Thursday, 16 January 2025

30 Quick Hexes of Chagrinspire





































Quick new years personal grievances your welcome to skip
Im having new year "what the hell am I doing with my life" thoughts and I have been known to burn years of artworks in the past and probably yearly consider deleting this blog when I'm in a mood. Im not doing anything dramatic at this stage but I recommend making pdfs of what you like on this blog and grab anything from my downloads page as I will edit it soon. Most of my work is available as bootlegs and sites like scribe and ppl even sell compass of my work that I cant paywall past. 

Im think about my time and effort and 12 years of not finishing anything to my satisfaction plus some BS on Patreon and Blogger and my increasing aversion to paperwork even if it costs me money. As its midsummer, I seem to be gaming and being social more and doing new things in meatspace like my band and other things. Ppl increasingly to do art again in public and I'm in a Adelaide Fringe Fest show again soon. So blogging every few days and working boks for patreon have been affected. Winter is a better shut-in season. Im on a partially invalid pension and the gov want me to study and Im looking for some work again. If I get back into a small business I need to make a certain amount to live off and not burn out. I still feel burned out and my headspace a mess like in my 20s again but my BP is the most normal its been in years. At least my housing situation has been good last few years vs my Sydney days. Wishing everyone well for new year.

One possibility is to reduce my output and focus on finishing 2 projects 2/3 done with original art assets and put them up for sale for a charity (Brisbane Frog Hospital is possibly the leading choice now as they helped me with the animals I rescue by phone and there is no such local org).

Any settlement I can full describe so pick any hex community (not outposts) and I will do market prices and tables for it

This took me several weeks and replaces hex descriptions and numbering on some older versions

-------------------------

30x Quick Hexes For Chagrinspire
My players have walked through about 1/3 hexes as quickly as they could.
Yet to circle the mountain but trying.

So I was never sure I would want this much detail.

Players dealing with more trade and exploration than I expected and enjoying their domain play since 3rd level so contacting new settlements is something they want to do. Hopefully next game they go back inside the dungeon.

I will try and finish vol 3 compilation and probably will stop. Id like to have time to turn it back to one book and edit better. In play, a few details have changed and this will supersede old versions - I nudged Quicksilver Heights the next hex slightly from an earlier version.

In the book version there will be room to add own stuff and I recommend adding a few rolls of of these for additional locations if characters more thorough. I might need a hexploration feature table

Subterranean Entrances holes and lairs
Tactical locations battlefields on the fly for when you see distant enemies
Surface Structures ruins

30 Hexes in brief

# terrain
- outpost occupants, every hex has a fortified ancient fortress oupost 
- settlement (
if any)
- adventure features
- historic events
 

1 Grassland - Gateway to the Wastes   
❤ Bandit Outpost (now players)   
❤ Flatspur village with hog and turnip farms, a church of light and a scavengers guild 
❤ River ferry crossing, cults in ruins fleeing religious states east and south
❤ Various hog and turnip farms, mud-smothered ruins and a few cults
❤ Area once drowned in mud from wetlands smothering ruins and allied armies

2 Grassland - Hog Fields
❤ Orc Outpost with sprawling village and hog and cabbage farms
❤ Rawrgar a beastfolk village in a ruined menagerie vindictive to humans and magic
❤ Wasteland megafauna graze here and barbarians camp here to hunt them
❤ Several allied kings were smothered by mud when meeting about ending the war 

Grassland - Locust Fields
❤ Cult of the Worm Outpost exercises influence over worms, leeches and maggots
❤ Sunken Hole a sinkhole falling into a buried ruined city with a mutant village
❤ Giant bugs and worms attract amphibian folk raiders from the swamps north
❤ Underland monsters and giant bugs breed in swamps come here to grow then go south
❤ The Insect Army was gassed by flying machines in the apocalypse war here

4 Broken - Crooked Rocks
❤ Cult of the False Sun Outpost subverts and spreads corruption to the mad emperor, entropy templars in service do darkness may pretend to be kind and good
❤ Fliechville a mutant clan worshipping Xor the living god of meat who sends them food
❤ Herd beasts and barbarian clans often shelter here from bad weather
❤ The north has more slime creatures from swamps
❤ A great manifestation of flesh appeared and fed the starving allies in the apocalypse war

5 Broken - Broken River      
❤ Slavers Outpost - part of the slavers continent-spanning international slavery ring
❤ Shankheim Village with rat farms, run by a criminal "scavengers guild" 
❤ River ferry crossing run by a clan of unwholesome swamp folk related to cannibals
❤ Cults in ruins fleeing religious states east and south
❤ Cliffs, canyons, mesas, buttes and remnants of buried buildings
❤ River leads to the kingdom of Lamnutania and the heretical Emperor's capitol
❤ A terrible fireball dropped on a crusader army during the war, breaking the ground and melting buildings 

6 Wetlands - Eastern Lakes
❤ Frog Folk Outpost occupied by sophisticated frog folk from faerieland (Castle Frog)
❤ Dagons Bulwark is a fish folk wooden town built on the lake
❤ Bandit Island is a base of mostly tents and some ruins where river pirates have settled
❤ Lakeboar Village an orc village of mudhogs and fishing, has a tavern and wereboars
❤ Cursed island reachable low tide has a haunted manour and stone dolmen and monoliths
❤ Insect Rock with prehuman bug folk ruins, frog folk come here to hunt bugs
❤ Where the amphibian and fish folk called forth the elemental plane of water to purify the wasteland and allowed their armies to invade chagrinspires water passages and destroy their aquaducts

Wetlands -  Southern Lakes
❤ Mercenary Outpost where they secretly gather secrets of improved guns in secret
❤ Pickleton is a bulwark operated by A merchant and a mercenary company seeking guns
❤ Blackbog village ruins, criminal den of gambling and vice burned by crusaders 30 years ago
❤ Sargassum area of giant lakeweed with wrecked boats and strange occupants
❤ Ruined chapel remains of a failed settlement of farmers from south
❤ Underland pier a concrete pier and buried underland canal entry (+secret sub pen)
❤ Pact Rock a cliff of green stone with ancient frog and fish folk carvings of a treaty
❤ An army of devils fighting undead fighting in the apocalypse were smothered by the great flood of holy elemental water unleashed from hex6

8 Grassland/Wetlands/Mudlands - Crossing Grounds
❤ Elemental Templar Outpost for elemental cults watching marsh and no-mans land
❤ Elos village of desperate survivors under the thrall of elemental cults
❤ Ruins from age of ancient Exilon are being explored by Templars for relics
❤ South road and river trade through chokepoints attracts bandits 
❤ A canal goes from river to inside the ruined hillfort full of undead soldiers
❤ Includes part of hill fort line, trenches and no man's land in between
❤ Several ancient elemental gods were captured by the Black Sphere in the Apocalypse and most have forgotten their names and cults since

9 Hills/Ruins - Plateau Gatehouse
❤ Adventurers Guild Outpost held by murder hobos outside the starfort walls watching south
❤ Dragonhole a scavengers colony of secretly dragon templars who would like a proper outpost and preparing numbers and wyvern riders
❤ The Star Fort Wall, The Plateau of Peril and the Gatehouse of Chagrinspire
❤ Ruined fragments of a gigantic aqueduct destroyed by the elemental flood in hex6, some are used as lairs or forts
❤ Skyriver village, secure in a larger section of the aqueduct protected by frightening druids
❤ The final forces of the Apocalypse war killed each other here, forgotten heroes and demigods

