Zine Quest Review: The House of the Hollow

 Okay, so I am a fan of third party publishing, and Zine Quest is right up my alley.  I want to use this as a space to review some of the things I picked up this year, in no particular order, and first up is The House of the Hollow by Dylan Mangini.  This is an adventure for Mörk Borg, which I should add is hands down one of my favorite systems.

I want to start of by saying that this is a very well done, straight forward adventure. I do want to disclose that I have not used it for the intended system yet, but I did adapt it for a 5e session, and it worked wonderfully.  You could realistically adapt this easily for basically any system, which is a huge plus.  I also want to say that while I haven't had a chance to run this in Mörk Borg, I really like the overall feel of it for the system, and I feel like this would be a great place to start with that system for someone interested in it, but a little hesitant because they want a good place to start.  

The adventure is so straight forward, I don't want to expand on it too much here, because of spoilers.  I will say at times it reminded me of a better version of the 5e Death House from Curse of Strahd. There are also plenty of tables, which is something I love, and something that I love about Mörk Borg as a system.  The adventure hooks are also well done, and open, but not generic.  I will say that this was very easy to just throw into a game and have it feel completely organic.  I used this in an Eberron game, and it didn't miss a beat, and to be honest, all I did was reskin some names, and I had to do little prep at all outside of reading through the adventure.

The use of artwork is decent, for what it is, because I have seen things in the past that came off as way too "clip-arty".  I did not get that feel here, and the look of the book works well for the system, and feels like a finished product, which I will admit is significantly harder to pull off than it looks.  The print quality, especially for the two pamphlet size inserts is good too.  

Overall, this was a good pick up.  I am not familiar with Dylan Mangini, or what he has done in the past, but this is something I would strongly recommend.  I couldn't really find a downside to this at all, the length is perfect, the adventure is clear and not generic, and it is highly adaptable to other systems.  The PDF is also only four dollars, but I would definitely go for the book for ten (since I already did).

Here is a link for the product, if you are interested:

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/348976/The-House-of-the-Hollow-compatible-with-MORK-BORG

New logo! Upcoming projects!

 

I have been thinking about different options for a logo for things I will be publishing in the future, and I settled on this.  I am pretty happy with how it turned out, and I feel like it captures the vibe I am going for.  Saying that, I am working on some material now, which is a system agnostic d6 table for dungeon crawling RPGs.  Since this will be my first actual release, I think that I want to take my time and possibly launch it during next year's Zine Quest on Kickstarter.  In the meantime, I am slowly working on some adventures that will most likely be coming to DM's Guild.  Thanks for the support so far, I have grown this significantly more than I expected since I launched it in January.  

My Appendix N: The Wizards

The 1977 animation The Wizards has some of the best visuals I have seen that really embrace a great sword and sorcery type aesthetic.  While the point of the movie is a little heavy handed, it is still a very underrated movie.  As far as inspiration for an RPG goes, it is basically gold, especially if you want to run a post apocalyptic campaign.  This movie is definitely 

atmospheric.  

This movie is a great inspiration for my Eberron world.  The way war is presented in the movie is a great way to look at how technology, magic, and the past interact.  The character Necron 99 is an actual NPC/villian warforged in a campaign I am running right now.  I will admit that I have difficulty breaking outside of clichés when coming up with a plot or a session, which I think everyone who runs games does.  This is of course why Appendix N is important, but more importantly, is that drawing and combining on the familiar helps to keep your game feeling immersive and not as boring.  

Personally, playing over Zoom the last year has really had me thinking about how important influences are for my games, because games over Zoom are boring.  At first, there wasn't as much of an issue when it felt new early in the pandemic, but a year later, myself and some players are really starting to feel the lag.  The best way to combat that, is to make games interesting, and the easiest and best way (in my opinion) to do that is to draw inspiration (i.e. rip off) ideas from where ever you can.  I touched on this early in this blog, but I want to revisit it again after rewatching this film this past Friday.

If you haven't seen this movie, I encourage you to.  It definitely has a Dungeon Crawl Classics Wizard Van vibe to it, and since it came out in the era of early D&D, I feel like this movie has a solid place in required viewing for any GM or fan of the genre and hobby.  

Finally, this movie has a weird as hell vibe to it, and I think weird is always a good thing in RPGs.  Even if you don't use it often, totally gonzo feeling elements have their place in almost any campaign.    

