[Riff]: Gary Gygax’s ‘The Village of Hommlet’ (TSR, 1979).
I: So, I Finally Read A Gygax Module
Writer:Elodie Orlando
For all my pretensions of loving RPGs, and the old-school scene in particular, I’ve never actually read an authentic classic. Well, that ends today. I’ve got T1 The Village of Hommlet, by the man himself, sitting in front of me. This will be a bit of a ‘first-impressions’ review.
It’s such an honour that Magneto and Doctor Strange just decided to stop by my tiny, filthy medieval farm.
First off, there is something deeply entertaining about the conversational tone. If only the designers of today used modules to brag about their secret home games, and agonise over whether they should write a blog post.
I must admit, though, that my actual first thought upon glancing over the location key was “thank Saint Cuthbert that we’ve gotten better at information presentation in 46 years”. The thing is written more like a flowery novel than any sort of usable table reference.
But, there is something magical and… real about cramming this thing with so many useless details about the most mundane things imaginable (and, apparently, treating every tiny farm shack like a dungeon-crawl wherein you’re just desperately trying to find the farmer’s tax-free cash mattress).
Now, before we get in too deep, I suppose it’s hard to mention Gary Gygax without being reminded of the… opinions he has expressed on women, that have sometimes made it into his work.
Much smarter people than me have written on this topic, but I will say that (in this reader’s opinion) only innocuous traces of it can be seen in this module. If I didn’t already know better, I certainly wouldn’t be telling you that this module was written by someone who had issues with women.
As I read, I do pick up something of a didactic tone to the entire story. The evil characters who show up in the village of Hommlet are not only a threat; they’re COWARDLY and WICKED and a CANCER to be STAMPED OUT. Perhaps it’s high fantasy embracing its Tolkeinian roots; perhaps it’s exactly what I should have expected from the guy who invented the infamous alignment grid, but I must admit it is a major personal peeve of mine. (Even if it is hilarious to read about an evil shop that only sells horses in need of palliative care and dogs so loyal that the shopkeep can keep selling the same dog over and over again.) [Editor’s Note: LMAO, what?! - Brady].
The final dungeon crawl is perhaps where I had the greatest expectations and greatest disappointment. (At a glance) I wouldn’t go so far as to call it bad, but it does feel a bit uninspired. The whole thing feels like a random string of monster closets, traps and gemstones that had no particular connection to the outside world or its rich backstory. If I can just as easily pay off what the module has been building up by creating my own dungeon, or even importing one from an entirely different module, this dungeon kind of feels like a waste of page-space.
Credit where credit is due, though, I did have a soft spot for the SPOILERS (territorial crayfish and petulant Gnolls), which I think I could have a lot of fun running.
Rats! I had such high hopes!
Indeed, I think what really shines in this module is the village itself. There are a lot of little dynamics and curiosities that make it feel like a living, breathing town. I would be very curious to see it in action one day, though I don’t doubt it would be quite an undertaking for any GM (especially with the old-timey presentation style).
Unlike the good old 80’s D&D alignment chart, my feelings aren’t purely black-and-white…
While I can’t imagine finding a place for this in my own campaign (especially since its stated purpose is primarily to build up to another, longer, and (according to the community) much worse module) I would recommend it to anyone unfamiliar with the early RPG scene simply as a curiosity. We’ve come a long way in 46 years, but we might have lost a little spark of magic along the way…
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