This is follow up to my earlier post about this adventure.
This adventure has some really good features and great art but, it also has some flaws, I don’t want to nitpick but I think pointing out what this adventure is doing wrong, in my opinion, might help us all write better adventures and help people understand what they are getting when buying this adventure.
I ran this adventure for four sessions. My observations are from that experience. The background and writing are strong the author has some great creative ideas. They fall short in actual play. While the description promises a large sandbox the reality is a map with of limited scope and a lot that needs to be filled in.
The encounters are good but in actual play a majority will be random encounters which are fun but also problematic. The random encounters are hit and miss and can feel tedious or repetitive.
While I like the creativity I have issues with the content. Let’s take a look at one of the rooms that exemplifies.
Room 9
Mmany of the room and encounter descriptions suffer from the same problem, lack of organization and stream of consciousness presentation. Here is good example. This is the description for room 9 of Operation Unfathomable.
On the south wall adventurers will notice the illuminated outline of an arched doorway, the stone beneath the arch hazy and subtly moving in rhythmic waves. Attempting to touch this section of the wall causes a rippling effect, like disturbing a vertical pool of water. Objects or body parts will move freely through the stone wall, which causes in living flesh a momentary chill that has no ill effects. Objects thrown through the doorway disappear into the space beyond.
Treasure: Suit of opalescent scale mail (ancient and magical): AC +8, check penalty -3, speed -5’, d8 fumble die; grants a +1 bonus to all saves against damaging magic. NOTE: The dead hero is certainly the paragon of some ancient supernatural patron. Effects and additional complications at judge’s discretion.
The door opens into a broom closet in the office Professor Zabon Gormontine shared with the rest of the Department of Cosmology at the Omni-Cosmic University more than 3,000 years in the future. This area and the adjoining office space has been taped off as a restricted time-door zone.
Break out your copies of the Crawljammer ‘zine, if the characters step through the doorway. Unless they decide to fight the rent- a-cops of the future, of course. Then…roll up new characters?
Operation Unfathomable Room 9
Parties find themselves in a crowded room, assailed by bright flashes of light from gathered space-paparazzi and the stunned faces of a gaggle of research scientists, generals, and government officials, some human but most aliens of every conceivable stripe.
If the group attempts to further explore the university’s planet- sized space station, they find the way barred by an elite university security force under orders to repel any such incursion from the past. As her troopers charge into firing positions, the security captain issues emphatic commands, translated and amplified by advanced comm. equipment built into her riot helmet. “Halt, intruders! Return to the past at once! You are not permitted to enter the present. I repeat, return to the past!”
There is a lot going on here, but most of it is not organized for game play, at least not without some serious preparation! Where is this far future university? If you go through the gate you end up in an office full space-paparazzi? Fun idea for a Douglas Adams novel, not much to work with for your average DM.
Description is not helping
Besides that, the description is not helping the game master run this encounter.
On the south wall adventurers will notice the illuminated outline of an arched doorway, the stone beneath the arch hazy and subtly moving in rhythmic waves. Attempting to touch this section of the wall causes a rippling effect, like disturbing a vertical pool of water. Objects or body parts will move freely through the stone wall, which causes in living flesh a momentary chill that has no ill effects. Objects thrown through the doorway disappear into the space beyond.
Operation Unfathomable Room 9
The description begins by describing a portal or magical doorway. It’s not really clear. I’m sure the author had something in mind but the rest of us are not privileged to everything they are thinking. I’m sure the author could go on length about this room but anyone else running this adventure is going to have to puzzle together the author’s intent.
The first paragraph is mixed with information that should be immediately available to players, the description of the “portal”, and information that would only be available after some investigation. What happens when you touch the portal should really come later. I can imagine someone accidentally reading all of this aloud.
The next paragraph begins with “Treasure” in bold. You get the impression there is a body lying on the floor wearing some opalescent plate-mail. I don’t know about you but I’m not in the habit of just telling players there is treasure lying on the floor. Included in the description is an oh by the way it’s on the body of a fallen hero type. This is really information that should be in the first paragraph. It seems like one of the first if not the first thing the players would see entering the room.
