Adventure Site Contest 2 REVIEW: The Warm Caves of the Ts'ai Dragons

I can't quite believe it, but here we are at the last Adventure Site Contest 2 review. This has been an interesting ride, and I plan to post some follow-up thoughts on the experience after taking a step back and considering what I've learned. It's been eye-opening, frankly, and has made me reconsider how I go about my own dungeon designs. I'll expound further, but congratulations to everyone who submitted something this year. It was a distinct honor to be chosen as a worthy judge, so I hope I've lived up to expectations.

On with the review!

The Warm Caves of the Ts'ai Dragons

Author: Sneedler Chuckworth
System: OD&D
Party Size: ?
Level Range: 5-7

There is no introductory text. The writeup simply plops the reader into a list of adventure hooks. In the first one, an evil wizard offers to train the party's magic-users for free if they retrieve an important document. The second hook is a treasure map to the location of powerful magic arrows. The third and last hook is a report about a dragon running amok in the hinterlands.

So, the first hook sets the tone for the text. The "dread wizard Zothblimzo" desires an arcane treatise written by his hated rival Forxximon, another magic-user. The names are goofy and tricky to pronounce, but I don't mind that so much. It does suggest that Sneedler Chuckworth's adventure isn't taking itself seriously, which can work if handled properly. The unseriousness is reinforced with the subject of the desired treatise regarding "the mating habits of Fire Elementals." Hm. 

Adventure Site Contest 2 REVIEW: Galactic Funtime

Galactic Funtime

Author: Shawn Metcalf
System: Stars Without Number
Party Size: 4-6
Level Range: 3-5

The Galactic Funtime entertainment center thrived, separating people from their money and replacing it with fun. Of particular note was their Build-A-Spider center, where sophisticated and underregulated genetic assembling technologies allowed for the creation of living pets resembling Soupy Spider, Galactic Funtime’s corporate mascot. These pets were harmless, unable to reproduce, and designed to perish within a week. Sadly, the miniature nuclear reactor the center had installed to handle the energy requirements started to leak without regular maintenance. The genetic material used mutated, and began producing spiders that were dangerous, had normal life spans, and could reproduce. Before the machinery broke down completely, spiders with more severe mutations were created. Now the building is overrun with them.

This reminds me of the setup for a Paranoia adventure. I loved that game's hilarious take on a post-apocalyptic world, but unless you had the right set of smart players and a DM with a well-tuned sense of humor and great pun delivery, much of the game's comedic value fell flat or went unappreciated. Jim Holloway's art was kind of perfect for it, too. I'm already rubbing my hands in anticipation.

Up front, I know nothing about the adventure system, Stars Without Number, but I have read good things and I am a fan of sci-fi RPGs (even though I've rarely had the opportunity to play in one). As my take is severely limited, I'm only dealing with the narrative elements for this review and will leave any rules or procedural questions alone.

Adventure Site Contest 2 REVIEW: Wailing Tower

Wailing Tower

Author: ShockTohp
System: Adventurer Conqueror King
Party Size: ?
Level Range: 4-6

In the salt district of the city, an old moldering water clock sits rusting. This marvel of hydraulic engineering, a gift from the local dwarf vault, was created as a heroic burial site of a human general of great renown, who once saved the dwarfs from a horde of lizardmen. The hero was interned (sic) with his spoils in a crystal dome, located in the basement of the tower (and surrounded by its reservoir) but in such a way as to allow admirers to look down on the interred from the ground level viewing gallery. However, its glory days are long gone, and the clock has been abandoned by its keepers. Now its ancient waterwheel creaks and groans, the machinery inside screeches like a tormented beast. While it was once protected by an army of statues, many whisper the enchantments have long since drained into the earth below, leaving the grave vulnerable to pillage by those who would rob the dead.

This adventure site is written for ACKS, with which I have no experience playing or running, though I understand it's built on the BX chassis. I'm not going to focus too much on rules issues but if I get something wrong, feel free to correct me and I will update the review.

Alright, so the centerpiece of this adventure is a water clock—a timekeeping mechanism housed within a tower that is slowly rusting away due to engineering neglect. It is a monument to, and the burial place of, a legendary human general. The site is haunted by a banshee—the spirit of a jilted lover who died heartbroken and penniless after being abandoned by the general long ago.

R.I.P. Chesty

 Farewell, my feline friend.

You were a great companion, a one-of-a-kind mister, a stalwart mascot of our Tuesday night group, and a hardass placeholder DM when I had to leave the table for a quick bathroom break.

 Fight on, little buddy, until we meet again in Valhalla!

 

Adventure Site Contest 2 REVIEW: The Grand Retreat of the Great Sage Tellah

The Grand Retreat of the Great Sage Tellah

Author: thanateros777
System: BX
Party Size: ?
Level Range: ? ("mid-level")

Beneath a ruined resort is an underground complex created by a bygone sage for his personal amusement and examination, accessible only by a small outbuilding long overgrown and ruined. Deep inside may be fortunes and perils alike, as the Great Sage was an eccentric, if not abnormal man. What mysteries and riches may the eccentric wizard’s sanctum hold?