10 Mudlands - Ghostgrounds
❤ Haunted Outpost controlled by corporeal undead and commanded by spirits 
❤ A clan of trench apes operate from a hidden dugout with uniforms, guns and trench clubs and raid any who camp or dawdle in the region 
❤ Includes part of hill fort line, trenches and no man's land in between
❤ Allied hillfort occupied by undead soldiers cursed to not rest till victory 
❤ Includes part of hill fort line, trenches and no man's land in between
❤ An ancient death god was slain here and was never reborn or answered priests again, their siblings in the underworld mourn them still
 
11 Grasslands - Weeping Waste
❤ Barbarian Outpost where various rulers, beastfolk and orc allies meet and plan their crusade against wizards, the literate and any technology superior to theirs
❤ Radak a new barbarian settlement of farmers and herders here to help prepare land to feed the next barbarian crusade. There are many huge ox wagon houses and tents. They herd ponies, goats and grow bitter gourds
❤ Pleistocene megafauna roams here and angry berserker cults
❤ The great hordes of the ancient wastelands met here and called their ancestral beast avatars here then marched to their mysterious doom which no spirit saw and survived

12 Mudlands - West Wastes
❤ Alchemist Guild Outpost
❤ Quicksilver Heights village with Alchemist guild, marketplace desperate for food
❤ Vast garbage dump somehow slowly growing. Connects to the underand garbage cavern under Chagrinspire said to be overflowing
❤ Includes part of hill fort line, trenches and no man's land in between
❤ Village and outpost on thin muddy grassy strip on the edge of the hex proper
❤ A vast Barbarian, Dwarf and Orc army were slaughtered by airships with death rays during end of the apocalypse war 

13 Broken - Scarcliffs
❤ Orc Outpost used as staging area for orc invasion to kill wizards 
❤ Mootpoint a barbarian camp with mead hall and cluster of hill shrines of shaman
❤ Cliffs and gullies with semi-buried ruins, barbarian barrows now haunted
❤ Mutant, faerie, sylvan and pleistocene animals from Blightwood and the central greater wastes
❤ A great burrowing gnome army undermined the supply camps massacring non combatants support peoples, many had escaped black sphere prison camps 

14 Woodlands - South Blightwood
❤ Elven Outpost surrounded by mists and seems to look wildly different to a few years ago
❤ Snake Hill a druid hillfort full of shrines for woodfolk, wildfolk and beastfolk 
❤ Blightwood a long dead forest druids seek to restore via magical means
❤ Monsterous animals and warped faerie beings dwell here
❤ One of the old green gods died here with a vast treefolk army 

15 Woodlands - North Blightwood
❤ Goblinoid Outpost ruled by a goblin king with tunnels riddled beneath
❤ Shroomheim a village of outcaste elves who trade with Underland demihumans
 Blightwood a long-dead forest druids seek to restore via magical means
❤ Monsterous animals and warped faerie beings dwell here
❤ One of the old green gods died here with a vast treefolk army 

16 Mudlands/Broken - Western No-mans land
❤ Death Templars Outpost dedicated to building a vast undead army
❤ Huge gangs of zombies roam this area and various carrion eaters 
❤ Includes part of hill fort line, trenches and no man's land in between
❤ Trade route between woods and no man-land with bandits and monsters
❤ The great and terrible burning eye in the sky used by the black sphere was shot down by an elven god here and remains are buried in no mans land

17 Hills/Ruins - Mount Grime
❤ Reptilian Outpost, come from north investigating the stirring undead ancestors
❤ Varmeg Tor an ancient monolith brought here centuries ago by a mutant cannibal cult who live in huts around it
❤ Reptilian necromancers in exile from the north for a time had a kingdom here after the war, their graves in patches of marsh remain and full of undead lizard and snake folk
❤ A great machine under Mt Grime imprisons outer gods for magic power
❤ Here cults of the outer gods betrayed their lords of the outer void to join the black sphere

18 Hills/Ruins - Mount Slime
❤ Outpost of Chaos templar mutants of the plague god
❤ Fliechgiest a village of primordial slime chaos cults who merge into a single slime in their secret temple for holy days and will invite strangers to their feasts
❤ A great machine under Mt Slime imprisons outer gods for magic power 
❤ Here cults of the outer gods betrayed their overlords to the black sphere joining them

19 Mudlands - Bloodwall
❤ Daemon Cult Outpost working on restarting the apocalypse and freeing daemons
 Zuun a Village of wretched mutant scavenger slaves growing food for the daemon cult outpost concealed among hillfort and by daemon illusions and other barriers
❤ Includes part of hill fort line, trenches and no man's land in between
❤ A vast army of allies was slaughtered at the wall, betrayed by wicked daemon allies who want eternal warfare and feared early victory

20 Broken - Dwarfgate
❤ Haunted Outpost on edge of forest, covered in vines, once knights of Valadran held
❤ Korlath gateway to dwarfland carved into cliffs on edge of hex
❤ Dwarf hidden bunkers and barrows are everwhere 
❤ Cliffs, mesas, cliffs, caves and butes and some isolated green areas on western edge
❤ Pleistocene mammals roam grassy spaces
❤ A terrible weapon devastated the region and the Dwarves closed their gates. They have launched three crusades since the apocalypse ended. All failed and many crusaders were driven insane

21 Broken - Robber's Run
❤ Outpost held by a Robber King bandit leader from Valadran with a criminal market
❤ Gnomehole an underland gnome trading post near a huge gauge in land exposing ancient train tunnels. They worship the golden cube
❤ Land blasted with craters, rubbles and buried ancient ruins
❤ Pleistocene mammals roam grassy spaces, Underland monsters seen by night
❤  Land shattered by fighting kaiju in the apocalypse war, now they sleep under the rubble

22 
Toxic Flats - Western Weird Wastes
❤ Slavers Guild Outpost
❤ Dragon Hill Mine - Alchemists & Miners Guild mine for exotic minerals 
❤ Caves and grottos or calcium growths, pools of sulphur or nitrates, mounds of ash 
❤ Dangerous with hot toxic winds and acid rain, dangerous monsters and mutants
❤ Mineralised and mummified bodies of travellers and animals, some undead
❤ Dinosaurs and civilised ancient reptilian folk from north are more and more common 
❤  Land was famous for mines and hostile kobolds and the hub for worlds gunpowder supply with all three minerals required and other alchemical supplies everywhere
❤  A terrible relic binding an earth god brought forth toxic minerals and lava from the deep poisoning the allied crop and grazingland in the apocalypse

23 Mudlands - North Wall
❤ Outer Void Cult Outpost where insane magicians try to free their imprisoned gods
❤ Nookie Hole a scavenger camp with a casino, brothel and saloon 
❤ Cult wizards roam in mist-shrouded mud looking for signs of their missing gods
❤ Includes part of hill fort line, trenches and no man's land in between
❤ Took the brunt of allied attacks never failing even as other wall sections did, many monuments to soldiers with names and images of heroic Nullist troops vs rabble of the outsiders

24 Mudlands - Greymarl
❤ Primordial Chaos Outpost operated by mutant cultists and chaos templars
❤ Sunder Hole a camp of scavengers who shelter bandits 
❤ Slime beings, shoggoths and protoplasmic horrors
❤ Includes part of hill fort line, trenches and no man's land in between
❤ Here is where the Black Sphere betrayed the outer gods and imprisoned them

