REVIEW: In the Shadow of Tower Silveraxe

Product: In the Shadow of Tower Silveraxe

Author: Jacob Fleming

System: Old School Essentials

Score: 4.5/5

OVERVIEW

This is a simple-to-run hex crawl with a generic (in a good way) old-school theme. There is a large regional map with  multiple keyed dungeons and settlements that are very clearly presented allowing for no-prep and low-prep gaming. Highly recommended.

CONTENT

This is a 60-page staple-bound A5 book. It has 8 pages of setting and background, a cool topographic map, 9 keyed multi-level dungeons with monster stats almost always presented in-line. There are 6 locations with rumors, quests, and NPCs on two-page spreads. 

The content is terse: this is a boon in my opinion when it comes to describing the settlements, NPCs and lore. I found it to be just enough and no more. Sometimes the dungeons would have benefited from a little more description. Even a note at the start of each dungeon to describe some common environmental details in each different dungeon like whether it is damp, collapsed, flooded, etc. would have been of help. I was able to make do but someone less comfortable with ad-libbing dungeon dressing would find it lacking.

Depending on your game-session length and how strictly you adhere to hex-crawling procedures there is a lot of gaming content here: I've been playing this book for over a month now and we've hardly scratched the surface. 

LAYOUT 

The book is exceptionally well-laid out. The locations and dungeons are presented in hex-number order based on the regional map and clearly labeled. 

Every dungeon has bulleted & tabbed text in the Necrotic Gnome style - the first things you would see entering a room are easily recognized in the text. Two-page spreads are used to good effect: page turning is never required when running a level of a dungeon. The only confusing bit for me was reading the topographic map: the diagonal numbering was confusing to me and I frequently was unable to easily determine the proper letter and number for each cell. Other folks might not struggle with this: but it gets me almost every time. 

ART 

Fantastic. Old school aesthetics win the day with black line art filling the book. The characters themselves have a more cartoonish or "Tintin" style look about them, which I find to be really endearing. All of the images are depictions of horrified characters in life-threatening situations in true old-school style. If I could draw better this is how I would want to draw. Gorgeous! *chef's kiss*

The maps are plain white gridded rooms with the classic icons on solid black backgrounds: don't try to print this PDF or you will most definitely run out of ink. 

The regional map is very unique: it is a modern-looking colored topographic map that seems out-of-synch with the rest of the art yet somehow works. You don't see this kind of map often and it's pretty useful. I will admit that at times the number of contour lines confused me and I wasn't really able to put all of the information that it contains to full use. In my case I could have done without most of the contour lines for the most part: a couple of times it was useful to know when the party was at a high point and what would be visible in the distance.

AT THE TABLE 

Smooth like butter. You can play this 'zine with absolutely no prep, I promise. I've been doing it myself for a couple of weeks now with my son. It's easy enough to pick up and play for half an hour, take a few notes to remember where we left off, and then return to the next day or whenever without missing a beat. 

The console-style layout for dungeons works a charm and keyed encounters have the monster stat blocks in-line. I wish that the random encounter tables included the stat blocks, too. I had to reach for OSE a couple of times to look up monster stats. It's a minor gripe and only worth mentioning because the rest of the book is so slick and amazingly user-friendly. 

WHAT MAKES IT SPECIAL

If you like generic (in a good way) old-school gaming and want a module you can play for quite some time with little to no prep between sessions then "In the Shadow of Tower Silveraxe" is for you! 

If your players require elaborate backstory-linked motivations to adventure then this might not be your cup of tea. That being said, the regional map has plenty of room to include your own homebrew content or other dungeons you might want to add. 

It's not often you find a module that adheres so closely to a gonzo-free approach to Old School gaming. That, and how awesomely playable this with little to no prep makes it a great little book to own! I'm enjoying it like crazy right now and I think you might, too!

*NOTE: I bought and paid for this 'zine with my own hard-earned coins! No secret back-room deals exist between me and the author or publisher! Just sayin'!