So when I opened this PDF, I was nearly blinded by the Moiré pattern on the page—a font so compressed as to remove all but a sliver of white between the characters. Waves of interference made my brain shut down for a second time in this contest. See for yourself...

Adventure Site Contest 2 REVIEW: Arena Æmilia

Arena Æmilia

Author: Zed
System: BX
Party Size: ?
Level Range: 4-6

Spectacle! at the Arena Æmilia[.] Every Ides new performances. History and legends, classics and new,
thrill and laughter, reenactments and hunts. Entry a silver sesterce, tours upon agreement.

The above notice "hang[s] in ever (sic) town of the region, and every 15th of the month plebeians and nobles alike from all over the frontier province flock to the amphitheater, for some well earned distraction from the toils of imperial expansion."

The site is located in a settlement—any large town or city with an Imperial Rome theme—and its run by Titus, a 7th-level fighter and, variously, a champion, decorated war veteran, and former slave raider. He lives here with his 3rd-level magic-user daughter and her pet smilodon, along with their 100-year old housekeeper, a 4th-level elf who has served Titus's wife's family "for generations" (for some reason).

Adventure Site Contest 2 REVIEW: Tower in the Lake

The Tower in the Lake

Author: Matthew Lake
System: BX
Party Size: 4-7
Level Range: 3-5

From the surface it’s just a crumbling ruin. But beneath the waves lies the arcane lair of the great wizard Thassalius. Can you unlock the wizard’s fabled library? Dare you plunder his flooded treasure vault? Will you prove yourself against his mutated creations? There’s only one way to find out…

A water-obsessed wizard has built an elaborate tower in the middle of the lake that goes all the way to the bottom. There, he conducted arcane experiments to transform himself into a merfolk like his beloved—a "freshwater" mermaid named Adeline. Then he disappeared mysteriously. Now, twenty years later, only the top floor of his tower stands above the surface, while the submerged levels remain mostly air-filled. The place is leaking badly, however, and the lower level is flooded.

Adventure Site Contest 2 REVIEW: The Bridge of Ptelemegesser

The Bridge of Ptelemegesser

Author: Peter McDevitt
System: BX/OSE
Party Size: ?
Level Range: ?

Whoops, this one's missing a couple of pages. Wait, no... it's only one page long. That's a bold strategy, Cotton. But hey, you can do a lot with one page, so let's see if it pays off.

Adventure Site Contest 2 REVIEW: Foundry Ovens of the Bitter Paramore

Foundry Ovens of the Bitter Paramore

Author: Nick Alexander
System: AD&D
Party Size: ?
Level Range: 5-7

On a blasted hill, squats a foundry of blackened brick [and] iron, belching acrid fumes day [and] night. Wise men call it cursed.

After that brief intro, the text opens with a list of rumors, some of which are only partially true and one of which is false. I'm not a fan of false rumors. When the DM provides information as part of an adventure setup, most players are going to accept all of it as true unless the party has some in-game reason to be skeptical of its source. False rumors serve mostly to create player confusion and waste session time trying to associate the rumor with the action as the adventure progresses. 

The rumors would work better as a proper introduction that sets up the stakes and provides the party with motivation to get involved. As written, there's only three relevant pieces of information and, subsequently, three motivations.

1) The foundry is the lair of a monster called The Paramore. (Kill the monster.)
2) Local women are disappearing. (Rescue innocents.)
3) Caravans have not arrived. (Earn a reward.)

If you throw in the partially-true rumor about golden statues and the true detail about the foundry being the former workshop of a master artificer, then you can throw in a fourth motivation. (Recover treasure.) Just tighten up all those rumors into a kick-ass introductory paragraph and, yeah, that's all you need for a solid session or two of D&D.

Adventure Site Contest 2 REVIEW: Tor of the Vulture Lord

Tor of the Vulture Lord

Author: Alex Edwards (aka SandboxSorcerer)
System: AD&D/OSRIC
Party Size: ?
Level Range: 1-9

A Roc nests in the ruin of a temple set on a 250 ft stone pillar overlooking a desolate hex. Brigand Horde [and] other Creatures of Chaos use the caverns beneath the temple as a base from which to raid local settlements. Rumours of roc/brigand attacks! Rumours of Gold! Rumours of Demon Cults! Princess Jara was kidnapped, Rescue her!

Can't get much more D&D than that.

I'm always interested by how different people process information. Everyone's brains work in unique ways, and it's part of what makes me question the effectiveness of including a Clarity score in my reviews as it's only my impression of what's "clear" or not. What I'm about to say isn't a criticism, but an observation.

