Gabor and Prince are great, but your reviews (whether adventures, systems, or mechanics) are, without a doubt, the best being generated right now. This is fantastic stuff.
I (like to) think that we're all filling a niche. Bryce puts out an incredible amount of volume, but doesn't go too far in depth. Having someone like this is really nice to filter out the modules worth playing/reviewing.
Gabor's writing is a lot tighter, and provides a lot of insight and historical context while still being of digestible length.
Prince gets heavier than Gabor analysis wise, and his writing can have an offputting tone / political slant, but I think he has a lot of good insights. He also specializes in reviewing the original modules, which I think is extremely valuable.
I try to crank the analysis up to 11, overexplain, and massively hyperlink. Not everyone is looking for reviews that are significantly longer than the original works, and the reviews take me a lot of time, so my output is *a lot* lower. That said, I try to make sure my posts are evergreen, and serve as useful reference for years to come. I think that strategy is working - I get a pretty consistent 100 view/day even when I haven't written a post in 3-4 months, which (I think) means that people keep coming back and re-reading.
Incredibly review/write-up, as always. I'm actively working on running this (with some changes for Dolmenwood), and some of this information will be invaluable. I'm also connecting it to the Hole in the Oak, so I imagine I'll be reading that review soon, too.
Any chance you still have that monologue for the two jelly skeletons in room 11?
Thanks! I had a good time running it; hopefully your group will enjoy as well :D
re: monologue, I couldn't find the original monologue, but I found the notes I used to create it, so this is a recreation:
---
Opening Dialog:
PINK: Stop where you stand, bone-bag! Hrrr. I see flesh and heartbeat. Are you the new playthings… or are you daring to pass where only the fleshless may roam? I smell your sweat, your hopes, your illusions of grandeur. We can smell everything, can’t we?”
GREEN: Yes, yes, we can indeed smell them. I, for one, am delighted to have visitors. The air’s so dreadfully stale. You’ve arrived at a place you scarcely understand, but never fear—we understand plenty. My pink-hued counterpart might protest, but I welcome your questions. Ask away! We are the Wardens here, the final guardians of … what was it again?
PINK: Bah! I do not forget. We stand watch over the Master’s doors—no living thing may pass into the deeper halls unless they prove worthy or cunning. But enough polite chatter. No incantation? No tribute? No password squeaked between trembling lips? Tsk. Tsk. These morsels have come unprepared.
---
On What's Behind The Doors
PINK: Death, doom, slime, unholy abominations… you know, the usual.
GREEN: And secrets, yes. Old, arcane secrets the living seldom keep for long.
---
On Passwords
GREEN: We’re not certain. Our memories, after so many centuries, are somewhat… mushy.
PINK: Try speaking a few groveling praises to the Faceless Lord. We'll see if any of them ring a bell.
---
On Who Put Them There
GREEN: That memory is… slippery. We only recall that it was a master of oozes… or was it a lord of slime?
PINK: Does it matter? We owe that old wretch no fealty now.
Great review, and timely -- I've been eyeing a combined "Incandescent Grottoes | Hole in the Oak" as a potential campaign starter type big ol' dungeon. Now I know what to fiddle with during prep.
I only review what I've actually played (which is a big part of why i don't write a lot of reviews and why i think i can go further in depth than most folks)
My table recently played through winter's daughter, ascent of the leviathan, and starts cloister of the frog-god on saturday, so those are all in the pipeline
I also want to write soemthing about ptolus (which was the setting of my last campaign), and a theory piece on adventure compatibility
long-term plan is eventually i'll GM arden vul w/ d&d 1e and be able to write up something on both of those
Fascinating analysis! Would you perhaps care to review any of the No Artpunk adventures ? They're mostly dungeons, which is pretty much your expertise, and they were designed to best suit the classic oldschool style. These adventures will make an interesting subject to review, I'm sure.
Yeah! I have a bunch of the no art punk modules on my list of games to run, and once I run it I’ll give it a review.
In the comments of my brandonsford review, someone asked me which module came closest to my ideal module and I cited Shrine of a Small God. I’m a big fan
Gabor and Prince are great, but your reviews (whether adventures, systems, or mechanics) are, without a doubt, the best being generated right now. This is fantastic stuff.
Howdy Vic, that's high praise - thanks!
I (like to) think that we're all filling a niche. Bryce puts out an incredible amount of volume, but doesn't go too far in depth. Having someone like this is really nice to filter out the modules worth playing/reviewing.
