We’re taking a brief break from the starting adventures to tackle something a bit different. We’re going hunting inside the Tomb of Gar-Xhul by Sean Patrick Fannon aka Big Irish.

What is it?

Tomb of Gar-Xhul is a Shadowdark adventure for characters between levels 2-4. On the Drive-Thru page, it states that this adventure can be run as a one-shot or to start a new campaign set in this setting. Given my personal experience & what is commonly reported on the Arcane Library discord, I would suggest this probably needs 2 sessions to run.

Also, because it starts at level 2, I maybe wouldn’t use this as a starting adventure for level 1s. The adventure suggests it could be used to start a campaign in Ironhaven, but the How it Begins section makes it clear that the players have a reputation from past heroics, so if you do use it as a campaign starter, it would be a good idea for the players to determine what caused their reputation to proceed them during a Session 0. I also, wouldn’t start your campaign at level 1 with this adventure.

Unique Features?

Set in Portalis’s Ironhaven world. This also uses Runeforge’s Google Docs template so there are some layout issues that I’m mostly going to ignore until the end.

This adventure is designed around Hunter mode.

What’s the story?

A noble wants a rare artifact rumored to be in the Tomb of Gar-Xhul. He wants to remain anonymous so he sends an intermediary to hire the party for 250g (2XP) per person. Because there is also an increase in undead present in the tomb, the Royal Family is also paying adventurers 100gp (1XP) each to clear out the tomb. Get your money.

So… Adventure?

First, there is a lot of good art in this adventure module. I believe it is all stock art. It does a good job of breaking up the flow so the text doesn’t read like a text book, but there are times throughout where it forces content to jump columns or pages. I typically dislike when information breaks column or pages because there’s usually a better layout solution. This is no different, but I also wouldn’t want to get rid of the art. This is probably one of those situations where I’d resize or reposition things throughout to prevent the column gap jumping issue or page gap jumping issues. I’ll detail this more later on.

Setup

The background and introduction area are a bit longer than other modules, because it feeds you setting lore & information that is good to have when you choose to run this. It’s also details some mechanical necessities (like all doors are locked and require a check to open) which is a nice balance. Some of the mechanical solutions can be repetitive so you may want to choose to alter one or two on your own to introduce a little more variety.

It also notes that it utilizes the Hunter mode of play, which is really useful information for the GM, because it alerts them to the intention and thinking behind some of the design choices up front. If you are unaware, hunter mode grants XP equal to half a monster’s level rounded down. If you maintain treasure rewards, this means you’ll level very quickly if you have a lot of combat. When using Hunter mode, it is always useful to remember the 1:1 monster encounter guidance on pg. 193 of the core book.

Okay, map. It’s nicely done using Inkarnate assets. You’ll want to reference the full-size print out rather this one in the book because it’s small. While I appreciate how good an Inkarnate map will look for a VTT, I also think it suffers some problems in a book due to its low contrast. What do I mean?

This is the version in the book. It takes up half a page and is a little difficult to read due to its size. But also a lack of contrast. This is more clear in the following images.

This is a Black & White printout of the map (if you print it from your printer without color). It’s muddled.

The lack of contrast is also a bit obvious when you run the map through a red color-blind simulation.

So while the map is present & looks good. As a tool in the book, it has shortcomings. This is why you’ll see a lot of the maps in books by Arcane Library and OSE utilize black & white versions with color coding for the room key numbers typically. It makes it easier to read and more printer-friendly.

Next is the random encounters and danger levels for various sections of the dungeon. Here, a map drawing of the sections would be useful to call it out to the GM. I coded the map below to show which sections have different random encounter sections.

In fact, I’d probably remove the section for 14 & 15 to simplify matters as well.

The random encounters are a list of monsters. You’ll need a table to determine what they are doing & how they react (pg. 112-113 of the core book). I tend to prefer the author provide these details. I want you to breathe life into your world & adventure. Even a custom actions table would be fine. It is easier for me as the GM to subtract your vision and substitute my own, than it is to build the world myself.

Room Keys

Hunter mode promises a lot of monsters to combat and it doesn’t disappoint in that regard. Of the 20 areas in this dungeon, nearly 75% have monsters in them. That doesn’t include the random encounters which will add to the number.Each room key follows a fairly basic structure of:

ROOM NAME
Read aloud text.
GM text (bold identifies monsters & rooms)
MONSTER STAT BLOCKS

• Details within the room/treasure.

