Bull Temple

    Update: 7/20/2020
For a PDF version of this adventure in a classic TSR-blue, click here!

The plan for this week was to put together a review of another actual play live cast I've been screening; but we're into week two of sick child: this time, the other one. So - between blowing noses and re-dosing on cold medicine - you get a graph paper adventure instead.

When mapping a dungeon, I usually start with a theme in mind when working through the floor plan. That said, themes and procedural generation of dungeon contents often don't go hand in hand - but, stocking this one using the second-level lists from Moldvay Basic, it dawned on me that it works perfectly for an abandoned, derelict, or otherwise under siege environment. For the below, why are the elves there? Where did the neanderthals come from - or the lizard men? Are they working together, or against each other? In my mind, I know exactly how I'd run it - motives, reactions to one another, and explanations internal to the universe as to why the dungeon is and works as it is - but really, I don't want to share it for fear of clouding how you would run it. Half the fun is in figuring those details out - in advance or on the fly!

There's almost a blog post in it to talk to emergent theme derived from randomization of encounters and treasure...

Maybe next time. As always, feel free to use it if you like it.

Seaside Sanctuary

Beyond the bay, just beyond the curve of the horizon past the docks, the jagged mountains meet the waves - their gray face a static bulwark against the persistent crash of the sea. Carved within the mountain itself is a grand cathedral - a sanctuary by the seaside - crafted by the hands of another time to honor a god for a forgotten people: and a vault for the treasure of long lost tithes. 

There is a door, through the mountains - if you care to brave the orcs; or there is a hole in one of its crumbling spires - if you can find a way up the cliff face past the nest of harpies. But - if you care to chance a fisherman's commission, a skilled seaman can bring a skiff up to a lonely portico above the waves. At high tide, you may not even need a rope to climb - all the more space in your pack to haul back whatever finds you!

Seaside Sanctuary

The inspiration for Seaside Sanctuary, a large, formerly monastic order and cathedral built atop the cliff face overlooking a saltwater sound, was the idea of coming into a dungeon at a level that wasn't the first. Instead of popping in at ground level and working your way down, you'd be in the midst right away - going up or going down, both options, and if you weren't keeping tabs on how many staircases you climbed, you may get stuck with no way out save blind luck to find an egress.

For now, two levels are mapped on graph paper, provided here below alongside a label to track the progress of the dungeon. Planned for now, from bottom to top:

1. Cave: a three level underbelly, the lowest levels of which are totally submerged and home to a mer-folk necromancer and his acolytes. The middle layer would have some sections submerged, others not, based on the tide: producing the necessity for dynamic routing for a party running low on light.
2. Monastary: the administrative, housing, and crypt for the original inhabitants: a mix of terrains, now home to three rival factions: a death cult seeking the secrets of the mer-folk below; kobolds, forced below by the warring orcs and goblins above to make a new home int he depths; and the restless dead - relentlessly marching the halls, guarding the bones and secrets below.
3. Cathedral: Vertical levels going up - home to a mess of orcs and goblins vying for control over the interior. Each of several levels faces inward around a central space: once a glorious place of worship - now, a wasteland of broken pieces and decay: a killing field for those foolish enough to cross it. Intended to provide multiple, obvious overlooks into different levels; dynamic access both for adventuring characters and for random encounters.
4. Bell Towers: Two towers, one on the north and one on the south side, rising independently of one another. Free from the orcs below - these are up in the air (har har) as to what inhabits them: though harpies might be fun for one; and the other - maybe clockwork guardians. We will see when we get there.

Mapping, I started at the entry I was inspired to make the map for. These maps would belong to section 2 above; with the second perchance being the point of transition into the caves. Apologies for image quality; loaded from mobile rather than a proper scanner - but the plan is to digitize a map eventually anyway.

"Ground" Level, Entry via Boat

Sub-Level 1, Crypt

Key is had-written for Ground Level - but one of my boys is sick; will have to wait to transcribe and post it another day.

Game on!

New Year, New Map

     Update - 07/01/2020
For a PDF version in TSR Blue, 10 foot scale, click here! For belated Christmas, I purchased myself the Worldographer license bundle. In part, having used Hexographer in the past without buying it (being broke), I wanted to support the developers - it's awesome that they are able to make something off of a beloved hobby, and mostly doing it in a way that's accessible to everyone; but also because I was curious to try my hand at drawing adventures suitable for virtual tabletop rather than using typical TSR blue.

Stocked using Moldvay Basic.
Map drawn freehand, no particular method.
Attached is the result; feel absolutely free to steal it.

