In which I review Forgive Us

    So, last night with minimal preparation I decided to run the LotFP module Forgive Us. I had only given it a quick read through the day before and I wasn't truly expecting to run it any time soon (let alone the next day). However, even with the short notice, my gaming group and I were able to complete the module in about 3 1/2 hours. 

    Before I get too deep in the weeds rambling about what I actually think of the module, I think it's probably best to familiarize everyone with the premise of the module and the book at large:

    Forgive Us, by Kelvin Green published by LotFP, is a short adventure anthology consisting of 3 relatively short scenarios; Forgive Us, In Heaven Everything is Fine, and Death and Taxes. The titular module happens to be the first adventure in the book and clocks in at 36 pages out of the book's total 46. The basic premise of the scenario (without giving away too much yet) is that an item stolen from a cult by a prominent city gang had unanticipated powers that caused all sorts of trouble for the gang members (and eventually the PC's).

    Nearly the entire adventure takes place in a single building complex and the structure/"dungeon" underneath. There is one off-site locale (the site of the aforementioned theft) that the PC's can go, but it's existence is only revealed in one of the harder to reach areas of the complex.

    Now onto how this module actually played out:

    My players for this adventure are all pretty new to OSR style games. Most of them were playing 5e with me when I started playing DnD, but I've been slowly introducing them to more and more OSR products. All but one had played in an LotFP module before (Tower of the Stargazer, Death Frost Doom, and Doom Cave of the Crystal Headed Children), and knew that generally these games ended in some sort of calamity. This module proved to be no different aside from how we got to that calamity.

    In my and some of my players' opinions, in contrast to the doom-oozing ambiance of Death Frost Doom, the utter alienness of Cave of the Crystal Headed Children, and the sheer amount of bits and bobs to play with (and die from) in Tower of the Stargazer,  Forgive us seemed a bit empty. While this makes more sense given the background of the scenario, I wish there were some more of the elements I've loved in other LotFP modules featured in this one. 

   I think an issue with how I ran this adventure was that, because I only had a short amount of time to prepare, I didn't get the tone of it right to the players. Forgive us runs a lot more like a mystery investigation than your 'typical' LotFP dungeon crawl. There's approximately 1-3 clues in every building of the complex that convey the background of the scenario, and some of them are much more useful than others. If you and your players are into that more Call of Cthulhu style investigation with a little bit of combat, then I highly recommend this adventure (which I suppose sounds like a synopsis of what LotFP's tone is...meep).

    I guess through the process of writing this I've changed my mind a little regarding this adventure. It definitely is on topic for any LotFP historical horror campaign, it just didn't go over too well with my group.

Thoughts on Stonehell

Some comments on Stonehell Dungeon.

    Today I'm going to go over my thoughts on this megadungeon from Michael Curtis. To do this, I'll break the analysis down into three sections: Construction, GM usefulness, and Player experience. Ramble Start:

Construction

   

    First and foremost, potential customers should be aware that this is a print on demand, paperback, perfect bound book. The physical construction, while appropriate for the price, is quite a step below most other megadungeon sourcebooks printed in hardcover binding. However, what it lacks in physical construction, it more than makes up for with the content's formatting.

    The entirety of Stonehell's maps are designed off of the one-page-dungeon format preceded by a page or two of general information about the area. While splitting a megadungeon into a series of smaller quadrant sized one-page dungeons sounds tedious, the layout is such that it is not overwhelming (unlike other 'modern' presentations of megadungeons), and is quite easy to use (more on this in DM usefulness). 

    This book's layout could have been improved upon with the integration of changes in the typeface to indicate important information (ie. different colors of text/bolding of words to indicate a deadly trap or monster). While this is something that a DM can easily do just by reading through the room descriptions and highlighting (*gasp*) or underlining relevant information the hour or so before a session, many DM's I've met do not write in their books. I did this to mine (just using different colored highlighters for monsters, treasures, traps and secret doors) and it made the book that much more useful. Would highly recommend.

