hook but I will say again, It’s a megadungeon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I request that you *DO NOT* review Dark Citadel. I hope my vote cancels out the other one.
I request that he *DO* review it. Hopefully that cancels out your vote
>Joseph Mohr
Fuck no, spare yourself the pain
Tomb Robbers of the Crystal Frontier, by the never-boring Gus L, “a Phantasmagorical Fantasy Western for OSE”.
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/357799/Tomb-Robbers-of-the-Crystal-Frontier
This one looks good: https://gazerpress.at/index.php?option=com_j2store&view=products&task=view&id=3&Itemid=137&lang=en
Can confirm, that’s a good-un.
The Thedron Barrows :
https://arsphantasia.wordpress.com/2017/10/06/the-thedron-barrows/
Hi there Bryce :). We may write for 5e, but I enjoy your blog like almost nothing on the internet. Prince gave a 2/5 for Crimson Trail, so I would be honored if you pick another of the list to review. I recommend Deadly Waters (city adventure).
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse/pub/19891/Adventure-Bundles
Aaaaay. Glad you kept it up. Hope you have improved 🙂
But of course :). I told you back then that I believe constructive criticism is the best way to improve ;). As long as our adventures don’t get a review like “What the actual fuck did I just read”, then I’m happy about anything I read, for it provides just cool advice.
Bryce, you gave reviews of the One Page Dungeon Contest Compendiums for 2012 & 2013. Have you kept them on your shelf, perhaps with earlier or later Compendiums, since then or has your interest in them slackened? Are they all just performance art now or are they still great sources of inspiration in your opinion (or both)? Were the one pagers generally better back in 2012 or 2013, or have they remained the same or gotten better?
Bryce,
A while back, someone requested you review my publication of Petey’s Pork Pie Emporium . I was wondering if it had been added to your list officially, and if not, I would like you to do so! You’ve given me great feedback in the past.
Thank you!
https://www.dmsguild.com/m/product/284010
Bottomless Pit of Zorth. A new adventure from the guy who brought us Gunderholfen and Darkness at Nekemte
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/378555/Bottomless-Pit-of-Zorth
Second! I’ve got this one already. Hawk did a great job with it. It’s a home run in my book.
Thirded. Not that it’ll affect my purchasing decision, since I’ve already bought it too.
Oh my that looks good!
Yes! Bring it!
Hi, this is an unlikely ask, but I was wondering if you would consider reviewing my written and partially self-illustrated 5e adventure “Six Faces of Death”? It’s 5e but I flatter myself to think it has a slight OSR flavor, and I recently discovered your reviews and would love your thoughts.
https://www.dmsguild.com/m/product/280589
Would consider reviewing Gary Gygax’s original version of Necropolis (not the nerfed FGG one) and mysticaltrashheap’s partial conversion of it for D&D context?
Hi there! I recently wrote a 2-page 5e hex crawl called Long Bear Valley. It’s set in a weird fantasy Cascadian rainforest and features dodgy gurus, fashion crime, and a sixty-foot-long bear. I’d love a review, if any of that strikes your fancy. Thanks for your time!
Adventure @ https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/377071/Long-Bear-Valley
Requesting Necropolis by Frog God Games.
Is this the version Gygax would have published if given the time?
According to https://mystical-trash-heap.blogspot.com/2021/07/gary-gygaxs-necropolis-ad-conversion.html (who is also referred to in https://tenfootpole.org/ironspike/?page_id=1170#comment-13907), Necropolis was intended to be the Uber-Tomb of Horrors, the ultimate challenge to the most skilled gamers and characters. The FGG version is just a mid-level Egyptian adventure
Ugh. Another module designed under the impression that Tomb of Horrors was the thing to emulate?
In high school in the early 80s
when I was selling off most of my old modules, the only one NO ONE wanted to buy was Tomb of Horrors. Back then everyone in my gaming group and nearby game groups knew it sucked.
They must not have actually read it. 😉
I’ve read both the Lejendary Adventures and 3E version. They’ve converted it to 5E?
That actually might be worth looking into. It’s not a ToE emulation; it’s a vast *hard* quest with an epic scope. It is insanely difficult, even for high-level PCs and fairly so, given the stakes. I didn’t really understand the LA rules; I read it to read a (then) new work by Gygax, but it was really well written and executed. I got lost in the 3E version which I (mistakenly) assumed would be easier to covert to 1E. The unending stat strings made it almost incomprehensible.
Why would the 5e version be 7-9th level, whereas the 3E version was 10-18th?
I’m trying to wrap my mind around how this could be turned into a module for a party of PCs not yet ready for Against the Giants …
No. This was discussed elsewhere, but basically it looks to be a conversion of the 3rd ed version to 5th edition, and also with a notable shift to make it less high-level, which takes the intended edge off somewhat.
It seems we’re looking at a sort of game design session of Telephone, where going from Dangerous Journeys to 3rd edition to 5th edition (along with three different authors adding to the 3rd ed version and one more, different author for this new version) gets us to a very different place than the original. And we’ll have another layer added on top once we get the 5th edition version converted to Swords & Wizardry, which is the version that will probably be reviewed here.
Super hype to see Bryce on this!
Requesting
In deadly fashion lotfp by Courtney cambell
Witches of Frostwyck by Dungeon Age
Hey, I wrote Desert Moon of Karth, a sandbox module for Mothership and I would dig a review if it’s the type of thing you’re interested in adding to que, dig knowing areas for improvement. .https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/363849/Desert-Moon-of-Karth
I’ve had a third go at adventure-writing https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/387172/The-Bone-Place-of-Dreib . I think it’s better than my previous one.
I bought this following Bryce’s review. Very neat! Hopefully will either run it as written or steal the best bits for my games
Thanks 🙂
(if you do run it, I’d be keen to hear how it went)
Have you ever tried anything from the Low Fantasy Gaming guys, Pickpocket Press? I like the sword and sorcery style emphasis of their system, though I haven’t played it, and they have a world setting with adventures and two big collections of short adventures for their system.
As of today, the first Adventure Framework is on sale at drivethrurpg and I will probably check it out:
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/268944/Adventure-Framework-Collection-1?term=adventure+framework++1
…I like their stated design approach here on the framework collection page:
“Specifically designed for low prep, improvised play, each framework comes with hooks/rumours, a core scenario, NPC details & statistics, random encounters, and B&W line art. Nineteen of the adventures include hand drawn maps.
Armed with this compilation, filling your sandbox with small – medium sized adventures has never been easier. Browse the collection, throw out a few hooks, and let the players bite where they may. Whichever direction they take, you’ll be ready to handle it with aplomb.
System
These adventures use the Low Fantasy Gaming system, and are set in the Midlands Low Magic Sandbox Setting by default. They are easily adapted to other d20 based systems and medieval worlds.
What’s Missing
Consistent with Low Fantasy Gaming’s open world philosophy, there are no level guides for adventures. If your intended system does not include a Party Retreat rule of some kind, you might consider implementing one. Some adventures are clearly more difficult than others however, and ballpark “danger” guides are provided.
Note frameworks do not include “read aloud” text. Every time a GM reads boxed text, an ad-lib fairy dies, and we’ve too much blood on our hands already. Paraphrasing and natural speech from the GM keeps players guessing what’s pre-planned, and what’s off-the-cuff-I-totally-planned-that awesome. And we wants that awesome, precious. We wants it.”
It looks like a search on “pickpocket press” says I did one, their latest, from 2018. I’ll pop another one in the queue, but it looks like they went quiet?
I think they switched over their efforts to doing work for their science fiction game. They collected the first 60 fantasy adventures between their world book and Collection 1 and Collection 2, but I see after a quick look see that they’d generated three more fantasy adventures.
