The Hound of Cabell's Tomb Review

A review of the adventure The Hound of Cabell's Tomb, which can be found on the Dungeon Masters Guild.

Pros

• Small and quick adventure scenario with a focus
• Plenty of opportunity for role-playing
• Can easily be dropped into a campaign as a side-quest
• Requires only the basic rules to run (perfect for newer Dungeon Masters)
• Contains a handout (I found it best to open it in a browser instead of Adobe Acrobat so that the text was displayed correctly) and map
• Printer-friendly version present
• Free (well, pay what you want)!

Could Go Either Way

• It'll probably be short without the role-playing component (quite role-play heavy)
• There is a riddle component (I wouldn't let this turn you away if you find them hard though because there is still an ending if it isn't solved)

Cons

• Map will need to be recreated with tiles (it's not supplied in a printable form)
• It may not last you the entire session, being only 5 pages in length, especially if you don't role-play it out heavily (be prepared with more or run it as a side-quest, especially if your group goes through role-play quickly)

Note: The adventure has a handout that says “on the date shown” but doesn't write a date. I'd recommend writing a date that fits your campaign minus 400 somewhere on handout, probably close to the signatures.

Introduction

The Dungeon Masters Guild has become a good place to find quests. Many of them are shorter and as such make for good side-quests or quick one shots. One example I ran across recently, and I thought was worth mentioning, is The Hound of Cabell's Tomb. Requiring only the basic rules to run, it's a nice little adventure that has a rather good atmosphere and allows for many interesting situations. Me and my players had a good time with this one and it's an easy read.

Art

There are 3 pieces of art in the adventure including the cover image. They make the package look more polished and the map itself helps make sense of one of the encounters. The map is also provided in a separate PDF file in a full page form. It is, however, not ready for printing as a tactical map like some of the other maps I've looked at before. I wouldn't recommend blowing it up either as it will degrade the image, though if you don't mind it being a bit blurry it is an option. You will probably end up having to recreate it using some sort of tiles or just running it using theatre of mind. If you usually use theatre of mind anyway, this will cause you no problems.

The Adventure

The adventure covers the classic situation of a deal with a devil and the cost that results. As is important with this kind of adventure, there are some characters to role-play and some interesting situations that result. The final combat encounter in particular has the potential to be very memorable when run correctly. It will require the players to be a little clever though.

Being a bit clever is a big part of this adventure. Finding a way out of the contract requires that the players are on their toes and think things through. However, even if they can't, the action continues and there is an ending. It's not the happiest ending, but at the very least the players come out feeling like they made a difference even if things didn't work out perfectly. I really like this touch of the adventure. The players are given choices to make and room to be creative but they are not the only ones who are acting or thinking. This sets up some very interesting twists and options, not all of which are on the player's side.

Getting the players to the point that the adventure starts is part of the challenge and different options are provided in the adventure. However, how you handle this affects how long the adventure runs for. Role-playing heavy groups won't have too much of a problem stretching it longer but I'd be careful about jumping quickly through it. It really benefits from a buildup and taking your time but not dragging your feet. This is especially important for new Dungeon Masters who might want to get to the combat. Doing so, however, will make it fly by and not have the same impact. Don't be afraid to talk and role-play through this one to get them there.

Conclusion

I like this one. I really do. It kind of hits my weaknesses but I think The Hound of Cabell's Tomb makes for a very good adventure to run as a side-quest. It has a good length for it and is easy to incorporate, assuming a good aligned group. I'd recommend a look at it at the very least. The map can be re-purposed if needed, the stat block can be reused if needed and elements of the adventure can be reused in rather big parts as well (the final combat encounter in particular can be used in different ways). However, it comes together as a whole nicely in my opinion. The author has other adventures as well so don't be afraid to look through those too, and throw some money their way if you like their work and can afford it.