The Black Spire 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 16 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 explain that a village was having problems caused by earthquakes, and then a black spire rose out of a field, from which humanoids emerge at night to attack the locals. The elders would like help, though the only reward they have to offer is an uncut gem.
Game Master Information explains that the spire is a device constructed by a gnome who has partnered themselves with grimlocks to conquer somewhere new. It describes the black spire and explains this is an adventure for characters of 5th to 7th level.
The Black Spire starts with a general overview of the spire’s interior and a random encounter table. It then covers the various locations in the spire. Most of the monsters are grimlocks and there are a number of illusions thanks to the gnome. Other than that, it is a pretty straightforward place to explore.
New Magic Items has a couple of new items.
The final page of content has a map of the spire.
The Black Spire in Review
The PDF lacks bookmarks and is long enough that these would have been useful. Navigation is okay. The text maintains a single column format and some minor errors were noticed. Bar the covers and map, there are no illustrations. Presentation is okay.
This is a straightforward enough self-contained adventure with little in the way of tricks or traps, though the illusions will make a difference, and not many different kinds of monster to fight. The Black Spire can be found by clicking here.
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