I must have missed your write-up no the frog fane one. Sounds like it was close to a No Regerts. I snagged a copy of the collection and will poke through and see how it stacks up.
Hi Bryce! Love your blog and reviews. I found a cool pamphlet size hex crawl on Itch called ‘Sands of Isathar’ by Dangerisreal. It looks neat and I’m keen to run it for my group using OSE or Into the Odd. Could you please review? It’s short but quite good, in my opinion
Have you seen the mega dungeon being released on Twitter? Someone @StooshieS is releasing a room each day in 2022. It’s a bit vanilla but there are some interesting features.
Stooshie & Stramash has just released their overall maps.of the first three levels
https://eldritchfields.blogspot.com/2022/04/the-best-adventures-from-footprints.html
BRYCE I THOUGHT THIS WAS A GREAT BLOG POST
If these adventures are the best in footprints they deserve more visability ! What do you think of them?
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/393396/Battle-for-Carrion-Vale?filters=0_2110_100_0_0
Battle for Carrion Vale by Dungeon Age looks rather interesting. Love the concept.
Would love to see a review of this one too
yupyup
Dear Bryce, that’s Artem Serebrennikov, fresh from your Wavestone Keep contest.
May I ask you to review a murder mystery that I wrote?
I’ve been reading your blog for a while, and your musings on typical writing mistakes inspired me to attempt a fantasy mystery that avoids all of the usual pitfalls and, most importantly, doesn’t suck.
Pretty please?
https://www.dmsguild.com/product/391312/The-Queen-of-Spades
Hey Bryce,
I’m a huge fan of the work you do here, and I’ve been trying to use your hundreds of reviews to learn from the mistakes of others and make myself into a real adventure writer. And I finally published my first. It’s a big deal to me, but it also my first ever adventure. I am dying for good, honest, constructive criticism.
It is a 5e Adventure, and I know you dislike them, but… it’s the system I know. I hope you’ll give it a look:
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/393997/Brewery-of-Lost-Time
Thanks
I would enjoy seeing a review of The Rot King’s Sanctum. I’m going to be running it soon and it looks quite good.
https://emielboven.itch.io/rot-king
The Siege of Killburne Castle
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/387604/The-Siege-of-Killburne-Castle
Shit. You were hard on on of their other efforts.
https://tenfootpole.org/ironspike/?p=5995
It’s the fact that it’s billed as OSR that has me curious. About $1.99 worth of curious, but not quite $4.99.
Bryce, you have a bunch of spam here
https://tenfootpole.org/ironspike/?p=6371#comment-14637
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/391762/Abilities-Considered-Unnatural
While science fiction I think the focus on dungeon crawling through a converted temple mine, factions and a schisming cult might be of interest, would dig hearing a critique.
Merciless Merchants—Gyllagoon’s Island
Shipwrecked upon a deserted island the party soon realizes they are not alone. Populated by intelligent and savage red haired apes, the heroes must fight for survival and find a means for getting off the jungle island. These hungry apes are eager for the taste of man flesh and are ruled over by something not of this world that thrives on hunting and terrorizing intruders within its domain…
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/392345/Gyllagoons-Island?filters=0_2110_100_0_0
You should review David Baity’s DCC RPG module “Carnival of the Damned.”
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/168167/The-Carnival-of-the-Damned-DCC
Given that I was one of the original players of this module, I’d love to see a review of it, since it was probably my absolute favorite chunk of that dungeon.
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/390796/The-Gallery-of-Wondrous-Sundries
Citadel of Ice by David Pulver for The Fantasy Trip
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/298469/Citadel-of-Ice-The-Fantasy-Trip
The preview shows nothing.
Hey Bryce!
I made a new adventure: Peril in Olden Wood!
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/397008/Peril-in-Olden-Wood
You liked my last adventure, The Magician’s House. I think this one is a big step up, in no small part due to Malrex’s efforts as editor. Yes, this is a Merciless Merchants joint.
This writer has people raving about his adventures. He has a load of free ones, and also a collection of 40(!) in a single book. Be it 5e, I’d love your opinion on the quality. Are these good adventures, or simply praised because they are free?
Note, the free ones can only be downloaded on his patreon site.
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/m/browser/publisher/17717
You’re going to give our guy a stroke!
Will save Bryce some grief- Adventure Review- Fire and Brimstone (15th level)
9 pages of scripted uselessness in what is essentially a linear fetch quest. Look a portal for an invasion…Archmage…go get some pendants…bunch of useless information to a fight with a rakshasa (everything leads to the fight)….oh now you can go the plane…bunch of useless information…boss fight. The end.
I can see how this guy churned out 40 “adventures.”
The Worst Evar(s)
M.Geist has three new adventures. You’ve previously Bested or at least No Regertsed all of his adventures.
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/390975/Troll-Pit–A-B-X-adventure
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/391622/Dragon-Teeth-of-Kataphrasis–a-B-X-adventure
A town of elves is plagued by “dragon” attacks. They’re forbidden from entering the mountains where they’ve tracked the wyrm to, so have reached out for help. The “dragon” turns out to be an intelligent wyvern, who also tries to hire the party to help with his own problem (which is what forced him to raid the elves’ livestock for food in the first place). And he’d really like the PCs to educate the elves on the differences between dragons and wyverns while they’re at it…
You liked The Mines of Valdhum; I think I finally surpassed that one.
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/393813/RC3–Trouble-in-Southshore
Have you ever done Dyson’s Delve? Can’t find that somehow…
Curious about this OSE funnel: https://afterthought-committee.itch.io/zoo
Looks like there’s another one coming ?
https://afterthought-committee.itch.io/tangled
NEW GREGGY G LESPY IS OUT
DWARVERMOUNT!
Is it as good as highfell or the first part of barrowmound?
Hi Bryce. My last reviewed adventure Deadly Waters got an acceptable review :). Now that I quit writing for 5e, I thought I’d try some OSR systems. Would love your thoughts on my first try.
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/401027/Delusions-of-Grandeur-OSE
It would be nice to see The Lost City of Barakus here, for Swords & Wizardry. It’s a surprising gap in your review set, and I’ve always been curious about it, since it dates to the time before Frog God went entirely down the 5th ed and derived shovelware road.
Dwarrowdeep is out. Another new megadungeon for you to read over the weekend.
Please also review the dungeon age stuff I requested you never got to like the long form epic one and new Kelsey dione.
Also I don’t think you got to in deadly fashion by c cambell
I love your soul
Hey Bryce, how about a review for my new adventure, published by Merciless Merchants? PrinceOfNothing gave it a really positive review, and I think you’d like it, too.
Peril in Olden Wood
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/397008/Peril-in-Olden-Wood
Dwarrowdeep, please.
It’s coming
Is it still coming, or should I just go buy it? I hope the author isn’t now blacklisted for political reasons.
popping 8/24.
It’s Moria. 9 encounter areas a procedural generation for everything else. Generic vibe, must like aracharia
Thanks, Bryce! I can wait that long. ?
I remember someone commenting recently on Rosethrone’s “Chandry of the Deepflame”, Beatty’s version of Moria. I’ll be curious to see how the two compare.
Woooooo
Unital thoughts? Seems Hihfell was your fav thus far
Requesting Unbal Dice Games
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/271686/No-Sun-For-A-Wicked-Moon-A-Labyrinth-Lord-Adventure
That is one crappy preview. Most of it is a table of contents. Tells you very little of the adventure itself.
UDG confirmed
Looks like “Through the Valley of the Manticore” is in need of desperate review. It is Jacob Flemming’s follow up to “In the Shadow of Tower Silveraxe.”
“Anthony Huso did a fine job with Dream House of the Nether Prince though.”
