Crapshoot Monday: This Free Thing I Found On Itch.io…Howling Halls of Whisperstone

​A dungeon by Lars Huijbregts, leveless
Written for “BLOCK DODGE PARRY” or Cairn
   So, this is apparently the second “Bite-Sized Dungeon Module” ever made. Let it never be said that small is bad, for dungeon-making. Adventure Site Contests live and breathe on the 2-page format. I’ve played some truly amazing games run out of lil’ guys like this. This one in particular is using a DENSE format, three-column with information organized in bullets and boxes. A couple pieces of old public-domain art wedge in there too, an admirable inclusion. Less admirable, of course, is the wickedly sinful space-saving move to eschew a proper map in favor of the vile block diagram. -60 points to Hufflepuff. 

   Once the rage-induced crimson blood-haze subsides and is subsequently avoided again by resolutely ignoring the map-travesty, we can continue on and read the actual story of the dungeon. It’s fine. Ancient elven prison now used by beastmen raiders inhabited by formerly-chained demon whose whispers drive the beastmen to sacrifice BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD, eventually freeing said demon. There are a few nice little elements to play with here stemming from the premise, including every single beastman’s blood getting auto-suctioned down into the stone and their tribal shaman  being possessed at variable levels depending how many deaths occur during the Standard Murderhobo Party Crashing. Silver bracelets block the demon’s whispers and if the full-possessed shaman is killed after having a bracelet snapped on somewhere, that takes care of Ye Olde Demon for good. The effect isn’t particularly well-lampshaded, and the awkwardly-phrased clues aren’t exactly clear, but it should probably be noted the situation is at least interesting enough that I spent a little time thinking about fixes. Good sign. I’m somewhat less fond of the “beastmen aren’t evil, they’re just poor tribals being misled” trope, but that’s easily ignored.
   I do so natter on. What I liked beyond the premise was a good solid loot haul at the very end of the rainbow and the basic level-the-endboss-up thing with killing more adds making a gnarlier boss. The attempt to have multiple means of egress, as always, is appreciated.
   Obviously said entries are part of what can be improved first, which is GIVING US A REAL MAP. Seriously. There are also some promising bits that also easily suggest themselves after a moment’s thought. If we’re going by videogame logic, why not have the “kill mobs beforehand” mechanic change the type of final fight to be more interesting? The idea of killing the shaman with a bracelet on to kill/trap the demon is cool, but a better indicator plus explainer would be to have an old prisoner-skeleton with a silver bracelet broken off. Also, hey, that shows that the final fix is maybe not so final. Prisoner and NPC dialogue is a little scripted, some more goals/motivation would help make interactions better. Of course, even better improvement would be to write the adventure for a real system.
   Snide asides aside, best use case here is probably just to have a magical tea party here with a bunch of Cairnies. The concepts are decent but hard to extra, and sadly with neither map nor concrete magic item work, there ain’t much gold to be extracted as nuggets of gameplay.
   Final Rating? */***** although there’s a nice three-star hiding inside the ramshackle vague mass of ideas. Give us a real map and some refinement and you might have a bite-sized dungeon worth nibbling.