Adventure Site Contest 2 REVIEW: The Herbalist's Son

The Herbalist's Son

Author: Jacob72
System: "Classic D&D" (actually BECMI)
Party Size: 4-7
Level Range: 3-5

[T]he lost tomb of the elvish prince Calithilben is said to be close to the tiny ruined druid chapel in the village of Sorn, a sorry place of some two dozen low stone and turf windowless huts.

This adventure assumes the party wants to come here, having arrived at the village via a map or legend related to the tomb. Why they would be interested in plundering the tomb of an elf noble (money, magic, glory, enmity against the elves, etc.) is up to the DM to contrive.

The text dives right into a description of the druid's chapel. It's not clear whether the chapel is a building or a standing stone. No building interior is ever described, so the word "chapel" here may be substituting as a blanket term for a shrine or sacred spot (like a menhir). It's a small quibble, but I was confused and had to re-read the paragraph a few times (and I'm still not certain).

Adventure Site Contest 2 REVIEW: Crimson Garden of the Crocodile Spirits

Crimson Garden of the Crocodile Spirits

Author: Tristan Shoudy
System: AD&D
Party Size: ?
Level Range: ?

A ruined greenhouse that has been long abandoned rises about the grasslands surrounding it. Within the crumbling palisade surrounding it are shells of other ruined stone and wooden structures. It was once an alchemist’s greenhouse but was left abandoned long ago after he was slain. Prior to his death the alchemist has imported Crocodiles from the south to act as guards for his precious greenhouse. After his death the crocodiles remained but soon perished. They soon rose anew as ghost’s (sic) continued (sic) to perform the task they were given in life, with renewed dedication.

This is more of an encounter than a full-on adventure site, though I suppose that's a distinction without a difference. It just feels small compared to some of the other entries. The writeup only uses two of the three allowed pages for the keyed areas, with about a quarter of the third page being used for monster stat blocks. We're not quite sure who this is for, as no party size or level range is provided (not a good start).

Adventure Site Contest 2 REVIEW: Scarborough Shire

Scarborough Shire

Author: Nick Roman
System: AD&D
Party Size: ?
Level Range: 5-7

Green hills roll to the horizon; nature’s bounty springs forth from the soft, black earth; stamping music and the scent of hearty food fill the air. In the very center of bucolic halfling country, Scarborough Shire springs up along a little-traveled hill-country road, with hospitality aplenty for travelers.

The "shire" in this case is more of a single halfling settlement at an intersection of several roads leading to exotic locales. The party arrives here en route to one of these obviously important destinations, and the little-folk who live here are warm and welcoming. That's to be expected from halflings, whose love of good food and drink is enough to entice any weary traveler. This game is often about subverting expectations, though, so the players would be wise to keep their guard up.

Adventure Site Contest 2 REVIEW: The Two Spires

The Two Spires

Author: Louis-Joseph Benoit
System: OD&D “3LBB”
Party Size: 3-6 (+ hirelings)
Level Range: 3-4 (total 20 levels)

Situated in a desert and flanked by a cliff, this outpost is visible from afar (and vice-versa). Two 100’ spires dart towards the sky, like shiny needles. They seem linked at their third by a hanging rope bridge. To the East, two domed buildings, a hut and an encampment. A couple hundred people must live there. To the West, a pasture with bushes and eight-legged beasts, studded with white dots in the sand. This outpost was built on the site of a battle won with the Hammer of Glory and is a safe place… for the daring. It is occupied by pariahs of the Copper Men and (recently) by orc mercenaries.

This description of the general area serves as the introduction to the adventure site. Just before this section is a quick reference key for several acronyms the author uses repeatedly throughout the text to indicate certain mechanics for encounters and reactions.

So, we have a desert region with some sort of habitation and a pair of tall towers situated against a cliff. The text then describes the main two factions at play here. The Copper Men are telepathic desert-dwellers who live here in apostasy, raising "eight-legged reptilian horses" and engaging in trade with... (?) Maybe the other faction? That would be the "Praise-Song's (sic) Orcs," a band of neutral orcish mercenaries looking to earn enough money to build a temple. 

 Okay. This is all weird, but good-weird. Gamma World-weird. Keep going...

Adventure Site Contest 2 REVIEW: The Barbican of Blood

The Barbican of Blood

Author: Mitch Hyde (aka dreadlord)
System: AD&D
Party Size: 4-8
Level Range: 6-8

Rumours suggest a Dark Lord has taken residence in an old ruined outpost, deep in a forest forlorn. Woodsmen and elves report that a 1st circle of druids have fled their stone circle, driven away by the harassment of a powerful figure. They will offer the use of their spells and agents in return for aid.

The "Dark Lord" in question is a ninth-level fighter who, with his retinue of henchmen, has occupied a ruined tower in the forest and driven out a local circle of druids. The druids ask the party to rid them of this menace and offer to assist their efforts. Unbeknownst to anyone, the Dark Lord and his men are actually charmed minions of an ancient vampire whose crypt is below the old fort. Awesome, classic setup