Crapshoot Monday: This Free Thing I Found on Itch.io…The Mines of Perinthos

​A one-page-dungeon by Logen Nein, levels 1-3.
Written for Tales of Argosa
  Hello, we have another Jaquays Memorial Jam thing, looks like one page+map was the format. Mr. Nein is a familiar name around here in the Crapchute, I think not an idiot but also not one of our top performers…and this sucker is DENSE. Thirty rooms in a single page? That sounds like a mistake. However, it is written for a specific system (albeit an obscure one) and there’s a genuine level range, so that’s better than some…
  Our story is pretty simple, ancient dwarven mine (with minecart rails, rar) is occupied by off-brand serpentmen, currently being invaded by gnolls. Salt in a few undead, standard underground critters, and a lake wyrm snoozing in the cave’s pool. Not a very “plotty” dungeon, in the end, with a couple killable bosses and a dragon that’s more of an environmental hazard. Loot and monsters are decently detailed because there’s an actual system in mind but does mean I’m at a loss for what “Lair Treasure, 10HD” indicates. Still our noble author has even courteously linked to the free system manual, so fair enough.
  Feel like I’ve said this before, but what I liked initially is the lovely map’s look, even with my aforementioned aversion to minecart rails the overall map is clean, clear, and pictured environmental details enhance the descriptions. Once you study the details a bit more the map’s more linear than it first appears, but choices do matter and there are enough descriptive clues to give players an idea which way leads to what. I like the dragon-ina-lake hazard for low level parties and its well telegraphed. Secret rooms are set up well. I’m impressed with the density of the keys, they aren’t concerned with singing to the soul, rather conveying efficiently what’s needed to make each room interesting. The system being used has a modern set of keyword-style conditions which lets a lot of shorthand help him out.
  Now for what can be improved…lots, I’m sad to say, and I’m going to ignore potential improvements gained by adding another page or two. The situations have some potential here and there but unfortunately the whole is rather inert, which is sad given the two factions present really do have some energy available if there’d be a little more interaction. Write for every result on the reaction roll, basically. There’s something a lot of these “dungeon section” jam entries lack too, the multiple entrances/exits hurt a “flow” for exploration, making the movement on the map more directionless than it should be.  Without knowing the system, I can’t say for sure, but I’d think a little more magical opposition would go a long way for encounter variety too.
  Still the best use case for this would be as an “adventure site” in a big Underdark crawl, ideally for this very bespoke little Tales of Argosa system. It’s not perfect for independent situating, but it’s nice for caving. There’s also a long-term campaign hook that is a low-level area with a high-level dragon threat to come back to later.
  Final Rating? **/***** without a lot of fanfare, it’s something well work checking out for the sheer efficiency of the format. 

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