{"id":2633,"date":"2015-06-24T07:11:03","date_gmt":"2015-06-24T11:11:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tenfootpole.org\/ironspike\/?p=2633"},"modified":"2019-01-21T13:30:04","modified_gmt":"2019-01-21T18:30:04","slug":"dreams-of-the-lurid-sac","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tenfootpole.org\/ironspike\/?p=2633","title":{"rendered":"Dreams of the Lurid Sac"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"ls\"<\/a>
\nby Paul Keigh
\nPsychedelic Fantasies
\nD&D<\/p>\n

Uh \u2026 I don\u2019t know if I can review this.<\/p>\n

This is a site based adventure with no overarching objectives or hooks. It\u2019s just a place for you to dump into your game. I\u2019m not sure, but I don\u2019t think it\u2019s breaking any new ground in any particular area. What it IS doing though is being committed to a vision. This thing has a core concept and it is FOCUSED on it. Elements of this adventure have been found in other adventures in bits & pieces, but no other adventure has, I believe, put them all together in one shell.<\/p>\n

You\u2019re adventuring inside of a creature, the titular Lurid Sac. Remember Fantastic Voyage? The interior sets looked \u2026 alien? Weird fibers, colors, flows, creatures. Well that\u2019s what\u2019s going on here. Most of the \u201cadventuring inside a create\u201d things I\u2019ve seen have been half-efforts. There are doors, or stairways built in, or something like that. None of that is in this one. No stairs or doors or comforts of home brought in by travellers. This is a truly alien environment \u2026 exactly the way an alien environment should be.<\/p>\n

Imagine a hundred overlapping bubbles, on maybe three layers. That\u2019s the map. Where they touch you can massage the membranes to get through. Some of the bubbles have special purposes: the cortex, the mouth, the neck, the \u201csponges\u201d that allow access to the outside, and so on. The rest of the bubbles are procedurally generated, as are the contents. There are random monsters, events, contents, humours \u2026 you get the idea. Most of it is simply enough to handle in practice.<\/p>\n

Hmmm, that\u2019s a description and not a review. Ok, review. First, the environment is truly alien. You\u2019re gonna be confronted with having to understanding it, from what\u2019s written, and in relaying it to the players. It should be worth it though; I\u2019m not sure I\u2019ve seen something so alien and so \u2026 committed, even with all the bizarro stuff I\u2019ve seen in the 1-page contests and the weirder Finch stuff. This is good. Strange pools of humors, veins of humors, bulging membranes, this should all provide a unique experience for your players.<\/p>\n

The creatures, while procedurally generated, are well done. They are, of course, unique. This is a feature of all creatures in Psychedelic Fantasies modules. While procedurally generated, each one DOES have 6 or so activities they could be engaged in. This is PERFECT. It takes, literally, 2 extra lines of text and provides the EXACT sort of springboard the DM can combine with the procedurally generated room in order to run the adventure. PERFECT. I say again: PERFECT. This is a monster table done right. There are also factions, with faction based rewards. The Lurid Sav vs. The Invasives, with the parasites running around on their own. GREAT for launching mini-missions within the environment.<\/p>\n

I could go on. I could go on a Lot. This is a fully realized place that, while procedurally generated, brings more \u2026 bizarro? than a hundred other products. I\u2019m generally down on procedurally generated stuff, but I\u2019ll take this one.<\/p>\n

This IS going to take some work to prep for. A few rolls ahead of time, some monster reference sheets\/photocopies\/printouts and the like will reduce the page-turning during play. It\u2019s also going to take a STRONG read to wrap your mind around it. That could point to the need for better organization, although how I\u2019m uncertain. The crossover potential, from Rifts to any sci-fi or modern day game, is huge. How many adventures can truly say that?<\/p>\n

Like I said earlier, the only new ground here is the commitment to the vision. Because of that there is no letting up; this is a relentless view of an alien environment. If you can handle that then this is a must buy. It\u2019s what, $3? You won\u2019t spend $3 on one of the most bizarro environments I\u2019ve seen in nearly 500 reviews?<\/p>\n

You know, when I go to cons I sometimes dig through the used\/old book boxes in the dealer hall. I\u2019m looking for some forgotten gem. Something different, something special. A forgotten work of genius. This is that thing I\u2019m looking for. When someone picks this 30 years from now they are stare in disbelief as they page through the thing. This is thick and dense the way Thracia or Dark Tower is. It\u2019s alien in a way I\u2019ve never fully seen before. It\u2019s got the uniqueness in creatures and treasure that Psychadelic is known for. The ONLY downside is the procedural nature, and even that has had the rough edges filed off and made easy for the DM.<\/p>\n

This is available on DriveThru.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.drivethrurpg.com\/product\/121631\/Dreams-of-the-Lurid-Sac-Psychedelic-Fantasies-4?affiliate_id=1892600<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Paul Keigh Psychedelic Fantasies D&D Uh \u2026 I don\u2019t know if I can review this. This is a site based adventure with no overarching objectives or hooks. It\u2019s just a place for you to dump into your game. I\u2019m … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2625,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,3,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2633","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-level-3","category-reviews","category-the-best"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/tenfootpole.org\/ironspike\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/ls.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tenfootpole.org\/ironspike\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2633","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tenfootpole.org\/ironspike\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tenfootpole.org\/ironspike\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tenfootpole.org\/ironspike\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tenfootpole.org\/ironspike\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2633"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/tenfootpole.org\/ironspike\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2633\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5105,"href":"https:\/\/tenfootpole.org\/ironspike\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2633\/revisions\/5105"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tenfootpole.org\/ironspike\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2625"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tenfootpole.org\/ironspike\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2633"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tenfootpole.org\/ironspike\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2633"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tenfootpole.org\/ironspike\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2633"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}