Review 17: Sepulchre of the Swamp Witch
I'm starting to notice a trend here-- Christian Sahlen writes some really good adventures. We're returning to Mörk Borg this week, talking about Sepulchre of the Swamp Witch. This was written shortly after the release of the game and is included in the "Mörk Borg Cult" sub-label, which was a curated collection of third-party adventures that were given the Stockholm Kartell finish and are currently available for free on the website. I ran this one with the intended system, naturally.
Getting it to the Table
Thanks to the previously mentioned Mörk Borg house style, this adventure takes little to no effort to prepare. One thing that was particularly evident with this one was how much the background and lore of the situation is intertwined with the adventure itself. Whereas many adventure modules feel the need to preface the book with pages of background and explanation of what is going on, Sepulchre of the Swamp Witch offers proof that that's not necessary at all-- flavor and lore can be added throughout without bogging anything down. It opens with a description of the swamp temple and rumors the PCs will have heard about the cult which resides there, and then only one quarter of the page could be described as "background", which is still relevant and present information. Too often you'll see paragraphs of "background" information that is all about things that happened a long time ago and has no relevance for the actual adventure-- not so in this case! You know what the cult is doing right now. After this brief scene-setting page, you get a lovely map by Johan Nohr that also introduces a very cool mechanic; certain paths are invisible to the players unless they have been injected with the venom of the Emerald Serpent who resides outside the entrance of the temple.
The area key continues in the effective Mörk Borg style, with bullet points of relevant info, NPC stats, and a miniature version of the map with the relevant areas on the page highlighted. Each room also has notes as to what PCs who have been injected with the venom will see. As the party explores the temple, you get plenty of environmental storytelling that shows the players what's going on and gives them plenty of ways to interact with or even join the cult. Another nice thing is that it's very clearly set up to be navigable without resorting to combat unless that is the option that they choose. The only thing that I think is missing is a random encounter table-- especially since there is ample opportunity for social encounters with the cultists, having them be a bit more mobile and potentially interrupting the party as they make their way through the tunnels would add some dimensions to the adventure.
The last two rooms of the temple also provided some great interactivity with good recommendations for their use in the game, and could easily provide hooks to further adventures. Depending on the PCs' actions, the balance of power can be completely shifted and things can also get very bad very quickly, especially when the Swamp Witch's altar is messed around with-- it very importantly will only work if an unwilling sacrifice is offered. I remember that the group I ran this for had an interesting discussion about using the altar, finally deciding to turn on the weakest character and sacrificing them in an effort to stave off the inevitable end of the world. It went great for them, of course!
What Worked?
- Efficient layout and tons of useful information packed into a relatively small package. Not counting the full-page illustrations (also by Johan Nohr), the whole thing is about 10 pages and it could easily give you several sessions of play.
- Dynamic encounters and multiple ways to get through the adventure. It is not just a series of fights with cultists, but it completely turns that trope on its head because it is actually quite easy to be mistaken for a cultist, and thus welcomed into most of the areas of the temple, creating plenty of opportunities for interesting gameplay.
What Didn't Work?
- I would have loved an encounter table-- I think it's important to have some element of time present when you're exploring an area that you're not supposed to be in, and it just adds more interesting complications into the mix.
Final Thoughts
I'm sure that one of these days I'll run an adventure written by Christian Sahlen that I didn't absolutely love, but even then it will probably still be a solid, interesting, and eminently usable adventure. And let's be honest, I'll probably love it anyway. When I ran this for my table, it was done as a one-shot because I was still new to Mörk Borg and getting used to its subtleties. I want to run it again now that I'm more experienced with the style of play that it lends strength to, and I think it would be a perfect mid-point for a campaign; the altar offers a significant amount of power to those brave enough to use it, and it could have major impacts on the game world, both good and bad.
You can download Sepulchre of the Swamp Witch for free on the Mörk Borg content page. Thanks for reading!