To do this room right we need to read this whole description and put together what the players would immediately see and reserve the rest. I’m might rewrite this as:
You’ve entered a large cave. You see the body of a powerful warrior wearing opalescent plate-mail lying on the floor.
Against the south wall is an arched doorway filled with a haze that slowly ripples with apparently magical waves.
From here we can follow with short paragraph that describes each of the items and how they can be interacted with maybe with some bullet points.
The first paragraph of any room description needs to describe what the players and immediately presented with. Preferably in a paragraph the game master can read aloud verbatim.
Not fully described
It happens a lot in this adventure that things are not followed up or are not fully described. In this room the portal leads to a whole other world 3000 years in the future. It is suggested you can make up new characters, or get a copy of Spelljammer, this is not gamable, it’s not good design. Great for your novel, it’s not fun at the game table. Think carefully when you include something that will kill a character, think very carefully if it will kill the whole party, just don’t do it if it will end your campaign.
I’m all for adventures that inspire more adventure but these exits and extensions should, ideally, be placed in strategic locations. Placed at the extents of an adventure is okay. It gives the GM a chance to prepare, when the adventure is finished or mostly finished.
In this case Room 9 is right in the middle of the cave system. Players could chance on this at any time before they have come close completing the current mission. This leaves the GM with the choice of ignoring it or doing a lot of prep for something that may not be used.
Un-gameable content
Also, the situation described, a university 3000 years in the future full of paparazzi and space cops, is not particularly game-able, in my opinion. I’m all for science in my fantasy but placing fantasy characters in an environment of contemporary rules and norms is great for a Terry Pratchett novel, boring in a D&D adventure, and lame if you’re forcing me to invent the bulk of it.
Running off the map
It’s easy to run off the map. The map beautifully illustrated, but not planned very well. This is not an isolated situation. For example, the two main passages in the underground map immediately run off either side of the map! It’s very easy for players to walk out of bounds. Seriously, the two main passages run off the map within a few hundred feet.
Distance and scale matter
Maybe it’s just me but, I like to think about distances. The sizes and distance between points are important to me as it determines where creatures can spot other creatures, how high flyers can fly, and how long it will take to get from one point to another.
From the point where the players start and enter the first main passage, if they choose to go to the left the passage runs off the map in about 540 feet. That’s less than two foot ball fields! That means players could walk into uncharted territory in a few minutes, and you as the GM would need to be responsible for what happens next!
The other alternative is to tell players “you should really go to the right…” which is also not a thing you want to be doing as a GM. It just ruins the mood.
The game provides some extensive random encounter tables which might cover half of your work but without any unique destination encounters you would be telling your players that the cave continues and rolling for wandering monsters again, and again. Or, you would need create maps and encounters yourself. But we buy these prewritten games to avoid this! Not an ideal situation.
This problem is not isolated to one location. The cavern system is made up two main passages. These both run off the map at either end. There are three exits from these main thoroughfares. Considering the map is about 1,320 feet across players could easily reach an exit in less than a quarter mile. It’s not the endless underground the description promises.
Too Many Exits
Besides the main passages there are many smaller passages that run off the map. My players tried to go out of bounds at least three times. The main passages run along the top and bottom of the map. If you’re in the upper passage and choose to take a side passage to the north you’re sure to run off the map.
While it’s not a sin to include areas that might be filled in later by the GM in this case it’s too easy to head into these areas. There are also many suggestions for things that are outside the map without much info. It’s not bad just problematic for the GM. For example there is mentioned places like Castle Ziro and Black Ooze River Town. Which sound interesting. I’m sure my players would want to travel there but you’re stuck inventing all of this on your own, and maybe sooner than you might be ready!
Conclusion
Overall, the adventure has a lot of great ideas but it also leaves a lot up in the air.
Would I run this? I did! This post documents my experience. The ideas as inspiring as they are are not backed up by enough substance. My players were able to complete the original mission in three or four sessions. I feel for the size of the book there should be more gaming potential. There is plenty of potential, factions, backstory, and NPCs here but, it requires a lot of work to put it all on the table.
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