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Stonesky Delve
Stonesky Delve is the fifteenth Advanced Adventure from Expeditious Retreat Press. The lines of adventures are for the OSRIC system which means it is written for first edition Dungeons and Dragons. The module is written by Joseph Browning and is designed for levels four through seven. This particular adventure was also written as a tournament module and their first one of that type. It was debuted at Gen Con 2010 and ran at three tables in two slots. I was one of the DMs that ran this and the copy I’m reviewing was given to me to run there.
The review is going to cover lot s of spoilers so don’t read it if you might play in it. Just know that it is good and fun.
Stonesky Delve is set up in two parts. It was designed so that each could be run in a 4 hour session and at Gen Con that was the way we did it. The first part is spelunking in a cave system and the second part uncovers an ancient abandoned dwarven settlement deep in the mountain. As a tournament game groups get points based on how many people survive and how many rooms get explored. There are bonus points that special places can grant. Time is also a factor as the more time they spend in the module the more points get subtracted. That part wasn’t as clear I think as it could have been as in the description to the players It just says they should leave the cave complex in three to five days.
The first part is different from most other modules in that it is much more vertical then horizontal. This had the player characters using ropes, and pitons, and having to be mindful of climbing both up and down great distances. Movement was an issue and a challenge at times and that made for additional good types of challenges. The map is drown from an over head view so one can see how things are spaced that way and also done as a side view so people can easily appreciate the depth the adventure goes into the mountain. Part of the descent follows an underground water fall and that made things more complicated and fun as well.
There are some cool ideas and places that can be found in the mountain. One room is basically an echo of the word that created the Dwarven race and has stone pillars defining the aspects of the dwarves put forth by their god. During one of the descents there are many cave Morays that strike as the PCs are climbing down. I figured this would be one of the more deadly encounters but the PCs were able to handle it well. Near the end of the section is the remains of the dwarf to commit the first murder. It is a very evil and powerful thing now and meant to be something the PCs run from.
The second part of the adventure was a little more ordinary. The area was more of a typical dungeon crawl though throughout the whole module the encounters make sense. It feels like a cave complex and the creatures in the dwarven area are what one could expect to find after what happened there. I like that about the module. The main bad guy in the second part os a pretty powerful dwarf that has been taken over by an evil artifact and given some pretty cool powers. He ambushed the party and should have plenty of time to up and prepare. When I played through it he kicked our asses pretty hard and we were lucky to win. In the scenario I ran at Gen Con they got real lucky with some bad rolls on his part and he died rather quickly though it took them a while to realize that.
Stonesky Delve is a fun and well written 1e module. It works well as a tournament but can easily be used in a campaign or other non tournament setting. The module is easily adapted to pother versions of the game and other gaming systems.
Stonesky Delve is the fifteenth Advanced Adventure from Expeditious Retreat Press. The lines of adventures are for the OSRIC system which means it is written for first edition Dungeons and Dragons. The module is written by Joseph Browning and is designed for levels four through seven. This particular adventure was also written as a tournament module and their first one of that type. It was debuted at Gen Con 2010 and ran at three tables in two slots. I was one of the DMs that ran this and the copy I’m reviewing was given to me to run there.
The review is going to cover lot s of spoilers so don’t read it if you might play in it. Just know that it is good and fun.
Stonesky Delve is set up in two parts. It was designed so that each could be run in a 4 hour session and at Gen Con that was the way we did it. The first part is spelunking in a cave system and the second part uncovers an ancient abandoned dwarven settlement deep in the mountain. As a tournament game groups get points based on how many people survive and how many rooms get explored. There are bonus points that special places can grant. Time is also a factor as the more time they spend in the module the more points get subtracted. That part wasn’t as clear I think as it could have been as in the description to the players It just says they should leave the cave complex in three to five days.
The first part is different from most other modules in that it is much more vertical then horizontal. This had the player characters using ropes, and pitons, and having to be mindful of climbing both up and down great distances. Movement was an issue and a challenge at times and that made for additional good types of challenges. The map is drown from an over head view so one can see how things are spaced that way and also done as a side view so people can easily appreciate the depth the adventure goes into the mountain. Part of the descent follows an underground water fall and that made things more complicated and fun as well.
There are some cool ideas and places that can be found in the mountain. One room is basically an echo of the word that created the Dwarven race and has stone pillars defining the aspects of the dwarves put forth by their god. During one of the descents there are many cave Morays that strike as the PCs are climbing down. I figured this would be one of the more deadly encounters but the PCs were able to handle it well. Near the end of the section is the remains of the dwarf to commit the first murder. It is a very evil and powerful thing now and meant to be something the PCs run from.
The second part of the adventure was a little more ordinary. The area was more of a typical dungeon crawl though throughout the whole module the encounters make sense. It feels like a cave complex and the creatures in the dwarven area are what one could expect to find after what happened there. I like that about the module. The main bad guy in the second part os a pretty powerful dwarf that has been taken over by an evil artifact and given some pretty cool powers. He ambushed the party and should have plenty of time to up and prepare. When I played through it he kicked our asses pretty hard and we were lucky to win. In the scenario I ran at Gen Con they got real lucky with some bad rolls on his part and he died rather quickly though it took them a while to realize that.
Stonesky Delve is a fun and well written 1e module. It works well as a tournament but can easily be used in a campaign or other non tournament setting. The module is easily adapted to pother versions of the game and other gaming systems.
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