mansion
Alas Poor Ottö
Böeser
6 contributors
Content: A basilisk-bonding, child-abducting, palace of a flesh crawl.
Writing: A full-bodied blend of humor and horror that spares no raw material.
Art/design: A well-built manor of an adventure design, with tormented sketches, and fleshy full-color illustrations.
Usability: Easily referenced adventure design. A follow-up to Den of Disarray.
Court of the Black-Hearted Gnome (Dwór Czarnego Gnoma)
Content: Contains setup, gossip, hooks, random encounters, minor loot, and the dungeon itself
Writing: A balanced mix of description and mechanics, all fairly concise
Art/design: Solid design, both graphic and typographic
Usability: Adopts Rotblack Sludge’s extremely efficient dungeon presentation
Darker Forts
Concept: “Adds THREE new dungeons and accompanying characters to DARK FORT”
Content: New settings, characters, monsters, items, and optional rules for solo play; useful for generating themed dungeons on the fly
Writing: Primarily informational but with just the right amount of creative flair
Art/design: Strongly reminiscent of Dark Fort
Usability: Like its predecessor, each variant fits on one sheet of paper; doesn’t include custom character sheets
House of the Hollow
Concept: “A mysterious moonlit manor – home to a retired adventurer in the midst of a terrible transformation”
Content: A horror-themed, investigative adventure
Writing: Highly focused on delivering important details and atmosphere with a minimum of words
Art/design: Clean, neat layouts optimized for easy use
Usability: The narrative surprise and subtlety may be lost on players who tend to rush in with swords drawn
Invitation to a Dark Masquerade
Content: A meaty masquerade.
Writing: A sensuous adventure full of social engagement. No mystery here. Only light cannibalism.
Art/design: High contrast black and white trifold. With somber and weighty character illustrations.
Usability: References Mörktober by Exeunt Press.
Monkey Murder Manor
Murder Party at Dark Manor
Content: Dinner and a murder mystery with an interdimensional twist and an escalating fear mechanic
Writing: Primarily descriptive; incorporates relatively few formal components
Art/design: Designed for reading and prep before play rather than heavy in-game usage
Usability: Does not provide stats for NPCs
Murkwürst is burning
Content: A burning village vtt hexcrawl.
Writing: A series of events tables, npcs, and location descriptions to drive the action.
Art/design: Engaging maps and gritty illustrations.
Usability: Integrated with FoundryVTT, references Alles Wird Brennen & Gregor’s Folly.
Slasher Zine / Jam Compilation
18 contributors
The Ball
Content: Four rooms and tables of major and minor treasures
Writing: Concise but descriptive with occult imagery
Art/design: Graphics are more atmospheric than illustrative images
Usability: Discrete text blocks laid out for easy use
The Black Stallion Manor Massacre
The Demesne of Conflagration
Content: A fire-themed mansion crawl
Writing: Extremely concise but with enough bizarre detail to fuel the imagination
Art/design: Good use of color to guide focus and to add character in key places
Usability: Pamphlet is nicely laid out for quick, easy use in-game
The Great Axeby
Concept: “You receive a party invitation from the owner of the lavish lakeside mansion next to the guesthouse where you’ve been staying.”
Content: Yes. It’s a Gatsby-inspired mansion crawl.
Writing: Overflowing with character and wit
Art/design: A very clean and appropriate design in the manner of Rotblack Sludge
Usability: Extremely well laid out and efficient
The Pest House
Content: A good doctor’s mistake, Galgenbeck’s problem.
Writing: A highly volatile plague crawl, full of pressure, pus, and projectile vomiting.
Art/design: A sturdy top-down manor illustration in a forest of text, with the occasional pink and yellow highlight.
Usability: Highlights emphasize frequently referenced monsters and mechanics.