OSR Modules with the best layout & presentation

[Celebrim]

I6 Ravenloft is still in many ways the gold standard, a height of combining aesthetics and usability to which we have not regularly (or ever) achieved since. I have a few quibbles with the module, most notably that the recommended levels on the module are about 2 lower than they should be for the challenge, but in terms of presentation of encounter blocks and the maps and the overall layout of the module, nothing has ever done better.

 

[Benjamin Olson]

Kelsey Dionne's The Secrets of Skyhorn Lighthouse is a great example.

...and apparently free?
View attachment 421345

Cool!

I'm particularly impressed by the inclusion of optional cards to print out for monsters/enemy stat blocks. Flipping between four different monster manual pages for one combat is my number one pet peeve about running D&D combat, and slick cards for monster stats was the one fancy add-on in the Heroes of the Borderlands that really impressed me, but there I think it came at the cost of not also having them conveniently at the end of the module booklet like in the prior WotC starter sets, whereas here you get them there to.

 

[Sandbox Plots]

I can really recommend Adventure Anthology 1 and 2 by Necrotic Gnome.
The adventures written by Joseph R. Lewis are also very clear.

 

[Sausages]

Layout, Schmlayout.

Above all make the product interesting to read to sell me on playing it.

Then give me the raw text so I can mess with it to my hearts content.

And any player facing material should be in individual files.

 

[Spectral Anomaly]

Plenty of mentions of Necrotic Gnome's stuff, but also take a look at Andrew Kolb's three sourcebooks (Neverland, Oz, Wonderland) for how to design table-playable material.

 

[aco175]

I6 Ravenloft is still in many ways the gold standard, a height of combining aesthetics and usability to which we have not regularly (or ever) achieved since. I have a few quibbles with the module, most notably that the recommended levels on the module are about 2 lower than they should be for the challenge, but in terms of presentation of encounter blocks and the maps and the overall layout of the module, nothing has ever done better.

I always thought this was the gold standard. 4e Dungeon Delve with its short adventures that had a map and each encounter on a page with statblocks to prevent the need to go anyplace else. They were short and minor quests, but the layout was great for me.

 

[Celebrim]

I always thought this was the gold standard. 4e Dungeon Delve with its short adventures that had a map and each encounter on a page with statblocks to prevent the need to go anyplace else. They were short and minor quests, but the layout was great for me.

It's.... fine.

It's a great teaching aid for novice GMs, and I would have very much enjoyed it at say 16 for a lot of reasons. The concept of a 5 room self-contained dungeon was something I very much needed at the time.

And yes, statblocks on the same page as the encounter they go with is ideal, and something that they got away from in 3e and I didn't appreciate it at all. Stat blocks divorced from an encounter location should only happen when you have an NPC with so much agency they could be anywhere (see I6 Ravenloft and Strahd).

But it's very much an artifact of its time, with adventures conceived of as a series of static tactical skirmishes like a Battletech or Warhammer scenario book.

 

[zakael19]

When I look at a really good OSR module it has the following:

• Something actually interesting going on in each room to paint to the players.
• Solid use of word choice to succinctly give me a mental image I can vomit forth, and small numbers of interesting things. Eg:

"2 Idiot Dragon Hunters. Gill’s sons Tad (short, fat, four teeth total) and Zach (tall, dopey, big Adam’s apple). They’re planning to bait the Dragon with a dead pig and then throw a net over it."

"Hut. The inside is a homely kitchen with plush, overly quilted furniture one might expect to find in a grandmother’s house."

"Decaying murals cover the walls. The mangled corpse of a highwayman lies face down on the floor, his face marinating in a pool of blood. Canine growling from Room 4."

- A consistent organizational method that lets me go from basic surface description (landmark) to details about each notable intractable (hidden), and clear ways to signpost or adjudicate concealed secrets. Eg, the room above; each one of those bold words has a short section below when a player goes "I investigate the murals" or "I search the corpse."

I think that Necrotic Gnome's stuff does all of the above the best while also being masterful at the arcane art of using color, text, and design to make incredibly readable layouts. But even something as simple as the original Hounds of Hendenburgh can do an amazing job with plain text and bolding.

 

[BruceWright]

I6 Ravenloft is still in many ways the gold standard, a height of combining aesthetics and usability to which we have not regularly (or ever) achieved since.

I just ran this last year and I really disagree. Maybe great for that era, but just really not very usable by modern standards. If the players take a staircase you aren't expecting, you're paging through numbered entries to figure out which room they're in.

Good luck with the table-readiness of the trap at K31, which appears on 4 different floors of the castle which the players can access from K61, K31b, K47, K31a and K39, and actually (I think?) slams down on an unkeyed portion of Map 11.

K31a tells you that the stone compartment of this trap will raise through a trap door to K47. But there's no mention of a trap door in the entry for K47. There's no mention of WHAT SPRINGS THIS TRAP or which way it's intended to harm people who haven't moved into its shaft out of pure investigation.

 

[BruceWright]

I6 Ravenloft also contains one of my favorite examples of a buried lede in a room description box-text.

You enter a room in the vampire's castle with a FRIGGING VAMPIRE banging away madly on a pipe organ.

But the box text first describes the shape of the room.
Then the chandeliers (WHY???).
Then the stone pillars and walls and ceiling.
Then a table and tablecloth. Then EVERY KIND OF FOOD.
Then the china and silverware. Then the glasses and the drinks poured in them.
then mirrors. then the organ. Then the music from the organ.

and FINALLY... squints at the fine print at the bottom... oh... you know... strahd von zarovich no biggie


This is a magnificent 40-foot-square room, brilliantly lit by three massive crystal chandeliers. Pillars of stone stand against dull white marble walls, supporting the ceiling. In the center of the room, a long, heavy table stands covered with a fine white satin cloth. The table is laden with delectable foods of every type: roasted beast basted in a savory sauce, roots and herbs of every taste, and sweet fruits and vegetables. Places are set for each of you with fine delicate china and silver. At each place there is a crystal goblet filled with an amber liquid whose delicate fragrance tantalizes your senses. At the center of the far west wall, between floor-to-ceiling length mirrors, stands a massive organ. Its pipes blare out a thunderous melody that offers in its tone greatness and despair. Seated before the keys, its back toward you, a single caped figure pounds the keys in raptured ecstasy. The figure suddenly stops and a deep silence falls over the dining hall. The figure slowly turns toward you.



Absolutely amazing. I know the authors think this is an amazing little turn and button on the description. But... man this kind of thing is the opposite of how people look at a room.

WHAT KIND OF SILVERWARE HAS THE VAMPIRE LAYED OUT FOR US? WHAT'S THE TABLECLOTH LIKE, I NEED TO KNOW THAT FIRST!!