Elisabetta Golzio
We begin this review by thanking Mauro Longo for the digital copy provided to us of Mill of the Twelve Dead, an adventure tailor-made for Old School Essentials, although it can be adapted for any other dark fantasy game system.
The project is available on Kickstarter at a cost of 6 $ in digital format. The physical edition, on the other hand, will cost $9 plus printing and shipping.
Review of Mill of the Twelve Dead: Scenery
Have you all too often come across dull introductory adventures created to keep your players from struggling with very low-level characters? Mill of the Twelve Dead is probably what you are looking for. In the 48 pages of this story you’ll find everything you need to make the very first mission of the newly created characters something you won’t easily forget.
Without spoiling anything about the story, let’s talk about the main plot. Everyone knows that a strange air of mystery and horror hovers around the Black Mill, a structure that once belonged to the lumberjacks and carpenters of the neighbouring villages. It is rumoured that people disappear in the Grimwald forest surrounding it. And some swear it is the work of spirits.
It will be up to our valiant heroes to uncover the dark plots of this cursed place in a real baptism of fire. Adventure is designed for levels 1 to 3. There are no pre-made characters, but it won’t be a problem to create suitable ones.
Introduction to Horror
How to make our would-be heroes aware of the mysteries of the Black Mill? Again, adventure guides us step by step. We can decide whether to make it a story known in their starting village, or alternatively use a dice to randomly choose one of the proposed introductions.
Depending on the class chosen by the characters, we can also start the story in an area more akin to one of them. All this is intended to make the role of the master as simple as possible and more akin to his type of play.
Review of Mill of the Twelve Dead: Maps and Graphic
We will have several maps (by Veronica Wu) that will show us in detail the places our players will visit. In addition to a graphic representation and description of the interiors, we will find references to all the entrances and exits that can be used to reach each room. Possible traps or encounters are well structured within the rooms, devoting time and space to any effects they may cause. Depending on the exploration our heroes will face, the encounters will be very diverse but all equally terrifying.
The Graphic style chosen to accompany us on this journey into the unknown is in line with what one would expect from Old School Essentials: simple, comprehensible and effective. Even illustrations, strictly in black and white and by Marco Sada, are reminiscent of fanzines that circulated in the 80‘s and 90’s and do their job very well.
Review of Mill of the Twelve Dead: Conclusions
As already announced at the beginning of the article, the adventures created for the characters in the early game levels are often a little flat. Mill of the Twelve Dead, on the other hand, teaches us that it is possible to include a good dose of action and pathos even with a group of novice heroes.
It will be interesting to see at the conclusion of the events whether they succeeded in bringing the horror to an end. The alternative is to get lost in the mazes of a structure that recalls the simplicity of country life but hides much darker plots. The onus is on you to find out.
