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.

Vileplume Mountain is a 34 page module for Into the Oddish, written Warren F Smith and illustrated by Hodag. In this Pokopia-esque postapocalyptic Kanto, you venture into the complex beneath Vileplume mountain, to rescue kidnapped pokémon from a Mewtwo that exists only in legend. Both Warren and Hodag are friends of mine, but I ordered this for its preorder campaign.

This module is a a self-described parody of White Plume Mountain, the classic module by Lawrence Schick. I’m not as familiar with or feel as much affection towards this module as the author clearly is and does, and I suspect that tempers my experience of this module. Everything in this down to the layout is inspired by that original, and I’m sure there a plenty of very clever jokes and allusions that I missed. It features a bunch of commentary that speaks to the connections between the two, which I enjoy from both a design perspective and from the perspective of a referee, but about which your mileage may vary.

The module itself is 18 pages long, with the tail end of the book being stat blocks for new pokémon, and new moves (this systems equivalent of spells). It’s a 27 room, single level dungeon, with 3 separate wings, each between 5 and 9 rooms, exactly as the module upon which it is based. This gives the approach a lot of agency, although the north wing can only be easily accessed from the north. These rooms are, to a degree, a direct translation of the original rooms to ones with pokémon theming and slightly better game design, which sounds like more of a criticism than it is: They’re fun and they present this postapocalyptic world of only pokémon in a way that renders it concrete. What else is the “starter” module of a new game supposed to achieve? My main objection is the ending: Unlike most of the other game design “fixes”, the unsatisfying ending of White Plume Mountain remains. In that era, the expectation that referees supplement and expand written modules was baked in, but not adjusting the ending (and which is to be clear adapted with a huge degree of affection for the source material) was a little bit of a disappointment to me.

The layout is a fond homage to both its inspirations, which means it’s not especially easy to run or legible to read, but the simplicity of the dungeon cuts through that easily. Hodag’s artwork (as will surprise no one who follows his blog, which has featured multiple pokémon months) is full of love for the subject matter and in addition feels appropriate to the era and graphic design. It’s a nostalgic design, for those who have nostalgia for the subjects.

If you’re looking for a module to run a one-shot of Into the Oddish in, Vileplume Mountain is the module for you. If your group has been gasping for an OSR pokémon campaign, however, and you’re looking to kick off said campaign, this module ends in disaster for your team of pokémon. Irregardless, this is a charming little homage to White Plume Mountain, filled with advice on how to run it, and gorgeous art. If you’re a fan of Pokopia and the OSR, I’d probably check Vileplume Mountain out. Limited stocks last.

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