Death Traps of the Aldar aka All About Tricks and Traps by John Josten is a role playing game supplement published by Board Enterprises. This is part of the Small Bites series and is the abbreviated “World Walker” edition. The full version is about double the length and, unusually for the series but standard for the subgroup this supplement belongs to, can be purchased rather than being just available for Patreon supporters. This is because the full version is an adventure. The supplement is mostly generic but has Legend Quest material at the back.
The supplement is available as a 29-page PDF from DriveThruRPG for free. One page is the front cover.
The Introduction explains the difference between a trick and a trap, then states this is the third supplement in the Endless Dungeon series, following on from Blood in the Slave Pits and Savagery of the Spider Men. The supplement is statted for Legend Quest and d20, because most people know how to convert from d20 to their preferred system.
Fletnern Wiki has articles taken from the wiki. As the topic this month doesn’t work well for picking wiki entries, so they cover the area around where the adventures take place, though they are all tagged Endless Dungeon. The entries cover cities and regions.
The Sounding Board is a collection of blog posts. Tricks for Player Characters is on how PCs can use terrain, whatever that is, to their advantage, by thinking.
Tricks and Traps is on using such in dungeons and how to design them for players.
Winners or Losers is on how to deal with challenges for players.
Killer Dungeon (Part II) continues with the dungeon idea that was included in a post in Blood in the Slave Pits.
How to Play A… Trapster references 100 Character Histories and the 123 archetypes used, the Trapster being one of them. This article is on how such a character would work in game and what they would have with them.
Silver Sense references Grain Into Gold, some upcoming supplements and that, in Blood in the Slave Pits, d20 armour and weapons were priced using the same logic. This supplement does the same for the gear.
Gold, Silver, And What!?! covers three pages and prices gear up in what is considered to be a logical manner. The Missing explains what is missing; namely magic (which includes alchemical items and divine magic) and items that are either needless or improbable in a fantasy setting. The Alchemist’s Lab is also referenced.
Monsters & Other Menaces gives a rundown of the aldar, an elven or, rather, Fairie, race that lives underground who use their superior mental skills over others.
Small Towns and City Neighborhoods: Giggvern describes a small settlement.
What’s Missing explains the content of the full edition.
In Conclusion wraps up the supplement, although it seems to be wrapping up the full version, and gives some links, before finishing with details on the Patreon campaign.
Following this are Player Handouts related to the adventure in the full supplement. One page lists the pre-generated characters, six cover the 12 characters in detail, one has the d20 stats for them and two have players’ maps.
Death Traps of the Aldar aka All About Tricks and Traps in Review
The PDF is well bookmarked with major and minor sections linked. The Table of Contents is less thorough but is also hyperlinked. There are also a number of external hyperlinks to relevant information. Navigation is good. The text maintains a two-column format and some minor errors were noticed. There are a number of stock black and white illustrations, plus partly coloured maps. Presentation is okay.
As usual, this is more of a collection of related articles than a coherent whole. There is perhaps less variety and material than normal, because it is intended to be a companion supplement to the adventure, and much of it is taken up with player material for that adventure. The articles as always go into more depth in many matters than some GMs would consider necessary, but the logic is interesting to read. Death Traps of the Aldar aka All About Tricks and Traps can be downloaded for free by clicking here.
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