Since Prince mentioned this one in the comments for The Demon Tower of Veldig Fel, how about a full review of it?
I double dog dare you to review Journeys through the Radiant Citadel, the latest nu-D&D offering from WotC.
You will have an absolute field day with it, it’s all the cringe of Strixhaven taken up to 11.
Any interest in reviewing my first module “Scales of the Seafarers” found here
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/401430/Scales-of-the-Seafarers
I appreciate your work and honesty Bryce. long time fan here.
Well, you’re not gonna be a fan for long …
Well the way I see it that means you’ll either pass on reviewing or are about to drop a bomb on it.
If it’s the former, that’s alright, I know you get millions of requests and I don’t begrudge missing one.
If it’s the latter, I’m looking forward to your criticisms as they can only help sharpen my work in the future.
So either way really, I’m sure I’ll be fan for a time yet. I look forward to a bruised ego!
Also came here to request a Through the Valley of the Manticore review. As the author has a new module up on kickstarter, and his first you ranked as No Regerts, I’m curious to know if he improved with his second.
Noisms’ “In the Hall of the Third Blue Wizard” is out, some adventures you’re going to really like and probably some you’ll enjoy disliking:
https://www.noismsgames.com/creations/in-the-hall-of-the-third-blue-wizard-issue-1-pdf
That rascal Handy Haversack has finally published a new adventure.
As a player in his group, I would to see what people think of it.
https://www.exaltedfuneral.com/collections/store-exclusive/products/the-hybrid-bone-effigy-crucible-of-the-urgent-chimera?variant=39652614406246
Well, as I trust Handy in all things, I’ll be picking that up.
My man BigPerm sent me a link to this, and I felt I had to show up to say to Gnarley: Aw, shucks. Thanks, old pal! And: I really hope you enjoy it!
So I ran this adventure twice at GaryCon this year (FINALLY) and had very positive feedback from the players (although no one, technically, survived). Would love to know what you think of it, Bryce, if you ever have a chance.
Gnarley, did you ever run it? How did it go?
Bump bump ^^^^^ Pleaseeeebyrcyyyyy
Yas plz
UD Games no sun for a wicked moon and noisms wizard zine
I took your biting criticism from my first adventure and wrote a second, “Tower of the Chronomancer.” I hope this one’s better. Yes, I know it’s 5e and you don’t love that. Yes, I’m asking you to review it (and hopefully help me improve as a writer) anyway. Please. I seriously appreciate your honesty.
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/402142/Tower-of-the-Chronomancer
Respect!
Hey, thanks Edgewise.
I’m just trying to grow as a writer. I’m also hoping Bryce might still give this one a look, though I have that existential dread that accompanies such a request.
I know it’s better than my first adventure. I also know it’s got it’s flaws. The problem is in seeing them, and gauging whether/how much I’ve grown.
Anyway, here’s hoping he’ll give it a look and genuine feedback. I find it better than several 5e things he’s reviewed lately, but… not the highest bar.
Wizards released a new starter set with a new beginners adventure instead of Phandelver. What’s your take on it?
New P Stew is out!
I’m interested in seeing reviews for Wyvern Songs and DNGN #1. Thanks!
I concur ! DNGN (10 first levels of a megadungeon) and Wyvern Songs by Brad Kerr (compilation of 4 adventures and more)
Hey Bryce! Thought I’d be cool if you could review an adventure I recently released: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/409358/EQ5-The-Dread-Lands
Took some of the tips in the previous one you reviewed and tried not to limit myself in scope and size.
I sadly couldn’t find any playtesters or beta readers. I did a lot of looking around Discord and some did answer and I sent early copies, yet they never responded back hah.
Hopefully it is better. Took me a while to make.
@Endless. Some unasked for feedback.
I see a lot of “this room used to be…” = useless filler words used _39 times_ in fact. SHOW us through things the PCs can interact with, what this place used to be _IF_ it actually matters to the adventure now/what the pcs can do. Otherwise, it’s irrelevant to running the game now and just getting in the way, 39 times…
Generics/abstraction (bad) instead of specifics (good/evocative), e.g
>>There’s plenty of spoiled wine barrels inside and useful tools. A large group of 2D6+4 zombies lie trapped inside. They can be even heard from the outside.>>= abstract= dull.
Vs [bold] a dozen damp looking barrels lie tumbled about. [end bold]= chance for DM to read just that bit and pc’s to _maybe investigate= creating a dynamic between DM & player…
-A sharp scraping sound comes from one of the barrels. Another sways and sloshes slightly, somehow… (specifics see= players get a slight reward for exploring _if_ they did = fun)
– there are 14 zombies in these barrels. (DM info, faster than rolling for no reason)
*what purpose does making the DM roll to see if there are 2d6+4 zombies actually serve here? Just random randomness? Why slow the game and make the GM do it. YOU design the adventure.
Random encounters= yes. Random tables to generate events when pc’s go off script= yes. (e.g not in a pre prepared module). Having a random number of zombies in barrels when pc’s will likely only open one trick barrel before realising it is silly to open more…Why not just say 14 zombies or 10 zombies? Understand how/why to use randomness in OSR. ESPECIALLY since there is no treasure in the encounter- why would pc’s bother to keep opening?
Take these as general feedback and apply to the entire setting/scenarios and it will seem more alive/less dull and probably a lot more concise/usable.
Thanks a lot for the feedback. Always looking to improve and learn more, and I really appreciate it.
I was under the impression that rolling for enemy count in specific encounters would make it replayable in a way, and could also fix some balancing issues leaving them to randomness, but thanks!
I hope you enjoyed the other aspects of the adventure.
On “this side” of OSR blogs where people tend to enjoy skewering sacred cows like Troika, the only Into the Odd stuff I’ve seen is your review of a 3rd party ItO dungeon, Melan’s review of Into the Jungle and Prince’s review of Into the Odd when he still used the x/10 scale. I think reviewing the two “official” Electric Bastionland adventures, “Prison of the Worm Queen” and “Wrecked on the Gorgorath” could be interesting
When it came out way back when it was a pretty interesting exercise in minimalist design. Now with the deluge of 2 page rulesets and other such nonsense I probably would have been harsher. Regardless, inspecting the quality of material made for a system by its own community is an interesting measure of the system I think.
You dare show yourself? Back in the NAP #2 reviewing mines, wretch! Back! Back!
“Regardless, inspecting the quality of material made for a system by its own community is an interesting measure of the system I think.”
I remember reading that “a system’s made it whenever the first obviously phoned in garbage adventures for it start coming in”. Not sure if that was here or in your blog under a Mork Borg adventure post but it rings true. All Ultralights are to ItO what the median 5E adventure is to “Mines, Claws, and Princesses”.
That aside I honestly think ItO holds up – the fact it hasn’t been immediately lost to the sands of fickle hipsterdom since its release in 2014 is telling.
Both those adventures I mentioned are by the Into the Odd mastermind. Prison of the Worm Queen I find to be the stronger of the two by a massive margin. In general I think Electric Bastionland is a very interesting setting and rulebook.
Takes the idea of an implied setting from tables (like the great post from “Semper Initiativus Unum” on the OD&D outdoor survival setting) and runs with it to the point of hyperbole, where bits and pieces of the world manifest themselves in strange ways depending on the equipment of the 100(!) class-like “failed careers”.
Anyways have a great day.
You loved Vaults of Vaarn how are they at adventures?
https://graculusdroog.itch.io/vaults-of-vaarn-the-adventures
I’d like you to please review Great Soul Train Robbery.
