OSR Review & Commentary On First Edition Fantasy: Dungeon Hazards By Philip Reed For OSRIC & Your Old School Campaign

 " Ronin Arts steps back in time to an age of excessive violence, deep dungeons, wandering monsters, and late-night gaming excitement! DUNGEON HAZARDS, the latest release in Ronin Art’s FIRST EDITION FANTASY series, features almost 100 slimes, molds, fogs, environmental, terrain and other hazards for use with OSRIC or any other first edition-style game system. Perfect for use with mid-level and high-level campaigns. Throw these new hazards into your next adventure and watch as your players try to save their characters' lives! Great fun for game referees everywhere! This product uses the OSRIC System (Oldschool System Reference and Index CompilationTM)"

Going all the way back into my campaign notes from 2006 I came across a curious campaign note for First Edition Fantasy: Dungeon Hazards By Philip Reed For OSRIC. First Edition Fantasy: Dungeon Hazards is a delightlfully deadly little tome clocking in at thirty five pages of dungeon dressings & hazards for OSRIC & other retroclones going all of the way back to the early days of the OSR. This book reminds me of the resourefulness & creativity in the early days of OSRIC. It contans an incredible array of dungeon hazards for your mega or smaller dungeon. There are slimes & oozes, traps, deadfalls, & worse. But its the sheer weirdness of these hazards that holds my interest for example:"Crystal, Harmonic These beautiful but fragile crystals are often found near underground sources of magic; they are especially prevalent near the lands of the dark elves. Harmonic crystals are very sensitive to noise and any loud noises (yelling, battle, even elevated talking or running) produce enough sonic energy to cause the crystals to shatter. The referee can decide whether or not the sounds in the area are loud enough to cause the crystals to shatter." And the book covers all kinds of not well known hazards to cause havoc to an adventuring party. These dungeon hazards are meant for OSRIC but could easily be added to your favorite retroclone.

Because of the way that First Edition Fantasy: Dungeon Hazards are set up this set of dungeon hazardous set dressing could easily be added into a Science Fantasy game or post apocalyptic retroclone as well" 
"Pool, Boiling Various factors, including steam vents, geothermal heat, or magic can heat natural pools of water to a slow, rolling boil. Any character or creature walking through one of these boiling pools suffers 1d6 points of damage each round – if the character or creature is submerged in one of these pools the damage is increased to 10d6 points of damage each round. A boiling pool adversely affects any carried potions, canteens, or foodstuffs – there is a 5% chance such items will be completely worthless after submersion in a boiling pool. Most boiling pools are, obviously, shrouded in a thick cloud of steam that may affect visibility, increasing the risk of stumbling into the water."
The layout & material within First Edition Fantasy: Dungeon Hazards is solidly done. Easily used & interesting in the classic TSR or Gygaxian dungeon ecological niche. Philip Reed  does a nice job with this older title from the haycon days of OSRIC & this is a book that I can see returning to again & again.