Echoes from Fomalhaut #1: The Writing Is Just That Good

Echoes from Fomalhaut by Gabor Lux - the same person who did Castle Xyntillan and a bunch of other adventures. He’s prolific. This is a zine from the First Hungarian D20 Society, and it’s not just an adventure review - there’s loads of useful content plus a couple of great adventures.

The art is charming. Black and white, which suits my printer perfectly. I love printing stuff.

Bazaar of the Bizarre

This table lets you create almost infinite market NPCs. Roll on each column, combine the results.

Example: Arrogant, brutal auctioneer selling drugs as a last-ditch gambit at reduced prices.

Example: Dishonest, dreamy hedonist selling horses while concealing their real temperament. Evil horses that are going to mess you up.

This is exactly the kind of tool I love. Immediately useful.

The First Adventure: Bee Cave

A fantastic adventure I’d drop into any campaign. The writing is amazing.

The Beekeeper: A ragged man clad in resin and reinforced birch bark. His limbs are caked with black filth and his face is covered in a thick veil. He cannot speak except in sibilant buzzing voices that imitate the bees which constantly accompany him. The beekeeper is insane and utterly unpredictable - known to torment intruders to death with his bees as well as rescue them. Most of the time he just ignores you.

You can read that aloud to players. The writing standard is so high that it works as direct description.

The Beekeeper’s Nook contents:

• Bee-repellent incense sticks (super useful in this dungeon)
• Jar of polymorphic honey (turn into desired form or random animal)
• Amber preserving echoes of a long-dead druid speaking about the glory of undisturbed wilderness

That’s what you find in one character’s lair. Not a +1 sword. Something with story.

This Is How You Do A Trap

A runic inscription on the wall. Players are going to want to read it - that’s the bait.

As they step on the pressure plate, they hear a scraping noise, then something bouncing. Save versus petrification or be ground underneath an enormous boulder that rolls down. 6d6 damage.

But here’s the genius: when the boulder crashes through, it opens a new tunnel. Ethereal tunes wail through the curved passage. They’ve paid a price, but now they’re being called forward to something new.

That’s not just a trap. That’s dungeon design.

The Writing Continues

Mushroom Caverns: Tall man-sized mushrooms in fantastic colors fill this cavern while plant life hypnotically sways. Flowers thrive among the thick fungal stems. Small wisps of light float like fireflies, congregating above an undisturbed pool of water.

The Nexus: The passage converges on a round pedestal above which the statue of a hooded priest levitates upside down. Several smaller items orbit around this strange enigma.

You don’t need more than that for a room description. When players figure out what they want to do, you can skim the rest.

Harry Havoc

A fugitive in the dungeon. An orc called Harry Havoc who fell down a well in a drunken stupor and is too afraid to venture past the dead or even make noise. He’s already eaten one of his boots.

He’ll give you Hugo’s silver dinner service if you rescue him.

Now you’ve got an orc wandering around with you with one boot off. Not just “a prisoner” - a whole story.

Filters and Dusts

Magical dusts to throw into your campaigns:

Dust of Desiccation: A single dose instantaneously dries up a pool or well and significantly lowers a small lake. If you ingest it, save or turn into a desiccated husk.

Dust of the Blacked Monks: Sprinkled on a recently slain corpse, it causes such excruciating pain that the spirit will answer any question (like Speak With Dead). But there’s a 1-in-6 chance the tormented spirit turns into a restless specter and pursues you.

Super useful. Players will absolutely use it when they have to. But that worry something’s going to come back at them? Perfect.

Skeletal Dust: Fossilized bones of ancient undead ground with funeral spices. Subjects must save or be reduced to the strength of an infant.

Imagine your villain throwing that at the party.

The Cursed Sword Done Right

A 12-foot skeleton sits on a stone throne, clutching a magical two-handed sword. Third eye socket in its forehead. Inanimate.

Players are going to want that sword. They’re going to be terrified of getting it.

The sword: +3 two-handed, semi-transparent deep blue glass-like substance.

The curses (manifest a week later):

1. Opponents gain +2 to hit you when you’re below 10 HP
2. If fleeing combat, every successful hit causes double damage
3. Can be handed over - but you’ll be visited by three red men and challenged to mortal combat

Kill all three red men? Now it’s a +3 sword with no curses, plus once daily it produces a heat ray for 5d8 damage.

That’s how curses should work. You work through them, you earn the reward.

Bottom Line

For about six dollars, you get an evening’s reading plus loads of usable, gameable content. The writing is beautiful. I can print it at home.

I’m hoping the other issues in this series live up to this one. Looking forward to covering more of Gabor Lux’s work.

Get it. Echoes from Fomalhaut