The Dancing Hut of Baba Yaga (1995) is apparently intended to be a new and fifth installment in the S-series of scenarios (begun in 1978 with Tomb of Horrors). That’s according to Shannon Appelcline, who sites the TSR Triviathon as his source. I have a strong desire to not learn anything more about a thing called the TSR Triviathon, so I am content to trust Shannon in this. [Just kidding, I bought a copy, you’ll see it here in 2027.]
Baba Yaga, of course, is a witch from Slavic and Russian folklore dating to the mid-18th century. She sometimes flies around in a gigantic mortar (using the pestle to steer) and lives in a chicken-legged house. For modern audiences, she is probably best known in her true aspect as part of Mike Mignola’s Hellboy universe, or as an incongruous nickname for the assassin John Wick. Her hut has been kicking around D&D as an artifact since Eldritch Wizardry but this is the first time she appeared in an official D&D product (though she appeared previously in Dragon Magazine, most notably in a scenario by Roger E. Moore).
The hut, of course, is bigger and weirder on the inside. It “dances” across the multiverse by plane-shifting periodically. When it arrives in player’s world, some strange things happen. A young girl begs them to bring a doll to her sister, who is imprisoned in the hut, the ghost of a fortune teller wants them to go in to find a stolen tarot card and a wizard who has information they need has disappeared, likely inside the hut. Thus enticed, the players likely go exploring. Once inside, while tending to their task, they might find an emergent story involving Baba Yaga’s attempt to capture Death. Or they might not. The witch might never cross their path! It’s an interesting set-up and while the bizarre quality of many of the rooms often beggars belief in that gonzo, old-school way, the whole thing hangs together pretty convincingly.
Interior art by Matthew Cavotta, who I am not familiar with. It’s fine. I hate Easley’s cover though. The position of Baba Yaga’s inset head make it seem to me like it is attached to the hut and peering backwards at the adventurers. It would be a much better piece if the head wasn’t there. And if the adventurers were reacting in any way to the monstrous hut stomping towards them?