Critical Damage in 5e

 Underperforming critical hits are a total bummer as a player.  It seems like damage from critical hits isn't across the board uniform, like most things in TTRPGs, but rolling garbage on a critical hit sucks.  I have been in games where you roll the dice twice, which seems to be the most common.  This is not my favorite way to determine damage.  Another way I have seen people do crits, is to roll once, then multiply damage by two.  If you roll low, you just made one of the more exciting parts of being a player underwhelming.  A third way I have seen damage done--and in my opinion, the best way--is to max out damage and modifiers, then roll and add mods.  This way, you at least get max damage, and the roll isn't as important.  I cannot remember the times over the years I shorted myself on a critical hit, by rolling as low as possible on attack dice.  

Doing this for players seems to be best, at least in my experience, and of course, I also use this method for monsters, especially in 5e.  The main reason is that the monsters are a little soft at times, and I have had encounters go sideways fast in player's favor in 5e--much more than in 3.X editions.  While I am personally not a fan of TPKs, I also know that sometimes they just happen.  Play in any game should be challenging enough, and sometimes encounters tend to be catered to player characters (which they should) in a way that can sometimes make the games boring.  A PC at a lower level suddenly taking 20 damage from a critical hit always has the same reaction from every group of players, every time, and it always increases the quality of play from the players.

I also want to touch a little on role playing monsters, because I feel like this is something lots of DMs new and old struggle with.  Role playing a monster appropriately usually makes combat significantly more dangerous.  Not all monsters react the same, and people newer to the game and unfamiliar with monster lore sometimes just look at the stat blocks and roll dice.  On a basic level, that is what you are doing, but for me, the real reward of being a DM is playing the monsters.  I probably will not really get into how to actually play specific monsters, because someone has already done an amazing job of that here, and if you aren't familiar with Keith Amman, you need to be if you are running games.  I will say that his book and website will make you get more mileage out of the game if you are running them.  

That is all I've got this time.  Feel free to add to this topic, or shoot my an email through the contact stuff on this page.  All typos are for your enjoyment, because I am terrible at editing things I wrote, and I want to leave them as easter eggs for you, the reader.  

Candlekeep Mysteries: Is it Worth it?

 The newest 5e book, Candlekeep Mysteries, is out.  I know that lots and lots of people just buy every release, but if you don't, I am going to give my first impressions of the book, and if it is worth it.  Full disclosure: I have not used any of the content in a game yet, and some of my opinions tend to change once I use the material.  As always, this post wasn't paid for by Wizards of the Coast, although I wish it were, and I am not employed by Wizards of the Coast, but I again, I wish I were.  

I preordered this off of Amazon, and while I try to buy from my FLGS, but they are only open three days a week now due to the pandemic, and the other one in town I boycott because of an attempted rip-off of another 5e preorder many moons ago.  I didn't really want to wait months until I would get around to getting it, so I got it from the devil of the internet and actually got a super pristine copy with the regular cover a day before it released.  The fact that I didn't get it at my FLGS brings me to my first point: the cover, particularly the alt cover.

I am not really big on collectable things at all, and I don't usually go for alt covers.  Saying that, the regular cover of this book is one of the derpier covers I have seen in a long time.  Something about the background of the art is super off putting to me, but I think that it might be because I am comparing it to the absolutely stunning alt cover.  While I haven't seen it in person, I am starting to regret not getting it, just because it is perhaps the best alt  cover from a 5e release yet.  I may still pick it up, just to have.  One reason I don't often spring for alt covers, is because my books tend to get a lot of wear and tear, and I absolutely despise things like D&D Beyond for my own use.  

Now that the cover is ... er... covered, I want to get to the real important part: the contents.  I feel like as a source book for Candlekeep, which this is, it is very well done.  It fills in enough blanks about the location without being oppressive and constrictive, and it also answers some minor questions I have had over the years about the location.  That alone makes this an absolute must buy if you are playing in the Realms.  The only section that is 100% source book in the traditional sense, is about six or so pages, but it is just enough to keep it open ended.  This is also a pretty cool poster map that I really like.

Outside of that, there are 17 short adventures from levels 1-16.  Each one is linked to a book you would find in the library, and I have to say, it is a really unique way to extend the sourcebook portion of the book into the adventures.  Since this is an anthology, the adventures all have really different feels to them, and I really think it would be difficult not to find a way to weave them into basically any campaign.  I hate spoilers, so I don't want to delve to far into it.  I do want to note that I feel like all of these could easily also work in basically any setting, especially Eberron (Morgrave University anyone?).  

I would say this is a heavy must buy for a DM that runs in the Forgotten Realms, particularly in published 5e campaigns.  This book gives you insights on Candlekeep, as well as things to do in Candlekeep that can easily involve all members of the party.  I also feel like this book does a pretty good job of fleshing it out just enough to allow for DMs to make it their own.  

