From: Dog Soul Publishing
Reviewed by: Ron McClung
Urban Legends: Oak Island Money Pit is a new d20 Modern RPG Adventure Sourcebook from Dog Soul Publishing.
This PDF e-book is a sourcebook intended for d20 Modern, although I would think anyone could use the source material for any modern based game. It is based on real events, as I found out by researching a little in Wikipedia ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oak_Island_Money_Pit ). It takes you to the town of Seaborough and neighboring Oak Island, both in Nova Scotia. A mysterious shaft can be found there. It appears to have been dug centuries ago and then filled and protected by ingenious traps. According to the PDF, it may hold the key to fabulous treasure, unlimited power, or unspeakable horror.
From RPGNow website:
“What waits for you at the bottom of the Oak Island Money Pit?”
Oak Island, the PDF, contains several chapters of information, true and fictional, about Oak Island and ways to make it a location of intriguing adventure for anyone running a d20 Modern campaign. It contains intriguing characters with in-depth background, as well as a variety of plot twists that can take advantage of the various possible contents of the Money Pit. The first chapters True History of Oak Island and Modified History of Oak Island contain a mixture of true as well as fictional information related to Oak Island and the legends surrounding the Money Pit.
Overview and Synopsis covers the general information the GM needs to use Oak Island and the Money Pit as a stand alone adventure or part of a larger one. Basically, the GM can use it in anyway he sees fit – in a horror setting, general non-super natural intrigue, espionage, or something else. This leads into the multiple possibilities of the Contents of the Money Pit. This includes a general table the GM can roll on or pick from. Contents include Nothing, The Holy Grail, Evidence of a Worldwide Conspiracy, Evidence of an Alien Presence, Lost Treasures of the Knights Templar and a few others. Some are mundane, some are legendary, and some are supernatural in nature. All have a short explanation included.
The next chapter, Research and Rumors, is a series of information nuggets with Gathering Information or Research DCs associated to them. There is a wide variety of information here about locations, people and things related to the Money Pit, Oak Island and Seaborough. Subplots begin here. The Characters chapter contains exactly what one would expect – NPCs and their background. The stat blocks are actually not here. However, they are included in the Stat Block chapter. Much of the subplotting emanates from the NPCs. Interestingly, it provides variations for each NPC based on the contents of the Pit and thus the context of the adventure.
Following this are several maps: Map of Seaborough, Map of Seaborough Museum, Map of Thomas Forrester’s House, Map of Oak Island, Map of Jeffries’ House and Map of Money Pit. Most are well-done and clear. Places and Things To See describes places of interest in the areas the players may go including The Barrons Hotel, Sully’s Town Bar, The Seaborough Argus (newspaper office), several restaurants and other retail locations, City Hall, the police and fire station, the museum and many others.
From RPGANow website:
“Who built the Money Pit? Pirates hiding the treasures plundered from ships across the coast of North America? The lost hoard of the fallen Knights Templar? Aliens? Escapees from Atlantis? There is only one way to find out, and that’s to dig to the bottom!”
Conversations is an odd chapter that you do not see in many RPG supplements. It is basically a chapter containing notes and examples on conversation with particular NPCs. I am not sure why this could not be included in the Character’s section, but in general, it is an interesting addition. Plot Hooks are three general ways to get players involved in the search for the secrets of the Money Pit. The Timelines chapter provides a series of optional timelines for the different Pit contents and plots.
The second PDF included in the bundle is a supplement of scaled and tiled maps that can be printed before game play and used with miniatures. The maps are of the Museum and the Jeffries House. These are good quality maps and are very useful as long as the plot of your adventure steers the players somewhere towards these locations.
In conclusion, a lot of work and thought was put into this. I am impressed with the detail and the amount of story that is provided. On top of that, I like concepts born from real world things. This could be a good series if they follow through with more. There is a lot out there and with sources like Wikipedia and other sites like it, much can be explored. I like this particular PDF primarily because of its diversity in the ways it can be used. It has a variety of information and tries to develop a generic plot with characters and an interesting location allowing a GM to use it in a variety of genres.
For more details on Dog Soul Publishing and their new d20 Modern RPG Adventure Sourcebook “Urban Legends: Oak Island Money Pit” check them out at their website http://www.dogsoul.net.
Urban Legends: Oak Island Money Pit
From: Dog Soul Publishing
Type of Game: d20 Modern RPG Adventure Sourcebook
Written by: Steve Honeywell
Art by: Aleksandar Sotirovski
Cartography by: Sean C. Frolich and Deborah Balsam
Cover and Layout by: Deborah Balsam
Number of Pages: 97 page adventure PDF, 73 page map PDF
Game Components Included: 2 PDF
Game Components Not Included: Core d20 Modern books, scotch-tape and scissors
Retail Price: DOWNLOAD PRICE: $10.95 PRINT+PDF:$18.50 (US)
Website: www.dogsoul.net
Reviewed by: Ron McClung