25 Toxic Flats - Central Weird Wastes
❤ Kingdom of Mordnar Outpost where knights watching the borderlands amend for misdeeds 
❤ Hobo Skull camp where murder hobo adventurers from Mordnar come to the wastes
❤ Goblinoids, orcs and humanoids occupy many dungeons here and try to enter Mordnar
❤ Increasing population of reptilian mutants, dinosaurs, reptilian folk of the north increasing
❤ This whole region was on fire for months in the apocalypse war and is still blackened in places, burning oil pits and jets of gas erupting from the earth 

26 Toxic Flats - Eastern Weird Wastes
❤ Reptilian Outpost occupied by ancient reptile folk and pet dinosaurs 
❤ Tarascon Village - mine into the vast sleeping underground behemoth body 
❤ Increasing population of reptilian mutants, dinosaurs, reptilian folk of the north increasing
❤ Young dragons grow up here spawned in the lake then fly to the Islands like Zorda
❤ Dragons aided retreating allies after the flood from hex6 in the apocalypse war, some of those they aided they carried to the wizard and dragon templar island or Zorda

27 Salt Flats - Northern Saltflats
 Robberknight Ourpost is operated by banished knights of Mordnar
❤ Wetland Clan a settlement of banished mutant inbred marsh folk
❤ Cults in ruins fleeing religious states east and south
❤ Former failed crusades left undead knights and mutant chaos templars

28 Salt Flats - Southern Saltflats
❤ Crusader Outpost a staging ground for crusaders from Lamnutainia
❤ Bonegully Village a semi-hidden mutant village, they hope nobody bothers them
❤ Rat folk have a underground sewer town for underland trade
❤ Cults in ruins fleeing religious states east and south
❤ Former failed crusades left undead, death templars and mutant chaos templars
❤  Crusaders every century have died and failed in thousands here, mostly killed by their angry undead ancestors and mutant distant cousins 

29 Mudlands - Rottenmuck
❤ Hellknight Outpost of crusaders, templars and wizards serving hell with a hellgate
❤ Hellthrall a village of damned slaves of the devil templars growing stink melons and cabbage while herding mutant cattle with human faces who call out praises to hell 
❤ Devils, imps, damned souls and cultists more common here
❤ Includes part of hill fort line, trenches and no man's land in between
❤ A portal to hell opened once and a whole hierarchy of hell was nullified during the apocalypse war 

30 Hills/Wetlands/Ruins - Mount Slime
 Dragon Templar Outpost watching over the wastes and the lake breeding beach 
 Marsh Village home of green skinned abhuman wild folk with a druidic temple
 Hoppsville Bulwark a wooden town built on the lake by frog folk
❤ Magic Island an outpost of wizards and mercenaries here to plunder  
❤ Ruined towers of a wizard enclave, four of six still stand and two magically sealed 
❤ Ironheart a wrecked ironclad warship ship where scrappers camp
❤ Dragonspawn Beach where lake dragons come to breed and lay eggs
❤ Lake village sunken and visible, some see mermaids and fishfolk or hear the church bells
❤ Haunted Bullwark a trading village burned 30 years ago by pirates
❤ Black Sphere grey gnome aquahab on bottom of the lake for secret submarine activity
❤ Sunken City is a ruined city destroyed at end of war some say full of fish folk
❤ Carcosa a haunted cursed sunk city from strange stars beyond the void appears here when stars are right and cultists come to visit and find relics 


d10 Quick Apocalypse Historic Event Sites
1 Site of a terrible battle
2 Site a terrible weapon used
3 Site of a famous wonder or monument
4 Site a famous kaiju was killed
5 Site a famous panicked route of a army 
6 Site of a 
destroyed famous urban centre 
7 Site of horrific massacre
8 Site of a magical event
9 Site a hero died
10 Site a god died




Monday, 13 January 2025

Secrets of the grey gnomes






































Still have not got Skerples magic industrial book sigh

Crew can refer to gnomes only 50-90cm/2-3 foot so many of these ate half the equivalent size for a human. So if you want to have it unlikely for played to use keep small. They often carry human size passengers as troops or are built for humans to operate. Troop transports have gnome crews and carry humanoids or automaton soldiers.

Most use advanced steam engines or magical golem engines with faces that can be self driving and require less crew.

d20 Vehichle Powered by
1-6 Coal based furnace 
7-12 Mineral Oil products from deep
13-14 Biofuel  from rendered corpses
15 Ichor pumped from veins of vast underground sleeping beasts in various wells on land or water platforms
16 Koboldium a toxic glowing green mineral used by kobolds, burned in an alchemy furnace or in reaction chambers
17 Gems or gold or valuables burned in an alchemical furnace
18 Soul furnace requiring human or animal sacrifice
19 Spirits animate various components, vulnerable to exorcism, possibly a persons soul bound as a source of mechanical power and just a bit haunted
20 Golem powered with a face, can operate without crew and intelligent and speak, some free-willed. Require magic to harm immune to most magic and damage 

d12 Gnome Vehicles
1 Monocycle - driver sits in wheel hub, good cross-terrain vehicle but mishaps can be fatal 45kph, some are armoured assault spheres
 but slower at 26kph with a gun port or light auto needler
2 Bicycle - two-wheeled mechanical pedal powered contrivance, older ones have one huge and other small and more unwieldy. 1in12 powered, most with a small motor but 1in6 is a golem with a small face on the front 20 on good flat road, half or worse uphill, better down hill 
3 Battlecart - a small 3 or 4-wheeled powered cart with a shield in front and an auto needler gun, some have a separate gunner who stands and fires over driver or from a sidecar 50kph
3 Scooter - a scooter with a 1in10 optional assault scooter with an optional rocket launcher and a d4-1 shells in brackets 65kph
4 Track Cycle - a caterpillar track motorcycle good for off road 40kph
5 Gun Carrier - tracked armoured but open topped vehicle, two crew, a light auto needler gun and room for six soldiers to sit, but others can hold on. 42kph
6 Automobile - armoured streamlined armoured shell with slits for windows and gunports, poorer off-road 65kph
7 Mini-Tank - one crew with a light auto needler 18kph
8 Light-Tank - driver and turret operator with heavy autoneedler or a small cannon 6d6 16kph
10 Battle Tank - with heavu auto needler and a cannon 10d6, 5 crew 16kph
11 Heavy Tank - with 4 cannons nd two autoneedlers and 14 crew 12kph
12 Scout Walker - with 3m tall legs and a bucket for pilot, military will have
 armoured pods with heavy needler or 6d6 cannon. Some have 4 rockets also. Civilian ones may have claws for loading. Some make 3d6 clawed armoured versions for combat vs monsters 40kph
13 Attack Walker - four 6m tall legs, crew of ten plus section of 12 automaton infantry, two 6d6 cannons in head and 4 heave auto needles. Civilian versions are unarmed with a swappable cargo module  20kph
14 Attack Tripod - three legs 9m long with two tentacles for smashing or snatching victims a 12d6 heat ray and a crew of three 45kph
15 Battle Sphere - 3m spare with track rings and 2 guns, 34kph 
16 Crab Walker - 8 legged armoured walker with two claws and a crew of 2. Scoriom variant has a gun or flamer in the tail 24kph 
17 War Wheel - giant wheel with an armoured hub with a crew of 8 with two 6d6 cannons and 2 heavy needles. Wheel has spikes and is 6m wide 36kph
18 Land Train - 12m high wheeled engine that tows 2d4+4 wagons overland, each carrying a squad of troops or supplies. Some cars are armoured with cannons or autoneedlers  12kph
19
 Mole Machine Scout - one gnome mole machine for scouts 16kph
20
 Mole Machine Carrier - carry three crew plus six gnome heavy sappers and 12 automaton soldiers 16kph

