The Halls of Arden Vul is currently the focus of a new bundle on Bundle of Holding. For the uninitiated, The Halls of Arden Vul is a mega-dungeon, which is a large and complex dungeon designed for tabletop role-playing games, particularly for Dungeons & Dragons and similar systems. The OSR crowd really seems to like this kind of content. This mega-dungeon was created by Greg Gillespie and gained attention for its extensive size and detail. The Halls of Arden Vul was initially funded through a Kickstarter campaign, and the first edition was published in 2019. It was well-received within the tabletop RPG community, and its success led to further editions and expansions.
One of the defining features of Arden Vul is its massive size. It is often referred to as one of the largest dungeons ever created for tabletop gaming. The dungeon is designed to be explored over a long campaign, with players progressing through various levels filled with challenges, monsters, and treasures.
The design of Arden Vul reflects the old-school style of Dungeons & Dragons gameplay. It draws inspiration from classic dungeon crawls and emphasizes player agency, exploration, and problem-solving. The dungeon is known for its deadly traps, challenging encounters, and hidden secrets.
The mega-dungeon is set in a rich and detailed world with its own lore, history, and inhabitants. The dungeon itself is part of a larger context within the campaign setting. The attention to detail in both the dungeon’s design and the surrounding world adds depth to the overall gaming experience.
The dungeon incorporates classic fantasy themes, featuring various levels, each with its own unique challenges and themes. Players may encounter a wide range of creatures, from typical dungeon denizens like goblins and skeletons to more formidable foes and magical entities.
Arden Vul encourages player-driven exploration and decision-making. The dungeon is designed to accommodate various playstyles, allowing players to choose their own paths and tackle challenges in different ways.
Let’s look at the bundle, eh?
The bundle is only really the one item. It’s the complete edition of The Halls of Arden Vul. There are also some VTT bits and pieces, but these are freebies anyway, and they are presumably only included here for convenience. The book will cost you $24.95. The price is usually $109.00 if you were to take a look on DriveThruRPG.
At first glance, that seems steep. I’m certainly not going to sit here and try to tell you it’s cheap. There is a lot of content here, though. This product is a compilation of multiple volumes and contains a lot of stuff over its 1,120 pages, such as:
- 2,162 Encounter Descriptions
- 14 NPC Factions
- 10 Massive Levels
- 15 Extensive Sub-levels
- 7 Dangerous Exterior locations
- 149 New Monsters
- 332 New Magic Items
- 69 New Technological Items
- 44 New Spells
- 189 New Books through which PCs can gain a deep understanding of the dungeon
- A full NPC appendix with 10 competing parties at 3 levels of power
- Over 140 original pieces of art, including 28 full-page illustrations!
This is a product that probably isn’t for me. It’s for the OSR community, really, and we’ve previously established that I’m not really part of that. I can appreciate a labour of love, though. There’s a lot here, and it’s really fantastically thorough. If you’re looking for the most epic of dungeon dives, $25 doesn’t seem a big price to ask for a ridiculously well-developed mega-dungeon.
You can click here to visit the bundle page over at Bundle of Holding.
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