Exploring the Unknown by Joseph Mohr is a role playing game supplement published by Old School Role Playing for use with OSRIC. 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 28 page Pay What You Want PDF from DriveThruRPG. Two pages are the front and rear covers, three the front matter and three the Open Game License.
The opening paragraphs give some background about an adventurer who has apparently died recently. He was rumoured to have treasure and also not always be that nice.
Game Master Notes explains that the adventure is for 1st level characters and is inspired by B1 In Search of the Unknown. The keep offers a selection of treasures and monsters to allow the GM to customise it and is based near an, unnamed, village.
Random Encounters During the Adventure has d6 tables for in the keep and in the dungeon, some of which are just sounds.
Rumours that Might be Heard in the Village has a d12 list of rumours, some true, some false, some a combination.
Key to the Stronghold of Huet the Invincible details the various locations. There are a variety of traps and other dangers, but monsters and treasure are no listed for the locations, allowing for customisation.
Monster Selections is a list of 30 different monsters (some are multiple creatures) and the GM is advised to select 10-15 to place in the dungeon, and that there should be many rooms without monsters.
Treasure Selections is similar with 33 different treasures that can be selected and placed, with 15-20 suggested. Some should be out in the open; others should be harder to find.
The final page of content has a map of the location.
Exploring the Unknown in Review
The PDF lacks bookmarks and is long enough with enough different sections that these would have been useful. Navigation is okay. The text maintains a single column format and some minor errors were noticed. Bar the maps and covers, there are no illustrations. Presentation is okay.
This adventure will need some work by the GM in order to use; they will need to go through and flesh out the rooms with the monsters and treasures first, meaning this supplement cannot be immediately used as is. This does give the GM some flexibility in how the adventure is run. It’s also a potentially dangerous adventure. Exploring the Unknown can be found by clicking here.
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