d4 Megavehichles
1 Land Leviathans are battleships for the land and only move 8kph on tracks but were bristling with light and super heavy cannon turrets and a thousand crew. A mobile fortress mostly found as ruins
Walking Citadel with legs with defensive autoguns and cannon turrets and a crew of a thousand and a d4-1 thousand resident passengers 12kph
3 Wheeled Citadel a mobile citadel 16kph with 200 hundred crew and 2d6-2 hundred passengers with plenty of light 6d6 defensive artillery
City Crawler a tracked mobile fortress with defensive autoguns and cannon turrets and a population of a d4-1 thousand passengers 8kph

d10 Marine Craft
1 Powerboat - 2-4 crew, 80kph, some have a swivel-mounted light auto gun or a rack of 4-8 rockets
2 Gunboat - 6 crew, 60kph, two mounted guns chosen from a 6d6 light cannon or autogun 
3 Canalboat - as few as 2 but often a whole family,
 16kph, some towed by horse and not powered, may tow d4-1 cargo barges d4 1=trade goods 2=garbage 3=coal 4=corpses
Riverboat - small powered boat for rivers with 2-4 crew and up to a dozen passengers, 26kph used as fishing boats or small transport 
5 Paddle boat - 12 crew and possibly a hundred passengers at 16kphd4 1=troop transport 2=clan home 3=traders 4=pirates 5=slavers 6=casino (crime guild) 
6 Cargo ship - 12 crew 32kph 
7 Transport Barge - big floating box with 2 crew and 40kph to carry troops for amphibious landings or goods or vehicles. There are some versions that travel underwater at half speed
8 Ironclad - 12 crew 20kph, sits low in water and heavily armoured and angled to deflect cannonballs with 4 light 6d6 cannons and a gatling gun, many have two smoke stacks that are the main vulnerability
9 Dreadnaght - 800 crew warship travelling 40kph, with a dozen cannon turrets and defensive auto guns, two torpedo tubes, depth charges, elite warship. Only a few amphibious tracked versions can be found as wrecks
10 Minisub - one or two crew in diving suits sit on the tube body, used for sabotage and espionage in tight fit harbours or aquatic tunnels 
11 Scout sub - 2 crew up to 6 passengers, no weapons, 26kph, half submerged
12 Submarine - dozen crew with 2 torpedoes tubes and a dozen shots, 6d6 cannon for surface use, 30kph surface, half submerged

d12 Aircraft
1 Spotters Balloon - tethered balloon for observers otherwise vulnerable to wind with d4 crew
2 Airboat - dirigible with 2 crew and up to 12 passengers, 10kph + wind
3 Aerial gunboat - armed with light 6d6 cannon and defensive autogun 30kph, crew of 6 and up to a dozen passengers. Can drop clusters of grenades and incendiaries
4 Airship - dozen crew and 30 passengers good for cargo, armed versions have autoguns for defence, a spotlight or drop bombs from great altitudes prop planes wont fly in, 80kph and very long range
5 Air Dreadnaut - armoured warship with crew of 200 bristling with cannons and autoguns and a landing strip and hooks for smaller aircraft to land. Some have heat rays or death rays and Resistant to anything less than super heavy cannons
6 Gyrocopter - a short takeoff and landing craft for personal use with 1-4 occupants, cheap one-seaters often just a frame with open-air passengers but accident prone. Millitary tested with light autoguns and rockets
7 Fighter plane - mono, biplane or triplane fighters with two autoguns, camera and possible hand grenades or incendiaries the crew drop. Some have a gunner or navigator and a pilot
8 Bomber or passenger biplane - a crew of 2-4 and 10 passengers for air transports or a military version with 8 crew drops bombs and has 2-4 autoguns for defence. Big versions carry d3 small defensive fighters and pilots or airliners up to 30 passengers and extra 2 crew. Some can tow gliders with troops or cargo or land vehicles
9 Airboat - plane with boat hull for water findings otherwise like a passenger plane for cargo, some have a gunner with an autogun for defence
10 Rocket Glider - glider wings and a rocket tube to get speed and altitude then glide to land. Can use bursts for speed as needed (5-20 bursts depending on the model. For the cheapest expendable ones the pilot is strapped to the wings and exposed for thrills or commandoes. Some one or two seat enclosed versions are more durable and reliable
11 Rocket Plane - dangerous experiment, most crash but 869kph for ten-minute burn, armed with a 6d6 cannon, twin autoguns or 6 rockets. They land on skids but many just explode. Some jet models last longer, and don't accelerate as fast but 4x the size and 2 crew. Some are mere rocket drop pods that carry one soldier or two gnomes anywhere in the wastes in minutes then parachutes gently (in theory). Can be salvaged for reuse
12 Lunar Rocket - 21m tall rocket with a crew of six can travel into the sky to visit the moon or the crystal citadels of the celestial star people of the heavens. Landing and returning are risky. Bigger models exist. Some models just deliver explosives to vast distances or are automated for cargo with no support. There is absolutely not a secret brick moon built by astrognomes  

--------------
The base automatons here are from vol 1 of Chargrinspire 
I amended the boomer gun to just 6d6 for reasons 

When a star falls adventure from tsr UK and find winding stairs 2024 book was a big influence on my conception of a few things possible in d&d and has fingerprints here.

d12 Gnome Automatons
1 Iron Soldier - basic infantry with a musket, rifle or autogun
2 Pepper Pot - a conical metal pod with a gun and a claw concealing a spherical wheel 
3 Robug - dog size bugs that either scavange materials or used to overwhelm enemies
4 Scavenger - bumpercar size mechanical pillbugs, roll up to roll faster but mostly recycling
5 Trench Spider - mostly observation use can crawl close to ground or stand 6m tall, various accessories and weapon variants, often in trench war areas
6 Iron Hound - mechanical guard dogs, may patrol in packs 
7 Iron Ape - heavy labour or hand to hand
8 Robocrow - surveillance drones 
9 Replicant - white plastic flesh that is malleable and can copy persons they have seen for infiltration, espionage and sabotage. More flammable than humans and melt when they die
10
 Boomer - 2x3m minitank for patrols with a small cannon or an auto gun or flamer and can carry two crew or passengers through heavy fire
11 Trench Walker - 16x4m armoured cabin on four 6m legs, can carry 4 commanders in cockpit and a dozen commandoes, has two 10d6 cannons and 4 autoguns 
12 Iron Colossus - a 60m tall mechanical giant, might home occupant but most seen just eat people 

