{"id":2797,"date":"2015-10-12T07:13:41","date_gmt":"2015-10-12T11:13:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tenfootpole.org\/ironspike\/?p=2797"},"modified":"2019-02-21T10:10:24","modified_gmt":"2019-02-21T15:10:24","slug":"citadel-of-evil","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tenfootpole.org\/ironspike\/?p=2797","title":{"rendered":"Citadel of Evil"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"ce\"<\/a>
\nby Stuart Robertson
\nD&D
\nLevels 1-3<\/p>\n

The Citadel casts a dark shadow from it’s mountain. Can you find a path to the top and rescue your kinfolk?<\/p>\n

This is, I think, a one page, that I\u2019m not sure how I ended up with. There\u2019s a certain amount of performance art that goes along with one-page dungeons. \u201cSee what you can do in just one page!\u201d You can certainly do a lot in one page, this adventure proves that. And you can do a lot more in two pages. This is, in essence, an artificial constraint on the review. For what this is, a one page dungeon, it is quite good.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s in four parts: a cave complex level, a crypt level, a small basement dungeon, and a couple of rooms for a the castle. Twenty nine rooms and four maps is a pretty record for one page, especially given the amount of text for each room. It\u2019s quite the accomplishment and points out just how much bloat there is in most adventures. The jerk-faced jerks who think I want everything spoon-fed to me should instead take a look at this. Focus is what this adventure brings. Classic tropes. I want to point out that the dungeon rooms do what they should. This is HUGE. I think I first time I remember seeing this was in some Raggi thing, although the classic \u201cif you clean up the defiled shrine then you are rewarded\u201d thing is a relative. For example, if you light a candle in the deserted shrine then you are rewarded. Players LUV it when logic works in the dungeon. They get a sense of accomplishment. Of figuring things out. And that\u2019s a Martha Stewart Good Thing.<\/p>\n

The first room is \u201cEntrance cave – Illuminating this large natural cave is the lantern from two gnomes looking for their lost companion.\u201d That\u2019s pretty minimal. It\u2019s also pretty evocative. A cave. Shadowy lantern light making strange shapes on the walls. Whispering in the darkness. Two weirdo\u2019s on a mission. Tentative? Combined with desperation? So much is implied, inspired, by the description given. This is the power of the minimal, but evocative, description. It\u2019s not 3 paragraphs long with reactions for everything under the sun. It sets the scene and gives the DM\u2019s imagination a good SHOVE in the right direction. Similarly, room 3 is \u201cPool Room – This room is lit by a dim red glow from 3 fire beetles on the walls. A Blessing pool contains 12 coins.\u201d Again, focus. Inspiring. Adjectives, adverbs, effects without exposition. And it works the way you think it should. A pool? With coins in it? Well you should throw a coin in it of course \u2026 especially in a Level One adventure.<\/p>\n

As a basic adventure I think this succeeds quite well. It reminds me a bit of the best parts of the Caves of Chaos. Minimal room descriptions, but with some interesting content.<\/p>\n

And because I am a dick, I\u2019ll offer some advice for improvement. This is going to be more nit-picky than I would usually be, but not, I think, uncalled for in a one-pager. It is, in some places redundant. In only one page that can be a missed opportunity. For example, room 5 is: \u201c5. Yellow Mist – a thick yellow mist clings to the ground here. Characters have a 2 in 6 chance of falling in hidden pit.\u201d That\u2019s twice we\u2019re told there\u2019s a yellow mist. Naming the room something else would allow even more imagination. \u201c5. Guano Filled – a thick yellow mist clings to the ground here. Characters have a 2 in 6 chance of falling in hidden pit.\u201d Now we know an additional fact about the room. I\u2019m not suggesting that guano-filled is the way to go, but I would assert that SOMETHING else is the way to go.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s also a room or two that is \u2026 wasted? \u201cAntechamber – This room is magically silent. These doors are heavy and require an Open Doors check.\u201d Antechamber is not very descriptive. The room being magically silent is wasted because it plays no part. There\u2019s no impact to it being silent. Because of this it\u2019s more window dressing, and thus wasted. Nothing nearby that the silence impacts, noting in the room that the silence impacts. Maybe something like \u201cUnearthly Silence – Highly vaulted. These doors are heavy and require and open doors check.\u201d<\/p>\n

Finally, in just one page you\u2019re not getting much in the way of great monster, magic, or mundane treasure descriptions. Thems the breaks \u2026 and points out the limitations of the one page format.<\/p>\n

This is a classic adventure. I like the classics. If everything published were at least this good I\u2019d be a happy man. All in one page. Reading this, and then going back to look at one of the new 5e WOTC adventures really points out the difference in styles. The bloat present in the WOTC products that adds little to the adventure becomes glaring.<\/p>\n

Print this and stick it in your B copy of B\/X and you\u2019re ready to go.<\/p>\n

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

https:\/\/www.drivethrurpg.com\/product\/108268\/Citadel-of-Evil?1892600<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Stuart Robertson D&D Levels 1-3 The Citadel casts a dark shadow from it’s mountain. Can you find a path to the top and rescue your kinfolk? This is, I think, a one page, that I\u2019m not sure how I … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2796,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2797","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-reviews"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/tenfootpole.org\/ironspike\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/ce.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tenfootpole.org\/ironspike\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2797","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=2797"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/tenfootpole.org\/ironspike\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2797\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5660,"href":"https:\/\/tenfootpole.org\/ironspike\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2797\/revisions\/5660"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tenfootpole.org\/ironspike\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2796"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tenfootpole.org\/ironspike\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2797"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tenfootpole.org\/ironspike\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2797"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tenfootpole.org\/ironspike\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2797"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}