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/m/product/355036
Troll request
Something that seems to have slipped past most everyone: Across the White Marsh. Curious to see if you think he nails the Bronze Age vibe while juggling a hexcrawl at the same time.
https://bloodandbronze.com/2017/07/13/across-the-white-marsh-available/
Also has a couple of other adventures, statted for his system and S&W:
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/205392/The-Wondrous-Hoard-SW-compatible
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/176543/Thralls-of-the-Sun
Unicorn Meat
Interested in the faction play and the meat economy
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/393432/Unicorn-Meat
As far as I’ve looked, Tomb of the Bull King is the only Mazes and Minotaurs adventure that has ever been reviewed. There’s several adventure compilations of “official” material that have been released. Could check them out as a curiosity?
Hey Bryce, I’d love a review of my adventure “Trouble in Southshore.” https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/393813/RC3–Trouble-in-Southshore
I think it’s good. I think you’ll think it’s at least not bad.
Demon Bone by p Stew
Wierd tales published by Gabor , it’s not his writing
A recent Bruce Cordell adventure. Prince says he is the 2 Le god and writes for Monte now
Recent CoC adventure , I know you love it for one shots
Recent Kelsey Dione
Oz by Kolb he wrote Neverland
The adventure in the new version of into the odd , Chris wrote a multi level dungeon is it good / worth getting?
URL’s or it didn’t happen
You zoomers with your links
Back in my day
we did not have
links
Kelsey Dione’s newest is just out
https://www.thearcanelibrary.com/collections/5e-adventures/products/born-in-blood-9th-level-one-shot-5e
https://www.thearcanelibrary.com/collections/5e-adventures/products/gate-of-the-lens-wizards (older but level 15? yas)
Published but not written by Gabor. Is this new author good?
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/390271/Weird-Fates-vol-01?manufacturers_id=12663
Patrick Stewart aka P Stew. Is this as good as DCO?
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/407992/DemonBone-Sarcophagus
This is the new into the odd with a new dungeon in the back. Multi level he says. Is Mcdowell a good dungeon author?
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/399483/Into-the-Odd–Remastered
This is the new Kolb. They read your last review, I confirmed this. Did they improve and take your criticisms?
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/407594/OZ-A-Fantasy-RolePlaying-Setting
Prince says this guy is the hipster 2e god. Is he still a master goat? These are all brand new
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/377652/Doctrine-of-Ghul —– This one is for the new Plotus
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/389610/Break-the-Horizon
This is the newest CoC release. I know you love the system what makes a good COC adventure? is it the same? Whats good for CoC now? who is the CoC Gabor?
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/417681/Host-and-Hostility?src=hottest_filtered&filters=44826_0_0_0_0
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/417701/Play-Repeat-Return?manufacturers_id=2
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/417454/The-Wolf-in-the-Labyrinth?src=newest_community&filters=44826_0_0_0_0
added!
Pastebin because previous gets caught in spam filter
https://pastebin.com/ZN5ALHHZ
What about Sun King’s Palace?
free on itch: https://johnbattle.itch.io/the-sun-kings-palace
and PDF: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/397508/The-Sun-Kings-Palace
I’d like to know if it’s good or not.
King for a Day! https://www.drivethrurpg.com/m/product/112514
Hype!
Since you were such a fan of the Footprints modules … 😉
Gilded Dream of the Incandescent Queen – Footprints #25
The Tenebristic Orb – same issue
The Secret of the Wood of Dark Boughs – Footprints #20
And they’re free.
I personally enjoyed these, but haven’t found a space to run them yet. Wondering what your take may be.
I saw the Monte Cook review, and it brought this to mind.
Dead Gods. It is for 2e, so maybe out of the ordinary, but it is widely regarded as a really good module. Would love your opinion on it. Heads up, it is a Planescape module. That means it has the O with the star :D.
I suggest The Beast of Borgenwold.
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/410351/The-Beast-of-Borgenwold
why would Bryce do a review of your mom?
Requesting review for The Runewild by Sneak Attack Press; https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/309298/The-Runewild-Campaign-Setting
You liked The High Moors. The author has a new level 1-8 adventure/mini-setting out called The Oneiric Hinterlands. I’d like to see your take on it, but so far, I like it more than High Moors.
Sorry. Link: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/418017/The-Oneiric-Hinterlands?term=Oneiric+
Aberrant Reflections
Aberrant Reflections is a puzzle dungeon roleplaying adventure module for low level characters (1–4).
It’s compatible with B/X, old school, and modern fantasy rules with minimal conversion.
The preview is the whole document.
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/419533/Aberrant-Reflections
That looks really cool Frankie. At a glance looks like you’ve handled the “parallel worlds” idea really clearly. Puzzle dungeon where the puzzles are “naturalistic” rather than funhouse- nice! I predict Bryce will want 1-2 more evocative words in places…
oops, it’s not mine, I just copied the ad copy.
The Witch, The Shepherd, His Goats, And Their Daughter might possibly be worth reviewing. Could be good if it’s executed well, terrible if it’s not. It’s for a retroclone I’ve never heard of (boo), but the author’s blog looks OSRish.
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/419475
Shadowdark is Kelsey Dionne’s I believe
That is true!
I saw your interview on Questing Beast and now read your comments in voice. Its a memorable sparkle of positivity
Your gygax adjacent roots are awe inducing
Intense Winter and rpgs something is there
Hahahaha, it’s great to put a voice to written word! 🙂
I was very lucky to grow up when and where I did. Given the Wisconsin-famous options, it was either game designer or serial killer!
Is there a link? I tried to find it but wasn’t able
I gotchu: https://youtu.be/_reiwGThR9Y
XD
Harrowings 3: Muspelhell
AGNVS DEI STUDIOS
King for a Day!??
I’d like to see a couple of old ones that look like they would offer a lot of gameplay and come from respected writers but have curiously little coverage:
A Fabled City of Brass:
https://www.lulu.com/shop/anthony-huso/a-fabled-city-of-brass-digital/ebook/product-15vyw84w.html?q=&page=1&pageSize=4
https://www.lulu.com/shop/anthony-huso/city-of-brass-appendices-digital/ebook/product-1jqy6dnd.html?q=&page=1&pageSize=4
The Lost City of Barakus:
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/142506/The-Lost-City-of-Barakus-Swords-and-Wizardry
Hi! You reviewed an adventure of mine a couple years back (https://tenfootpole.org/ironspike/?p=6558) and said it was “better than most” but needed work in the evocative writing & usability areas. The map … well the map on this next one is still shit, but the writing and organization is better. I think.
Would love your thoughts (and would happily send a comp copy if you’d like): https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/422390/Pearly-Prison-of-the-Crocodile-Queen
Thanks!
Goodman Games just (re-)released Crypt of the Devil Lich as a DCC 7th level adventure or 5e 15th level, which is inspired by / an homage to Tomb of Horrors. Can they manage high-level and create a great adventure?
OOOH BRYCEEEEE
No Artpunk II is out. GO REVIEW IT. IT DOESN’T SUCK. YOU KNOW IT WON’T SUCK. BE PLEASANTLY SURPRISED AGAIN. REMEMBER WHAT IT FEELS LIKE TO LOVE, TO LAUGH, TO FEEL JOY.
Artpunk 2 is here!
Thanks for your post.
Unreal Person is a AI image generator that is trained on billions of human faces to generate a brand new face that does not exist.
The faces are the result of AI generated images, thus you can make sure that this person does not exist.
https://www.unrealperson.com
Look! They are starting to develop fantasy!
I heard ai face generator’s Gamma World adventure “Face that does not exist” won No Artpunk 2. Bryce is gonna have to check out the compendium…
Gentlemen, I appreciate the enthusiastic recommendations. I am assured mr. Lynch is aware of NAP II by now and will get to it in due time.
Requesting Tomb of Immolation I think it looks good.
