Read Review - The Isle of Morr
Read Reviews are summaries of thoughts on pieces I have read but have yet to play. These are distinct from Play Reviews in which I will examine the game as it unfolded at the table.
Presentation
The Isle of Morr is written and illustrated by Arthur Owen-Smith and published by Uncharted. It presents itself as an OSR hexcrawl adventure, delivering this succinctly in a minimal and sleek look. The content is system neutral, containing simple procedures, generators and the trappings familiar to anyone adept to the playstyle. Numbering 50 pages, it provides enough gameable content and details without becoming dry or over extending itself on set-up and lore. For $10 it’s quite the hefty bundle.
Writing
While I think the text is a little over-written in some descriptions and entries, it is evocative in imagery and tone, painting the titular isle in a balmy fog, where rain seeps in a bone-deep chill. You can pick up on themes of isolation, jealousy, envy and hatred stagnating into rotting resentments. A number of named inhabitants have a paranoia to them, yet there are a handful of characters who break this mold that offer a refreshment to wandering encounters. The tone is morose, but it never reads as overtly grimdark or fatalistic.
Artwork
The art is simply great, I’m assuming it is drawn by the author himself. It’s used sparingly as icons and spot pieces, consisting of stylized line work that captures the character of the setting very well. The adventure doesn’t heavily rely on artwork to convey its tone and doesn’t overfill the page with scenes or splash pieces. The front cover is simple, black line work over moss coloring which effectively presents the setting atmosphere as a first impression. The layout is clean, flowing well on the page. The typography can get busy on high information pages, but never feels haphazard, guiding you well enough to not get lost or confused while reading.
Material
The setting features a number of useful tables filled with great gameable material laid out in sensible sequence. As a GM there is plenty to work with and from a solo perspective there is tons of meat to shuck from the random tables. This is very much a play-to-find-out setting offering a number of threads and hooks to explore for those interested in following them. Wandering NPCs provide affable interactions with fleshed out characteristics and clear ambitions to pursue. Some tables feature an interesting roll procedure of 3d6 +/-3 to offer variety to results. A few location specific tables but up against the general encounter table, but this should be leaned into to produce a multitude of unique situations that could arise.
The Sea Caves and Ruins sections act as build your own dungeon area, doing so quite effectively. This design is directly influenced by the Dark Fort solo adventure game which creates branching paths dictated from a simple die rolling procedure, ensuring that no two structures are the same. You can roll them in the moment or do the legwork to create ready to delve dungeons beforehand.
The Truths section in the back of the book offers the final word on a few choice items, locations, history and people. These secrets tie up the setting in a nice bow. Where there is some uncertainty there is room for interpretation.
Final Thoughts
Players who feel swept up in the cold rainy winds are sure to want to explore every inch of the isle and converse with its many inhabitants. There are some enigmatic parts, without direct answers, like the role of Cranny or just exactly how to get into the foggy draped Castle Morr from the abandoned Tomb Fields. Yet these questions don’t detract from the fun, and instead fuel the mystery of the isle, always leaving a pocket still yet to be discovered. In my imagination I picture Mother Cranny as some primordial force à la Tom Bombidil, and that Castle Morr only exists tantalizingly behind the rolling fog, forever out of reach to fools who seek it.
I’m surprised I haven’t seen more by Arthur Owen-Smith in the wild; taking a glance at the other work from Uncharted yields a plethora of mighty materials. The Isle of Morr is well worth its price providing a sufficient amount of material for group or solo play.