This consistent pattern is similar enough to common practices that it is easy to follow where it does deviate. Some of the writing for the read-aloud text could be a little more descriptive. For instance, “3. The Hall of Four Fountains” provides the following:

Surprisingly fresh water glitters in three of the fountains; the fourth (southeast) is brackish, murky, and exuding slime and nasty gases. There is a stone protrusion on the south wall with something framed above it.

From this a Water Elemental erupts from the fountain and we have combat. Then, in “4. The Corrupted Pool”, we get told:

Something has clearly fouled this pool and fountain.

Yes, there is a Shambling Mound in it that will erupt from the fountain just like in area 3. So there’s “surprisingly fresh water glitter[ing]” (great verb choice) to indicate the water elemental is there and then the shambling mound is described in area 3 rather than area 4. And since they are the same room, you could probably combine them. These are good surprise combat moments, especially since both will trigger once someone steps into the room (Shambling Mound attacks once people are within Near and that puts it ambushing as people enter). For 4 level 2 characters, that is 10 levels of enemy. Given the 1:1 monster guidance, this is certainly a deadlier encounter if you give the monsters surprise. A round of surprise attacks (pg. 88 core rulebook) from both these creatures could potentially wipe a party of level 2 characters since the monsters would have 5 attacks (3 at 2d6 damage; 2 at 1d6 damage)

I prefer my combat to seem like there is an element of solve the combat to it. As such, I tend to prefer a more descriptive set of information to give my players clues about surprises. Something like:

Even then, I might suggest shifting the near to close to create more tactical flexibility for all involved. Because then you can also have the water elemental throw someone into the room or something to trigger the Shambling Mound. This is where the map is doing a lot of heavy lifting since it’s providing a lot of detail not contained in the descriptions that the players & GM can both use to create more engaging tactical combats. The only thing I wish was included was an “Order of Battle” like Kelsey and some OSR adventures use. I think it would be helpful for helping to create more engaging combats because the first 3 are all bursting or erupting onto the players like 90s kids getting slimed for Nickelodeon.

This isn’t the only combat setup that I thought… hrmmm… with regards to being an appropriate challenge level. I don’t play hunter mode so I’m not sure if this level of relentless challenge is what people expect, but I can easily see a group of harden tactical players making the most of these setups to create circumstances where you can blast through dozens upon dozens for all that juicy XP, but also to avoid lifting your sword. For instance, Area 13 starts with 10 skeletal guards (level 2) that are situated as an infantry and artillery ranks. I can easily see a group lifting the beds and trying to use them as a shield or a battering ram against the skeletons. And once that’s done, Area 14 has 7 cultists (level 2), a cult leader (level 6), and the spirit of Gar-Xhul (level 8). Granted Gar-Xhul might help you.

This is all to say, if you don’t have a tactical group or you are new to hunter mode, you may want to consider lessening the combats & adding potions of healing because these level 2s will be bleeding if they are not cautious or smart about their approach. This is not for murder hobos. This is for nuclear physicists developing bombs.

There’s a few times the descriptive or read-aloud text breaks the fourth wall, which amuses me, but is probably less useful for a GM. Area 9. Ghoul Barracks could use a simple rewrite to “Approaching the chamber, a stench builds, emanating from the chamber ahead. Along with the foul smell, guttural mutterings echo down the hall.”

In general, the traps and puzzles are simple, solid. They each have a DC to solve them, but rarely a description that allows them to be solved, which I would prefer. Let the thief shine like the great ball of sun that he or she is.

The DCs are all standard (thank you) although there are times where they are written differently. I noticed there’s DEX DC 12; DC 12 CON; INT check, DC 12; etc. I’m not entirely sure there’s a rhyme or reason for the inconsistency. If there is, it wasn’t obvious to me.

All of the treasure has a gold value associated with it (again, thank you). Some small clusters will have XP values associated with them. There’s probably enough room to include XP with each of them so it could be carried throughout the module. I just wrote the value in the margins since there is plenty to use.

There’s some repetitive elements to the locks, traps, and monsters, but everything is a solid base and easy enough to run from the module. Prepping it was easy enough. There’s a few changes I’d make to remove the grind elements since my open table isn’t a hunter mode table, but I may also consider letting everyone roll up a new character for a one-shot attempt at this.

So who is this for?

This adventure is for people who have read and enjoy running things in the Ironhaven setting. It is also easily adaptable to your own setting since it hews pretty close to standard tropes. But it’s also for people who like combat and getting tactical with it. Wargamers, 5e, Pathfinder, Draw Steel, and others could plop this down and enjoy a few moments running this adventure. I don’t think it’ll surprise anyone or blow their mind with its unique traits, but it’s a good time waiting to be had as slayers.