Please do I ran it for my group last week and they loved it
This one is really fun. I would recommend it highly. This dungeon is very good for your exploring and playing with groups and friends. And dungeons and dragons 5e OSR products.
Three different people posting 5 minutes apart about the same adventure. Sure. three “different” people. If you’re gonna shill, put some effort into it chief. (rolleyes)
Wolf’s Head Tor, from Pauli Kidd. It seems that he re-imaged her old mega-dungeon setting from highschool days, more than 40 years ago.
I am curious with this 233 pages adventure, how it stands against the best adventures of today
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/403281/Wolfs-Head-Tor
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/420759/Pan-His-Majesty-in-Yellow-OSE?src=newest&filters=45582_0_220_0_0
Pan, His Majesty in Yellow for OSE advanced
https://bundleofholding.com/presents/AAMega
I noticed you bought the AAMega bundle (‘Ten-foot pole: I Roll to Disbelieve! – $51.97’), I hope to see a new review (or more) from those Expeditious Retreat Press adventures not blasted/reviewed yet, heh…
Not I, said the fly. But, I’ll see what’s new
Oops sorry… And thank you!
Demon Bone by pstew is out!
Deadly fashion by c cambell
Please review Demon Bone by P Stew Bryce!
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/425300/Secret-of-the-Black-Crag
Just published latest book by Chance Dudinack- Secret of the Black Crag.Curious about your thoughts.
Seconding this. I would love to know. Preview with the monkey temple looks well formatted but… lots of feces throwing. o_o
anyone else get a different language seemingly every time they go to drivethru? The site is in Italian now for some reason. what the hell
If you review the newest P-Stew you are contractually obligated to review NAP II
You should review the other Echoes zines or In the Name of the Principle! some time when you need a palate cleanser for good shit. Forest of Gornate is brand spanking new if you only want to review new things.
I second that. More Echoes From Fomalhaut please. Not all of it is by authors other than Melan so there could be some variation in writing and presentation. Well worth looking into. At minimum, it’s got to be light years better than 86% of the dreck you review now
Just to correct the text above, SOME OF IT is by authors other than Melan.
It’s not by Melan but I recently got “Weird Fates vol. 1” which was published by EMDT. Seems enjoyable, looking forward to slotting some of these things into my campaign. Evocative characters made me think Bryce would enjoy.
Checking on these! There has been a lot of interest in them. I know before you wrote reviews that never got posted via the autopost
Link is below
https://pastebin.com/ZN5ALHHZ
I saw one of the CoC reviews
Shame that one sucked i want to like coc but the materials are all bad or way overwritten / just learn french vs running masks o narlo
Not a clue if you review request by creators themselves, but here’s an adventure I made with fully hand-drawn maps included.
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/427103/Mystery-in-Muffelton
It’s a murder mystery and your critique will be very helpful for any future adventures I create. (I can sent you a free version if you’d like, just shoot me a message).
More NOD magazines! We know they are good, but people need to be reminded!
Seconded! Recent Nod review would be great
Planning to maybe make a print order
Gabor we need your thoughts too! The age of dusk demands hex arts
Bee-Ware sounds interesting.
http://www.lotfp.com/store/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=427
It appears James no longer sells PDFs only? Do all adventures come as print + pdf now?
PDFs have a delay because DTRPG wants to content-check everything LotFP does.
Bee-Ware! (and the rest of the recent round of releases) is now available.
Hi Kelvin. I think there was a reddit post about these new releases a while ago and this caught my eye too because of the title. May I suggest an encounter or so on the preview?
Here the DTRPG link for everyone else. https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/427099/BeeWare
I don’t have control over the previews, but I’ll ask the publisher if he can make that happen.
Crucible Magazine’s Issue #0 is free (PDF) and has an adventure or two. Curious what you think (no skin in the game, it’s just rare to see a print RPG magazine since Dragon/Dungeon closed shop.) Also, I appreciate your frank, specific comments and critiques of RPG work, including my own. https://cruciblemag.com/get-the-magazine/
Secret of the Black Crag by Chance Dudinack. Easy to run. My players love it. https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/425300/Secret-of-the-Black-Crag
Cult in the Empire of Decadence
“Experience temptation and greed in the luxurious Empire of Decadence as you uncover the true motives of the man behind the Cult of Austerity…”
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/419693/Cult-in-the-Empire-of-Decadence?manufacturers_id=23381
Tomb of the Dusk Queen is a free Shadowdark adventure. With the Shadowdark Kickstarter being so successful I imagine there will be alot of new adventures written for it. So we’ll need to separate the good from the bad.
https://sersavictory.itch.io/tomb-of-the-dusk-queen
There is a new 187 page behemoth for Basic Fantasy RPG, LA1: Terror in Tosasth!
Probably worth a look
Please bryce bryce
Demon bone sarcophagus
Odious Uplands
Probably still early, but the Elven Tower (which got a really bad Review for their 5e content) released a shadowdark adventure compilation. May be interesting to see how they did.
https://www.patreon.com/posts/80486273
After years of dressing up someone else’s milquetoast 5e shovelware with old-school layouts, I have exchanged that particular brand of ignominy for another brand of ignominy altogether: I have joined the ranks of small pess adventure authors. The adventure is for Shadowdark, but it’s based on a BX adventure I wrote some time ago. I’d be gratified if you would turn your critical eye to Sepulchre of Dusk. I have no doubt there’s room for improvement, and what better way to discover that by being raked across the coals by the master himself.
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/431649/Sepulchre-of-Dusk–compatible-with-Shadowdark-RPG
I hopped on the hype train and also wrote an adventure for Shadowdark: https://jordanrudd.itch.io/trial-of-the-slime-lord
It’s a 0-level gauntlet. 17 areas and 15 pages.Lots of slime. Would love some feedback and criticism.
“Shadows in Genzacon” by Gooey Cube (5E). I believe the only thing you reviewed of theirs was “The Darkest Dream”, which was the first of a 7 adventure epic story arc. Shadows is supposed to be a stand alone adventures.
Seems like this might be some non-shovelware ShadowDark stuff:
https://sersavictory.itch.io/lost-caves-of-the-worm-witch-shadowdark
https://sersavictory.itch.io/shrine-of-the-jaguar-princess
Seems like this might be some non-shovelware material for ShadowDark:
https://sersavictory.itch.io/lost-caves-of-the-worm-witch-shadowdark
https://sersavictory.itch.io/shrine-of-the-jaguar-princess
Shrine of the Jaguar Princes and Lost Caves of the Worm-Witch by Sersa Victory would be cool to see.
I keep hitting a problem when trying to include the links here, though. Maybe it’s because they’re on itch.io. Google copy-paste pulls them right up, thankfully.
Ah sorry for the triple post!!
A spammed reply claiming something is “non-shovelware” is going to help the claim, I’m afraid
First two didn’t come thru for some reason. Figured they got blocked by link blockers. Maybe Bryce bulk approved them and then they appeared. No spam intended, sorry!
Requesting
https://sersavictory.itch.io/shrine-of-the-jaguar-princess
Comes recommended by Kelsey!
Requesting
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1uaY584JDMASvW3g8uOEUkH9vryIyKFjn/view?usp=share_link
By goblin punch and phlox
It’s been suggested before Bryce, but you never reviewed it. Let’s please (finally) see you review The Lost City of Barakus. Please review the Swords & Wizardry version. https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/142506/The-Lost-City-of-Barakus-SW
There are also Pathfinder (Blech!) and D&D 3e (Ugh!) versions.
Yes, it’s been reviewed by many others but I’d like to hear, and I know would as well, your take on it.
Can I humbly request a review of my own work…? I haven’t made it available on DTRPG, but I will if you’d prefer.