d12 Gnome Weapons
1 Folding sword - turns from 30cm d4 to a 60cm d6 blade but breaks on roll of 1
2 Chainsword - a shortsword size 2d6 noisy chainsword works 10 minutes on a fuel cell 
3 Impact Truncheon - d6 club with a shotgun shell loaded does +2d4 damage but is awkward to reload and on a critical gets stuck in the enemy requiring a might roll to break free
4 Torch sword - flaming shortsword +3 fire damage and fuel backpack lasts two hours
5 Shock Truncheon - d6 club can stun ten uses per beltpack batterey 
6 Light Flintlock pistol, might carry several, d6 damage, variants include d6 1=knife bayonet 2=knuckleduster 3=extra barrel 4=d8 damage 5=hatchet blade 6=roll a d4 twice
7 Light Musket - d6 cheap, for hunting or militia or small folk 
variants include d6 1=spike bayonet 2=hatchet blade stock 3=extra barrel 4=d8 damage
8 Auto Pistol - pneumatic needle pistol d4 with clip of 10 shots and requires a minute per shot to pump enough per shot, variants include d6 1=silent 2=improved ammo 20 shots 3=poison well for one clip 4=burst fire capacity 
9 Light Auto Gun 
pneumatic needle gun d4 with clip of 40 shots, bulky and has a noisy crack from air compressor each shot, variants include d8 1=silent mode only d3 damage 2=improved ammo 100 shots 3=folding stock 4=burst fire capacity 5=IR lamp and scope with batteries 6=Golem smart gun will fire on own, LN sentient weapon communicate by empathy with wielder and has centuries experience but is a jerk, will seek to kill chaotics and may have a d4 prejudices against factions or species or a monster
10 Grenaides with steel shell, a rod can be inserted to fire it from an autogun readying and pulling a pin is one action, another to throw it, goes off end of next round. Safer to carry than blackpowder era grenades and smaller 30mm without a lit fuse. d4 1=smoke 3m/round xd4 rounds then lasts d6 rounds or 1 if windy, rounds 2=frag 3d6 save halves over 6m 3=incendiary 3d4 save or on fire d4/round damage for a d4 rounds 4=acid vapour 6m area 2d4 save or lose 1pt a round for a d4 rounds, scarifies most materials 5=spore 3m cloud save or infected with respiration disease, if breathe and fail save, each round you exert self save or spend d4 rounds helpless trying to breath 6=magical darkness 9m cloud lasts 3s4 rounds 7=faerie fire on all living or undead in 3m area food 2d4 rounds 8=fear gas 6m area for a d3 rounds or one if windy, save or panic d4 rounds 9=confusion gas 6m area for a d3 rounds or one if windy, save or confused d4 rounds 10=necrogas spreads over 6m inflicts 2d4 on living (save halves), heal d4 on undead and any corpses expose arise as uncontrolled angry zombies
10 Hand flamer 2d4 3m 90 degree cone or 30 degree 6m shot, save or on fire 1pt for a d4 rounds. Versions d4 1=Pistol or wrist version one shot 2=gun with 3 shot cylinder 3=7 shot cylinder 4=small bound elemental in a jar if released attacks abuser, otherwise infinite shots and its magic fire
11 Lightning Rifle 3d6 bolt action each shot uses an alchemical cell, discarded cells are toxic waste leading to mutants in the future. Each cell is 1enc
12 Rocket Tube a disposable rocket-propelled grenade that can fly hundreds of metres

d12 Confusion
1 Change sides
2 Panic and flee from personal threat
3 Curl into a ball
4 Stand still, indecision paralysis, (friends might help)
5 Scratch and strike 1pt damage on self around to get the bugs and snakes
6 Deep in a thought monologue
7 Stands drooling and staring
8
 Fall over laughing at the clowns 
9 Drop everything, state of awe paralysis
10 Fantasysing about its awesome chosen one power
11 Attack the caster to be free of this spell 
12 Berserk, will attack visible enemies first than anybody else 

Gnome Peasant militia
AC 3 HD d6 Att Sickle d4 or small pitchfork d6 or light musket Morale 

Gnome Guard defence force LN
AC 5 HD d8 Att light musket officer has light flintlock and small sword

Gnome Storm trooper LN
AC 5 HD d8 Att Folding sword d6 or light musket d6 or Light Autogun Morale
Elite also have gasmask, and a grenade and a regimental dagger

Gnome Sapper LN
AC8 HD 3d8 Folding Trench Tool d6 or spiked club Morale 11 Mov 9
One gun from Blunderbus or Flamer or Auto pistol or Auto gun
Carry small bullet-resistant shield, two grenades and an air mask with an hour's supply

Heavy Weapons
1 Auto gun are intended to shot at vehicles, defend trenches or pin down enemy
2 Heavy Flamer 4d6 save or on fire d6 damage for d4 rounds, 30 degree cone 70m  
3 Light cannon 6d6 light gun for wheeled fieldpiece or boat defence or small tank
4 Cannon 10d6 typical battle tank gun or larger field piece
5 Heavy cannon 20 d6 fired from a battleship or mounted on a train carriage
6 Rocket noisy and cover battlefield in smoke, 2d4 damage over 3m save halves 
7 Hand bomb 5d6 fin stabilised 4kg bomb with impact fuse
8 Aerial bomb 10d6 for a huge bomb 12m area save halves
9 Incendiary cluster bomb scatter incendiaries over 12m area or more from height 
10
 Heat Ray 10d4 save or on fire d4 rounds, line effect 
11 Death ray save or die
12 Disintegrator ray or gone

Saturday, 11 January 2025

Hexploration Gamelog for Chagrinspire




































Had some cancellations and some guest appearing player of old
Party decided to do a round the Chagrinspire trek 
Brought in double size character sheets as higher level and more stuff
my alchemy formula rules have been nice and the priest thought the alchemist rogue was a spell caster (he has an item and one spell from and oath)

The man with No Name an alchemist thief 5th Lv
-Wears scavengers rags and harness with a gasmask and cape
-Sidekick lady rake sidekick now running scavengers guild in Quicksilver Heights
-Sidekick Sat Sonja, a seven-foot-tall beast lady ratfolk from under the wastes
-carries lots of explosives, incendiaries and several guns
-has been making oaths to neutral thief cults and now the Turnip god Bogrump
-Seeking the supernatural being who stole his name and why fled Shadelport

 The Templar Priest of Light 5th level
-Armoured templar with a chrome sphere helmet (hides face & 360 degree vision)
-Has numerous priest followers he is in command of 
-On a mission from a bishop to observe the waste for the church 

A long absent player popped in and played Rat Sonja

Only Rat Sonya, the priest and the rogue came this trip

The party control a outpost fortress they took off bandits with an underground train station. They have brought many rescued slaves and sacrifices here and other needy people. Including their young accidentally fell out of vat early runty flesh golem pet.

The players drove their new streamlined staff car without fuss and reached Quicksilver heights to amazement of the village and everyone came out to see including merchants and the Alchemist Guild. The deep gnome acquaintance greeted them. They parked inside the new scavengers guild subordinate to the Man WIth No Names branch. He had refused an offer to replace his local master in the Flatspur guild by the nasty master of Shankheim. His lady rake companion was left here to manage the guild branch and it was growing fast and worked with a merchant who was based in the players fort.

They did find a help wanted note offering 1000gp to kill demon goat men who killed a merchants lover in another caravan. They met and took the contract and were given two survivors who told of how they were overcome by goatmen with bows. They were supposed to help party find the wrecked caravan for clues.

So on the way the priest questioned them with ESP magic and picked up their plan to betray the party to the chaos goatmen serving orcus cultists. After picking up the bad vibes and plot the pries stunned one with a spell and the party attacked. One was taken down by several attackers but other cast darkness and got a good distance before being knocked out. The priest reluctantly gave them a trial and the rogue offered to kill them quickly. So they went to the ambush point but not by the road and sneaking. The priest used clairvoyance in the air to see further and saw the monsters lair entry and two trenches 60m apart each side of the road. Each had six goatmen and a cultist.

