A Review of the Role Playing Game Supplement The Treasure Vaults of Zadabad [Swords & Wizardry]

The Treasure Vaults of Zadabad [Swords & Wizardry] by Carl Bussler and Eric Hoffman is a role playing game published by Stormlord Publishing for use with Swords & Wizardry. As such, it is covered by the Open Game License and some parts are considered to be Open Game Content as a result. This is an adventure that is intended to take characters from 1st to 2nd level. It is also available in a version for Dungeon Crawl Classics and there is a free supplement, Surviving Kalmatta – A Player’s Guide.

The supplement is available as a 66-page PDF from DriveThruRPG for $8. It is also available in printed form from sites such as Amazon. The PDF is the version reviewed although it was purchased at a reduced price as part of a special bundle. Two pages are the front and rear covers, one the front matter, one the Table of Contents and one the Open Game License.

The first page of content explains that this hexcrawl is inspired by classic literature, from Appendix N, and adventures, such as The Isle of Dread and others. It also gives a brief overview of what the supplement contains.

There is a full-page hex map of the island in colour with locations marked, but it isn’t a top down view.

Getting to the Island has a ship to get the characters there. They have, somehow, acquired the Rod of the Crescent Moon, which is why they are going. It’s up to the GM to decide how this was obtained.

Exploring the Island has rules for waterborne and overland movement, together with a table for hex contents.

Random Encounters has d6 tables for each terrain type. Encounters include events as well as creatures.

A sidebar explains ability score checks, as the Swords & Wizardry rules do not include ability or skill checks, and that suggestions are given for these throughout.

Kalmatta Tombs has three fully detailed tombs that characters can find. These are found randomly.

Static Encounters are the fixed locations on the island; the opening paragraph states that the GM can move them, but doing so with one may have an effect on another location. This takes up the major part of the book and has 19 different locations, some of which are minidungeons (one of which appears to include a stargate).

Appendix A: Monsters compiled together the monster stats for everything encountered in one place, duplicating material from earlier.

Appendix B: Magic Items collects together all the magic items, some of which were detailed earlier.

Further Adventures primarily concentrates on using the Gate to Elsewhere discovered that leads to other realms and lands (the stargate).

Finally, the Random Treasure Table lists the items that can be found in random treasure, with check boxes to cross off for those in limited numbers.

The Treasure Vaults of Zadabad [Swords & Wizardry] in Review

The PDF lacks bookmarks and is long enough with enough different sections that these would have been useful. The Table of Contents covers the major sections and subsections. As a PDF, navigation is poor; it is probably better in printed form. The text maintains a two-column format and appeared to be almost free of errors. There are a number of colour illustrations, up to full page in size, which may be custom, as well as the maps. Presentation is decent.

This adventure is what it sets out to be; an island hexcrawl. With it being an island, it is easy enough to drop into any setting. It is also easy to see the inspirations behind it; it keeps the flavour well. The primary village on the island definitely resembles that on the Isle of Dread in some ways. With it having more of an OSR feel to it, there are areas where characters can end up biting off more than they can chew, and dying as a result. The Treasure Vaults of Zadabad [Swords & Wizardry] is a nice little hexcrawl that should fit in any appropriate setting and it can be found by clicking here.