A blog about sewing machine repairs,but mainly my hobbies which include old school role playing games, science fiction,films, horror, and general geekery. Sit down and stay a spell.
Showing posts with label Dungeon Adventure Kits. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dungeon Adventure Kits. Show all posts
"Like the first S'rulyan Vault, this is two extremely
high-resolution dungeon maps in both old school blue/white and bloody
parchment hue. The dungeon is huge and contains a variety of cavern and
traditional room/corridor areas... along with special icons." Well, the S'rulyan Vault II is a bit more then that & a bit more.
So let me start this review with the following note - I'm going to be quite clear on this whole thing I put a six month
moratorium on doing OSR product reviews. Given my dad's condition &
the fact that I've had to take over the sewing machine repair business more. I don't really
have the proper time to devote to giving OSR products their fair shake that they
deserve for a proper review. So this is the the last OSR product review for a long while. P.S. my dad is fine and continuing to the sewing machine repair work. But its a lot for him to deal with so I end up helping out where & when I'm needed. This means I have less time for what amounts to a hobby. End of message and now onto the review.
So what is the The S'rulyan Vault II? Well according to its Kickstarter; "The S'rulyan Vault II is more of the same... but different.
Obviously, there will be a totally new dungeon layout with lots of
interesting things going on. The files can be printed off so you've got
one massive map or four quadrants in order to easily mix and match them
with each other and the previous S'rulyan Vault." Its giant mix & match dungeon map & DYI kit with Venger Satanis's guile & attitude which is clearly outline about The S'rulyan Vault II introduction; "Delving into dungeons can be the most rewarding roleplaying experience there is. It's the perfect environment for adventuring since that's where the monsters and treasure are. Of course, with monsters and treasure you also get traps, wizards, subterranean civilizations, exotic flora and fauna, natural hazards, and unexplained wonders. There are three things GMs occasionally forget when running a dungeoncrawl... ● Gygaxian Naturalism or Fantastic Verisimilitude, if you prefer. Basically, this provides a "realistic" background for the adventuring. Such as, where does the food and water supply come from? ● There should be a compelling reason why the PCs are down there, besides a desire to slay evil creatures and take their loot. Even if that's the primary motivation, we want to know precisely why the adventurers want to kill these monsters and steal their treasure. And each session, the PCs' emotional investment in clearing the dungeon should pay off. ● This is a great opportunity to show off your own GMing style, aesthetic, and creativity! Use your imagination - come up with at least a couple rooms that defy expectation. Go nuts! Keeping those three things in mind, I invite you to make The S'rulyan Vault (volumes I and II) truly yours."
Can we talk about the Drow babes in implied 'Legend of the Overfiend' style tentacle porn dungeon god cover artwork here for moment? The only reason its there is to attract attention because while the thing might be in the The S'rulyan Vault II but I found it more distracting then tantalizing. Why? Because the contents of the The S'rulyan Vault II book are good solid boiled down DYI dungeon map and kit in seventeen pages of old school goodness. Venger Satanis is a good enough writer/designer who doesn't need to rely on cheap and blatantly pornographic themes and artwork to sell his products. His work is solid enough on its own to stand on its own merits. This is a good tool kit for a really well thought out dungeon. You get factions, reasons for the dungeon crawls, and lots of random tables for generating a grand night's adventure for your players. Glen Seal of Monkey Blood Design doing some of the type of quality dungeon cartography you'll find in the The S'rulyan Vault II
This product sinks up with its earlier incarnation, The S'rulyan Vault I adventure plot completely and easily. There's no tears to this and because this product has the quality of Monkey Blood Designs cartography & design work. The S'rulyan Vault II is both OSR cross compatible & rpg system agnostic. The art and cartography by Glynn Seal,Monstark, & Fizzbig, work. The layout is well done and up to the usual Venger Satanis standards. Dungeon masters will get a ton old school gaming utility out of the wandering monster tables, dungeon restocking table, & rival adventuring party disturbance tables. Along with a ton of new & great take on old school adventuring for a continuing dungeon adventure tool with years of life to come at the gaming table. Do I think its worth buy? In a word yes I do and think it will provide a great tool at the gaming table.
So last night I received my copy of The S'rulyan Vault From Kort'thalis Publishing from the pen of Venger Satanis. It reminds me of some of the Eighties products that I've seen over the years. This is a third tier OSR product and it hearkens back to some of the dungeon adventure kits that have come out over the years with better production values, designs, and more. If you've got two or three hours before your players arrive to create your brad new old school dungeon that you've been promising all week, but work, real life, and more have gotten in the way but you want to run a bad ass dungeon then the The S'rulyan Vault is for you. This product works with just about any old school edition so using it with an old D&D edition or retroclone system of your choice would be a snap.
Here's the Kickstarter that kicked off and completed the original product.