Weirdandblue.itch.io/sky-titans
Please do review of my enchanted wife’s boyfriend by Dickie smalls
the blue lotus
I’d be sincerely interested to know what you think of “Curse of Vecna” by David Hartlage, Bryce. It is for 5E, but at least the author seems well-versed in D&D history, as evidenced by his blog dmdavid.com.
https://www.dmsguild.com/product/441084/Curse-of-Vecna
While it may seem like more of a setting than an adventure, I would like to see you review the Mythic North book for the new B/X-based game, Outcast Silver Raiders. It definitely strikes me as closer to a hexcrawl than a setting. From the product description:
“With 88 detailed encounters, six factions, 30 mapped and keyed locations, 4 multi-level dungeons, and an enormous 48-page mega-dungeon, The Mythic North offers enough intrigue and mystery to run endless exciting campaigns”
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/436957/Outcast-Silver-Raiders-The-Mythic-North?term=Outcast+silv
Hawk, who is an old school OSR-er and wrote a couple things you’ve BEST-ed like Bottomless Pit of Zorth, recently published an adventure compilation (“Tomb of the Twice-Crowned King”) that has a bunch of neat things ranging from 10 to 55 keys. Seems actual play focused. Check it out, it’s on DriveThru,
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/444913/Hounds-of-Hendenburgh
Requesting this and shivering with dear
Really good. I’ll play it in the coming weeks.
Bryce, this is probably on your radar as it’s in the NAP II compilation, but the Tomb of the Twice-Crowned King has been released in as a standalone product. This version is about twice the length of the NAP II version and is probably worth reviewing over the NAP one which Melan has already seen to:
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/442331/Tomb-of-the-TwiceCrowned-King
Even better, its a whole anthology. I’d recommend simply doing it after NAP II. Hawk is very good.
Hi Bryce – shameless self-promotion here, but I recently published my (probably overly ambitious) first adventure. Love to get your thoughts, even if it’s just constructive criticism of everything that needs to be fixed. 🙂
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/441829
This looks slick Sargon well done.
Hi, do you review adventures submitted to you? If so, how would I get the module to you?
John
Dear Bryce,
I’ve made something that, despite being for 5e, might just be right up your alley.
Fey mounds. Folklore. Jacquayed dungeons. Interactivity. Tomb Problem mostly avoided. Absolutely no Ren Faire.
Hope you enjoy it!
https://www.dmsguild.com/product/448827/Cairn-of-the-Centaur-Conqueror?src=newest_in_dmg&filters=45469
Hi Bryce!
I am pretty new to making NSR/OSR adventures. I’ve made one intro adventure to Into the Odd and one medium sized adventure for Cairn (for the A Town, A Forest, A Dungeon Game Jam). I would love to get your thoughts on them so I can get better at this. Appreciate your time and if you want a free copy of the Big Rocky Candy Mountain one reach out and I can send a review code!
New Rats in Old Bastion
https://run-dmg.itch.io/new-rats
Mystery on Big Rock Candy Mountain
https://run-dmg.itch.io/mobrcmadventure
Hope you like them!
Fuck NSR
Finally got around to publishing again. Should be a bit more interactive than the last outing. Castle Rabid https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/446647/Castle-Rabid
Maybe something new in another 8 months?
The Lost Dungeons of Tonisborg.
there’s this simple adventure
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/437041/UPDATED–The-Blue-Lotus–a-one-shot-adventure-for-the-novice-and-the-master
its not stellar in anyway shape or form but maybe does the job?!
Freshly published “Into the Caves of the Pestilent Abomination”
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/452728/Into-the-Caves-of-the-Pestilent-Abomination?affiliate_id=3768008
This one looks interesting.
Castle Ravir
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/413187/Castle-Ravir
This publisher, Dying Stylishly Games, has an unusual number of 5-star reviews for multiple products. Are they really that good? It looks like procgen dungeon design, which isn’t my favorite. You usually end up with “You enter a 10×10 room. There are four kobolds. Roll for initiative.”
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/257113/The-Stygian-Library
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/237544/The-Gardens-Of-Ynn
These aren’t adventures, per se. They are specific magic locales that are designed to be visited and revisited as a side-dungeon to an ongoing game. They are excellent but, again, not modules in the sense that you’re thinking.
I actually reviewed the Library:
https://www.dragonsfoot.org/forums/viewtopic.php?p=2065598&hilit=Stygian+Library#p2065598
The Ruin in the Savage Wastes (OSE Version): https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/450587/The-Ruin-in-the-Savage-Wastes
My first attempt at an adventure worth releasing.
Hey, great minds think alike or something. I ran a couple sessions of my own “Keep on the Borderlands after the apocalypse” for Shadowdark at a con in hopes of one day getting it polished and published. Maybe it’ll be a whole subgenre.
Requesting new Merciless Merchants adventure by Prince
Here’s a new adventure for some NSR system that’s sure to make the comment section scream and smear feces on the walls.
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/455858/The-Curse-of-the-Ganshoggr?filters=45582_0_0_0_0
Let me start the controversies then. What makes this adventure NSR to you? And why do you think people will smear feces? Let me answer myself. Artwork and author. Backwards mentality. The adventure looks solid with good layout and artwork that is not intrusive. And author name should never be a factor before actually reading the work.
Gus has done more then enough to make render himself unpalatable in these climes but when all is said and done he has a much firmer grasp of d&d then the bulk of entry-ist contemporaries.
He was himself an early pioneer of smearing faeces and attacking the author not the work (I refer you to the review of AX1 by Courtney Campbell on this blog, where he is content to dive in after some early reluctance) and an expert in the detection of invisible nazis. He is a habitual dissembler, contemptible liar and a pathologically dishonest coward incapable of forthright interaction.
https://tenfootpole.org/ironspike/?p=5966
I say review away, it might even be good. And if you don’t like the concept of holding an author publicly accountable for his supposed war crimes, and it should fill you with trepidation, have him recant his earlier actions, and the healing may begin.
Smearing has begun! Joke aside, I came late to the OSR community and I do not see the mentioned things about Gus on his recent posts and comments. Then again, I have no personal issues with him. But if Bryce ends up reviewing this, then I’ll eat my popcorn while reading the comments. If not, I’ll run it because I liked it anyway.
I believe the bulk of his current criminality is consigned to the OSR and NSR discords that encourage such practices. You can find abundant evidence there if you want to, or you can never find it if you do not. The time when men of reason from both sides of the political isle would band together and spurn the irrational has ended.
Today, we as a hobby find it perfectly acceptable, and even laudable, to maintain indefinite blacklists based on acts undertaken in the distant past (if they were undertaken at all!), with the subject never being told the reason for his ocstracism, and any demands for evidence of any kind being ignored, and this is such an effective and laudable practice that I see no reason to break with tradition.
I see also no cause for consternation. He is being given the highest honor: the unequivocal accountability and structure imposed by a higher authority that he seeks to effectuate around himself is now imposed on him also, by the people. He and his followers should be ecstatic.
What the fuck are you talking about.
Calling people names isn’t criminal in any civilized country. Allegedly calling people names years ago or on some unknown discord isn’t even one in uncivilized places and that’s your only reason for this endless bullshit. It’s so dumb given that you constantly insult people, and ruin discussions of games with your obsessive vendettas. Did Gus hit too close home or something when he was complaining about Nazis? Is it jealousy cause he writes better adventures than you? Pure pathology?
You stink of your own poop. Take a shower. Talk to a therapist and go touch grass.
At least Prince has the guts to post using his own name. What’s your excuse, Anon?
Oh look it smells like rage-shit in here already.
Gus’s work is usually pretty good.
