The Misty Halls of Kalavorka (2019) is my favorite of the Dungeon Delve line. In essence, this is Dungeoneers Guild Games taking a crack at the vibe of the G-series of modules. What we get is a sizable hex crawl that ends with a dungeon that has, at its core, a magical mystery. The Halls were once the domain of a mystical clan of cloud giants, but now they are home to evil fog giants and their servants. What happened?
This is a good spot to point out that R. Nelson Bailey, the author, seems to have an iron grip on the 1E D&D rules. Everything is set out in a straight forward manner and, even though environmental hazards are the thing I am most likely to jettison for my own games, I got a good sense of why it appeals to some players. Environmental stuff aside, this comprehension of the rules is a through-line in all the Dungeon Delves. This is worth pointing out because 1E is definitely the most poorly organized and most obtuse of the editions, I think – there are a good number of official 1E modules that feel less grounded in the rules than these.
Like Tower of the Black Sorcerers, there is (mostly) no formal plot or events, but plenty of potential plots emerge from the facts sketched out about the place, its history and its inhabitants. There is definitely a central mystery – a satisfying one about what happened to the original giants that occupied the fortress and where they got their mystical powers – but I thoroughly enjoy the fact that there is no sign posting for it and only the most inquisitive players will discover it.
The Halls themselves are well thought out and there is a good amount of stage direction for how the inhabitants react to intruders – unlike Dungeons of the Dread Wyrm, this isn’t a death trap and chatty PCs can take this scenario in surprising directions. There are also a couple cool new monsters; I particularly like the pale hag.
Excellent art throughout, but I particularly like Matthew Ray’s giants, which is a huge compliment because I tend to think giants are aesthetically boring.
