NOW LIVE! Dungeon Delver's Guide: A Sourcebook for 5E and A5E. An essential tome for creating, exploring, and running dungeons in your 5E or A5E game.

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Libertad" data-source="post: 8108132" data-attributes="member: 6750502"><img src="https://i.imgur.com/TvLKSHU.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" />Two sample dungeons, two Make Your Own Dungeons, and a list of sample residential dwellings by income level comprise this chapter. Our first entry, the Catacombs, is an expansive underground network of tunnels beneath Endon. Extending beyond the sewer system, it is possible to enter through basements, storm drains, the Old Endon Cemetery, and even the Auld Grey Cathedral. There’s a variety of tables for determining entrances, atmospheric details, potentially hazardous complications, and random encounters which can also be a treasure hoard of coins and/or magic items. We also have 15 mini-map locations laid out in grid patterns, ranging from Crypts to Ladder Shafts to Sunken Pools and even Stone Circles brimming with magical energy.The Bells of St. Bristow is a 7-room dungeon crawl where a priest pays the PCs to track down the theft of three bronze bells. The bells in fact have been stolen by a giant hermit crab which lairs beneath a small church as part of a larger infestation. The Biggest Aspidistra in the World is actually a mere residential home...lifted up hundreds of feet into the air courtesy of a magical plant that grew rapidly overnight. Several of the “rooms” are in fact portions of the stalk and plant leaves home to various insectoid monsters; the PCs can encounter a stranded balloonist who tried to rescue the home’s family before the party got around to doing the same thing, and said family is dysfunctional and practically at their wit’s end due to the stress of the situation. Generic Dwellings are a set of 4 maps with accompanying 1d10 and 1d20 tables for determining “eccentricities” notable in their construction and/or residents. There’s also a 1d10 “Guards, Guards!” table for determining a house’s security. Said security can range from mere civilians armed with improvised weapons to trained magical creatures or even a maid with a Minor Magic Weapon. Finally, the Wonder-Mansion Generator is a pair of 1d20 tables for populating the domains of nobles and well-to-do wizards. The Contents table showcases weird art projects and rare items worth a pretty gold piece, while Complications determines traps, enemies, and other opposition which stands in the way of the PCs who might try to steal them.<img src="https://i.imgur.com/vRTA33c.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" />This is full of material that does not easily fit anywhere else in the book. We first start off with Reasons to Visit Endon that include generic ones (selling/buying magic items, profitable ventures, cosmopolitan resources) as well as ones separated by character class (instill religious morality, tracking down enemies of your order, etc). Interestingly the classes adhere to 5th Edition terminology barring some mention of OSR renames (Thieves/Rogues/Assassins), and there’s reasons given for Sorcerers and Warlocks, classes which didn’t exist in TSR-era D&D.Afterwards we have three 1d20 tables for Generic Plot Hooks, Lectures at Loxdon College, and Plays & Operas. The Plot Hooks are one-sentence summaries of potential events in Endon ranging from the mundane (military coup, someone unjustly committed to an asylum) to the more fantastical (a serial killer rises from the dead to continue his bloody work, mad scientist threatens to zap Endon with a death ray unless given lots of money). Lectures at Loxdon College cover the types of things one would expect from a magical Victorian setting, such as The Language of Whales or Life and Commerce on the Moon. Plays and Operas include titles, authors, and descriptions along with a second table for determining one-sentence blurbs from acerbic reviewers, many of which are quite witty (“the music is better than it sounds”).Finally we have an Index, a Bibliography, Inspirational Media, an oddly-placed 1d100 I Search the Body table with d20 results separated by social class (last d20 is “Unusual”), and a Pre-Session Checklist for keeping track of Innovation Progression, Tempo, and a brief list of GMing tips. And our very last page is a Solve My Problems Sheet which has answers to some common questions of likely interest to PCs and their shenanigans. For example “I’ve done something illegal” gives a brief description and page references to Copper stat blocks and the criminal justice system.Pamphlets <img src="https://i.imgur.com/na6Fo1a.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" />These are not part of the book itself, but separate 1-2 page PDFs that come with the eBook purchase of MIR. As I do not own the physical copy I don’t know if they’re physical handouts or just bonus pages. Cumberworld’s Handbook of Magical Industry is an abridged version of the most pertinent aspects of the Magical Industry Chapter in handout form for PCs. Dreadful Life is a collection of in-character newspaper advertisements and a short news article on the trials of individual criminals of Endon. The Secret Key, or a Visitor’s Guide to Endon is an in-character handout of a map of the city and its 25 major locations, more in-character advertisements, mention of tourist attractions, and a portrait of the Monarch with a brief explanation of who he is in very flattering terms.Thoughts So Far: The dungeons are a nice touch, and I particularly appreciate the maps for residences and underground urban areas. The bronze bell dungeon crawl feels a bit out of place in a setting largely bereft of religion, but the house stuck at the top of a giant plant is cool and novel. The appendices are a nice touch, as are the handout pamphlets.Final Thoughts: I haven’t really perused the work of Skerples before this, but after reading Magical Industrial Revolution I can understand the popularity of his content. Magical Industrial Revolution gives us a setting that is novel in multiple ways: besides being set in a Fantasy Victorian culture ill-explored by D&D, it does a great job of threading the needle between the complications of magic changing society while also presenting plausible changes and turmoil that can come with progress. Like Eberron it discusses how various spells and magical items can revolutionize day to day life. But unlike Eberron, domestic and “industrial” spells and items are more easily attainable by PCs without becoming overly cost-prohibitive, and there are rules for the party setting up their own Magic Item Mart (albeit at a smaller, more individual scale).All in all, Magical Industrial Revolution is a definite recommendation, whether or not you’re a purveyor of OSR games. The material within is easily minable for other systems, although some care may have to be taken if transitioning it to games that use a Wealth-by-Level mechanic or ones where the cheapening of scrolls, wands, and other such fare can cause a massive power imbalance. I do get that this is the point of the setting, but it’s still something to look out for nonetheless.I have plans on reviewing another book, although I cannot predict which book in particular that will be or when I’ll start. For now, I thank everyone who read this far. See you all on the next Let’s Read!Author’s CommentsSo while hanging out in an OSR Discord, the author of this book commented on some choices in regards to design. With his permission I’m quoting them here:</blockquote>

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