A Review of the Role Playing Game Supplement Monstrous Lair #70: Will-o’-Wisp’s Haunt

Monstrous Lair #70: Will-o’-Wisp’s Haunt by Robert Manson is a role playing game supplement published by Raging Swan Press. The supplement is stated to be system neutral, but also compatible with any version of Dungeons & Dragons, and is therefore covered by the Open Game License with some parts considered to be Open Game Content as a result.

The supplement is available as an 8-page PDF for $1.65 from DriveThruRPG but was purchased at a reduced price thanks to a special offer. The supplement comes in two versions, a plaintext file and a PDF. Two pages of the PDF are the front and rear covers, two pages are ads, about half a page the front matter and Contents and one page the Open Game License.

Using this Monstrous Lair is a standard piece of text for the series and explains what the tables are and that the supplement makes two assumptions; the GM has a map of the lair and stats for monsters and details of any treasure.

The introductory paragraph explains what will-o’-wisps are and where they live.

1: Outside the Lair has some descriptions for outside the lair; these are not completely suitable for every type of location.

2: What’s Going On? is what the will-o’-wisp is doing.

3: Major Lair Features is lair dressing, that suffers similar problems to 1.

4: Minor Lair Features is similar, but smaller features.

5: Will-o’-Wisp’s Appearance is what the creature looks like; given their nature, it’s colour and intensity variations.

6: Treasure is valuable items that can be found, though they lack values.

7: Trinkets & Trash is mostly debris and broken items.

Monstrous Lair #70: Will-o’-Wisp’s Haunt in Review

The PDF is bookmarked with major and minor sections linked. The Contents are to a similar level of depth and is hyperlinked. The text maintains a two-column format and appeared to be almost free of errors. There is a single piece of black and white stock art. Presentation is okay.

This isn’t a bad supplement; it’s just not a great one. The various features are trying to cover locations that can be greatly different, and the appearance list, given the nature of will-o’-wisps, is not that distinctive. Monstrous Lair #70: Will-o’-Wisp’s Haunt can be found by clicking here.