An Attempt at an Arden Vul Review
What separates a megadungeon even from the still impressive "kilodungeon" is, to me, the "incompleteability" of the thing. Arden Vul was released in 2020, and even now I feel confident in saying that no party has seen the whole thing. I'm sure some have had an epic campaign and maybe even gotten to the bottom, but the pure scope of Arden Vul makes it near impossible to complete. Because even if you played this thing for 10 years, that's 10 years of restocking, 10 years of factions moving around, 10 years of PCs leaving their mark on the place.
This is no complaint however. That's what makes it MEGA. There is a tiny spark of magic that's lost once a whole dungeon is mapped out. Some dungeons, with 5-7 rooms, last a single session before the magic is depleted. Some last a months. And some last an entire campaign. But once it's completed, the huge, rich, space of possibility flattens out into nothing more than a 2D map. But once a certain horizon is passed in scale and interconnectivity, the magic (plus a talented and hard working DM) is self-sustaining.
All of this to say, can anyone really review a big of a project as Arden Vul yet? Well, yes, to an extent. As best as anyone can review a megadungeon. At least that's my excuse to writing a review right now (at the time of writing, there is a sale on this beast, part of my motivation to write up my thoughts). I have been running Arden Vul for over 30 weekly sessions now, using Advanced OSE. I'm not an AD&D guy at heart, but it's hard to run without at least a copy of OSRIC on hand. If I were to start over, I would probably use OD&D plus all supplements (such as Swords & Wizardry) for a AD&D lite approach. I also run it as an open table, where players can drop in and out between sessions. That's my preferred way to run D&D in the modern age, but Arden Vul will absolutely shine best with dedicated players. Note taking, mapping, and canny politicking are necessary for PC success.
So why did I choose to run this campaign? I actually bought the bundle a whole year before I ran it, and despite the vibes drawing me in, the pages and pages of history and lore, what the goblins think of the halflings, and so on, I shelved it. I was already running a game at that point, and reading Arden Vul was work. This is no Stonehell, where you can run it off the cuff. Arden Vul is not only big, it is chewy, with history and politics and architectural styles and geology. But once I finished up my last campaign, it did call back to me. I was inspired to return to it, of course, by 3d6DTL's great and honest actual play on YouTube. But while the other players in my group took turns running one shots for a while, I dove in and read. I will say this: the book as reference material is poor. The book as a read is entertaining. But the book as a way to teach you what's going on, to get you ready to run, to inspire you to add your own flair, and why not, add in an extra sub-level ("Here's a great place for the enterprising referee to do so," the author writes as if it's a simple undertaking) is fantastic.
There aren't a ton of reviews of Arden Vul that I know of, but what I have seen leans towards the negative. Or at least that it's chock full of good ideas, but the juice isn't worth the squeeze. And it very well may not be for you! But I do think that if you dive in, and you like what you see, give it a shot. It is a deeply rewarding game to run. I don't exaggerate when I say that if my current gaming group (god forbid) fell through, I would find new people and just start Arden Vul over again (It's not Stockholm syndrome, I swear).
So, you're maybe interested in Arden Vul. Does reading at least a 100 pages before even running sound like a huge waste of time? Does dedicating a months of play just to the surface and first level sound impossible for your group? Does paying all that money for what doesn't even function as reference material feel like a ripoff? If so, Arden Vul just may not be for you. Please, don't force it on yourself if that sounds miserable. But if you like detailed, rich history. If you like the baroque feel of AD&D (even if you use different rules). If you desperately want a dungeon that hits like Caverns of Thracia (formatting and all), then Arden Vul may be for you.
It's not arbitrarily that I compare Arden Vul to Caverns of Thracia. Yes, Arden Vul is, like 50 times as big as Caverns. But, it is one of two adventures cited by name as direct inspiration (along with Rappan Athuk). Like Caverns, Arden Vul provides my ideal mix of pulp, history, and (dare I say) gonzo. Not the big gonzo like Anomalous Subsurface Environment, but the occasional reminder that we're not dealing with history or basic D&D monsters, that anything can happen down there in the depths. And it provides it all with a loving, if wordy, description and the occasional wink and nudge, as if to say, "Oh yes, my players hated this room."
But all of that is the "reading review." What are my thoughts after running the damn thing? Does it hold up to my imagination? Yes it does. And despite endless tweaking, restocking, and creative reinterpretation of some of the lore, it keeps going. Or maybe because of all that, it has gained a life of its own. Yes some of the rooms are PAIN to read at the table. I highly suggest making your players tell you their plans for the next session at the end of the previous session. But I have also spent time rereading the most well trod parts of the dungeon, and even rewriting much of level 3 as more easily referenced material. But the need for reference material does start to shrink when you get a good grip on the content. And the content is so dense, that the party will probably be on one of the two entry levels for dozens of sessions. But yes, the game does have its homework.
If you do run it, don't be afraid to change things. Some of the mechanics given for a room (like some weird dex rolls and turn tracking to escape and collapsing ceiling) don't make that much sense to me, but they also really feel like rulings that the author came up with in the moment and wrote down as a suggestion, not the law of the land. Also, 2d6 under Dexterity every time they climb up the stairs to the dungeon entrance? Are characters with 11 and under Dexterity just not allowed in? That is madness, Richard!
And all I can really say for my "actually hit the table review" is that we're still playing it after 30 sessions. I still love it, and my players show up every week. They cheer when they unearth glittering hoards in obnoxiously hidden and trapped tombs, and they groan in agony when they get beaten down. Arden Vul is mean to those poor PCs, but it is extremely rewarding. And likewise, for the referee, it is a mean book, just a huge undertaking to prep for, but the reward is worth it.
After three hard days’ march from the town of Newmarket, the setting sun illuminates a thunderous waterfall pouring down the fabled cliff face of Arden Vul. Two colossi carved into the cliff to the right of the waterfall stare stonily across the valley. A twinkle of sunlight catches on the rocks ... is it the spray from the falls? or could it be the glint of metal moving up the cliff? There’s only one way to find out ... Adventure awaits!