Obscene Serpent Religion 2: A Practical Review

During a recent, Lamentations of the Flame Princess (LotFP) sale, I picked up a few PDFs that caught my eye.  One of these was Obscene Serpent Religion 2 by Jeff Rients of Jeff’s Gameblog.  Needless to say, my mind has been full of all things serpentine lately with my Dungeon23 project, Temple of the Snake Cult, so I thought this might provide some inspiration, and even become a fine addition to a future home campaign set in the Temple and the Northern Marklands.

Since I got this for a steal ($1.25 USD,) the least I can do is provide a plug and review, and show the reader how I would place it in my own Northern Marklands setting.

This 32-page adventure from 2018 is apparently a sequel book of sorts to Obscene Serpent Religion by Raphael Chandler (of Teratic Tome fame) and Neoplastic Press.  It is billed as supplement for LotFP, with “random tables to generate a cult of serpent worshipers, including details like holy quests, sacred sites, and special abilities granted to worshipers.”  I had not heard about this one, and I mistakenly though the “2” in the sequel module was some kind of “Electric Boogaloo” joke, with a nonexistent Part 1.  I also just realized the module title’s acronym is “OSR”.  I need to pay better attention, (and grab a copy of OSR 1!)  “The More You Know…”

Before I forget, this module, like most of LotFP products, is for (im)mature audiences.  Reader discretion is advised.

Heh heh...snek tiddies

The module is divided into two parts: a description of the hamlet of Nonsbeck, which is the main setting of the adventure, and the adventure itself (The Doom That Came to Nonsbeck.)  It also includes a chapter detailing the main “boss” of the adventure: the Snake Creature/Goddess, and potential effects for her unique powers.  The module also includes a map of the hamlet.

The adventure itself is a scenario wherein a settlement that is known and familiar to the player characters is slowly corrupted by the presence of the Snake Creature, turning the townspeople into hideously-mutated, ophidian beings, who become her worshipers.  The players then have to deal with the changed townspeople while avoiding the same fate themselves which, this being an LotFP adventure, is almost assured.

 

The Good

In my humble opinion, a good adventure module should be more than just a small dungeon, lair, or (yuck) plotted situation, but practically an entire campaign unto itself, with utility beyond the boundaries of the adventure.  This module certainly fits the bill.  It includes a full description of the progressively creepy and eventually, snake-haunted hamlet of Nonsbeck, complete with interesting characters, locations, and adventure hooks, as well as a useful list of random names for villagers the players might meet.

Where the adventure really shines is the myriad snake creatures the villagers become, and the Snake Creature, with its weird ability to alter a person’s history via genetic time-travel (some Assassin’s Creed vibes there,) is truly unique.

 

The Bad

This is more of a personal quibble, but most LotFP adventures are set in an alternate, 17^th-century Earth of weird fiction with D&D characteristics.  This may make them difficult to adapt to one’s own campaign, but thankfully, it is not so much the case with this adventure.  However, the module is easily adaptable because it is more of a side-trek adventure or supplemental idea that the game master (GM) can flesh out further.  It pretty much needs an existing campaign with a primary adventure location.  Indeed, the module leans heavily on this, as it recommends that players get to know the “normal” Nonsbeck over the course of other adventures or dungeon forays before things get weird.

 

The Ugly

The worst of the adventure is already mentioned above, which is not bad at all.  The only egregious thing I can think of is that lack of a few maps for locations where action takes place, such as the church, inn, or smithy.  It would have been nice to have these in addition to the village map.  Oh!  And the lack of treasure, which the author explains his reasoning for, still gets a “boo” from me.  This is still D&D, man!  You gotta have some treasure!  I know it's an LotFP adventure and the players will never get to spend it, but still!

 

Final Review

If you like all things ophidian, with the unique flavor of LotfP horror, this adventure is for you.  The Snake Creature and other serpentine monsters are usable in any campaign that features snake cults and such.  It is easily inserted into a campaign, with the only slight drawback being that it doesn’t stand all that well on its own without additional content.  It was great for sale price, and still pretty dang good for full price.  I give it 4/5 Snake Gods.

Using this module with the Temple of the Snake Cult and the Northern Marklands

The key to incorporating this adventure into the Northern Marklands is the idea that the resurgence of the Temple of the Snake Cult is having a direct effect on the surrounding lands.  The influence of the Snake God is pervasive and insidious.  It can come in dreams, dark inspirations, and found in forbidden writings such as the Libram of Agamot (see below); this is in addition to the beings that come from the flesh vats of the True Temple, of which the Snake Creature is just one of them.  She is an experimental being created by the Snake-Men flesh-crafters – an amalgamation of genetic, flesh-crafting alchemy and chronomancy that can manifest and perpetuate the Snake God’s inscrutable will.  Alas, she is a unique work of perverse genius, and if the players destroy it, no other such creature will exist.

Nonsbeck fits quite well in Hex 1616 on the crossroads of a trail connecting the Mantle Hills from the halfling village of Mayklethorpe, and the road from Alkastra to the Westweald.  Indeed, the hamlet makes for a closer and more easily-managed home base than the City of Alkastra for explorations into the Temple of the Snake Cult if the GM desires.  This use as a home base for a dungeon is suggested in the introduction of the module.

St. Margaret’s church can be a small temple of Law to a saint of the same name and with a similar history, but references to Christianity should be changed to the similarly-inspired Lords of Law and their mythology.  For example, the inscription on the door of the church would reference Mythras instead of Jesus (“MITRAS ET MARGIT RECIPERENT”.)  Other Earth locations and nationalities mentioned can be replaced with similar locations in the Northern Marklands and beyond.  For example, the Torraskan Isles in the southern sea are a great stand in for the Mediterranean isles in Olbrecht the smith’s adventure hook.  The reason for some of the villager’s Germanic names is that the hamlet was originally settled by refugees from the lands around Teutenberg in the southern, war-torn remnants of the Old Empire (beyond the wilderness map.)  The GM should throw in some Anglo-Saxon and Norman style names here and there to better model the remote, yet cosmopolitan area around Alkastra.

The Schwarzbuch von Agamot can be renamed the Libram of Agamot, who in this version was an infamous Warlock of Artaghis that delved deeply into the forbidden knowledge of the Old Ones.  The book still functions as described in the module.

It is the writer’s recommendation that the players not encounter the changes in Nonsbeck until a few adventures in the Temple have passed, perhaps after clearing Levels 1-3.

 

That is all for now!  Obscene Serpent Religion 2 doesn't seem to be available from the publisher at the time of this writing, but you can get it from the DriveThruRPG link above.