Gabor's writing is a lot tighter, and provides a lot of insight and historical context while still being of digestible length.
Prince gets heavier than Gabor analysis wise, and his writing can have an offputting tone / political slant, but I think he has a lot of good insights. He also specializes in reviewing the original modules, which I think is extremely valuable.
I try to crank the analysis up to 11, overexplain, and massively hyperlink. Not everyone is looking for reviews that are significantly longer than the original works, and the reviews take me a lot of time, so my output is *a lot* lower. That said, I try to make sure my posts are evergreen, and serve as useful reference for years to come. I think that strategy is working - I get a pretty consistent 100 view/day even when I haven't written a post in 3-4 months, which (I think) means that people keep coming back and re-reading.
First time I read a review here and... wow! Simply outstanding! Keep on doing them like this one!!! Bravo!
Howdy GMaia, thanks for stopping by and I’m glad you enjoyed it :D
If you check the history, there’s a handful of other reviews all in the same style
Will do for sure!!! Thanks!
Incredibly review/write-up, as always. I'm actively working on running this (with some changes for Dolmenwood), and some of this information will be invaluable. I'm also connecting it to the Hole in the Oak, so I imagine I'll be reading that review soon, too.
Any chance you still have that monologue for the two jelly skeletons in room 11?
Thanks! I had a good time running it; hopefully your group will enjoy as well :D
re: monologue, I couldn't find the original monologue, but I found the notes I used to create it, so this is a recreation:
---
Opening Dialog:
PINK: Stop where you stand, bone-bag! Hrrr. I see flesh and heartbeat. Are you the new playthings… or are you daring to pass where only the fleshless may roam? I smell your sweat, your hopes, your illusions of grandeur. We can smell everything, can’t we?”
GREEN: Yes, yes, we can indeed smell them. I, for one, am delighted to have visitors. The air’s so dreadfully stale. You’ve arrived at a place you scarcely understand, but never fear—we understand plenty. My pink-hued counterpart might protest, but I welcome your questions. Ask away! We are the Wardens here, the final guardians of … what was it again?
PINK: Bah! I do not forget. We stand watch over the Master’s doors—no living thing may pass into the deeper halls unless they prove worthy or cunning. But enough polite chatter. No incantation? No tribute? No password squeaked between trembling lips? Tsk. Tsk. These morsels have come unprepared.
---
On What's Behind The Doors
PINK: Death, doom, slime, unholy abominations… you know, the usual.
GREEN: And secrets, yes. Old, arcane secrets the living seldom keep for long.
---
On Passwords
GREEN: We’re not certain. Our memories, after so many centuries, are somewhat… mushy.
PINK: Try speaking a few groveling praises to the Faceless Lord. We'll see if any of them ring a bell.
---
On Who Put Them There
GREEN: That memory is… slippery. We only recall that it was a master of oozes… or was it a lord of slime?
PINK: Does it matter? We owe that old wretch no fealty now.
Incredible! Thank you so much!
Great review, and timely -- I've been eyeing a combined "Incandescent Grottoes | Hole in the Oak" as a potential campaign starter type big ol' dungeon. Now I know what to fiddle with during prep.
As has been said before, really outstanding reviews, perhaps the best ones in all the OSRsphere.
What are your next reviews in mind? Perhaps the OSE Adventure Anthologies?
Thanks Marc!
I only review what I've actually played (which is a big part of why i don't write a lot of reviews and why i think i can go further in depth than most folks)
My table recently played through winter's daughter, ascent of the leviathan, and starts cloister of the frog-god on saturday, so those are all in the pipeline
I also want to write soemthing about ptolus (which was the setting of my last campaign), and a theory piece on adventure compatibility
long-term plan is eventually i'll GM arden vul w/ d&d 1e and be able to write up something on both of those
Really looking forward to your next reviews, but very especially to your thoughts on ADnD 1e. It's really something of its own.
Fascinating analysis! Would you perhaps care to review any of the No Artpunk adventures ? They're mostly dungeons, which is pretty much your expertise, and they were designed to best suit the classic oldschool style. These adventures will make an interesting subject to review, I'm sure.
Yeah! I have a bunch of the no art punk modules on my list of games to run, and once I run it I’ll give it a review.
In the comments of my brandonsford review, someone asked me which module came closest to my ideal module and I cited Shrine of a Small God. I’m a big fan