Author: DangerIsReal
System: Swords&Wizardry
Size and Range: 4-6 Characters of level 2-3
Playtested and players credited.
First impression
The whole module looks clean, professional, and easy to parse. No artwork or title page, but the used font and the bolding create a peculiar effect of hinting at dark secrets and ancient dangers. The title does the rest… What’s the Black Mark? What is its legacy? Now I want to find out.
Structure and Layout
We start with the title, basic information (system, group size and range, …) and a nod to the playtesters.
The intro text then follows, with good use of bolding to quickly help us see what this is about: Cursed Peaks, Morlocks and Ircana the Spider Sorceress. Well that sounds nice. All of this is centered at the top of page one. After that the rest of the module is in clean two column layout, with sections nicely separated by some space and easily scannable by bolded headings.
We get a small rumor table, followed by some general stuff about the dungeon (general descriptions, doors, temperatures) and finished by a random encounter table.
Room descriptions follow with each room getting an initial, more general description, with bullet points then going into specific things. Stats for monsters then close of each room. Bolding of keywords is uses throughout which helps you quickly see the important stuff. My only real complaint here is that the chosen font tends to press bolded letter together very closely, which makes the bolded parts look kinda smeared sometimes. Like this:
It’s not that big a deal but I noticed it on my screen and on my printed version.
The Map
We get a clear, printer friendly grayscale map of the tombs one level. 12 Rooms, tightly pressed together, interconnected with a lot of corridors. The general structure of the map is well done, it can easily be described to players for mapping (no crazy room shapes or natural caves here) and it can as easily be quickly drawn up from scratch by a DM. Everything is clear, readable and gives a DM everything they need to run this thing. Specific objects from the rooms are included on the map (sarcophagus, statues, …), secret doors and traps are marked.
We get a clear, printer friendly grayscale map of the tombs one level. 12 Rooms, tightly pressed together, interconnected with a lot of corridors. The general structure of the map is well done, it can easily be described to players for mapping (no crazy room shapes or natural caves here) and it can as easily be quickly drawn up from scratch by a DM. Everything is clear, readable and gives a DM everything they need to run this thing. Specific objects from the rooms are included on the map (sarcophagus, statues, …), secret doors and traps are marked.
Still I have some minor problems with the map. The first one being the rather erratic nature of the room numbers. See how room 11 is on the right, while 10 is all the way on the left? With rooms 12 and then 7 between them? This is not a big problem, as the map is small enough to scan quickly, it’s just a bit jarring for me. Another thing I noticed is the lack of a windrose to show cardinal directions. Also not a big deal, though the description of room 3 specifies the eastern and western wall… which following the map would then be the topmost and bottom wall. This could take a DM a moment to parse and create one of those uncomfortable “Let me quickly look this up”-moments. Lasty my gut tells me that the map was designed with a view to the tactical and loopyness of the whole first and narrative or In-Game reasons second. Some passages are places to facilitate great loops, while completely unnecessary for the tomb as is in the strictest sense. This though is just a nitpick by myself and I won’t take it into consideration in the judging as the map is pretty great all in all.
The Story so far
The Background is short, evocative and doesn’t overstay its welcome. Just enough for a DM to add their own spin and slot it neatly into their world. Throughout the module little bits and pieces of backstory and implied history can be gleamed (unknown black stone used in jewelry, the unnatural cold, …), but everything is minimal, subtle and in service of the DM. It helps to quickly set a mood and atmosphere for the DM to work with. Still, it is general enough that any DM worth their salt can quickly adapt it to their liking.
Theme and Atmosphere
It’s an ancient tomb and everything in it (Monsters, treasure, traps, …) fits the theme well. Nicely done there. The strongest point of the Adventure site in my opinion is the dark, ancient and strange atmosphere it manages to create. Each description, each item or monster helps to create strong imagery for the DM to use. This module is dripping with atmosphere in the best sense possible and this also helps to smooth over some of the weaker parts. Very good stuff here.
