Dungeon Dressing: Fountains

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108639[1]By Thilo Graf

This installment of the Dungeon Dressing-line from Raging Swan Press is 13 pages long, 1 page front cover, 2 pages editorial, 1 page ToC/foreword, 1 page SRD, 1 page advertisement, 1 page back cover, leaving us with 6 pages of content, so let’s check this out!

In tradition with RSP’s Dungeon Dressing-line, this pdf kicks off with characteristics & appearances, covering this time 9 different generic subjects, 8 general properties of the water and we also get 6 samples of poisoned/diseased water as well as 6 different magical properties before we even delve into the table containing the different characteristics and include completely off-kilter (in a positive way!) fountains – irregular waterjets, forceful bursts of H2O etc. – gold!

The dressing and feature-table is also a joy to behold, providing 100 (no roll twice/thrice wasted entries!) characteristics that include hidden cryptic messages scrawled into basins, disguised cave scorpions, weird liquids and algae. Neat list!

And then, we get the Traps & Tricks-section – and boy, author Ben Armitage has delivered! Take a stone-tree-fountain with shifting stepping stones and acorns containing searing clouds as well as scything branches – multi-round fun and oh so awesome! Or take a fountain that releases skeletons, attacks with animated chains and seeks to drown PCs in now erupting green slime! Devilish, diabolical, awesome! The final fountain, while also dangerous, can provide interesting insights – and would make for a great lead-in to PDG’s “Through the Cotillion of Hours”, if you seek to convert that one to PFRPG.

Conclusion:

Editing and formatting are top-notch, as I’ve come to expect from Raging Swan Press. Layout adheres to RSP’s 2-column standard and the pdf comes fully bookmarked and with two versions, one optimized for the printer and one for tablet-use. The tables are glorious this time around and the traps are so iconic, they almost warrant the low asking price alone. HOWEVER: Where is the fountain of blood? Of Acid? Lava? Liquid lightning? Plasma? You know, UNCOMMON liquids? None in here, which is the ONE gripe I have against what would otherwise be 5 stars + seal of approval.Due to the lack of cool liquids, I’ll have to settle for a verdict of 4 stars instead.

Endzeitgeist out.

Dungeon Dressing: Fountains is available from:

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