The priest cast silence on the rogues magic blunderbus and he crept into one end of the trench while Rat Sonya in her infamous bikini and javelins came from the other side with occupants sandwiched in the middle in a slight arch. The Rogue blasted three goatmen and activated the guns confusion blast. The three had 1HP and one curled up in  a ball and the other lept out and the priest killed him with a petty slap spell. The evil priest cast fear on Sonya on the other side and several goats chased her. The priest ran up and splattered the priest from above. Three goats ran bleating but then the ones from the other trench were arriving. The rogue pulled out his carbine and shot the incoming priest.

The three fleeing goats returned and the priest killed more with petty spells. Rat sonya fled then recovered form the flee magic and used javelins until with last one turned on them. The rogue shot the last one in the back. A few tried to flee to lair and escaped leaping over rubble and bleating. 

They chased him but cautiously half speed and the rogue reloaded. They went into the dank wet hole with hoof and foot prints leading inward. Inside there was a chamber with a well in the centre a winding staircase down and two doors.

The rogue still with a silence sphere readied a lit fuse and got a bomb ready by stairs. The priest looked at the closest door and Rat Sonya listened at the well. She heard chanting cultists interrupted by bleating then shouting. The priest opened the door and saw 4 prisoners and the woman they were sent to avenge among them. He closed door to come back later. The rogue saw zombies marching and shortly after everyone did. The priest drove them off and the party followed to a vast cave and a cliff to their left between them and the sounds of cultists. The last zombies were fleeing back to unholy ground of the orcus shrine. The rogue used his new oath given spiderclimb spell and climbed to the top of the cavern over the orcus statue, three priests and 9 skeletons so got bombs ready. Rat sonya badly and noisily jumped and climbed to the clifftop and the cult saw her and sent the skeletons.

The goat mask priest sent one subordinate to get rat sonya. Then his command undead powers to send the undead back to the good templar. The priest of light vapourised the zombies with holy prayers then the skeletons. This was as the rogue lit fuses and dropped a grenaide and an incendiary. The two cultists were focused on the vengeance of light and ignored the bombs until they exploded blasting the lesser acolyte of evil into burning pieces. The wounded cult master of evil challenged one to one battle and charged the priest. He decided to accept and charged back. The cacking goat guru sneered it was a trick and struck the priest with rotting flesh rot of the mummy kings!

Rat sonya and her priest fought and the Rogue shot her foe in the back with his magic carbine of the fish folk. The good priest reprimanded the minion of evil and clubbed him to the ground. The rogue mopped up the wounded and they began to loot. They had a cure disease potion but the priest could wait a night and cure self for free. Suffering a disease to save money is probably some important moral lesson. The idol had cursed gem eyes of could they left them. Took some money and returned the hostages. 

People back in Quicksilver Heights began to see party return and all yelled with excitement. Second day the whole town came out to see them. They got triple the reward and a trade deal with the land of Mordnar and their own scavengers guild. They arranged to meet at the Dragonhill Mine the rogue wanted to see. They had made firm friends and the Gnome of the Gold Cube Cult bought all the loot. The Priest kept some spell scrolls he was permitted to abuse for goodness.     

They decided to scout ahead of the merchant caravan to Dragon Hill and went off trail to explore hexes never seen.

Hex 13 - grasslands with herds - two sources of smoke
One was an orc barbarian-controlled outpost with extra spiked steaks and dark colours. The second larger one was a barbarian horde staging post for the next anti magic crusade. Decided to back off. Behind the Orc outpost, they saw the bleak dead forest.

Hex 14 and 15 - dead forest rumoured to have elves and druidic wild folk 
Saw area of dark giant growing thorns and evil trees
When almost clear carniverous apes with bloody handprint body paint and greel long moss like hair with tiny flowers growing on them charged. The magic blunderbus confusion made the most damaged one believe snakes were crawling into wounds and freaking out. The enraged one next to it attacked. The fought and were hit by bombs and light spells.

Hex 20 - Broken lands where chased by a wholly rhino with poor sight. The priest airwalked to tops of rocks and the Rogue climbed up. Rat sonya used her squeeze powers to fit in a crack. The Rogue cast light from his ring on the beast which didn't blind it or stick but it fled unable to see attackers. 

Explored and found the outpost of the hex which seemed more brown and grey and overgrown on the edge of the famous Auldwood.

Saw huge cliff cravings in unfamiliar style hoping to find a place to camp and meet the caravan tomorrow. They didn't want to wander around the toxic wastes with pools of poison at night. Up closer it was a great Dwarf gatehouse complex quite ancient, predating the Apocalypse. As they came close Dwarf boar riders met them.

Turns out they had been observed and divination priests had been scanning the players and continued to detect signs of evil or chaos or enemies. They also knew the priests uniform and were curious. Got to do diplomacy with dwarf king and given dwarf noble suits that showed everyone's legs. Priest mentioned orcus and dwarves for confused with orcs and stated moaning about the orc problem. The party stayed an the rogue had a drinking contest and lost and rushed to hospital after the dwarf booze but the dwarves know it was an effort and the human gods had helped. There was a feast but the priest with rotting flesh really wanted to not drink and chatted with the dwarf under-mountain god. There was a deal to swap acolytes and the least popular dwarf who drank with the rogue showed him the hidden dwarf underclass.

The dwarf priests in their vast divination halls calculated when the party should leave to meet their caravan. It was a good meeting but like every faction they have beef with others. There was various Pleistocene monsters in the area.

Met their new merchants of Mordnar friends caravan and passed quickly through Hex 21 to the toxic wastes of Hex 23. It was hotter and smelled awful. It made your eyes burn. More reptiles too. Found the sprawling mines, each with a sign of the owners claim and many with slaves. Everyone was miserable and sick. The local outpost was occupied by the slavers guild. There was a road to the criminal kingdom of Valadran.

We wound up here but got lots done and glad I prepped but not presentable to people yet. Lots of this on the fly will be campaign canon now.

Treasury
slavers payroll chest of 3000 silver and 200 gold in chest
20gp ring
bone flute
plush demon doll
goat costume
100gp incense
medal and ribbon 30gp
1586gp in a sack
500gp in a sack
1159gp in a sack
6cp 7sp loose coins in jar
gold rat - actually a simple golem and not 25gp
globe puzzle 100gp
rat form potion one hour
4 potions of water breathing
jade golem with mean face (not moving but "alive")
3000gp

Monday, 6 January 2025

Mega Dungeon Recap: one Mega Dungeon to Rule Them All





































Are megadungeons good?
Maybe. If you want to run one huge dungeon for a year or more for a whole campaign this would be good. There is a danger you will never finish it. Too repetitive foes can be boring. Ive been playing current dnd5 adventures fortnightly at about a volume a year or a bit more but 5th ed is a slow RPG for a combat crawl. 

If you love waterdeep you might like the versions of dungeons under it but its not as coherant or usable as Temple of elemental evil which I played in much less than a year. 

The modern design idea of having an insert of maps each page is lost on all of these so maybe that is for a future product. Maps in a separate book or pdf with a book would be good. Mad mage book was much better with the map pack. Some maps are designed to fit on a pages and I think it can hurt some dungeons. Stonehell handled this well and has been a good influence. Its designs are more like a bunch of one-page dungeons put together and its brevity is a strength to run or even read. Splitting maps between pages in a book seems to be a problem for some of these.

Finally, the Greg Gillespie books and his retroclones are lovely to look at and read and look good. Lots of old-school ideas I like. I think I followed him online for an hour before I changed my mind. I actively dislike his DM advice in the Dragonslayer book but like the general vibe of his take on old-school even If I disagree with what elements matter. But books are nice. I don't expect creatives whose work I like to be great people and find hero worship of past people to be unnecessary. It's a bonus if I like them, not be a given.

