5E Mini-Dungeon: The Soularium (5e)

This pdf clocks in at 2 pages and is a mini-dungeon. This means we get 2 pages content, including a solid map and all item/monster-stats hyperlinked and thus, absent from the pdf, with only deviations from the statblocks being noted for the GM. Unlike the first three 5E Mini-Dungeons, this one does not come with VTT-maps or player-friendly iterations, which is a bit of a bummer.

Since this product line’s goal is providing short diversions, side-quest dungeons etc., I will not expect mind-shattering revelations, massive plots or particularly smart or detailed depictions, instead tackling the line for what it is. Got that? Great!

This being an adventure-review, the following contains SPOILERS. Potential players may wish to jump to the conclusion.

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Still here?

All right!

The Soularium is pretty uncommon in that it does not represent a classic dungeon, but rather a cult’s dread operation disguised as a charity – what at first looks like a benevolent organization, quickly turns out to be the soul harvesting operation of a nasty quasit and his faithful cult – including and alignment seeing statue and pretty concise defenses – conceivably well–crafted for such a small module and sporting actual traps and the like herein. Big plus – the hyperlinking this time is pretty consistent and the traps/skill-checks have been translated well into the context of 5e.

Conclusion:

Editing and formatting are very good, I noticed no significant glitches. Layout adheres to a nice 2-column full-color standard and the pdf comes sans bookmarks, but needs none at this length. Cartography is full color and surprisingly good for such an inexpensive pdf, but there is no key-less version of the map to print out and hand to your players. Stats, as mentioned above, obviously are hyperlinked to the SRD.

Rory Toma’s Soularium is an interesting, fun sidetrek with cool defenses, nice ideas and a solid cartography to boot. The lack of player-friendly maps once again drags this a bit down, but balance- and treasure-wise, I have no complaints this time around – Kyle Crider did a nice conversion job.There is not much to complain about here – hence, my final verdict will clock in at 4.5 stars, rounded up to 5 due to in dubio pro reo.

You can get this cool mini-dungeon here on OBS!

Endzeitgeist out.

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