This a handbook for designing “adventures”, as the term is used in Dungeons and Dragons, namely, a map or story prepared by the gamemaster beforehand for the other players to explore and experience through their characters later. This book is not, as the author himself states at several points, a collection of random tables convenient for use at the table or for improvisation. Rather, he says, the random tables are meant to “shock the reader’s creativity into operation”, serving as fodder for creative rumination. To this end, many entries are open-ended or cryptic.

The tables are roughly organised in the order in which the author thinks it likely they will be used, beginning with locations, missions and villains, and then proceeding through monsters, dungeons, and the wilderness. The sheer number and variety of tables is staggering. Mercifully, the tables of contents (plural!) are all hyperlinked in the PDF. The layout leaves something to be desired, but everything is clear. The tables are interspersed with reflexions on creativity in general and adventure design in particular. The author has found a method that suits his purposes very well, and he shares it with the reader in an authoritative, even professorial, tone.

Now, none of this is quite what I expected when I purchased the book. I was hoping for a collection of interesting people, places, etc. that I could roll up and weave into my game. I was dismayed to see how few of the tables were suitable for this. For example, the locations table will not return evocative names like the Tower of the Dawn or Redjaw Pass, but rather enigmas like the Elliptical Stockades of the Many-Legged Daughter or the Wooden Mounds of the Zombie Star. As mentioned above, this is intentional because the author finds that these Delphic phrases drive his thinking in unexpected directions: me they just confuse. A wonderful exception is the chapter on monsters, which yields intriguing creatures and manifestations specific enough to tickle the imagination, and nebulous enough to work into any ruleset or story.

A second misconception I had before buying the book was that it would work equally well with games other than D&D: the blurb, after all, says that it “can be used with virtually any fantasy game”. This may be true of other games that require the gamemaster to plan the sessions out in detail ahead of time, but it is not true of the games I prefer, like Dungeon World. To make matters worse, the book refers in several places directly to rules (like saving throws) which are particular to D&D and its closest cousins. I believe even a gamemaster who plays D&D will find it difficult to make full use of this book if he has an improvisational style (à la Sly Flourish). This is a staggering oversight given the amount of thought and care that the author has obviously lavished on this project.

A final consideration is the writing, which may seem odd given how little continuous writing there is in this volume. The advice and commentary, however, are an integral part of the book, laying out the purpose and guiding the interpretation of each section. The author expresses himself clearly and sprinkles his work with often delightful allusions. As described above, he delivers his ideas in an authoritative and professorial tone, which is where the trouble comes in. Just as he seems to assume that all fantasy games are like conventional D&D, he assumes that everyone thinks exactly as he does. In the introduction, he asserts (in bold letters, if you like) that one cannot brainstorm in the way that I myself routinely do. The reader (or, at least, this reader) is left with the impression that the author’s confidence exceeds his knowledge, which is unfortunate given the many kernels of sound advice found throughout the book.

To conclude, then, I will certainly use several sections from this book (especially the monsters!, and also several other tables near the beginning and end). The author had a very clear purpose in compiling this volume, and seems to have succeeded: I just wish that I had understood it before buying, because it limits the usefulness of the book to me.