On DF, there’s been a discussion of evil storks and geese and Gygax’s inordinate fondness for them. 😉
https://www.dragonsfoot.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=28751
Agree with GB. Gus does some nice stuff. I like that it’s different from what is the usual standard D&D fare. It gets me thinking in other ways.
However, there will always be the controversy of the art and separating that from the artist. Some people feel the need to broadcast their beliefs to the masses. That’s their right and their decision. They just need to understand the potential consequences of doing that.
Happy New Year! Have you reviewed any recent DM Dave releases? I’m always skeptical of creators that have a firehose approach to content. DM Dave seems to produce dozens of adventures a month, which I assume requires either prolonged mania or a sweatshop supporting his marketing front. I do recall he posted a comment on his public Facebook roughly saying, “Nobody cares about the quality of your work, and nobody will remember if you released trash a year ago.” It gets down to why RPG design isn’t a marketable design method: paying work-for-hire writers per word results in bloated garbage and filler, and paying per project encourages laziness and lackluster work. The best projects come out of individual creators or dedicated partnerships who have decided to avoid design-by-committee pitfalls. I told my friends that if you design your RPGs by committee, you’ll recreate the RPG equivalent of the Yugo automobile.
Hey, happy new year ! Could you review The Mythic North, for Outcast Silver Raiders. It is quite an ambitious sandbox wich is actually telling you how to run it and tries to be exaustive. I’d like to know what you think about it.
Ditto. I’m rather fond of it, but I could see Bryce not liking the dungeon maps or the amount of treasure (although it works fine for the reduced, SP-based expectations of Outcast Silver Raiders).
What about this: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/453803/PrisonPit-of-the-Agelast-King
I’ve seen a lot of Kickstarter projects pop up in your reviews. Most have not been very good. I worry this is an ongoing crowdfunding issue.
This one https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/466136/Nightmare-Over-Ragged-Hollow
They did a great job to improve the original
Would love to read your thoughts on Justin Alexander’s “So You Want to be a Game Master” (https://thealexandrian.net/so-you-want-to-be-a-game-master).
I appreciate it’s not a game module (obviously), but I imagine it is going to influence a lot of GMs and game designers. Would be great to know to what extent it matches or perhaps clashes with your own views. Thank you!
Just to add, there is a small introductory dungeon adventure in Justin’s book, so technically it falls within your purview.
I had a good time reading and playing this module and I think it might be something you might enjoy. Plus it’s always fun to see a module inspired by the sacking of Constantinople
https://preview.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/455885/Escape-from-Miklagard
What about this short OSE adventure? Publisher is offering community copies for free on itch.io, doesn’t seem to have things on DriveThruRPG. I really liked this, personally. https://eyesforteeth.itch.io/monastery-of-the-mellified-monks
https://preview.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/472160/knight-of-the-grave
Looks like Owen KC Stephens is fighting cancer and the product sales goes towards that…guess plugging it here and perhaps the product does not suck (5e!!)
Do I dare? Sure! Hey Bryce, I wrote a new one. Would love to hear your thoughts on it.
https://preview.drivethrurpg.com/de/product/474024/Gravestone-of-Decay
I just had this delivered in print zine format, and would be interested to know what you think. $20 for a 40-page B&W print zine seems steep (in the whole “I’m eating at home because everything costs double now” way), but the PDF is $10. Kickstarter is a grab bag, you never know what you’re getting. https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/469727/The-Slumbering-City
Requesting new Dungeon Age
How do you make a city adventure work?
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/464124/Carcassay-Titan-Rat-City
Hey baybay
Are you planning to review either or both of the new OSE adventure anthologies?
They include authors you’ve reviewed positively in the past so maybe it seems redundant, but they’re also $20 apiece with only 4 pages of previews. I’m inclined to buy at least #2 but I keep hesitating and checking your blog again.
https://www.exaltedfuneral.com/products/old-school-essentials-official-adventure-scenario-adventure-anthology-1
https://www.exaltedfuneral.com/products/old-school-essentials-official-adventure-scenario-adventure-anthology-2
Seconded. I have both, but I’ve only read the first 3 modules in anthology 1. The Jeweler’s Sanctum is up there with the best starter adventures, and I derailed my campaign to play The Sun bathers, creepy fun.
Requesting princess new module Sylth Hive
Also requesting Goblin Punch
https://goblinpunch.blogspot.com/2023/03/the-dwarf-in-glass.html
He said this was Janelle tribute
https://goblinpunch.blogspot.com/2024/02/dungeon-castle-of-gribblies.html
Ben from coldlight press and NAP liked this
Curious to hear your thoughts
https://brynjarmp.itch.io/the-brigands-of-bristleback-burrow
Requesting grodogs janell memorial dungeon
https://grodog.itch.io/grodogs-roundabout-level
These entries also look interesting
https://hexedpress.itch.io/temple-of-salvation
https://attronarch.itch.io/halls-of-viridian-mist
50$ is a lot for a digital file
https://lukegearing.itch.io/wolves-upon-the-coast-grand-campaign
That said Luke and mothership stuff is good. How is this?
I know you don’t get hexcrawls as much maybe rob or melan on a guest review?
Gearing has politely provided an extensive preview so you can see for yourself, no need for Bryce to waste $50 on it. Speaking as someone who does “get” hexcrawls, it’s about average for published examples, which is to say it’s pretty bad.
Thanks for the heads up! I’ll skip it
Perhaps the Voight-Kampff test was not such a bad idea after all.
asdf
I’ll have the spam egg spam spam bacon and spam
Request a review of Path to Thornbriar.
https://preview.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/285001/path-to-thornbriar
I think that inside this ridiculous 99 page PDF there’s a good 10 page adventure struggling to get out.
Probably stretching the definition of a module, but you liked the last one such thing I suggested you review (Mythic North): Castle of the Silver Prince.
https://stonehold.gumroad.com/l/zfdhsd
You could just focus on the book on the castle which _is_ described as a module, though you’ll probably want to read a couple relevant sections of the other books (especially “Defeating the Dragon” in the Tables and Handouts book). You’ve been hard on Huso’s past work, but _maybe_ this one will win you over?
Requesting Into the Maze of Dreams: A Lysergic Weird Fantasy Adventure for First Tier Characters
Hexplore publishing… he either gets a stroke or 5th(6th?) time’s a charm.
Hey Bryce, this any good?
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/de/product/477597/The-Slithering-River
The Lost Citadel of the Scarlet Minotaur is a Shadowdark adventure by Kelsey Dionne, found in the free Shadowdark Game Master Quickstart Guide. I’m curious to see what Bryce thinks of it.
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/413713/Shadowdark-RPG-Quickstart-Set
Seconding this! I’ve had a good experience with my group
Terrible Trouble at Tragidore?
Barkeep on the Borderlands? Is the OSR one that won an ENnie for best adventure last year. Looks like it is cheap right now on itch except on DriveThruRPG where is still $10
https://prismatic-wasteland.itch.io/barkeep-on-the-borderlands $5
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/429877/barkeep-on-the-borderlands $10
Worth it?
I would like to see reviews for Dark Wizard Games, “Funhouse Dungeon of the Puppet Jester”, “Moving Maze of the Mad Master”, “Palace of the Dragon Princess”, and “10th Anniversary edition: Hanging Coffins of the Vampire Queen”, Please!
Was searching around for good 5e one shots and this one has extremely good reviews. Care to give it a shot?
https://www.dmsguild.com/m/product/252855
Would love to see your take on my recent ShadowDark adventure.
https://legacy.drivethrurpg.com/product/481768/The-Painters-Muse–Level-1-ShadowDark-Adventure
I’d love to have you review my Grandma’s Cottage Inc. adventure on drive-thru. A version of it appeared in the last Knock magazine and while I suspect you’ll not love the set up, there are details of how things are presented that I’d love to know your views on.