A lifetime of cultural work and bad clients probably fried my mind. Possibly why my current Chagrinspire was created to be an ultra edgy ridiculous 16km tall dungeon. Players spent 6 months around the outskirts and finally got inside by Lv5. I plan to keep going on this.  

Gunderholfen looks basic but with the extra adventures set near it is an amazing setting and the weirdest here. 

Modules that try to plan every party move and railroad tend to be bloated and I prefer the old 8page adventures in old Call of Cthulhu vs new books that reprint monster stat blocks in the same chapter 3 times and other waste. Masks of Nyarlenthotep could almost be here and I got half way before COVID killed the game after a few years campagn.

Some of these you could loot, have fun and not worry too much about lore. You could rush the endings on some if you had to finish fast. In my recent game players befriended lots of factions and can make 100 room descriptions obsolete from a player's perspective so I am doing something mean to turn a faction evil and a problem. I guess absolute enemies you know you don't have to not kill them but playing off factions has always been a feature. 

Some have absurdly long treasure lists that should be handouts.

I think the lost city, fully expanded is one of the best
-original adventures reincarnated would rnk as good as anything here it the best of series
-various fan made online versions were created some in pencil in early 80s
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1w28gjDLHKBfInnLqjQKlMcmnbhsJ2nuT/view
https://www.pandius.com/B4_campaign_sourcebook.pdf
-story inspiring it
https://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks06/0601051h.html
the drug rules here made every game of mine better
- cheap addictive healing potions are awesome
https://pandius.com/cynidgaz.html

Or roll a bunch of d100s numbers and d12 and d20s on a list and grab some Dyson maps and use my tables and pdfs and just keep ahead of players with minimal prep. I use tales to drop in plots, villains, all kinds of flavour.

Can be a great way to sandbox or a prison.
What if players want to take treasure and go to sea to be pirates?

💖
💖💖💖 love
or
💣💣💣💣bomb

Ratings For:
Art - illustration, how good, how it illustrates text
Maps - are they presented well? I prefer Dyson maps to colour computer game like ones
Layout - text as presented on page, readability, not wasting space with borders or logos
Story - is it a compelling story, how deep
Writing - verbose rates low concise yet flavourful is good
Information design - how easy is it to use the book and info in it
Salvage - how good is it to plunder from?
Overall Score - overall rating and how playable?

I am slightly mean so 2 is average 
Sorry online sales platforms 4 is rare perfection not normal 2/4 is average
So don't contact me and complain but comments welcome
Everything else here will be compared with the first one for comparison

Temple of Elemental Evil ad&d (Book, PDF & Best PC game ever)
Art ðŸ’–💖💣💣
Maps 
💖💖💣💣 - all in a separate book was good at time
Layout 
💖💖💣💣
Story
💖💖💖💣- plenty of villains and backstory
Writing ðŸ’–💖💣💣
Information design ðŸ’–💖💣💣
Salvage 
💖💖💣💣 - classic village and pocket elemental levels have been copied
Overall Score ðŸ’–💖💖💣 - classic and playable

I ran this on a houseboat on mid 80s with other trapped teens on combined family holiday. Its a pretty enjoyable and pioneering dungeon I expect to be recreated soonish? I play the atari game yearly and its pretty good game prep. I feel I know it better than any other dungeon. The recent 2 vol editions was quite nice too but not best of these adaptions (the lost city was best, then Island of Dread and castle amber. I could run this again with pleasure. Its not too huge either and one of shorter ones here.

Undermountain 1 & 2 (box set I read in 80s, awaiting POD version)
Art ðŸ’–💖💣💣
Maps 
💖💖💣💣 - poster maps - pretty unwieldy at table
Layout 
💖💖💣💣  
Story
💖💖💣💣- requires a mad mage who wastes energy to do this
Writing ðŸ’–💣💣💣- wordy and overly detailed, overly complex elements
Information design ðŸ’–💖💣💣- adequate
Salvage 
💖💖💖💣 - set pieces and rooms and ideas
Overall Score ðŸ’–💖💣💣 - classic and playable
https://rolesrules.blogspot.com/2011/09/orange-painted-corner-of-naturalism.html

This is an era where before I lost interest in dnd for 20 years.
I've not run it and I wouldn't. Just something I read for ideas but it has lots of those.
I hope they make maps usable in a POD version but part 2 is POD I think.

Dungeon of the Mad Mage d&d2014 (Book)
Art ðŸ’–💖💖💣- full colour modern schmaltz
Maps 
💖💖💣💣 - extra map pack makes this +1 heart better and helps readability
Layout 
💖💖💖💣- typical modern format
Story
💖💖💣💣- requires a mad mage who wastes energy to do this
Writing ðŸ’–💣💣💣- some of the evil drow activity a bit tame, boring slog to read
Information design ðŸ’–💖💣💣- adequate
Salvage 
💖💖💖💣 - levels as separate dungeons are better or skip some
Overall Score ðŸ’–💣💣💣 - needs work

I might steal a level from this one day. I've never seen a good play report and most ppl seem to just use individual levels. The light consensual drow bondage as a performance of evil is embarrassingly lame vs Gygaxian D series with drugs and porno furniture and demon orgies. Oddly one of the first 5th ed books I got just to read and it was a slog. Theros is why I got into 5th ed but that is another story. The map pack made reading bearable.

The World Biggest Dungeon (I held real thing 20ish years ago)
Art ðŸ’–💖💣💣- full colour modern schmaltz
Maps 
💖💣💣💣 - videogame looking and basic
Layout 
💖💖💣💣- repetitive boders, dense but some space for readability
Story
💖💖💣💣- its a lock in with no trips to village
Writing ðŸ’–💣💣💣- wordy
Information design ðŸ’–💖💣💣- adequate and overall size makes hard
Salvage 
💖💖💖💣 - may use bits - trap, disease and poison index is good
Overall Score ðŸ’–💣💣💣 - If I played one mega dungeon this wouldn't be a pick

http://www.james.neetersoft.com/wld/wld.htm - maps here 

A new version in production now. Its a big effort. It has lots of words and an unappealing slog to read so i skimmed it and had a refreshing glance for this. It makes me want to go and just generate one at random from my own tables. I have heard people like it so good luck to them. It was a milestone.

Stone Hell (Softback POD book from LuLu)
Art ðŸ’–💣💣💣- not much but its fine 
Maps ðŸ’–💖💣💣 - clear and I like each level is in 4 parts with own theme
Layout 
💖💖💖💣- minimal, simple, elegant, consistent
Story
💖💖💣💣- it's a dungeon with history and lots of depth with brevity
Writing ðŸ’–💖💖💣- minimal to do the job, easy to do, good lore
Information design ðŸ’–💖💖💖- brief and easy to find everything, good expansions
Salvage 
💖💖💖💣 - you could break it up or add more
Overall Score ðŸ’–💖💖💣 - If I had to run with little prep this would be the better choice

A popular and influential adventure. Probably the easiest to read and prep for and a smaller book. So many good design ideas its worth a look for setting out an adventure you could carry easily. Lots of good lore and a modular design. Lots of original ideas and monsters well detailed. No padded writing or fluff everything simple and easy to find. Does a four section dungeon layer in 4 pages with factions and own history building the the main bad guys. Im planning to get more expansions. The easiest to prep here.