So besides two old school style maps what exactly does The S'rulyan Vault have to offer? Well, essentially its a dungeon kit built around the maps and offers an adventure setting that highlights the background, history, and D&D elements with a Lovecraftian twist in the Kort'thalis Publishing style. But is it worth your time for the seven dollar price tag? I think so because of the fact that lots of folks are using tablets and other mobile tech to enhance their old school table top rpg experience. The S'rulyan Vault plugs into that and brings to the experience a bunch of interesting options for the dungeon master to pull from for their own unique take on the adventure. The tables, elements, bits and pieces within the Vault all pull from the adventure's history;"
For as long as anyone living can remember, the world was full of men
and the darker, stranger forms of life remained at the farthest edges of
it. But the scrolls contained within the many temples of Tyr’Urden
tell us that this was not always so. Demonic things came in the night to feed upon mortal souls, ripping
and tearing at humanity’s soft, exposed belly. Our people lived in
fear. Like children, man was afraid of the dark and what lay beyond the
walls of his cities.
Then, one day, a champion came. He slayed many of the evil ones, the
creatures who looked like walking serpents. Eventually, his mighty
deeds became so numerous that thousands followed him into battle against
the forces of evil. Man had both the numbers and the will to push back
against these malevolent beings until his cities and forests were
relatively free of hell-spawn.
Snake-men were the most powerful humanoid creatures, as they knew the
secrets of blackest sorcery, having made a pact with the Demon Lord
known as S’rul. Under his satanic tutelage, the snake-men became
powerful enough to slaughter the armies of mankind. Before long, the
entire race of snake-men were known as the Sect of S’rulyan… (S’rulyan
meaning the great and terrible wisdom of S’rul).
At the height of their serpentine reign, a subterranean domain was
constructed on the outskirts of the human realm. It became an outpost
from where the snake-men continually raided – taking weapons, gold,
slaves, and sorcerous objects from man’s cities. This vault was the
crowning glory of S’rul and his loathsome worshipers.
Just as the Sect of S’rulyan could see the extermination of man in
sight, a large band of adventurers retrieved a lost relic - the Helm of
Power, an artifact that siphons the magical energy from everything
surrounding it… and gives that magic to the wearer. The Helm of Power
protected the adventurers as they waded into the darkness of S’rul’s
foul dungeon.
Only three heroes emerged from the S’rulyan Vault, victorious over
the evil ones with their spiked armor covered in gore and shreds of
serpent flesh. Alas, the Helm of Power was destroyed in the final
battle against S’rul. Yet, the Demon Lord was also destroyed, and so
the people rejoiced!
The three surviving heroes, Artello, Urden, and D’meskus, established
themselves as Kings of the central territories. For decades they ruled
and now their children’s children are crowned Kings and Queens of
Razira.
One such present-day ruler is Queen Zinnia, an alluring but jealous
and ill-advised woman. She reigns over the smallest realm with the
greatest ambition for power. Queen Zinnia forced her royal wizard to
search deep within the magical abyss where hideous horrors frolic and
feed. Upon her instructions, the wizard awakened an entity strong
enough to shatter her siblings’ kingdoms – the Demon Lord S’rul.
S’rul’s first order of business was to revive his slumbering legion
of snake-men far below the S’rulyan Vault. Brought back to life, the
walking serpents felt their sorcery invigorated as never before and
concocted a spell that would mean sickness and death for thousands of
men, women, and children.
Almost three-quarters of a century after S’rul’s original defeat,
nary a snake-man has been seen upon the surface of Razira. Today is the
74th anniversary of the assault upon the S’rulyan Vault. The entire
realm celebrates the snake-men’s defeat with feasting, dancing, and
merriment. Unfortunately, such revelry was not to last.
At mid-day, the celebration ended with black skies, a broken
blood-red moon, and some mysterious plague that immediately killed off a
fifth of those living in Tyr’Urden, the largest kingdom and closest to
the S’rulyan Vault.
King Urdenson’s seers know that S’rul and his snake-men slumber no
more. The King decreed this a time of war, and those who return from
the S’rulyan Vault with the Demon Lord’s severed head in hand shall
share in the reward: one million pieces of gold… a King’s ransom, to be
sure!" The art and cartography by Glynn Seal, James V West, and Bojan Sucevic really does make The S'rulyan Vault as both a resource and a solid entrance onto the rpg market. This is a both a kid friendly and nasty adventure at the same time that will give players a run for their money.
The overall fun of this adventure makes me want to run it and delve into it. The nice part is the fact that you can essentially drop this product whole cloth right into the background of your campaign world and then back hinge it into place for a complete adventure location within your own world making it your own. So the DYI Dungeons and Dragons aspect of The S'rulyan Vault is both intact and magnified. This extends to the twenty four page pdf of tables and more. What's in the booklet? Well according to the drivethrurpg blurb;" The PDF contains a short history of the region and dungeon, original
artwork by Bojan Sucevic, and several random tables for making this
dungeoncrawl easier to run and more interesting. For instance, there's a
d100 table describing things found when searching a room. There's also
a multi-table system for generating fortunes.
Lastly, there's a custom, old school fantasy character sheet created by James V West."
All in all I do think its worth the download and your time to take a look into the The S'rulyan Vault From Kort'thalis Publishing for both yourself and your players. I think that you will all have a great time and a unique experience with this homage to the old days of gaming. We can only hope that Venger Satanis and Kort'thalis Publishing continue down this path of old school fun and weirdness. Five out of five because for me it has everything I'm looking for in an old school product.
