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| Hyqueous! |
The Hyqueous
Vaults (2017)
by Rebecca Dettmann, Guy Fullerton, Allan T. Grohe, Jr.,
Jimm Johnson, Matthew Riedel and Alex Zisch
Published by The Hyqueous Vaults Creation Team
Disappointingly, hyqueous is not
a real word, although it might as well be something Gary Gygax dug up from a
thesaurus. The Hyqueous Vaults, a collaborative dungeon published in
honour of OSRIC’s tenth anniversary, also has some of that gygaxian touch. Based
on an unkeyed one-level dungeon map describing a half-flooded complex, it was
developed in a forum thread, then edited for release. It is currently available
as a
free download, and an inexpensive POD version is forthcoming. Minor
spoilers follow.
The dungeon packs an impressive
amount of content into 18 pages: 67 keyed areas, new monsters and magic items,
and a very useful one-page monster roster. This density is mainly accomplished
by the module’s economy of text, which relies on sentence fragments to sketch
up ideas in a small amount of space. This approach requires a good command of
language and an eye for understanding what matters and what doesn’t – and here,
the method works rather well. “Smashed-open door. Broken four poster bed.
Open wardrobe with musty tunics, pants and robes” describes a ruined
bedchamber; “Smoky odor. Fishing net draped over four long, creaky,
nailed-shut crates in the west; each contains six long swords in oilskin”
sets up an antechamber used by the dungeon denizens. This is a nice base to
work from; details are added where there is a need for them, and the level of
detail is appropriate through the text. This works as a reference document as
well as a key to a mysterious and fascinating place.
The dungeon is built on a decent
combination of exploration, combat and puzzle-solving, more fantastic than
strictly realistic, but well connected to the dungeon’s theme. There are
multiple situations where good tactics can make a big difference, and several
spots where a little out-of-the-box thinking (the oft-misunderstood and maligned
player skill) can prevent unpleasant consequences or save the day. I was
impressed by the way the dungeon hides some things in plain sight, or where a
place hides more than meets the eye. This is where standard dungeon exploration
routines won’t help, but paying attention and interpreting cues will be
successful. (However, there were a few spots featuring pixel-bitching of the “Ha-ha!
You didn’t care to investigate the underside of the aquarium!” sort).
The Hyqueous Vaults also features
two major power groups in the dungeon, one involving a tricky NPC who can be
both an ally and a dangerous opponent (usually both), and a second involving a
new race of monsters. Like all of the module’s new monsters, these little underground
fellows are original and a good addition to D&D. There are also other
memorable encounters, including a scary-as-hell hydra lair, a sphinx, and some
truly ‘hyqueous’ horrors. There are also some nice treasure hoards – sometimes right
out in plain sight – except they are not always easy to remove from the dungeon
until you learn how.
If I could level criticism at the
module, I would mention two minor, but noticeable flaws. First, the balance of
encounters, while overall good, is heavily weighted towards ‘specials’. This is
generally fine, but it is likely that some groups will not find the majority of
them. They are not just on the obscure side, hidden behind clever secrets, they
also take up a good share of the dungeon’s contents. For all its 67 keyed
areas, I was overcome with the feeling the module was too short for its own
good – that it needed to have more basic encounters for a balanced adventure.
The second issue is related to the first. While the two key power groups are
both intriguing, and they are suitably different, the second seems to be
underrepresented in the actual dungeon key, and outside one spot, are mostly
seen as random encounters. This is an odd decision, although easy to remedy.
To sum up, this is a very neat
scenario, one of the top dungeons this year. It is, in a sense, also a follow-up
to the high standards set by Pod-Caverns of the Sinister Shroom, both in
the module’s ideas and its execution. It will be well worth owning in print.
The adventure has been
extensively playtested, and the testers are listed in the credits.
Rating: **** / *****