A Review of the Role Playing Game Supplement Dungeon Denizens: EL 4

Dungeon Denizens: EL 4 by Alex Connell is a role playing game supplement published by Raging Swan Press for use with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game. As such, it is covered by the Open Game License and some parts are considered to be Open Game Content as a result.

The supplement is available as a 13-page PDF from DriveThruRPG for $1.99 but was purchased at a reduced price during a sale. The PDF comes in two versions, one optimised for print and high-end devices, the other for mobile and low-end. Two pages are the front and rear covers, one and a third are ads, two are the front matter, about a third is the Contents and about two thirds are the Open Game License.

The Foreword includes an introduction from the publisher and a sidebar on Using this Supplement, the latter being identical to the previous instalments. The supplement contains encounters that are intended to be easy to drop in. There are three types, Basic, using Bestiaries 1, 2 and 3, Modified, from those same bestiaries with simple templates and Unique, which are given full stats. The encounters are also divided into three areas.

The monsters are again divided into dungeon areas, cavern areas and wanderers, with them being tougher than in the previous supplements. Each again has a d12 table of results.

The table entries list the creature or creatures, the book they are from if they are not from the Bestiary and a description of the encounter. Some of the encounters are related and there may be different types of creatures already interacting with each other. At the bottom of the table are brief notes on simple templates, and the facing page has stats for any unique creatures.

Dungeon Denizens: EL 4 in Review

The PDF is bookmarked with major and minor sections linked. The Contents are not as thorough but are hyperlinked. Navigation is decent. The text is either tables or two column format and the main error noted was that every page reference was wrong; it looks like the tables and stat blocks switched pages at some point. There are a couple of stock black and white illustrations. Presentation is okay.

The first table, Dungeon Areas, has a number of entries related to someone called “The Maker”, a necromancer turned construct builder. Don’t bother trying to find out who this is; they’re not covered in the supplement. Whilst allowing GMs to design the person themselves, it would have probably been helpful to include a note explaining this; as it is, it just looks like a stat block has been missed out. The interlinking is nice, though. Cavern Areas has perhaps too many duergar in it. Dungeon Denizens: EL 4 is a decent entry for what looks to be the final supplement in this series and it can be found by clicking here.