OSR Modules with the best layout & presentation

Gus L · Friday at 10:18 PM

I don't really think any of the old two column TSR modules can be described as having great layout or presentation. Art tends to be sparse, text dense to the point it has trouble with readability and writing is often too dry or excessive (depending on era) - though it's the strongest part of the good ones. Of the TSR adventures I think the later BECMI ones show the best readability and usability with decent layout ... but they are dated still. It's also hit or miss with even those. Too much boxed text (itself a problem in my opinion) is a common issue.

Contemporary adventure design is often far more usable. I don't love the OSE bullet point style, and it's certainly not something everyone can write, but generally the usability, layout and design of more modern Post-OSR and OSR products tends to be far superior to the classics even when the content isn't.

Simon Miles · 2025-11-15T17:09:06+0000

kronovan said:
I just checked out the previews for your adventures The Warren and The Pit of Panzar. Those are nicely layed out and look to be good adventures. I can see what you mean by the boxed text - looks like you're using it for 2 purpose; as a means to highlight dialog/spoken text; as a way to provide location details, intros and choices in an solo adventure. Either way, as a formatting tool those work for me. I've seen the alternate approach of providing a shaded region with a different font tint for such highlights, which seems to be a formatting technique that's a bit more common.

TBH either way works equally for me. If I use a prewritten adventure, I read through and lift out what I deem the most pertinent text, then write it into bullet points or short paragraphs. My brain just seems to be wired in such a way that I never really develop an even flow while reading an adventure, let alone narrating it live to a group of players. Once read through and with my own talking bullets or short sentences, I can ad lib the gist of it. Layout can definitely help - the Necrotic Gnome adventures I mentioned in my other post contain descriptions that're short and concise enough for me to narrate live without any rewriting. It's not that they're taking a better approach, as much as they're approach is more akin to the bullet points and short paragraphs I create for my own adventures, or those I'd form from a prewritten.

[Edit] BTW - really like your maps in the Pit of Panzar preview.

Thanks - very much appreciated! I've just been reading through another thread about layout discussing "Written to be read" and "Written to be played" styles of scenarios. While there is some issue with the premise, it's a very interesting thread. There's a lot of very diverse opinions on the nature of the presentation, with proponents of the "wall of text" vibe and the "bullet-point dungeon", it makes you realise you can't please everyone all of the time. In our next product we're trying a simpler lay-out, without boxed text; short summary of the room and a stat block if required. Also monster rosters where the beasties move around their locations (we did this in the Warren but that was a bit over-the-top). We'll see how it's received...
Glad you like the maps; they're my favourite bit...

OSR Modules with the best layout & presentation

Gus L

Adventurer

Simon Miles

Creator of the World of Barnaynia FRPG setting

Similar Threads