If you made it this far, thank you. Now, I’m going to nitpick & nerd out on design. You have been warned.

So what is column gap jumping or page gap jumping? Why is it bad?

I’ve mentioned these issues before in the Holy Tinder review but I really only explained it as being an inconvenience for a GM because he has to flip pages. It’s more than that and I should probably explain. Bur first some terms.

This two page spread is often referred to as a console spread. When you lay the book flat, it should read as one page. Each page is using a 2-column spread which results in a 4-column console.

Between the columns is a gap that goes by many names: column gap, column gutter, column margin, space, river, etc. A column gap jump is when you move from the bottom of one column to the top of the next (typically on the same page). This is standard reading practice for left to right, top to bottom reading cultures. A page gap jump is when you shift from the bottom of one page to the top of the next. This is usually when you cross the gutter of the page with the book open. It can also refer to any time you have to flip the page (or scroll to the next in this fancy schmancy newfangled digital era).

On the above spread, you can see a column gap jump in the green & blue arrows. And, you can see a page gap jump in the blue and pink arrows.

Okay, so why is this bad?

In reading, there’s nothing wrong with it. Newspapers do it all the time because the goal of the reading is to provide you information in a very linear fashion. There isn’t an expectation that you will refer back to what is written for future usage. In TTRPG books, that’s the exact opposite. In TTRPGs, GMs will reference the book and they’ll want to reference the material quickly so they can get the information and get back to the game at hand. As a result, these splits that are perfectly normal in daily reading are problematic because it moves information across the page in an unpredictable manner, slowing reference.

How often have you gone to look for information in a book, couldn’t find it within the first 5 seconds, and in an effort to keep the game moving said screw it and just made something up, only to find it while looking at the next room? This is where consistency for usability shines the most and makes adventures look professional.

So…

Looking at the above layout, the monster stat blocks are spread across 4 columns. The treasure rewards are all over the place and separated from the rest of the room description by the monster stat blocks. This causes the gap jumping issue.

Does it make the adventure unplayable? No. But it does reduce the module’s usability at the table. Design will never make a bad adventure good, but it will make a good adventure worse. Tomb of Gar-Xhul is a good adventure, but some of the design is holding it back from being better.

There are a lot of ways to address this issue if you are going to put monster blocks inline. First, you want all the room information before the monster stat block (although you will want to mention the monsters upfront since they are usually the most obvious thing in the room).

When we looked at the Lost Citadel, I mentioned how OSE provides monster stat blocks in the margins & uses a 2/3 ratio for its body. But they also do a condensed version in column as well (see Incandescent Grottoes).

You’ll also notice there is a concerted effort to ensure the stat block makes sure all of the expected information is in the same place on the line. Meaning, the ATK doesn’t wrap down to the next line. The font size is chosen to strengthen this conveyance of information.

Other OSE adventures will use color boxes to help draw the eye, but keep them lighter than the title for the room.

And while I tend to advocate using a card format for monster blocks in my own work, I also advocate no one use the SD monster stat block as is because it’s a design for space efficiency, not usage. So instead of the SD stat block, it’s better to use:

SKELETON
AC 13 (chain) HP 11 MV near
ATK 1 shortsword +1 (1d6)
S 1 D 0 C 2 I -2 W 0 Z -1
AL C LV 2
Undead. Immune to morale checks.

In this version of the stat block, the ATK is always in the same spot. The stats are always in the same spot. Etc. The only thing we changed is we moved the MV before the ATK in order to ensure it and the stats were on their own individual lines so they are easy to reference. It also makes them easier to use without jumping across any gaps, because they tend to retain the tight form factor of the original monster block. On the page above though, it uses the same big bulky title for the name of the monster and that causes the most problems by eating up a lot of space.

The problem with this (aside from consuming a lot of space) is that it draws the eye to them and not the room descriptions and numbers that I need to ensure I have the information I need as the GM. What you want is the room name to be the most apparent thing on the page. The monsters just need to be distinct enough to draw the eye to them when you need to reference. They do not need to be bold. That alone should drastically improve the usability at the table when referencing. (See the green box stat block.)

Since this uses the Google Docs template, I’ll leave it there. It helps when laying out an adventure to think about the page as space that defines how you write. One column per area as a guideline will help you edit your writing & figure out what is necessary and what is superfluous. Throw away the excess. Also asking where your eye is drawn to first, will help you notice if the hierarchy of information is working properly.