Today we have the pleasure of letting you read our review of Thane Gorr’s Vault. It’s about an adventure compatible with D&D5e designed for a group of characters who advance from the second to the fourth level, written by William Murakami-Brundage. First of all, we want to say thank you Menagerie Press for making a digital copy of the manual available to us, so that we could review it. It is certainly not the first time we have had the pleasure of talking about this type of adventure; among our reviews, we can count Clash at Kell Krenn, The Waxwyrm Bounties, Tomb of Palu and various other adventures of the Oregon publishing house.
Thane Gorr’s Vault was created thanks to crowdfunding via Kickstarter. Currently, the adventure is available on Drivethrurpg. The digital version is on sale at $8.99, while the physical edition with paperback cover is also on sale at a discount at $13.99. Those interested in purchasing it should note that the PDF is not included in the purchase of the physical version. In return, a bundle of both is available and sold at the same price as the physical manual, thanks to an additional discount.
Review of Thane Gorr’s Vault: the Manual
As anticipated, Thane Gorr’s Vault is an adventure designed to ferry the characters from the second to the fourth level. The adventure manages three to seven characters but is optimized for a party of five. The manual consists of 39 colour pages and uses a team of six artists who created the illustrations and maps. These are pleasant and absolutely in line with the product. The illustrated pages convey a feeling that recalls the first editions of the game, without seeming too backwards. In particular, the pencils of Andrea Alemanno and Moussa Sleiman were responsible for the first and fourth covers respectively. The author also collaborated in the editing phase and personally took care of the layout and design.
Some typos are certainly organic (even if it’s not pleasant to see them on the name of one of the main NPCs); however, more careful work on the layout would certainly have deserved greater appreciation. The “double column, parchment effect and coloured boxes” structure is a certainty now, but the text boxes in the second part of the adventure are managed in a less-than-optimal way. This is a detail we’ll focus on later, but it’s really a shame: they end up becoming an annoying flaw in an otherwise enjoyable and carefully crafted adventure.
Adventuring
A short introduction presents the classic hooks for inserting the characters into the adventure; it also allows the DM to have a clear idea of both the development of the adventure and its backstory. Hence the plot of Thane Gorr’s Vault is developed in three distinct sections. The manual ends with a final summary, a handout and four different appendices. As usual, our reviews are spoiler-free, but we’ll still try to give you an idea of what you’re in for.
In the first chapter, the characters learn of the recent discovery of some ruins, which would allow access to the ancient dwarven city of Hadramkath. In this phase, there are no clashes, only social interactions. These focus particularly on Siobhan Steen, the main hook for the adventure. The scene is left largely to the players’ freedom of interpretation. The more they choose to interact with the patrons of the Thirsty Pig, the tavern where I met Siobhan, the more information they will obtain. In particular the most important ones will focus on the two groups of potential rivals in this treasure hunt. Unfortunately, there are no further indications in this regard, not even in terms of flavour: it’s all left to the DM’s inventiveness.
Review of the Ups and Downs of Thane Gorr’s Vault
In the second chapter of the adventure the characters set off to reach Hadramkath. A varied sequence of uncivilized environments combines the latter with multiple encounters. The latter are well made and, above all, are well characterized. All of them are themed with the area in which they take place, and present some customization options or the possibility of obtaining modest advantages if approached in one way rather than another. More importantly, not all encounters can be resolved through combat alone. Indeed, many of these benefit from a different approach.
This is a notable and very successful effort; unfortunately, the chosen layout weakens it. The text boxes, as anticipated, contrast very little with the background of the page. Furthermore, the titles of the paragraphs describing the various areas are identical to those of the paragraphs of the individual battles. Considering that the text boxes are the quickest distinguishing element between the two, the glance is unclear. Furthermore, this feature makes rapid consultation truly impossible. Truly a shame, for perhaps the most interesting section of the entire adventure.
Towards the Final Clash
The third chapter sees the characters finally arrive at the abandoned Hadramkath. The first part of the city is once again left to the creativity of the DM. A generic description of the environment and an encounter table are mainly intended to allow the characters to reach the third level. Before this it would be too risky to venture into the heart of the dwarven realm: Gorr’s tomb.
This is instead organized with a map that gives a beautiful feeling of a squared notebook. It looks like one of those made at home by teenagers but with a professional touch. Here we proceed in a much more conventional manner than in the second chapter. The tomb simply consists of a dungeon in which traps and monsters (undead, to be precise) alternate until the final battle. The most interesting element is the possibility of establishing (and violating) agreements with the other two groups who set out to find Gorr’s tomb. This can significantly alter the fate of the final battle, or at least make it decidedly less challenging. The impact of these decisions is then developed in the fourth chapter, in which the author briefly describes the behaviours of these two groups.
Appendix and Tools
Thane Gorr’s Vault gives a rather curious suggestion for managing the experience. It does not adopt the milestone system, which would have been perfect for this type of adventure. Rather, he proposes to replace the experience points calculated for each creature defeated with predefined amounts after each chapter of the adventure. In short, a less linear and intuitive system of milestones.
The handbook ends with the handout of the map that the characters find in the first chapter and with four appendices. The first features a new creature, the Giant Snail, a challenge rank 2 monster with all its statistics. In the second you can find a very generic map of the territory that the characters cross during the adventure. The third appendix presents the Loweir region in a rather summary way, with some text boxes that provide the most essential information. The fourth and final presents the two groups of rivals and potential allies (or enemies) who meet during the adventure; perhaps it would have been appreciable to differentiate the members a little. These, however, all use the same statistics apart from their respective leaders, who have magical equipment at their disposal.
Conclusions of the Review of Thane Gorr’s Vault
Thane Gorr’s Vault is an enjoyable product. It doesn’t deviate much from the conventional, but at times it also reserves some particularly original ideas. In this way, it guarantees a decent number of hours at the gaming table. These can be lengthened by lingering more in the sections with poorer descriptions, where the DM’s decisions have a major impact on time management. Unfortunately, this also has a major impact on the preparation times for the adventure, which otherwise could be much shorter.
It’s a shame that there are some less polished aspects of this manual; the reduced price is not there as everything could have been solved with very few precautions. In any case, the final product remains more than discreet. I recommend it to groups who want to play a classic adventure without particular demands. Above all, it is perfect in that phase in which group dynamics are still being cemented at a table D&D5e.
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