Language and Writing
The used language and style of writing is a balanced mixture of technical and evocative. I got the feeling that the efficient transfer of information was always the first goal (as it should be imho), but you also get a little more in service of evocative descriptions (which helps immensely to create the strong atmosphere mentioned above). Sarcophagus instead of coffin, incomprehensible runes instead of strange ones… you get the idea. General descriptions come before specifics in a bullet-point style reminding me of the OSE house style. Luckily the author knows his stuff and doesn’t take the bullet-points to the idiotic extreme of some OSE-Modules ( – Door, wood(locked) anyone?). Instead the bullet-points are used to great effect to shed light on room details or give specific information to the DM while still helping with the atmosphere.
Artwork
No Artwork in this module. Please move along.
The Situation
A lost entrance to the ancient tomb was recently discovered, the introduction helpfully tells us. There are no prepared hooks in this module, the backstory serving as a start for the DMs imagination as to why a group should be there and how they have heard of the tomb. A DM basically must craft their own hooks and ways for a group to know of this place, though that is not a bad thing all in all. If a group has knowledge of the tomb and decides to go there you’ll also have a few rumors to get things going.
Rumors
Four rumors are given, marked as to their truth. How the group gets these rumors is up to the DM, though the introduction helpfully notes other grave robbers pouring into these parts. The rumors are well crafted, each true one offering a hint to the nature of specific parts of the dungeon. For example, Ircana was burned and consumed by the power of holy light and her mummy must be burned to exorcise her evil spirit. Even the false one contains a hint to a teleport effect, that could lead to some hilarious reactions when the group has heard that rumor and then activates that effect (“Dave is now on the plane of fire…”).
Usability and Complexity
This adventure site is highly usable at the table. You can read it in a few minutes and instantly have a mental image of the place and the atmosphere there. There’s basically no need to prep anything in advance except the usual stuff of having the rules handy and such. I’m pretty confident I could run this with 15 minutes prep time for a good evening of fun dungeon delving. There’s stuff going on in 9 of the 12 rooms. Traps, Enemies, puzzles and effects are mixed well. Specific room interactivity, coupled with the random encounters and general stuff (like possibly stuck doors) generate a small amount of mental overhead a DM needs to be aware of. Everything is still easily manageable though and fitting for a tomb of that size. Systems-wise a DM should have no problem converting this adventure from Swords & Wizardry to any TSR-Era system (or retroclone or descendant thereof) without much hassle.
Random Encounters
We get a Random Encounter Table with four thematically fitting entries. A 1:6 chance every turn puts the pressure on the group to quickly get shit done or suffer the consequence. This is well done, as a group in a tomb/dungeon without some force applied to them to get them going will take their sweet time and stop fearing the dungeon. The entries itself are solid and stats are given for all monsters. The Morlocks even get a little line reminding the DM where in the Tomb they come from, so they can detract randomly encountered Morlocks from their base in room 9. This gives the whole a certain sense consistency which I quite like. Could’ve gone a step further and included some information about the Morlocks starting to search for lost companions after a time or that they are alerted if a group doesn’t return after a certain time.
NPCs and Monsters
There are no NPCs in this module which I must note as a missed chance. The introduction itself states that grave robbers “have been pouring” into the region and it implies that the entrance to the tomb is kind of well-known in certain circles. This would’ve been a good chance to either add an antagonistic party of grave robbers already in the tomb (or entering slightly after the party) or to place one or two trapped or injured NPCs (There’s a dead elf frozen in some ice… but he hardly counts.).
The monsters are all well done. Everything is statted for quick use at the table and the one uncommon monster (Vargouille) even gets a little description to help DMs and a note of its sourcebook. There is one monster that is a bit ambiguous. It is possible to encounter a crab spider that has no stats in room 11. Maybe that is simply the same spider as the ones from the Random Encounter Table, if so, this could’ve been made clearer. The monsters fit the theme well and work nicely here. You can also negotiate with the Morlocks and there is the option of gaining the ability to speak to the different spiders in the Tomb through the ominous Black Mark. My only complaint here is that Ircana herself isn’t really treated as a monster. Her spirit will activate and try to dominate PCs to do some bad stuff (for them) and she can only be defeated by burning her corpse (remember that rumor?). The whole encounter is designed more like a trap/puzzle, than as a combat against the mistress of this tomb. She doesn’t have stats and there is no information what can be done against her, except for the corpse burning part. A few more notes (Can she be turned by a cleric for example?) would’ve been helpful here.
