Review: The Lost Dungeons of Tonisborg

 As I mentioned in my last post, I’m taking a short break from the series (that last one ran both long and late) to collect my thoughts, kick back, and do some light readin’ and reviewin’.

Mr. Murder Hobo is kicking back too, but honestly, when isn’t he doing that?

Today at the Savage Lair, we are taking a look at The Lost Dungeons of Tonisborg by Greg Svenson, one of the players of Dave Arneson’s original Blackmoor campaign, and released by The Fellowship of the Thing.  These are the minds behind the documentary film Secrets of Blackmoor (which you should definitely check out, if you haven’t.)

I missed the Kickstarter for this book, but I was able to order a paperback copy once this came into my radar, and my enhanced, grogcanthropic senses started tingling.  Therefore, you can count that any bias in this review is only my own.  I don’t have enough OSR street cred (or any at all, really) to just have review copies thrown at my feet like lavish gifts to a highly-desirable courtesan.

You hear me OSR publishers?!  I’m ready to sell out and be your “brazen strumpet,” or is the politically-correct term “saucy tart?”  I personally like the term “Private Dancer.”

*Ahem*  So what is/are The Lost Dungeons of Tonisborg?  According to the book (and promotional blurbs for it,) it is “the second oldest Mega-Dungeon.”  Original author and GM Greg Svenson was handed a play-test copy of the Original game by Dave Arneson in 1973 and he used it to start his own campaign, set in Arneson’s Blackmoor map (with his blessing) as the city/town of Tonisborg.  This was later renamed Vestfold in published Blackmoor products; easily remedied either way for the home campaign.

Image from Kickstarter

One thing I failed to mention in my OSR Lessons series thus far is that sharing campaign worlds and GMing duties was seemingly a common practice since way back to the original Blackmoor and Greyhawk campaigns.  Indeed, it is well-known that Robert J. Kuntz, who played (as Sir Robilar,) and shared GMing duties with co-creator Gary Gygax, could/should be considered a third, unsung co-creator of the D&D game.

Now given the timing, I suspect that would make Tonisborg actually the third oldest megadungeon, since I believe the Greyhawk campaign had already been in progress by 1973 (Original D&D being released in early 1974)  If I am mistaken, feel free to correct me in the comments.  I’m not trying to restart the Arneson/Gygax Wars here; just want to be as objective as possible.

The first part of the book goes over the history of the Tonisborg dungeon and campaign (as mentioned above) and how the original documents and maps were thought to have been lost, only to be rediscovered  (as photocopies of the originals) many, many years later.  Some painstaking work was then done to turn these raw notes and fragments into a published product.  Images of the original notes and maps are also included in the book, but the later module section uses “remastered” maps for reference.

That’s pretty much how I imagine it went.  You cannot convince me otherwise.

The book then goes into a treatise about old school (or perhaps proto-old school) dungeoneering, with advice for GMs and players.  This, I think, makes up 80% of the value of this book.  It easily stands on par (and perhaps beyond) any of the original rulesets, or guides such as A Quick Primer to Old School Gaming when it comes to old school GMing advice.  Most of the advice will be familiar to those well-steeped in the old school tradition, but there could still be some nuggets of insight for the experienced and/or jaded.  I will definitely be referring to this work as I continue my own OSR Lessons series.

The second part of the book is the Lost Dungeons themselves.  It is a ten-level dungeon with anywhere from 10-40 rooms per level.  This may seem minuscule at times for a “mega” dungeon, but some are essentially lairs with several monsters, plus the book has advice for keeping the dungeon a “living” location by restocking these rooms periodically in the campaign.  The maps are very similar in style to the Blackmoor dungeon maps in The First Fantasy Campaign, especially in their liberal use of diagonal passageways, which makes sense, given the inspirational source.

Image from sample available at Kickstarter

Unfortunately, here is where the reader needs to temper their expectations.  There are no great, Ur-D&D revelations to be found here.  Make no mistake, Tonisborg it is a good, solid, and functional dungeon in the old school style (obviously) – avant-garde for its time, but pretty common stuff by now.  Still, here are some highlights that stood out to me:

• The presence of an outside order of knights (the Order Draconae) that controls most of the first level and lower access past the second.  These could end up being “frienemies” of player character groups.
• A level that is pretty much all secret doors.
• New monsters such as the baledraug, which seems like a variant of the classic fire demon; this one being highly magic-resistant, and the yith’yl, a monster made of pure energy that can knock characters out with its radiance.
• Quite a few rooms with giant hogs (then again, I have a thing for pork and delicious, delicious bacon.)
• A hydra lair with the remains of a former (actual) player character; anecdote about her tragic end included.
• A level festooned with devil statues that cry blood.
• Three artifact crowns (The Crowns of Ancient Legend) in the final level, each tied to one of the three original character classes.

The entries are terse, with a short description of the contents, monster stats, and treasure.  Good for easy reference, but the individual GM will have to enhance them with their own notes or descriptions in play to make the dungeon come to life.

The book ends with an old school ruleset in the style of the Original rules that one can use to play Tonisborg with.  It is apparently a variant of the game, Champions of ZED.

While I’m not familiar with this product, I did find the rules in Tonisborg to be a pretty decent simulacrum of the Original rules, including the classic races (human, elf, dwarf, halfling,) and three original classes (fighter, cleric, magic-user.)  Thief of course, is not included, and the treatise in the first section includes an entry about doing thief-like things without a thief class (as it was done originally; a topic I will also cover later in the OSR Lessons series.)  Veterans to the game will easily recognize classic spells, monsters, and magic items.  However, I found a few interesting curve balls that make these rules unique:

• Multiple, more lenient ability score generation methods,
• Constitution increases/decreases recovery time as well as hit points.
• The races have a few additional or unique abilities, such as the elf getting +1 with elven weapons specifically, and the halfling having a +3 (!) with bows and slings.
• The key level titles (which I discussed in my series) are given a prominent role, with new abilities every category or so.  Heroic fighters, for example, get fear immunity and grant +1 to the morale of their followers due to their reputation.  Superheroic fighters penalize opponent’s morale due to their reputation and can sense the presence of invisible creatures(!)
• Only 10% of a treasure’s gold value grants a character XP.  Furthermore, the character must spend that gold in class-related activities to earn it.
• Level drain isn’t just for monsters.  Characters that suffer terrible defeats or setbacks, such as a fighter’s army being routed, or a cleric having their temple destroyed, can lose 1-4 levels.  While this is thematic (“I’ve lost my mojo!”) it seems quite punishing.
• Morale state is expanded to multiple stages, from “flushed” to “routed,” with different effects for each.
  
• A point-based method for stocking dungeon monsters is presented, which appears to be based off of Dave Arneson’s method in The First Fantasy Campaign.  A GM has a certain number of points to spend based on the dungeon level.  The points correlate to average hit points per hit die (3.5 on a d6.)

 

So what do I think?  I feel the book was definitely worth the $60 I spent and it has earned a place among my library of RPG classics.  It has good, quality old school content packed into its 156 pages.  That said, its value to me is more as a historical document and guide rather than adventure module or ruleset.  It is unlikely I would ever run the Tonisborg dungeon or use the game rules therein, but would steal liberally from them in true, old school fashion, which is most certainly meant as a compliment.  However, I do think some folks might find it somewhat disappointing if they have really high expectations of it.

The verdict: 3.5 out of 5 Murder Hobos

The Lost Dungeons of Tonisborg is available for purchase at the publisher’s website.

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.