     Lessons Learned:
I have a long way to go.
Key as PDF

Player Map: No Grid	Player Map: 5-Foot Square Grid
	GM Map

Player Map: 5-Foot Square Grid	Player Map: No Grid
GM Map

Player Map: No Grid
Player Map: 5-Foot Square Grid	GM Map

Kind of Sad The Iron Tavern Ended

Podcast Information

Podcast Name: The Iron Tavern Where I Listened: Podbean for Android Where It's Available: IronTavern.com System: DCC RPG

Leather

Thoughts and Review

The Iron Tavern was a podcast running a group of DCC adventurers through a campaign called "Sunken City" - running from November 2013 to February of 2015. Following a cast of somewhat Chaotic adventurers and their group of hirelings through an attack on an expansive wizard's tower, the podcast showcases the DCC game and the dynamics of the player group. I found it on my preferred podcast player when seeking out an actual-play experience to listen to in preparation to run a DCC game.

What I Like

The players work together very well; there is a good group dynamic: both between the players themselves and between the players and the Judge (or GM). I like, especially, the inclusion and utilization of hirelings. Hirelings are a key element of old-school play - be they torch bearers and porters or be they men-at-arms or back-up sages - to fill in the gaps where the players don't go. Filling in gaps is especially important: one, to fix the missing niche; but two - and here's the rub - when you don't have to fulfill all the party "roles" as players, it means you are free to play the character you want, the one that makes sense with your stat rolls and your vision for who you want them to become: not the one that the other guys didn't make yet because you showed up late at char-gen night. But less about that and more about the podcast.

The podcast does a good job dealing with character morbidity. Dungeoneering is a dangerous business: which is something that comes across well in this campaign. A novice player or novice GM can benefit from a lesson in this regard, ensuring that character back-story, while it matters, is less important than character front-story: that is, who they become. Additionally, the aforementioned novice can learn from this in that the game does not pull punches: combat isn't always the best approach to a solution - something that DCC as a game does in mediocrity; there is a fair amount of emphasis on combat and the Warrior class is highly durable - and that adventurers can and will get smeared in the process of adventuring.

What I Don't Like

Audio issues plague the podcast; some players being noticeably harder to hear than others. Additionally, although I am a proponent of rulings before rules, there are several very three-a-boo moments in this podcast wherein the Judge encourages his players to roll for events or actions that an OSR play style does not support: to name a specific example, they use the Intelligence stat to roll as a "search" check - the game, in the rules, explicitly states that no Wisdom or "search" type skill is included intentionally - the creator, in adhering to the philosophy of the original game, intended the players to interact with the world and to role-play searches, to role-play traps; not to rely on the whimsy of plastic polyhedrons.

Rolling on the wrong critical hit table? Something that they also do, which does infringe on one of DCC's main selling points - the endless tables - but not something that I hold against them.

Rolling for something that was designed not to be rolled against? That edges entirely close to a new-school policy to not stand out like a sore thumb against the backdrop of an otherwise old-school experience.

Full Disclosure (Spoiler Alert)

I did not listen to the full run; about 1/3 of the way in, the campaign takes a turn for the gonzo: transporting the characters to a different world with lasers and aliens. As much of a fan of Burroughs fan as I am, this genre was not the genre I was looking for when entertaining myself riding an elliptical machine before work.

It is distinctly possible that some of the issues mentioned above are resolved in the later episodes; the fanfare on the blog site is overwhelmingly positive - but reading this review, know that it is posted from the experience of approximately 1/3 of the total episodes.

Conclusion

On a scale of clothing-only to plate armor, I rate this podcast as Leather. It is fun to listen to and is a decent exposé of the system. Additionally, it's a good learning tool when it comes to running and playing in an OSR game - specifically when it comes to reacting to the environment, preparing for character death, and utilizing hirelings. It conforms to the spirit of the system - maintaining tonal fidelity to D&D as it was, so to speak - and I am fairly tempted to go back, skip through a couple of the episodes that turned me off to the game, and finish out the series.

To have improved, the podcast could have benefited from better incorporation of resource and inventory management, but DCC as a system hand-waives most encumbrance: and as a byproduct that, as well as the hex-crawl, are largely lost in a RAW DCC experience. The RPG in use not being designed for that level of play, it is unfair to hold those elements against the podcast, which - again - I enjoyed.

There was, at the time, talk of producing a second campaign - one based on the DCC Shudder Mountains product - but to my knowledge, it did not materialize. If I am mistaken on that account, I welcome being corrected - as it would be something I'd be curious to review.

Thanks for reading!