Psychedelic Fantasies: The Fungus that Came to Blackeswell -- Review

From the moment I heard  about Geoffrey McKinney's Psychedelic Fantasies line, before the first module had been released, I knew it was a good thing, and my kind of thing.

Cheap but solidly produced modules. A short format for ease of digestion and use at the table. A focus on unrestrained imagination, as opposed to "the standard D&D tropes".

Now we have the third module in the series: THE FUNGUS THAT CAME TO BLACKESWELL.

Full disclosure: the module is written by my friend and Berlin RPG cohort Yves Geens. I guess that makes me totally biased. I do feel though that if the module was crap I'd say so. It's not. And of course Geoffrey wouldn't have published it if it was :)

Now to the reviewing part.

I received the module in the post last night, and read through it in one sitting (the advantage of the short format). I've not run it yet, but am very much inspired to do so, having read it.

The short overview of what's going on in this module is: a subterranean village famed for its odd inhabitants (a wizard and an inventor) and its unusual riches (Blackeswell pearls) is overrun by a hostile fungal infestation from the nearby Fungal Jungle. The village and its inhabitants are decimated.

(Note that, although Blackeswell is described as being a subterranean settlement, this has little impact on the adventure. It could be easily placed in an above-ground setting such as a forest, swamp or mountains.)


The main theme of the module, from my reading, is one of despair. There's an almost Raggiesque atmosphere present. Although there are none of the player-screwing-over moments or twists which we know and love(?) from the pen of Mr JER the 4th, the fate of the villagers of Blackeswell is unremittingly tragic and gruesome. I seem to recall there is one single house in the village whose inhabitants have survived with their lives and sanity (seemingly) intact. As for the rest, a twisted variety of fates has met them. Many are simply reduced to pools of gore, their only memorial being the now-futile shop signs advertising their now-ruined wares.

Good stuff. This could be the kind of module where PCs come in hoping to make a quick buck, but end up getting embroiled in trying to work out what on earth befell the village, and what can be done to stop it spreading or happening again elsewhere.

This is one interesting point about the module -- the reason why what has happened has happened is not (unless I've missed something) explicitly revealed. There are hints, and a locus or point of emanation can be discovered, but from my reading it was not clear what exactly caused the fungal infestation in Blackeswell. I'm not totally sure if this is intended or not, but it's something to bear in mind. Referees wanting to work this module into a campaign would be advised to give this topic some preparatory thought, as players will inevitably begin to wonder about what's happened in the village and try to find out what caused it.

In terms of the encounters in the module, each house contains something different. There are plenty of weird fungal horrors to fight or (in many cases more wisely) avoid, some nice treasures to be dug out from the clutches of the ever-present mycelial growths, and some interesting NPC encounters (a few villagers are still alive, and another adventuring party is holed up).

The main theme is (obviously) fungal monsters, which appear in pleasing variety. There are also elements of dimensional magic and sci-fi robotics, which lend a gonzo sub-tone to the module. Personally I'm a big fan of fantasy / sci-fi mash-ups, but strangely I felt that I would actually tone down the gonzo elements when running this adventure. I felt like I would place the focus more on this being a horror adventure, which the wackier elements could detract from. This isn't meant as a criticism -- the sci-fi elements are really well done -- just an aspect of taste as to how I would imagine running this module myself.


All in all, an excellent adventure with a deliciously weird and creepy tone. I am very much looking forward to running it! Highly recommended.

Adventure Submissions...

...are being sought for the Psychedelic Fantasies line!

After Alexey's Beneath the Ruins, and my Within the Radiant Dome, Geoffrey is looking for more weird / psychedelic old-school D&D adventures.

I'm not trying to be some kind of Psychedelic Fantasies marketing department... the reason I post this is that I want more weird / psychedelic old-school D&D adventures as well!

In case you've not seen it, there are details at this thread on the OD&D forum.

Go on, you know you want to!

Within the Radiant Dome -- Review!

I just came across a very positive review (auto-translated from the original Swedish) of my adventure module Within the Radiant Dome, published in Geoffrey McKinney's Psychedelic Fantasies line.

Thanks to Jonas for writing it!

Within the Radiant Dome: My First Published Adventure!

Sitting proudly alongside Alex Fotinakes' Beneath the Ruins, my new adventure Within the Radiant Dome is the second module in Geoffrey McKinney's awesome PSYCHEDELIC FANTASIES line.

16 pages of weird D&D fun ready to place in any campaign. Everything in the module is a new creation -- new monsters, new magic items, new spells.

Great for a grab-the-loot one-shot, or to be explored over a longer period in a campaign.

Check it out!

Mini Review: Beneath the Ruins

I just received my copy of "Beneath the Ruins", written by Alex Fotinakes, and published by Geof McKinney.

Contents:
1 bright orange detachable cover with dungeon maps on the inside
3 pages intro
11 pages room descriptions
2 pages monster / treasure descriptions

Random Thoughts in No Particular Order:

This module is awesome.

It comes in a totally practical format, which I absolutely love. The tall booklet orientation works really well -- it feels great to hold and read. It really has a gorgeously usable feel to it.

The page count is also delightfully low, which is a major plus point in my mind. I can never be bothered to read and comprehend longer than about 30 pages for an adventure, so Beneath the Ruins really hits the mark.

Apart from the maps inside the cover, the module is completely free of artwork. Of course, I love cool artwork as much as anyone, but the decision to go art-free was a shrewd one, and works great. It serves, in my mind, to increase the pragmatic feel of the module, and to maximise the content within the small number of pages.

As Geof says:

"These are not works of art. They are utilitarian modules meant to be inflicted upon your players."

Totally.

How about this then:

"Every monster, every magic power, and every magic spell is a unique and never-before-seen creation of the author. No orcs, fireballs, or +1 swords will be found within."

That's part of Geof's description / mission statement for his Psychedelic Fantasies line of modules, of which this is the first. A very cool sentiment indeed, and one which I find myself moving more and more towards in my own creations. With this in mind, though, one thing I couldn't help noticing was that some (well at least one) of the totally unique creations do verge on being simply renamed standards. I suppose this is extremely difficult to avoid, in the genre of D&D adventures where so much has already been done. The specific example from Beneath the Ruins which I'm thinking of is the room guarded by "cursed corpses". Yes, you can guess what those are. I suppose perhaps the intention is that the act of giving them a different name increases the likelihood of the referee improvising unique details about them, rather than just saying "6 zombies" directly to the players.

In terms of the content of the module, it's top notch dungeon weirdness. The room descriptions are short enough to be eminently readable, while really packing in interesting details.

Before buying this module, I was totally convinced by the simple, pragmatic format but high weirdness marketing on the Psychedelic Fantasies blog, and now I've actually got the thing in my hands I'm even more convinced.

An awesome D&D accessory, and one which I can't wait to use. I've already got it placed in a map for my upcoming Dreamlands campaign.

Highly recommended.