DM usefulness

   

    

    This book does an amazing job of giving the DM just enough information to run the dungeon, even with minimal preparation, while not binding them to drawn out text boxes. As an example, every time that I've run this dungeon, I've done it with absolutely no prep aside from marking up my book when I got it. Simply glancing over the one line room description of the area the party is approaching is often enough to build tension and start giving clues to vigilant PC's.

    The strict adherence to format gives this book a reliability that you won't find in many other adventure sourcebooks. In fact,because of the relative modularity of Stonehell's quadrants, an inspired DM could very well lift any of the quadrants to use in their home game with few alterations. The sheer number of keyed and stocked dungeon maps makes Stonehell Dungeon a perfect resource for anyone looking to run a number of one-shot dungeon crawls (either with friends or an open gaming table).

    Because of Stonehell's modularity, creative DM's will find it quite easy to reskin or completely restock levels of the dungeon to fit their campaign needs. Stonehell could just as easily be a dilapidated colony ship floating through the cosmos, as it could be an underground fantasy labyrinth with monsters lurking within.

    However, I don't believe a re-imagining of Stonehell is necessary. Another aspect of Stonehell's usefulness to the DM comes from how well thought out the dungeon's past is. Stonehell Dungeon makes sense in a way that not many other dungeons do (within the parameters of fantasy logic that is). Because of Stonehell's compelling story, players are able to engage with the fiction more and immerse themselves in its night-haunted halls.

Player experience

    Stonehell Dungeon is an unforgiving, brutal place to be. While the massive amount of rooms and rumored treasure tantalizes greedy characters, the dungeon is quite stingy with the amount of treasure actually attainable. Usually any large amount of gold not hidden in a secret cubby somewhere is paid for with the lives of intrepid adventurers. Players will learn very quickly that if they want to get better loot, they'll have to delve even deeper beneath the surface and defeat the monsters that guard it (consciously or unconsciously).

      My own  players may not have realized it yet, but at times this dungeon seems almost too stingy with its treasure given. I tried to remedy this by providing NPC's who possess treasure maps for the dungeon (usually stolen off of other adventuring parties) that lead to the larger hauls. To my surprise, the players were so scared of the path that the treasure map took them down, they decided it was better to turn the other way and find their own treasure. This not only caught me off guard, but also sold me on how well this module creates an atmosphere of dread. Keep in mind this was a small army of about 15 characters (2/3 retainers) so they had the numbers to fight most anything on the first level.

    

Overall, Stonehell is a fantastic example of an old school megadungeon with modern presentation sensibilities. It requires minimal prep and offers hours and hours of engaging gameplay. While the physical quality of the book suffers because of the affordable price point, I would recommend this megadungeon to anyone who wants to try out OSR style play (or just needs a fun Saturday night dungeon crawl).

Intro and the Games I'm Running

My gaming 'experience' over the last few years (games I've either run or played in).

I'll admit I'm relatively new to the OSR and TTRPG's in general, but it's been a bit of an obsession as of late

Fantasy:

DnD5E, The Black Hack, Maze Rats, DCC RPG, Lamentations of the Flame Princess, Labyrinth Lord, Swords and Wizardry, Old School Essentials, Mork Borg.

Horror:

Mothership, Call of Cthulhu.

Games I have bought and read, but have yet to play/run:

Tales from the Loop, Metamorphosis Alpha, Basic Fantasy RPG, Torchbearer, Trophy (gold/dark), Knave, Mausritter, Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerers of Hyperborea.

Games I am running currently:

Stonehell Dungeon (OSE)

Curse of Strahd (DnD5E)

Keep on the Borderlands (DnD5E and OSE)

String of DCC one-shots (DCC)

Aaaaaaaand the games that I want to run:

Barrowmaze (with LotFP, OSE, or DCC)

The Lost City (OSE)

The God that Crawls (LotFP)

Winter's Daughter (OSE)

Gradient Descent (Mothership)

Masks of Nyarlathotep (Call of Cthulhu)

The Salty Funnel (DCC)

Adventure Anthology Blood (LotFP)

Big Puppet (LotFP)