The Other OSR: The Cavern of Cursed Tears

The Cavern of Cursed Tears is a low preparation, pick-up-and-play scenario for Pirate Borg, the self-described, “Worst Pirate RPG Ever Made™!” Published by Limithron, it is an Old School Renaissance-style roleplaying game is set in the Dark Caribbean, a sea of tropical islands marked with European towns and fortresses and ruins of civilisations long gone, of shipwrecks with rich cargoes and even richer treasures, and of the Scourge. The Scourge made the dead walk once again, ghosts return to haunt the living, and monsters lurk ready to the foothold that the Europeans have established in the region. The governors and the viceroys, representatives of kings and queens, have forced to adapt and rule with no contact from home following the Scourge and even take advantage of the situation, especially since the discovery of the abilities and addictive nature of ASH, the ash of the burned and ground undead. Some seek to make money from the trade in ASH and some seek to control it, whilst others seek to repress it. This is another cause of the conflict in the Dark Caribbean. Pirate Borg casts the players as members of a crew who will sail the ASH-tinged waters the Dark Caribbean, raiding and smuggling, carousing and drinking, adventuring and exploring. Pirate Borg is based upon Mörk Borg, the Swedish pre-apocalypse Old School Renaissance style roleplaying game designed by Ockult Örtmästare Games and Stockholm Kartell and also published by Free League Publishing.

The Cavern of Cursed Tears is said to be the last resting pace of the treasures of not one, but two pirate captains who happened to be in love with each other. The Cavern of Cursed Tears is rumoured to be of interest to both the British Royal Society and the Inquisition. The Cavern of Cursed Tears is said by many pirates to be cursed, but that will not stop Sir Barrington from looking for a crew to sail him to the island where it is located and then lead an expedition into its depths. These are just some of the rumours that can be discovered about the Cavern of Cursed Tears and certainly, the Game Master could create more. The rumours are the reason to get the Player Characters and their expedition to the mouth of the sinkhole that drops away into the dark. Below there are caverns filled with bones, caverns filled with bats, a cenote and a water maze, and much more that the Player Characters need to traverse before they get anywhere near its secrets.

The Cavern of Cursed Tears is straightforward and linear, there are good reasons for this, both in game and out of game. In game, this is a limited network of caves, but split over two levels. The lower level is mostly underwater and there is a great sense of verticality throughout. The Player Characters will need to do a lot of climbing and jumping to clamber from one cavern to the next, whilst below, any Player Character who can swim well and/or hold his breath will be at an advantage. In addition, the Antiquarian and Deep One Classes from the Down Among the Dead supplement for Pirate Borg are also appropriate, whilst any Player Character with a musical ability will be very useful. Out of game, The Cavern of Cursed Tears is straightforward and linear because it is presented in a trifold format with the whole of the cave network presented on the inside three pages, running from left to right as a side view cutaway, rather than as a more traditional top down map. This allows the descriptions of the upper parts of the cave network to be placed above the side-on view of the caves, with the descriptions of lower parts placed under the side-on view. This is a fantastic layout and as the Player Characters progress through the caves, the attention and eye of the Game Master is pulled across the inner of the trifold, and into the depths of both the cave network and its secrets.

There are elements of the supernatural in the upper two, sandwiched layers of the Cavern of Cursed Tears, notably Chonchonchon, Lord of the Grotto, a necrotic crocodile, but they come to the fore at the end of the cave network, below the upper sections. Here there is a lake and classic Mesoamerican step-pyramid with its own secrets to discover and treasures to plunder. There are some fantastic moments here, such as a shaft lined with dozens of skull-shaped stones, each with a glyph on their foreheads. The glyphs can be played as a tune and when that happens, five thousand glowing skulls appear, and chanting, form stairs leading down… This has a fantastic sense of pulp action a la the Indiana Jones films–and it is not the only one in the scenario. Plus, of course, there is something nasty protecting protecting the secrets of the Cavern of Cursed Tears. The stats for the cast and bestiary of the scenario are given on the back of the trifold and here and there, there are extra notes for the Game Master.

Physically, The Cavern of Cursed Tears is very nicely presented. It is clear and very easy to read and the trifold format is used highly effectively. The map, or rather the sideview of the caves, is well done, as is the step-pyramid below.

The Cavern of Cursed Tears will probably take a session or two to explore. It has a strong emphasis physical exploration with hints of the supernatural that manifest more fully at the end of the scenario. Self-contained, it could be run as a convention or demonstration scenario, but the Game Master might want to cut out the middle section of the cave network to ensure that her Player Characters reach the end. Otherwise, The Cavern of Cursed Tears is very easy to add to a Pirate Borg campaign. It has secrets, it has treasures, and both of those will attract all sorts. The Cavern of Cursed Tears is an entertaining mini-dungeon done the Pirate Borg way.