My Appendix N: The House on the Borderland

The House on the Borderland, by William Hope Hodgson, is an early 20th century weird fiction story.  H.P. Lovecraft said that Hodgson was a huge influence, and to be fair, you can really see it in this novel.  I do not want to spoil this novel for anyone, but imagine late 19th century fiction being hijacked by a Dungeon Crawl Classics party.  If you are a fan of sci-fi or weird fiction in general, you should check this out if you haven't already, but there is also a lot to unpack in here for a GM.  As I read this, two huge things jumped out for me, at least as far as finding inspiration for my games and gaming through other mediums.  First is the use of the story being told through a found object, and the second was using a location as a character.  

When I think about it, telling a story through an item has long been a staple in my gaming.  There are several ways to do this, but in this particular story, it is a little different than say a story like the Lord of the Rings series.  Using an item to drive or provide narrative is an easy way to add a layer of mystery to games.  I am writing this on the eve of the release of the new 5e book, Candlekeep Mysteries, and I am willing to be that a few of those will have stories told through finding a book that will hold the key to some part of the story.  Something along these lines is also interesting to do, because a book could be only one source of information.  The book could also be completely misleading, and false.  To be honest, these are things I often think about when prepping a game, and this story really helped me look at the different ways how I can do that.  

As the name of the story suggests, there is a house in the story.  Location as a character makes for great RPG content.  Some of my favorite all time adventures are really driven by the location when I think about the Sunless Citadel, the Temple of Elemental Evil, or even Castle Ravenloft or Death House.  While I feel like I really shouldn't need to sell anyone on using a location as a major part of a game, reading this sort of expanded and reinforced some of the things I do and can do in sessions.   

Since I know a lot of people haven't read this, I want to stop right there with discussing the story.  There is a lot more I took from this, but digging into it will give away stuff.  I also was planning on writing this a little while ago, and it has been talked about on Goodman Game's site that also goes into this.  If you haven't read it, I would strongly recommend, especially if you run games.  

  

My Appendix N: the Exorcist

While definitely an obvious influence, the film and the book (mainly the book, if you haven't read it, you should) are both a master class in horror.  Adding elements of horror to games is hard.  The Exorcist makes it bleak, claustrophobic, and personal.  While the actual plot isn't something extremely noteworthy, certain aspects of it are.  

The first, is that the "experts" don't even really believe what is happening.  That doubt plays into the fear of the unknown, and just overall hopelessness.  This is something you can copy and past into any session, because the lack of belief and available help is literally deteriorating several people in the story.  Making NPCs doubt, particularly NPCs who should have a handle or knowledge of something supernatural or an aberration in a game is an easy way to keep doors closed for player characters, which is a great way to add tension.  Player frustration at in game events has been something I use again and again, and you don't want it always to be the same.  The Exorcist is a great source of a variety of that you can throw into an arch in a campaign.  

A second great source, is how exactly would a fiend behave towards players?  The only real example, at least in possession, would be from the Exorcist.  It is basically the standard that every similar film has tried (and I would say failed) to recreate.  There is more going on though, as part of the story is about a detective looking into a murder.  This is way more obvious in the book, because the film is so over the top at times, I think some people miss it.  An unlikely person being used by a being for a murder or other serious crime is a perfect storyline in nearly any RPG.  Make that person someone that isn't accessible because of their condition, and you now have a (chef's kiss) easy plot that you can use and adapt, and most of the time players will not even see it coming.  This is right out of the Exorcist, and unless you really screw it up as a Game Master, it will work most of the time, and is hard to derail.

The final point about this, is particularly about the film.  The movie is extremely atmospheric.  The limited set, the creepy subliminal face, the iconic music.  Horror in RPGs should be atmospheric.  The theme Tubular Bells causes anxiety still for millions of people when they hear it, nearly 50 years later.  While you probably won't manage to land something like that for your players, I have pulled off sessions where I really thought about weaving these elements in, and players still talk about it a few years later.  I play a lot of games, so I am pretty proud of that myself.

One last thing about the Exorcist, is something more apparent in the book, and that is hinting that some kind of occult activity or a cult of devil worshipers may have had a hand in the happenings of the story.  This is something as a GM you can and should jump on, if you feel that you pulled off a successful session.  It opens up options down the road if you are planning a long term homebrew campaign--it is always nice to have a few threads available to give you some breathing room planning for sessions.

So yeah, this influence in my gaming is something out of left field, and really goes against what I think of when I think of the place of Appendix N.  That is a good thing, because predictable gets boring, especially as years go on and people see the same things over and over again.  

I want to make this a regular thing on the blog for awhile, because influences need more love, and people new to the hobby, especially GMs are looking to soak up as much as they can.  I started working on a Spotify playlist of Appendix N songs you can find here.  As always, emails and comments are welcome.