Concealed Abbey of the Dragonfly Horde - Play Review
When one of my regular players was without internet I quickly offered to run a Shadowdark session to my remaining players. I had just finished running Wavestone Monolith and I spent some time after that session setting up adventures in Foundry so I was ready to go immediately. This session would be another mini-adventure, this time The Concealed Abbey of the Dragonfly Horde. A true mouthful of a name for a short adventure. This is another Kelsey Dionne adventure with an art credit to Yevheniia Lytvynovych.
Abbey is two half-letter sheets, front and back. Setup, map, a unique dungeon effect and 1d4 random encounter table on the front of page 1. The location key is on the back of page 2 and details 5 locations. Page 3 details the unique monsters and treasure of this adventure and page 4 is a new patron for warlocks.
The quick synopsis is an abbey of dragonfly cultists was invaded by croakfolk. The call of the dragonfly patron lures in mortals with visions of riches.
At the Table
Right off the bat, I was struggling with the map I chose. With Wavestone Monolith, I found a map online that had been all gussied up and it went well. For Abbey I found a similar map but the map maker played with the dimensions making all the rooms considerably bigger. An even larger problem was that the 60 foot long, narrow staircase leading into the canyon where the adventure takes place was replaced with a broad, short staircase. Big mismatch I had to explain.
There's Another error on my doorstep that I didn't realize until I started writing this review. I forgot to include the Buzzing, the dungeon effect described on the first page with the map and random encounter table. This should have effected every room and impacted the adventure. I thought it was associated with the apex threat of the dungeon, but couldn't find it when I got to that room. Alas. It's what I get for having 15 minutes of preparation time. I would rather see critical information like this in the key. A simple "Buzzing begins" would have done wonders.
Abbey had fewer interesting choices and interactions to be made than Wavestone Monolith. My group of crawlers had a wildly different playstyle than the last crew. The crew crawling the Abbey treated it as a breach and clear. Not bothering to speak with any residents, but coming in with crossbows blazing.
This led to them missing a cursed treasure. The rubies from a statue that turn gold into acid. I'm curious how this would have turned out in play. It could have provided some fun interactions. Maybe another time.
Another missed item and the dungeon's unique treasure, the Helm of Humming, lies in the mud at the bottom of an "algae-choked" pond. As written, I can't see this being satisfying to find. There's no sign-posting you can feel clever about noticing. No environmental story-telling that leads to the helm or explains its presence. It feels like a non-sequitur. For my crawlers, it still languishes in the depths.
My favorite bit is simple. There's a 30 foot height difference between two rooms. The high-room is full of croakfolk which provides a handy consequence to anyone who fails with their grappling hook, for example. The fight on the ledge was desperate, dangerous and included an additional foe: gravity. It's a simple challenge, but I think it adds some texture to an otherwise plain experience.
I appreciated the zealous priest of the Dragonfly patron with his decapitated foes around him. Cool bit of role-playing and fun environment but it feels a bit like an under explained set piece. Why haven't the croakfolk in the adjoining room croaked him? And that leads to his patron and the Dragonfly avatar. What summons the avatar? Is it hostile or is it friendly to the crawlers that likely drove off the invading croakfolk?
I didn't roll any random encounters, unfortunately.
Conclusion
The Concealed Abbey of the Dragonfly Horde feels a little too bare bones. The seed of a strong mini-adventure is here but as it stands there are too many missing parts. Why are there no cultists besides the final zealot? Where are the signs of an invasion? What clues lead to the Helm?
We still had fun with this adventure, but it feels weaker than it could be. On my part, using the map included in the adventure and remembering the Buzzing would have improved the experience.