Okay, so the 8-bit Shadowdark Game Jam results are in and it was unanimous (a first) with the highest scores for a finalist in any of the game jams so far. And yet, I was disappointed, because despite how well Crypt of the Child did, the review started with criticism. Granted, I understand they were skimming in order to complete the review before Tyler from Limithron had to depart, but it still sucked that something I worked hard on was not initially well-received until they got to the map above and went… “oh I get it now”. A well-written and organized adventure shouldn’t need that moment. Even if being skimmed.

And it left me with a question for myself, if I accomplished my goal of writing the best adventure I could for this contest, why am I unsatisfied? And what changes can I make to make this adventure better for a “Blood-soaked” edition?

Why am I unsatisfied?

I realized at some point while they were highlighting inconsistencies that the judges were correct, I could have done a better job. This was the best project I could do at the time and it was a huge step up for me. If I compare this to Abandon Hope or The Lost People, it’s a huge improvement, but it’s not my best and they were right about that. I still have a ways to go.

What needs to change?

The area key descriptions follow a pattern of minimal, simple, detailed, but the setup & factions don’t. I leaned a little too hard into the gothic purple prose and not enough into the what a GM needs to run this adventure 3 whiskeys in at a convention (which I never thought to use as a test subject when preparing an adventure). So what needs to change?

1. The Minimal. This is a gothic adventure about finding survivors in a vampire child’s crypt beneath a tavern.
2. What’s Happening? Long ago, a purple worm opened a hole in the Wurm Food Tavern. People fell in. This hole connects to a vampire child’s crypt. They built over the hole to block the child out. Hubris. A tremor caused part of the tavern to collapse in. NOW, the tavern keeper is paying adventurers to find survivors & get them out. He is also paying to keep Malory (the vampire child) below.
3. The Prose Setup. I probably should remove the Lichwoods indulgence. It just needs to say an earthquake. I was trying to connect it a little to my world and this idea that the forest is always churning, but it overwhelms the adventure.

Next, the factions seemed overwhelming. I partially think this is because they were called factions. There was an understanding later that there seems to only really be two forces at work here. One solution is to use the OSE standard of calling them Denizens (see, OSE Adventure Anthology #1). Another solution is to split Malory, Dolingen, Townsfolks, and other NPCs out of that group, and leave it as the two factions in head to head conflict. Which formatting them side by side while the NPCs are single column would also help convey that head to head nature in a subtle way.

Then, rumors. They were described as unactionable, and I disagree. I also acknowledge that we are probably thinking of actionable in two separate manners. I suspect when Baron used it, he meant drives you to action & to ask for more, given the example with regards to the 4th rumor about the snake with 8 eyes. I tend to think of rumors as being something that helps an adventuring prepare. The set up gives you seeds to plant in the campaign. The rumors give you clues to the adventure. In that regard:

1. The first rumor lets us know, this is about vampires.
2. The second alerts players they will need a wooden stake to kill the vampires.
3. The third is a warning about the addictive/transformative nature of the mushrooms.
4. The fourth is a nod to it not actually being a snake.

So, how do I fix this disconnect? First, I can clean up the writing on the rumors so they are easier to understand. I definitely pushed too far into the purple prose trying to maintain this gothic tone. Second, I can add more that address the campaign seeding issue. I’ll probably call them campaign seeds or something. I think it’s better to be clear that there is a distinction between the two. I’m writing this for 3 whiskeys deep convention 0-prep, organization like this will help.

Are there other changes?

Most likely, I’m going to expand this to incorporate more about the town or region and make this more than just a simple 8-bit dungeon. I’m also going to rework the Blood Orb and Falling Platform traps to be less video-game obvious. These weren’t mentioned in the critique, but I think they’re things I feel need addressing to improve them overall.

This could be a strong basis for a Tomb Robbers of the Crystal Frontier style adventure where it’s mostly adventure, but gives you a limited setting concept to build from. Except it’s not an introductory adventure since it’s designed for the level 4-6 range. I do have another introductory adventure that could connect to this one in the works though. I could also go the Nightmare over Ragged Hollow route of making it part of a smaller (3-hex) region that can be dropped into any forest campaign. Not really decided on this bit yet. Let me know if your thoughts in the comments.

Maybe I’d kickstart it? I’ve never done one and it seems like this is a good adventure for a fancy print run.

Wrap-up.

This is my game-jam debrief & personal analysis. I’m proud of my accomplishments, but fueled by this chase to improve & create something better. I hope this helps people think about how they should approach their own self-reflection.