Barrowmaze (Book)
Art ðŸ’–💖💖💣- as good as 80s TSR on a good day
Maps 
💖💖💣💣 - clear and simple
Layout 
💖💖💖💣- basic, clear and pleasant 
Story
💖💖💖💣- it's story affects everything you face
Writing ðŸ’–💖💖💣- good lore (some pop cliches and myth mashups but good)
Information design ðŸ’–💖💖💣- everything is easy to find
Salvage 
💖💖💖💣 - you get lots of barrows and a barrow generator
Overall Score ðŸ’–💖💖💣 - If I had to run with little prep this would be the better choice

The first of a stunning series and quite readable. The art is a pleasure to look at. The 1980 d&d formula of a dungeon near Village Sandbox is great. Lots of great monsters and treasures here for years of play. A few barrows a session would be fine even if you never reached the megadungeon if you need under 6 room dungeons. Spawned 3 sequels, a RPG and a monster book. Slight risk of undead fatigue.

The Forbidden Caverns of Archaia
 (Book)
Art ðŸ’–💖💖💣- as good as 80s TSR on a good day
Maps 
💖💖💣💣 - clear and simple
Layout 
💖💖💖💣- basic, clear and pleasant 
Story
💖💖💖💣- it's a good menace any why all the monsters in one place
Writing ðŸ’–💖💖💣- good lore and fits in with barrowmaze setting
Information design ðŸ’–💖💖💣- everything is easy to find
Salvage 
💖💖💖💣 - you get lots of dungeons you can slap anywhere fast
Overall Score ðŸ’–💖💖💖 - good variety of enemies vs barrowmaze undead

One of my favourites as I like the badguys and the hierarchy of bad guys (or pecking order). You could vary your start level a bit more and not just undead. Substantial dungeons and interesting wilderness canyons. Probably my fave of series. Lots of classic monster humanoids with own dungeons and hierarchy.

Highfell
 (Book)
Art ðŸ’–💖💖💣- as good as 80s TSR on a good day
Maps 
💖💖💣💣 - clear and simple, towers 
Layout 
💖💖💖💣- basic, clear and pleasant 
Story
💖💖💖💣- has a good central menace but might not work all settings
Writing ðŸ’–💖💖💣-  good lore and fits in with barrowmaze setting
Information design ðŸ’–💖💖💣- everything is easy to find
Salvage 
💖💖💖💣 - you get lots of towers, has great book and spell component loot
Overall Score ðŸ’–💖💖💣 - fun with interesting varied wizard towers

I like this but a flying magic school dropped from near orbit on a city (like avengers2) is a bit too odd for some tastes I've heard. Im fine with that. The towers are a bit short to me and mostly 2-4 levels. 
Renasciance Bologna had 97m tall towers and my go to for wizards and city defences. You could add some weird towers of Dyson or Glen Seal Midderlands that could fit in. The treasure is wonderful with a wizard hats. The towers could be put anywhere and the wizard school dungeons could be slapped under any good city ruins.

Dwarrow Deep
 (Book)
Art ðŸ’–💖💖💣- as good as 80s TSR on a good day
Maps 
💖💣💣💣 - geomorphs are good - city map hexcrawl didn't thrill me
Layout ðŸ’–💖💖💣- basic, clear and pleasant - the biggest volume of the series
Story
💖💖💖💣- if you love dwarves this might be a 4 star campaign
Writing ðŸ’–💖💣💣- same world as Barrowmaze, you better love dwarves
Information design ðŸ’–💖💖💣- everything is easy to find
Salvage 
💖💖💖💣 - some big dungeons but geomorphs are a star.
Overall Score ðŸ’–💖💖💣 - its impressive, bigger but less usable than others

Fattest of the series and basically a Moria type dungeon. Id recommend the 80s MERP moria book and the modern Middle Earth RPG version. You might be able to use some. If you would love to pick over a dwarf dungeon a few years this is your dream book. I didn't like the city map as a hexcrawl but I can understand it. Given how big the book is a city detail spread might helpbut. Maybe stuck in a mountain choke point so adventurers speed run across it to get through mountains would be good. My take on this as the least of the series despite being fattest is pretty common. Its still good just bit less fascinating than previous volumes. Many say the 5th ed versions are clunky and don't work with rest system for a megadungeon resource horror game. Id still like to see some more detailed hexcrawl for the city or that maybe a huge pointcrawl. 

Gunderholfen
 (Book)
Art ðŸ’–💖💣💣- amateurish old-school charm
Maps 
💖💖💣💣 - clear and simple
Layout 
💖💖💣💣- basic with lots of space, old man eyes friendly
Story
💖💖💖💣- nice backstory, setting and city
Writing ðŸ’–💖💖💣- clear, weirder than most here + other adventures complete 
Information design ðŸ’–💖💣💣- everything is easy to find
Salvage 
💖💖💖💣 - the city encounter tables (can get as a pdf) are great
Overall Score ðŸ’–💖💖💣 - id run this and played some solo well

Not as pretty as other volumes and looks simple but its usable and more weird tales dungeon fantasy. I get Clark Ashton Smith vibes from some of the separate adventures. Its good value currently vs initial release and a fat dungeon. I really like the setting for it's deviations from D&D cliches rather than revelling in them. It is the most Clark Ashton Smith like of all covered here. Weird undead and amphibian variants. Grisly weird diseases and curses and horrible ancient stuff. There is a vast weird dimensional space inside and the writer deals with some awesome scales. Currently at a good price.

Arden Vul vol I-V
 (Book)
Art ðŸ’–💖💣💣- section full page ones good but sparse and some assets are repeated often
Maps 
💖💖💣💣 - pdfs better - lots complain about vol v map book
Layout 
💖💖💣💣- dense and simple, overwhelming at times
Story
💖💖💖💖- amazing back story and historical detail of setting especially vol IV
Writing ðŸ’–💖💖💣- can be dense but enjoyable, more than I expected 
Information design ðŸ’–💖💖💣- basic layout but I was impressed how organised and you can go between books well 
Salvage 
💖💖💖💣 - brilliant use of lore and setting history, everything has a backstory
Overall Score ðŸ’–💖💖💣 - I'm pretty intimidated and still reading

Amazing stuff. Great history and lore and easy-to-find information. Maps a bit awkward and reviled by some but I think pdf is currently $5. I got them in this order vol 1 then 4 then 2 and 3. Vol4 is campaign lore and magic items. This is a great example of using lore well and feels more 3d and has more verisimilitude than many big adventures. If I ran It I wouldn't try to complete it. 
The lore is great and it doesn't matter if you don't get it all. If you want one campaign for year this is the leader. I like to change games perhaps yearly. So throughout and interconnected but not as intimidating as it sounds due to the overall design even and easy access to information. Lots of amphibians which I like. Occasionally I feel like its the readings for a university course. The information between volumes was surprisingly good once I got the hang of the size. The map book/pdf is notoriously bad - possibly get pdf and print bits as you need them. In the review pages I've seen ppl wish this element was better. Layouts are minimal but functional.

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Final Notes

Ease to run/read/prep: Stonehell

Longest to play + complete lore: Aden Vul

The most Classic: Temple of Elemental Evil 

Pretty to look at books and wish you could play + interesting overall campaigns: Barrowmaze/Highfell/Caverns of Archaia/whatever is next by greg I probably will get

Most Gonzo: Gunderholfen but get expansions to make weirder

When a few books come in I will do a similar post on settings