Gloomland – A Travel Stone Adventure
By G. Bruce MacKenzie
A FANTASY GAMING AID FOR LABYRINTH LORD AND OTHER BASIC/EXPERT RULES
FOR CHARACTERS OF LEVELS 1–3
The Wise Folk of Gloomland shutter their windows and bar their doors for the night is made perilous by the wanderings of a Headless Ghost. It moans and wails as it searches for it’s missing noggin. The Ghost is rarely seen beyond the borders of Gloomwood Forest, and travelers hurry their steps lest they be caught on the Forest Road after dark. Those haunted by this vaporous phantom would gladly be rid of it. The Baron of Gloomland is offering a reward to those who successfully lay this ghost to rest. So, I commend you to the untold adventures which lie before you, go boldly forth!
You and your companions arrive through the Traveling Stones, the ancient Menhir. In your hands the secret graven stones which serve as the keys to unlock the ancient portals. Where and when is not as important as the quest that lies before you.
Gloomland is a small wilderness setting and dungeon suitable for Labyrinth Lord and other B/X rules. It is aimed, much like KOTB, squarely as an introductory adventure. I suppose it owes much to KOTB for it’s geneses and of course I would be remiss if I did not mention the influence that Judges Guild had upon me. This is a reworking of earlier versions of Gloomland which were written for both Chimera and the OSR. It is a more serious work than both KOTB and 1970s Judges Guild adventures like Tegel Manor.
Much like KOTB in this version I return to using the humble square for mapping. It suits me and I find hexes bothersome if not tiresome. Squares are easy to reduce and enlarge. I know, I am a Luddite.
I have been of the opinion that it is the players who really write the adventure and while Gloomland does provide something for the players to overcome, namely the headless ghost, it is through the dungeon and wilderness adventure that they build themselves up to the task. In this sense the players do what they do, driving the story as they wish.
Prospective Moderators will soon notice that I make rulings, which as a moderator of rules I am fully entitled to, advocating for the use of classless attribute rolls to resolve various situations players may encounter; for example:
Ability Check Rolls, roll less than or equal to the Attribute number; any character class. 1 and 20 are normal dice results not indicating an automatic success or failure.
- Water pours over the stairway creating infirm footing and presenting the risk of falling into the water 160’ below. The water has worn a green and slimy looking channel into the rock. Within, a rusted and slimy looking crank must operate the portcullis, the only thing is does it still work?
Index 9: The DEX Attribute Check Roll, vs. slipping off the stairs, failure means that the character falls 160’ to the water below; which is 30 feet deep. The area at index 9. may be made safe with spikes and rope.
Ruling in this way is advocating for allowing any character to try almost anything. Some discretion applies for example the following key advocates that any character can try to jigger a lock open but provides a consequence for failure. A Thief of course has greater finess and won’t damage a lock in an attempt to open it:
- This room has a wooden door in the western wall. The door is locked but it has a keyhole and the room (15) beyond can be see through it.
Labyrinth Lord (Referee/Ref):
The lock of the wooden door may be jiggered to open it; failure to jigger the lock means it is broken and cannot be picked by a Thief; nor can a key be used. (DEX Attribute Check Roll), or the door may be forced open (STR Attribute Check Roll).
If these are not the sort of rulings you like feel free to ignore them and apply the usual rules you are comfortable with.
I have elaborated on previous Gloomland adventure material. In addition, I encourage prospective moderators to be sure to read Appendix 1 as it contains much that will be useful to the moderator, particularly my discussion regarding encumbrance and how it affects map movement.
I have included various ready-to-play characters and blank character sheet. These were prepared specifically for Labyrinth Lord but are generally applicable to most B/X games. If any other localization of rules apply one may annotate or copy the statistics as appropriate to another character sheet.
One could certainly use the characters in other games.
Well, I shall trouble you no further, download the PDF of Gloomland, all the best,
Greg