You liked my Guimond’s Light adventure and I’m just finishing another one so some feedback before I put the next one or would be valued.
Cheers,
Glenn
Hey Bryce. You “regerted” an old adventure of mine about sabotaging a pit fighter (The Fight Job). Would you review my latest free shovelware? It’s a gonzo, post-apocalyptic hexcrawl: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/483434/Field-Trip-to-Zu
Ima throw a plea for maybe some Science Fiction adventure/module?
System irrelevant to me as I’m happy to convert/edit.
The only one I found easily was Mothership (Dead Planet)
Hmm…
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/376104/ch-3-the-temple-of-golden-nuts
Bryce already reviewed a Chantel Jones adventure, called Castle Roan. It’ll be much of a muchness. They aren’t ironic art pieces, they’re earnest works by someone with subnormal literacy and/or a developmental disorder. I don’t mean to be cruel, but at $10 a pop they’re too expensive for tact.
I personally know and have played RPGs with several people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. All of them, almost certainly, make better art than you could. Shut your mouth.
Stop bragging about being friends with retarded ppl lol
When you inevitably have a kid or a loved one born with IDD, I hope you remember that you made this comment 🙂
I literally don’t know a single one. We hang out on different sides of the gene pool I guess
Let’s get a review of something meaty — Castle of the Silver Prince or Gods of the Forbidden North!
Since Bryce usually only reviews digital versions, Castle of the Silver Prince can be found here: https://stonehold.gumroad.com/l/zfdhsd
Even though he hasn’t rated previous Anthony Huso adventures highly, I think he’d have a better chance of liking Silver Prince over Gods of the Forbidden North, so I vote for that one.
How about a more recent Adventurer’s League release? I stopped keeping a pulse on AL in 2019, when WOTC decided they wanted to throw it into the pig-pen and let the hogs tread it into the muck and devour it – but I’m sure curious what you think about some of their highly rated recent releases. I’d look at DMsGuild but it’s just forty 5-star reviews or whatever. Have the AL releases improved over time?
Dungeons of Drakkenheim, a 5e ruined city campaign-sized adventure, is on sale for $7.50 for DTRPG’s Christmas in July sale. A quick review shows it having heavy faction play, maps with loops, and encounters that don’t care much for balance, according to redditors. Might it actually be good? https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/436128/dungeons-of-drakkenheim
Would love reviews of Isle of Joy and Beyond the Pale
I’m gonna need a link for Beyond the Pale
Sorry, it seems it’s not available yet, but kickstarter backers have received it. https://shop.lostpages.co.uk/products/beyond-the-pale-print-pdf
Nevermind, the pdf is available in their shop: https://shop.lostpages.co.uk/products/beyond-the-pale-pdf
Through Ultan’s Door #2 and #3, please!
Seconded!
Vault of the Weaver from Empco or Empco. It’s reprinted old Arduin dungeons by Dave Hargrave
I got that some time back. Wonder what Bryce would say about it now. It’s thick.
Would you recommend it?
Because I doubt Bryce will review this old republished material, I’ll respond. I don’t want to steal Bryce’s gig. Yes, get it if you want to review a piece of D&D history and be inspired, and no if you want a good adventure. You are basically given a campaign world with interconnected adventures in it on an epic scale. Most of the challenges and environments are interesting but way underdeveloped. You also see a belief that absolutely every encounter needs a trap, a monster, and a treasure in it. It can be incredibly redundant and boring. But you also see a unique campaign world, so it’s inspiring at the same time. If you get it, make sure you at least get volume 1 of Hargrave’s The Arduin Grimoire to reference alternate PCs and monsters (which I think you can find a free or cheap download easily). The Grimoire has its own positives and negatives. You’ll say to yourself “that’s really cool” and “that’s really broken” when reviewing it.
Thanks for the response and I don’t think you’re stealing Bryce’s gig.
I knew it was going to be something like what you said.
Inspiration from the old stuff is rewarding, but not worth $50 to me at this point in my life.
Thanks again
B
FIGHT ON IS BACK BRYCE
THIS IS NOT A DRILL
THE ULTIMATE MEGADUNGEON MAY BE COMPLETED
I REPEAT BRYCE
THIS IS NOT A DRILL
Darkness Beneath ultimate megadungeon? Please. Another overrated oldie reviewed in days of lower standards. Bryce not gonna cream that hard over a ogre named Old Bae who eats crab legs these days
Material was of higher average quality in 2008-2012 then now, mostly because people knew what the fuck they were doing. Fight On often holds up, unlike a lot of 2016 era overhyped trash.
So you won’t have reviewed anything I’ve done before, and I’ve just released a new BECMI adventure for your consideration:
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/494473/madness-of-the-azure-queen-becmi
I’m happy to supply a complimentary copy to save you the bucks (not sure if you have an email present, I didn’t see it). I enjoy your reviews, so even if you don’t like my adventure I get something fun to read!
All the best.
As someone who’s always had a thing for snake and serpent people themed dungeons, I’d recommend Raiders of the Hidden Temple which is a free adventure from The Arcane Library’s newsletter.
https://www.dmsguild.com/product/467259/Orc-Blade–Elven-Blood
A 5e adventure (boo!) that was an also-ran in NAP III (yay!). An interesting attempt to replicate old-school sensibilities in 5e. Nominally free (PWYW).
Hi Bryce. I was browsing Drivethru yesterday and this came up. I was intrigued by the cover and the review looks promising. Care to give it a go?
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/498461/souls-for-qovahe
Yeah, Andy, I’m reviewing it. It drops in about two weeks. You did a good job
Hey Bryce,
Would you review my free, gonzo hexcrawl? It’s got a post-apocalyptic Wizard of Oz vibe.
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/483434/field-trip-to-zu
A Walk in the Harwood
https://shadowandfae.itch.io/harwood
Cool ideas and atmosphere in this one.
Requesting https://itch.io/jam/vaarn-summer-jam-24/rate/2903863
Varn guy likes it enough to print something not theirs
An OSE anthologies from Necrotic Gnome, so they should know how to put together adventures, but I’m gun-shy after poor Vampire King outing:
https://necroticgnome.com/products/adventure-anthology-1
https://necroticgnome.com/products/adventure-anthology-2
Advanced Adventures has returned after a lengthy hiatus with a trio of new OSRIC modules:
Advanced Adventures #44: To Save The One Tree
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/502702/advanced-adventures-44-to-save-the-one-tree
Advanced Adventures #45: The Fallen Watchtowers
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/502703/advanced-adventures-45-the-fallen-watchtowers
Advanced Adventures #46: The Dismal Glade of the Spider Goddess
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/503141/advanced-adventures-46-the-dismal-glade-of-the-spider-goddess
Just because I like to give Bryce some “fun” big adventures to chew on:
https://www.dmsguild.com/m/product/322053
The Phantasms of Sri Raji. A rather interesting 5e adventure using elements from a very crappy 2e adventure
Adventure Module E1 – War from the Stars
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/504009/adventure-module-e1-war-from-the-stars
The Eventide Valley has always been a place of mystery for those who dwell in the surrounding lands of the Great Empire. Isolated, backwards, and content to keep to itself, the valley has always been a source of rumor and legend. You have come to this valley to discover its secrets and find yourself in the peaceful shepherding village of Argylby, which has been the victim of raids by a force known only as the Outer Ones. But is there even more going on here than you suspect?
This module contains both a Lovecraftian fantasy adventure and a complete mini-setting (the Upper Eventide Valley) suitable for further adventures.
This module has been designed to complement the Swords of Cthulhu rules supplement. Swords of Cthulhu is not required to enjoy the module, but will most certainly enhance the experience.
by Joseph Bloch