All,

This module is a little gem.

I have been playing RPGs for 30 years and used/played about 100 published RPG modules. I almost always end up making material modifications to make them work (removing circus style different monsters and gonzo silliness that undermines dark ambience or story theme, cleaning up random 'no purpose' NPCs to give motives/character etc).

This module was able to bolted on directly with internally consistent whimsical and mysterious fae themed structures, monsters, maps, NPCs and backstory. I used everything.

The map is standalone and consistently themed, each room entry is succinct and unique. One read over an entry and then I just glance at it in game and we are on.

Only a very few modules achieve this standard.

Oliver

Great dungeon layout that tells a story without railroading. The conceit of a two part password to get the macguffin encourages exploration. Clear organization and layout reminiscent of OSE core books. I ran it only having skimmed it for twenty minutes the night before and it ran very fluidly. Statted for OSE but I ran it with Beyond the Wall (very similar thematically to Dolmenwood but less strictly B/X than OSE). Only adaptation I had to make was to tone down the treasure (different xp rules).

Great dungeon layout that tells a story without railroading. The conceit of a two part password to get the macguffin encourages exploration. Clear organization and layout reminiscent of OSE core books. I ran it only having skimmed it for twenty minutes the night before and it ran very fluidly. Statted for OSE but I ran it with Beyond the Wall (very similar thematically to Dolmenwood but less strictly B/X than OSE). Only adaptation I had to make was to tone down the treasure (different xp rules).

This is an excellent module with a strong eerie fairytale theme and narrative background while still being very varied in the manner of encounters, challenges and obstacles it offers players, and still avoids railroading a party into approaching the dungeon 'the right way'. I've run this module a number of times with different groups of players, some experienced OSR players, some complete newcomers to RPGs, some only having played 5e, and each group has tackled the module in a different way with a different outcome.

Presentation This is one of the best laid-out modules I've read - it is very GM-friendly. Lore is brief but sufficiently presented in bullet points, and room descriptions are clear, terse and very good at prodding the GM's imagination into gear. It's very straightforward to run with minimal prep.

Playstyle This is one of my go-to modules for one shots, especially with groups unfamiliar with the OSR playstyle - it provides a bit of narrative guidance for those less used to completely open sandbox gaming, but acts as a good introduction to many old-school motifs. It's probably more forgiving than many old-school dungeons, but groups going in guns blazing won't get far. There are a good selection of encounters which encourage (and some require) a non-combat mindset.

It has some nice plot hooks beginning - each one handy for different groups, depending on where they might sit on the hero / mercenary spectrum.

Length For all that it has several maps, it's also quite a short module - I've seen it take between 2.5 and 4 hours, depending on the group.