{"id":7792,"date":"2022-02-14T07:10:00","date_gmt":"2022-02-14T12:10:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tenfootpole.org\/ironspike\/?p=7792"},"modified":"2022-02-02T14:12:22","modified_gmt":"2022-02-02T19:12:22","slug":"the-lair-of-the-shaggy-beast","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tenfootpole.org\/ironspike\/?p=7792","title":{"rendered":"The Lair of the Shaggy Beast"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
By Nobboc\nOSE\/BX<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
This is a one page dungeon from, it looks like, a book on monsters from folklore. While I don\u2019t normally review one pagers anymore, Nobboc asked and Nobboc is not a git, so, a review it is! I assume the book is about the folklore monsters and they are includin a short adventure for some and\/or all of the entries. This is the one for the Velue \u201cthe shaggy beast.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is landscape formatted, a one pager. The left colum, maybe \u00bc or 1\/5th of the page, has the monster description and stats. The rest of the page is taken up by a small map of around eight rooms of a cave complex, it\u2019s lair, and the keys for it as well as a minimal hook and instructions for running the monster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The map is a pretty good one, for its size. Essentially two paths running parallel to each other, as a cave system. The effect is a long snarky path, essentially one hallway running to chambers. I\u2019d normall call this liner, except for the cave features throughout, like the overpasses, underpasses, rivers, and the other parallel tunnel system. Things are made more interesting by making one of the paths too small for the Velue to fit in to. Hit & run tactics then become available \u2026 which may in and of itself be a problem for the DM. There\u2019s also a short system to determine if the Velue is at home in its lair and where it is, as well as a way for it to flood certain parts of the system using its water control powers. Overall, it does a lot in a small space with the map and its features.It\u2019s a good cave system with the vertical represented.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The descriptions are terse, as one would expect in a one pager, and relatively evocative. \u201cPebble beach by a river\u201d is the first location \u2026 notice how the room title adds additional context to the encounter. We\u2019ve already got a brief description that \u201c1\u201d alone just doesn\u2019t convey. On top of that there\u2019s \u201ca pestilent small forming from inside the cave.\u201d Great! We\u2019ve got a little bit of foreshadowing, a little bit of a hint that something lives here, and little bit of the mythic underworld, if played that way, implying things are about to get weird. The second line is a strange crow on a rock that says \u201cShe\u2019ll give me your eyes! Before flying off. Nice scene, but, \u201cstrange\u201d is a poor word choice. HOW is it strange? Strange is a conclusion, you see. You want the description to convey to the players \u201coh, thats strange\u201d, not tell them its strange. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I know it\u2019s a one pager, and sospace is limited, but this whole \u201cgive me your eyes\u201d thing could have been touched on again via a callback. It\u2019s the only time it\u2019s mentioned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Room two is a stinky cavern. I\u2019d prefer a sulferous cavern, or something to convey the smell of death, as the room title, since the caracasses of many rotting creatures lie within. There\u2019s rando cave paintings showing men coming down from flying ship. A \u201cvery old\u201d cave painting. A better word could have been found for this, and the cave painting has no impact on the adventure. I would have liked to see it contribute. There IS a dead gnome body in a crack \u2026 wearing a ring of invisibility. Nice way to hide treasure; I approve!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Room three is a foggy cave, with a knee high mist hiding a troll in a pit \u2026 the mist coming from a hot spring in the bottom of the pit. Interesting. I like the trap\/trick aspect of the room, as well as \u201cknee high\u201d to describe the mist. Maybe one more line about the troll and how he interacts? The rooms continue like this, generally some interactivity with some decent writing that could be better. The treasure is book, but it\u2019s also one page.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So, it\u2019s a decent little adventure that suffers from all of the usual problems of one-pagers: its too constrained. I can see how a little lair dungeon would buff up the monster entries in a folklore book, but \u2026 I\u2019m not sure that the mythic nature, or even the specific aspects of folklore, are captured in the entry. The usual issues, it\u2019s too constrained. I don\u2019t think you need to go all 100 Bushels of Rye on the thing, but, there must be a happy medium here. It\u2019s about as good as you can do, in a one page format for a lair, but \u2026 in a one page format. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nobboc posted this over ath reddit in the OSR group, so, it\u2019s free:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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New creature and mini dungeon for OSE B\/X<\/a>
 byu\/Nobboc<\/a> inosr<\/a><\/blockquote>