The Windsor Hum is a horror toned cicada brood themed osr adventure.
The PDF is 6 pages, well-organized, with a great map. The layout is plain but readable, and does a great job of spacing information out into manageable chunks.
Windsor Hum is written to be run using AD&D or a similar retroclone, and references mechanics like Death and Breath saves, AC as Chain, etc.
The writing is the strength of this adventure, and a lot of work has gone into establishing nuanced characters for NPCs and nailing down specific background details (such as the exact population demographics of the central town) as well as bits of fun color (such as coal that burns incredibly loud.) The NPCs in Windsor Hum are generally all at least cantankerous, if not outright hostile, but this fits with the strenuous conditions they're living under.
The adventure's monsters aren't outlandish, and also fit within the adventure's context. Several of them have nasty surprises, but these are the sorts of surprises that show up early in the fight and define it, rather than showing up suddenly at the end and resulting in a party wipe.
The adventure's dungeon is fairly vertical, and it includes lots of little ways to fuss with the environment. It isn't a puzzle dungeon, nor a giant monster zoo, but more of a comfortable midpoint on that continuum. Pushing forward recklessly is dangerous, but there's plenty of treasure scattered on the PCs' path ahead.
It should be noted that this adventure is CW for quite a few things, including insects, cannibalism, mental illness, compulsion, and self-harm, but it can be toned down without much trouble. GMs that are comfortable with running osr will have an easy time reading and modifying Windsor Hum.
Overall, this is a solid adventure. It's easy to run and has its own distinct flavor, and it presents the party with plenty of challenge without feeling unfair. It does walk some odd lines with regards to its horror tone---it's not a horror module, so groups that want to push further in that direction may have to fiddle with it a bit, and groups that *don't* want horror may find those elements overwhelming---but it's not hard at all to adjust. Pick it up if you're looking for a creepy summery location adventure.
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The Windsor Hum is a horror toned cicada brood themed osr adventure.
The PDF is 6 pages, well-organized, with a great map. The layout is plain but readable, and does a great job of spacing information out into manageable chunks.
Windsor Hum is written to be run using AD&D or a similar retroclone, and references mechanics like Death and Breath saves, AC as Chain, etc.
The writing is the strength of this adventure, and a lot of work has gone into establishing nuanced characters for NPCs and nailing down specific background details (such as the exact population demographics of the central town) as well as bits of fun color (such as coal that burns incredibly loud.) The NPCs in Windsor Hum are generally all at least cantankerous, if not outright hostile, but this fits with the strenuous conditions they're living under.
The adventure's monsters aren't outlandish, and also fit within the adventure's context. Several of them have nasty surprises, but these are the sorts of surprises that show up early in the fight and define it, rather than showing up suddenly at the end and resulting in a party wipe.
The adventure's dungeon is fairly vertical, and it includes lots of little ways to fuss with the environment. It isn't a puzzle dungeon, nor a giant monster zoo, but more of a comfortable midpoint on that continuum. Pushing forward recklessly is dangerous, but there's plenty of treasure scattered on the PCs' path ahead.
It should be noted that this adventure is CW for quite a few things, including insects, cannibalism, mental illness, compulsion, and self-harm, but it can be toned down without much trouble. GMs that are comfortable with running osr will have an easy time reading and modifying Windsor Hum.
Overall, this is a solid adventure. It's easy to run and has its own distinct flavor, and it presents the party with plenty of challenge without feeling unfair. It does walk some odd lines with regards to its horror tone---it's not a horror module, so groups that want to push further in that direction may have to fiddle with it a bit, and groups that *don't* want horror may find those elements overwhelming---but it's not hard at all to adjust. Pick it up if you're looking for a creepy summery location adventure.
Hey thanks so much for this man! This is such a glowing and helpful review! It means a lot that you took out your time to do this!
It's a cool adventure! Thank you for writing it!