Written by Ranger Lemure B/X, Levels 1-3 Dwarf hall overrun by orcs. Once a dwarven outpost, the lair of the Grim Gashers is hidden in the foothills of a temperate mountain range. The orcs launch regular raids against local villages and are known to harass any who travel the nearby roads. As well as looting and slaying, the Gashers are known to take captives as food or slaves. They once captured a wealthy merchant and attempted a ransom negotiation; the whole event ended in a confusing bloodbath and has not been attempted since. Orcs in a hole time, woo hoo. I don’t mean that dismissively, unlike some people in the hobby…low-level adventurers need orcs to bonk, and orcs need lairs. Similarly, some reviewers will react with crushing ennui for “levels 1-3”, but every campaign’s got to start somewhere. What we need, then, are orc-holes written with creativity, something better than what everyone comes up with when you say “tribe (4d20) of orcs in a captured fortress, with 6,105gp in captured loot.” Yes, the specificity of my number there should make the reader nervous. Verisimilitude is important, but sometimes a location can be too logical, too straightforward…to the point where it shuts down the adventure. After the above-quoted promising introduction, the adventure starts with a little bestiary, the orcs’ habits, then tactics/order of battle, before going into detail on its keys. Direct prose with occasional bolding, formatted in the two-column standard, the site is described fine. Locations have some Lynchian adjectives at times, sour, stinking, sweat, etc…the keys feel a little over-written, for all that eleven locations over two pages isn’t a terrible ratio. The map is verisimilitudinous, if you’ll allow the term, but definitely on the simple side. I believe it as a former dwarven outpost, although it is simple. Not a lot of secret/discoverable stuff, besides a pair of chimney grates allowing access to the two fireplaces for cleaner or unarmored thieves…which is a good idea, but the descripting makes it unclear if the chimneys are accessed from above the lair as well, plus the description notes a fireplace in the kitchen but doesn’t show it. Give halflings a courageous way to die of smoke inhalation, don’t be shy. Frontal assault is set up to be very nasty with the wide-open linking great hall, another example of layout realism that might actually hurt the play experience. The rear passage to “somewhere underground for further adventures” is…noted. Having a vertical two-level setup is nice, but going into a flow analysis unfortunately shows it to be almost tower-linear. I don’t want to be overly harsh, the author has clearly given some thought to “entry via shenanigans”, the slipshod and often drunken orcs are remarkably susceptible to orcish disguises or a Chewbacca Gambit. There’s a human kid, spunky, works for the orcs and has a 50/50 shot of siding with them should push come to shove, that’s a fun encounter. And then realism rears its ugly head again when we encounter the prison, “prisoners are too wounded or malnourished to be of any aid to the characters”…what? Come on, that’s not fun, how about a 1-hp berserker to be freed, or someone who knows about the orc’s routines? There’s a single wacky scenario that was devised here in lieu of a frontal assault, which is good, but it’s just the one. That initial writeup, about the orcs capturing a merchant and screwing up the ransom in a welter of gore, had so much promise, but no follow-up in the tribe’s characterization in the main text. There’s a couple rooms that show that spark, but every one of them could have had something like that. Treasure is the most unfortunate part here, over 90% of the loot is located in the Final Boss Room. This once again is completely realistic for the lair, but it’s kind of a bummer when compared with the less-realistic but more-gameable scenario of loots scattered around, trapped in places, difficult to retrieve in others. Nothing magical besides a potion of growth, which is reasonable given the level range and the setup…so once again, realistic. The adventure site can be confidently placed in any D&D world imaginable. Orcs squatting in an old dwarven hall? Yeah, that’ll work just about anywhere. I can see myself using it in extremis, but a little bit more work in spicing would go a long way here.
2 Comments
I can’t recall ever having written/designed an “orc hole” adventure myself. Not trying to be a contrarian here, but I rather like this concept…the map looks quite good, and the premise is simple enough to work with. Perhaps it’s in need of some re-stocking, but for a group of 1st level newbs starting out, this doesn’t sound terrible or (even) boring to me.
Reply
Commodore
2/12/2024 07:58:55 am
I'd hate to give an impression of terrible, or even boring, just can feel some potential here that was sadly unrealized. I try to give useful feedback on these, but make no mistake...toss a first level party at this lair, and there's definitely a fun night of D&D to be had.
Reply
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWeblog of Ben Gibson, the main writer and publisher of Coldlight Press. Archives
May 2024
Categories
All
|