Village Backdrop: Vulgruph’s Hollow by Alexander Augunas 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.
This is available from DriveThruRPG as a ten-page PDF for $2.45 but was purchased at a greatly reduced price as part of a special bundle. Two pages are the front and rear covers, two pages are the front matter, Contents and Stat Blocks by CR and one page is the Open Game License. The PDF comes in two versions, one optimised for print and high-end devices and the other for screen and mobile.
Vulgruph’s Hollow At a Glance starts with an overview of the village. It was built and originally settled by dwarves but other races have since moved in. Recent problems have resulted in a rise in tensions between the different sections of the populace. This part also gives the demographics, notable NPCs, an overview of the notable locations, village lore, villagers and a d6 table of rumours, some true, some false. A labelled map of the village is included in this section.
Notable Locations covers those mentioned in the previous section in more detail and includes a stat block for the half-orc proprietor of the inn.
The final section, Life in Vulgruph’s Hollow, has two more stat blocks, details of the trade & industry and law & order in the village and a d6 table of events.
Village Backdrop: Vulgruph’s Hollow in Review
The PDF is well bookmarked with everything but the stat blocks linked. The Contents only covers the major sections but is hyperlinked. Navigation is very good for a short supplement. The text maintains a two-column black and white format and appeared to be nearly free of errors. The sole illustration is the black and white map of the village. Presentation is okay.
There are no explicit adventure hooks mentioned but there are plenty hidden within the text. The primary one is the recent rise in tensions that has the potential to boil over into violence, violence that the characters may be dragged into if they do not find the root cause. Both dwarven and non-dwarven sides are likely to cause problems, even though the dwarven ruler is attempting to keep a lid on things. Amongst this potential violence is a Romeo & Juliet situation that adds the prospect of ratcheting up the tensions even more. Village Backdrop: Vulgruph’s Hollow is a nice little village supplement full of potential problems and it can be found by clicking here.
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