Benighted Betrothal (2023)
by Sandor Gebei
Published by the Melsonian Arts Council
Level 3
Dubbed “a viking
soap opera”, this is a small sandbox adventure describing the general area of a
small northern village beset by inner conflicts, ancient curses, and mysterious
locales in the wilderness. A wedding is being planned to unite to rival viking
clans, others (potentially including the player characters) are planning to
disrupt it, and things are set up to go astray in a dozen interesting ways. The
module is mainly a toolkit to run these calamities: the soap opera aspect comes
from the complicated web of personal enmities, obligations, and relationships which
make the situation so unstable.
This is a slim, small
40-page hardcover with generous production values and just as generous empty
space. References and summaries are provided, stretched to take up multiple
pages with illustrations. For instance, there is a one-page location summary
with a facing player map, then the same map is reproduced again for the GM on
two more pages with just about the same content. That, in turn, means, the
written content is rather slim; I would estimate this is around the size of a 20-page
pamphlet using conventional layout techniques and the usual amount of interior
art. It is effectively written; words are not wasted, and the module should be
easy to use in play. But in the end, it is still lighter than it should properly be.
The focus of the
module is on open-ended problem-solving, and you receive useful components for
that. The tiny town of Gnupr is mainly presented not so much as a location
(this section is a bullet-point list of items like “Longhouses – 20’×60’
longhouses; half wood, half turf”, or “Smithy – source of constant noise”)
as a network of social relationships and hidden agendas. Common knowledge,
rumours, key NPCs, and a table of hired swords are used as the moving parts of
the sandbox. Written with brevity, they are rich with potential to instigate
exploration and conflict. For instance, rumours may be things like “Even our
mortal blood has magic. It opens portals, they say”, or “Have you
noticed how Thorwald acts all weird ‘round Helvi?” An NPC, such as the
bride’s mother, might be described as “Not young anymore but still
beautiful. Does everything to stop the marriage between Ingrid and Varghöss due
to the terrible truth that [they] are half-siblings. She will not share this
information with anyone willingly”. This is good an effective, although the
book’s empty space might have been used better for a default progression of
events, the description of a few possible developments or plans that may come
to pass, or other sorts of useful information (it might be a natural idea to
steal the bride-price for a combination of personal gain and to prevent the
marriage, but where it may be kept and what form it may take is not provided). You mainly
get the raw building blocks and get to assemble them yourself, or use random
rolls to do so.
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| The Very Tiny Sandbox |
The module’s
other section is focused on the surrounding wilderness. The emphasis here is on
ancient, mythical secrets which are the source of Gnupr’s present troubles: undead
infestation, witchery, a dragon, and more are involved. They draw on the
stranger aspects of Nordic legends (or might have been made up by the author,
but if so, the fit is excellent). However, the wilderness section is much more
sketchy and underdeveloped. There is a chart of 12 random encounters which are usually
more complex than a simple monster fight – more like open-ended situations to
build on and integrate into the action. A group of manhunters are seeking a
fugitive (related to multiple denizens in Gnupr), a group of kindly nomads are
herding their goats, which walk on two legs at night and are breastfed by their
women; a swarm of crows coalesce into an ominous seer. This is the stronger part.
The five wilderness locations (four monster lairs and an enigma) are honestly
not much. There are interesting NPC antagonists, including a young dragon and
the hag behind some of the village conflicts, but they are small in both scope
and number. The wilderness feels tiny. This is partly intentional, as part of
an inwards-focused situation-based setup. Most links lead back to the central
conflicts. But unrelated elements also serve a role; and they are not present.
It is also the case that even the largest of the locations, the hag lair, is
essentially a three-room dungeon with three paths each terminating in a cave. The
rest are even more aspatial. Not everything needs to be a dungeon crawl, or a
pointcrawl, or another sort of crawl, and yet…
Benighted
Betrothal is a decent, functional scenario whose
primary value lies in its intricate social conflicts, and presenting them in an
open-ended way that makes it adaptable to different needs, accommodating different
styles of player problem-solving. Where it is weaker is in two areas. The
location-based components are underdeveloped, and the wilderness adventure
sites are just minor lairs. Ultimately, it is nice, but you come away with the
impression this is a case where more would have been more. The “tiny hardcover”
format perhaps drives this home more than a more conservative presentation
would have, but the issues are there.
This module credits
its playtesters.
Rating: *** /
*****
