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Monday, August 13, 2012

Mini Review - ilialm, The Dwarf Mine - Toys For the Sandbox #31 (Old School Generic)

Why does a capital "i" look the same as a lower case "l" when typed?  sigh

It's been a while since I've had a chance to review an entry in the Toys For the Sandbox series and I figured for my next review I'd start with something special. ILIALM, The Dwarf Mine. There, all caps so you can tell the letters apart.

Ilialm is a cave based location, adventure, place to drop in front of your players when they zig and you were ready for a zag. It's got dwarves with a twist.

It follows the fairly usual TFTS menu - Six possibly way to set up the encounter, each with three twists. I often find that the most fun is to use two complimentary "possibilites" each with their own twist - it really adds lots of depth no matter which way the PCs run with it.

Ilialm is a change from what's gone before in the series and it is truly impressive. I'm not just talking about some excellent yet low key art or even the awesome map (I'm going to blame the DCC RPG for my current map obsession). Nope, it's things like a printer friendly version of the adventure. Or how about an un-keyed player's map, suitable for use with your favorite VTT (with some great background behind the map too). Heck, they've even included the file if you want to print it in booklet form.

Yep, they've kicked it up a notch and it shows. Damn good stuff.

From the blurb:


This week we venture back into the southern waters to explore the island Ilalim that some of you may remember seeing on the Lost Colony map. Here is an old dwarven mining colony that was forgotten about after a mining accident. One dwarf has found record of its existence but the colony has problems of its own, political unrest and a strange enemy lurking in the old mines below.

This week we have everything you have come to expect except we have set aside the random encounters table for an extra set of rumors, one covers what is going on around the island the other will get the party there. We also have two maps from Teo this time, there was just too much Ilalim to fit on one.

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