Bathtub Reviews are an excuse for me to read modules a little more closely. I’m doing them to critique well-regarded modules from the perspective of my own table and to learn for my own module design. They’re stream of consciousness and unedited harsh critiques. I’m writing them on my phone in the bath.

In conversation with a few other bloggers, it was raised that there’s not a whole lot looking at classics of the renaissance that occurred in the second decade of the century (yes, we’re in the third now). It’s a challenge, to a degree, because I object to the actions of a number of excellent authors of the period, so I don’t want to draw attention to them. One author that I do not object to, is Chris Kutalik, author of the Hill Cantons blog and a number of other excellent modules set in the same region, not the least Fever Dreaming Marlinko, a city module I have praised multiple times here on Bathtub Reviews, but never actually reviewed. Today, I’ll be looking at Slumbering Ursine Dunes.

Slumbering Ursine Dunes is a 68-page mini-sandbox written for Labyrinth Lords. It has some, but not a lot of, excellent spot art by David Lewis Johnson, decidedly functional maps (standing out as beautiful maps are commonplace today, even if they aren’t always functional), and basic, small-margined, single-column text that can be a bit much at times. Module layout has come a long way in ten years.

Kutalik’s writing is beautiful and evocative but in Slumbering Ursine Dunes, there is too much of it. An early example is the description of the dunes themselves, an entire paragraph I assumed was more sentences than it is (only four) because of a preponderance of commas. But within it “soaring about the scattered broadleaf groves like massive scarlet battlements”, an absolutely evocative phrase. To a degree, it’s the narrative voice that makes the text both sing and feel long-winded. It’s the voice of a local tour guide giving the inside tips on a tour of the dunes; it’s a pleasure to read, and a bit challenging to parse in action. That said, there tend to be between one and three paragraphs per topic (be that faction, encounter, or location), which varies appropriately with the complexity of the topic; this is not on the unmanageable end of the spectrum, but rather just a few inches off the ideal. More of a problem is that lack of layout choices around more complex sections, which hew towards traditional dense text with in-line stat blocks and no breaks or assistance to differentiate traps, treasure, etc. The locations later in the book are challenging to parse because of these choices.

Factions are neat, with their relationships to the party and to other factions receiving their own headings to facilitate political maneuvering. Some type of relationship chart might help, but there are only four factions, so it’s manageable. The “What do the NPCs talk like?” section is excellent, although I’d have preferred it not be separated out from the main section with the factions.

The dunes themselves are a pointcrawl. I like pointcrawls, but specifically for wandering through dunes, a pointcrawl seems an odd choice. The entries themselves here are drier, again mimicking a more traditional style than the earlier narrative voice Kutalik utilised. I criticised that voice there, but the change is jarring and these entries are no where near as vibrant or evocative as the introductions or factions in the early sections. While the writing takes a sharp turn, the content is still good, for example a “silvery ball that induces an orgasmic sensation” and a gloomy and lonely vodnik who will give you a soul to drink if you’re injured. They’re just a bit sparser out here in the dunes, which is equal parts toll collectors or murderous ghuls that provide little opportunity for interesting interactions aside from judicious avoidance or battle. The Ghuls at least make for a comedic fight, as they both attack and preach at you.

One fo the two adventuring locations needs a summary at the beginning to ascertain what is going on there, and it’s not entirely clear on a read through of the location itself, resulting in the feeling that it’s randomly generated to some degree. How did Major Xhom and his magic ape get past the Ghuls? Why don’t they care? Why can’t fly the cool barge? The other is great, a wizard’s tower where the wizard cannot dispatch his brother who is in the dungeon without your help. The characters here have needs and wants and the player characters have things to do aside from delve pointlessly.

The Chaos Index is an excellent ruleset that recurs if I recall correctly in other Hill Cantons books. The Dunes are a mythical wilderness, and follow a fever-dream logic that varies according to how much chaos is occuring due to the interactions of the factions and the interference of the player characters. The direct impact the stirring of the pot by the player characters has on the state of cosmic affairs is absolutely *chefs kiss*: Crashing spaceships, interdimensional rifts, wild magic storms, solar eclipses. It’s a neat system that adds a lot and has the potential to completely dominate and derail the game, if that’s your cup of tea (it is, indeed, mine).

The appendixes fill out the book. The Bestiary is essential here: Hill Cantons is full of weird and wonderful creatures, but as much as I criticised in-line stat blocks earlier, that was more from the perspective of layout; the full size blocks here feel like a space-waster, and although I thought Labyrinth Lord was a B/X fork, are reminiscent of AD&D. The descriptions of the Cave Dwarves and Solider Bears in particular, key unique elements of the setting, are excellent. I would lean right into these as a major part of the setting (something I didn’t get from Fever Dreaming Marlinko), and it’s encouraged, with character options that encourage the players to dip their feet into the world, by playing a war-bear or a cave dwarf. Flavourful men at arms for hire in Marlinko feature as well, with nicely brief description: “Greases hair with pig fat, pretends to be a gladiator”, which are exactly the size of description I prefer. I wish there was more of this throughout the module.

Overall, Slumbering Ursine Dunes is a success, if you’re willing to overlook the basic layout and the concessions to traditional setting and style. Exceptional writing when it’s on it’s game, leaning towards generic when it’s not. Fantastic world-building and interesting characters and ideas. Compared to Fever Dreaming Marlinko, it feels like it loses something in service of being a place in which to adventure, rather than simply being a place. In these reviews I’m looking for modules that allow me to run them without modification, but the modifications required are probably minimal to make the space-ship barge dungeon work and to make the characters you’re encountering out in the pointcrawl pop a little more. The set ups for faction play are excellent, and if you’re playing in Hill Cantons as a whole, this connects directly with Marlinko, which would bring across its strengths. If I were to pick this up, I’d be doing this, because together I think the setting shines brighter. I’m excited to see if the other Hill Cantons modules bring the same cumulative effect.

14th December, 2023

Idle Cartulary