Treasure
Treasure is high and fits the tomb-theme well. You get over 17000gp if you find anything, plus some nifty magic items (and a few cursed or dangerous ones). Most of the gp value is in thematically fitting jewelry and grave goods. The magic items range from usable on the spot (potion of healing, scroll of Neutralize Poison) to interesting (Crystal Ball ) to “screw you guys” (potion of poison looking like a potion of healing, Ring of Weakness). Everything fits well together though and a clever party can gain much in the tomb. I would’ve hoped for some hints as to the two potions in room 1 (healing and poison looking exactly the same), but let’s be real here… any group that simply drinks stuff out of the dungeon without taking precautions kinda has it coming.
Interactivity/Traps/Puzzles
As written above 9 from 12 rooms feature some sort of effect or possible interaction. Everything is telegraphed pretty well with environmental hints and inscriptions giving an attentive and clever party a fighting chance against the traps and hazards in the tomb. Traps are also not placed randomly, but can be inferred by layout and possible treasure. I love the secret door which only opens in darkness and is plainly visible to anyone with infravision in Room 8. The teleport-effect connecting rooms 2 and 8 is well telegraphed. Also pouring your own blood onto a magical pentagram is objectively the right thing to do in every situation, right? An exploring party should have some “no risk, no fun”- mentality or they might actually miss some of the best parts of the tomb, though.
Mechanics and Rules
This adventure stays mostly within the given rules of the system. There are some notes regarding the destruction of an ice pool in which a dead elf and two dead Morlocks are trapped. Freeing them takes some time, with Encounter checks being made each round.
The titular Black Mark is a highlight in the way it can be gained (bitten by giant spider statue after kneeling in front of it) and in the effect it has (turns PCs chaotic, grants permanent infravision and the ability to communicate with spiders). It also interacts directly with the core of the tomb (anyone not wearing the mark will get attacked, anyone wearing it is susceptible to mind control by Ircana) and indirectly with room 6 (which is full of spiders you can now talk to) and some of the possible Random Encounters. This is really well done. You gain something, but with a drawback. Love it.
I would’ve loved some small mechanic modeling the unnatural cold in the dungeon. Something like PCs losing one hp every 6 turns if they don’t warm themselves at a small fire or such. Basically a small system that would’ve applied another bit of pressure by giving players the choice of either rushing things, taking the damage or using their resources.
Highlights
- The palpable atmosphere of the whole thing.
- The well crafted rumors offering substantive hints to attentive players.
- The Black Mark which can change a character in pretty big ways and have some bad consequences if not interacted with carefully, but also grants obvious benefits in the tomb.
Final Thoughts
So here we are at the end of the first review. All in all a really good first offering. Fun to read, probably even more fun to DM and play. So let’s answer my core questions now.
- Do I want to DM this? Does the adventure site make me excited to try and run it?
Heck yes. It’s tight, well written and oozes with atmosphere. When it’s good it’s really great and even the bad stuff is all minor and easily fixed in prepwork (or easily ignored as some of my complaints may never even come up). - Do I think it works at the table? Do I think I can run this for one of my groups?
Yes and yes. It’s easily slotable in any game world and not overtly complex. A DM can realistically read the whole thing a few minutes before the game begins and still deliver everything the module intends.
Do I think players would have a blast playing through it?
Yeah. The group needs a bit of bravery in trying stuff, but if they don’t have that, what the heck are they doing in a tomb in the first place.
This Adventure Site is well done and worthy addition to any good setting.
Thanks for reading.
Tiny Pink Tentacle 