Bathtub Reviews are an excuse for me to read modules a little more closely. I’m doing them to critique a wide range of modules from the perspective of my own table and to learn for my own module design. They’re stream of consciousness and unedited critiques. I’m writing them on my phone in the bath.

Tales from the Road is a set of 3 pamphlet dungeons for Old School Essentials by Eon Fontes-May. Each pamphlet is a postcard-sized bifold, and it comes in an envelope that itself contains 2 dungeon maps. I was sent a complementary copy by the author.

The three dungeons are “Something Sinister at Candlewax Cabin”, “Well Past Midnight in the Moonlight Kitchen”, and “Just Another Goblin Cave”, and they follow similar structures. They have a gorgeous cover and title page on the same fold as the “how to use this module” section. This section has a single, juicy hook, plus any specific rules for running the dungeon (“The moonlight kitchen is abandoned during the day”). The inside fold contains a gorgeous map, a brief bestiary, some treasures and a fairly comprehensive key given how short the modules are.

I really, like the art and graphic design here. It’s really cohesive and characterful, and the maps are clear and easy to use. The format makes a little art go a long way, too. The layout is crowded but legible, and makes good use of highlighting, background shading and headings to render itself legible. Some might find the minuscule point size a challenge, though.

While locations do sensibly limit their complexity to 1 juicy rule (“Swarm Countdown”, they still manage to have 15 or so locations each, and there are still at least some fairly complex trap rooms and battle set ups. The main thing it’s missing for me is a little more personality and agenda to the NPCs — we get concrete action suggestions, but much in the way of motivation or quirks. In some places this is cleverly implied — I think Dimkettle is likely unhappy with his lot in life — but it’s never said. I like this to be explicit; it’s definitely a valid choice to leave that entirely up to the referee’s improvisation and the reaction roll.

The density of the locations are but their greatest strength and weakness: It’s hard to understand the module unless you’ve read every word, but every word really counts. I like this. It’s a packed pamphlet, it uses every word for maximum effect, it doesn’t waste time with unnecessary randomness when we’re squeezing it all into so few pages. The writing is not at all dull despite the gestures towards familiarity with modules of the 70s and 80s, and while it’s not super evocative, it’s very funny: I laughed aloud, a few times, which is better than you can say about most modules.

Overall, if you’re looking for something to skip into the cover of your copy of your favourite dungeon game, so you’ve always got something to run, you’ll get better bag for your buck and better art than most here. It fits the same niche as Ruins of Castle Gygar: Perfect for a pick up and play that you can run anywhere and keep in your purse. If you’re looking for something compact of that nature, and you’re a sucker for good art and pithy text, I’d pick Tales from the Road up, particularly in the printed form factor if you’re given the opportunity (here is where you can get them in print, and nowhere else), because they’re gorgeous. They’re available individually in digital format for less than the price of a coffee.

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