Tomb Complex of Nereshanbo

[strangebrew]

Can anyone provide any information about this Tekumel module? From the posts on this board it seems that it's for the Sword and Glory system, but has EPT stats in the back. Someone also posted the dungeon map, redone digitally from the looks of it.

Considering picking it up, but just wondering if its interesting at all. Had the same question about the Nightmare Maze but then decided against it based on people's input.

[bigjackbrass]

Nereshánbo is certainly a better dungeon than Nightmare Maze. Sounds as though you've already located the redone map, which is a lot clearer than the one in the book: the original isn't exactly illegible, but some areas are a little fuzzy or cluttered.

The adventure itself is described as an introductory one, which according to the introduction means five to ten characters of first to third level. There are a few paragraphs providing the backstory about the great mage Nereshánbo hiViridáme and how his tomb was mysteriously "blotted out" from the records and abandoned by the priests of Ksárul who formerly attended it. As the adventure starts the tomb has supposedly been abandoned for a thousand years and there is a short section on getting there and locating the entrance. The GM also gets notes on the style and construction of the tomb, details of lighting etc, not to mention the chance to roll on something called The Chart of a Thousand Diseases

After that it's a fairly traditional dungeon adventure full of wandering monsters, ancient guardians, traps and other assorted dangers leading up to the actual burial chamber of Nereshánbo himself. A brief "to hit" chart for the monsters in EPT format appears at the back, followed by a page and a half of Swords & Glory stats and the full-page map of the complex.

Depending on what you count as a room there are more than thirty locations in the dungeon, not including corridors. One of the more interesting features, much more clearly depicted on the redone colour version of the map, is the canal which flows clockwise around the tomb, forming both a barrier and a possible means of travel.

Overall, this is nothing more or less than a dungeon adventure. If you're not fond of them then Nereshánbo won't change your mind, but it does have plenty of Tékumel flavour and there's lots to keep a party occupied. I'd say that it's a solid effort and there are plenty of opportunities for the GM to tweak it to suit his own group. Hope that helps to give you a better pitcure, let me know if you need anything specific.

[strangebrew]

Whoa bigjackbrass, that's exactly what I was looking for. Sounds pretty cool. Now I'm pretty curious about what lies in that burial chamber....

[bigjackbrass]

No spoilers from me! You'll have to brave the perils of the underworld yourself...

If you do run the adventure please let us know how it goes.

[xerxez]

strangebrew

I owned this for quite awhile and ran my players through it. I jumped the gun once and sold most of my tekumel stuff at a local shop here and have regretted it ever since!

It's a very fun module. Very deadly, almost tomb of horrors deadly in my opinion. Beginning EPT characters don't have many hp, and the traps alone here can do them in, lots of falling and collapsing traps. Lots of percentage chances for bad stuff that are pretty low but if you get a bad roll it could do a character in on the spot. Also, lots of room here to work in info on Tekumel's unique religious background, very flavorful.

Lots of thinking required and being cautious in this scenario as opposed to thud and blunder, though plenty of that too. There's an underground river and ancient gondola that add quite a bit of interest and a lot of arcane and supernatural flavoring. Very challenging! I wish more were written for the background leading up to the exploration of the complex, could really have some cool Temple intrigues written into this one. But overall, its one of the most fun dungeons I ever dm'd.

You will want a cleaned up and enlarged copy of the map as was mentioned.

It's a blast though!