The Tomb of Black Sand (2019) comes to us from the folks at Swordfish Islands, written Jacob Hurst and Donnie Garcia, with maps by Skullfungus (is there an indie book where he doesn’t do the maps at this point?) and illustrations by Gabriel Hernandez. That sweet, sweet cover is by Daniel Horne (is it weird that I think his skulls are instantly recognizable?).
If Hot Springs Island is the Swordfish system-agnostic riff on the basic framework of Isle of Dread, this is maybe their take on the bones of Tomb of Horror. The difference is how Tomb of Black Sands subverts expectations; while Horrors is designed to kill everyone who enters it in as frustrating a way possible, most of the inhabitants of the Black Sand would just as soon ignore intruders and go about their business.
The construction of Tomb is similar to that of Hot Springs Island. There is a definite story behind the tomb and a number of folks involved with it, inside and out, that are at cross purposes. The adventure sets all these dominoes up with the expectation that the players will knock them down in surprising ways as they solve the mystery to their satisfaction. Interestingly, the game lacks a real antagonist. Sure, there is a lich and he’s up to something, but he isn’t a cackling madman and, while it is hard to call him good, it isn’t easy to just dismiss him as evil. He’s doing a thing, and people are participating in it of their own free will (sort of). Players who go into the tomb expecting clear answers, some combat and a pile of loot are going to be disappointed, make a mess of things and probably end up dead.
The illustrations are nice. I love the lich design, particularly his funny hat. I love that his undead servants also have funny hats. More funny hats, please. Funny hats for everyone. (I am being silly, but I really do love the hats)
This is another alarmingly high quality book from Swordfish They pretty much have me on the hook forever now. Oh, and it comes with a great explanation for the dungeon’s existence! The lich didn’t build it, he grew it. Ew!
