While redrawing the Comeback Inn maps for my own campaign use, I came across some strangeness with the maps in DA1 compared to their room descriptions. Here are some inconsistencies I found:

- the Hayloft (room 28 on the Main Level) is shown to be 40’ by 80’ on the map, but the description states “this 60-foot by 80-foot hayloft...”. Possible typo? That’s what I am assuming.

- again with the Hayloft, the map shows double doors on the southern wall on the Main Floor, and double doors in the same spatial position on the Lower Level. It can be inferred that the Lower Level doors are actually at ground level, because just beyond the doors is a 15’ long ramp that descends 10’ below ground, as stated in the lower level description (room 1). So, if the Main Level map has doors in this same position, are they the same doors as those of the Lower Level? If so, does that mean the same doors access the ramp down to the lower level AS WELL AS the hayloft? I don’t think so.

- finally, while trying to do a side view/elevation diagram of the Inn, I was finding that the lower level, with its 20 foot high ceilings as per the text description, was causing that level to overlap 10 feet into the main level.

I looked at the two art pieces depicting the Inn found in this module; one on page 11, and the other on the fold-out cover. I was hoping they’d provide some clarity.

The rendition on page 11 was no help - it really looks nothing like the Inn as depicted in the maps or as described in the descriptions. Assuming the view is as if looking at it from the southwestern corner (based on the stable doors being visible straight ahead), there are many obvious errors - windows in the stables where there are none in the corresponding map, improper dimensions (stable should be longer than it is wide; this depiction makes it wider than it is long), a massive cobblestone hearth chimney that is not shown in the maps, the stable being ahead of the Inn’s main building rather than being recessed to the main building’s northwest corner, the front porch being on the Inn’s eastern side instead of the western side, no third floor tower room (room 52), etc. Speaking of hearth chimney... I have another point to make about that, but I’ll get to it later.

Thankfully, the “Blackmoor Hostel” art piece in the foldout cover did help. It has a view of the Inn as if looking at it from the south side. It shows the stable’s doors being in a sunken area of ground, about 1 floor (maybe 10 feet) below the main floor. This makes sense; the doors are supposed to open onto a ramp that descends 10 feet below ground (in this case, “ground level” is the ground level at the stable door entrance, not the ground level relative to the rest of the building). The ceiling height of the stables, and all other areas of the lower level except room 8, are 20 feet as per the module text. So this would put all of the lower level areas below the main level, rather than overlapping it partially as was happening when I was trying to keep the stable doors on the same elevation as the main Inn entrance.

So with the elevation issue solved, we still have the issue of those doors going to the hayloft. The Blackmoor Hostel diagram on the fold-out cover shows... something... above the stable double doors, but is it another set of doors? Looks more like a window to me, a very large one, but not doors.

The description of the hayloft (room 28) has this to say: “A barred double door opens onto the yard outside the inn. Jumping or climbing from this door leaves one in a pile of loose hay in the loft’s northeast corner.” Huh? So, jumping out of the southern doors to the yard outside will land me... back inside the hayloft (as expected, due to the magical properties of the Inn) in the northeast corner (not expected, as the doors are in the southwest corner).

Thinking about this rationally, I can’t see there being doors to the hayloft on the south side above the stable doors. First of all, how would you stock it for its designed purpose (storing hay), being at least 10 feet off the ground (and 20 feet off the floor of the stable)? Would you carry the hay up the ladder inside? No. Use a winch or block and tackle? That’s commonly how it’s done, but there’s no mention of any such apparatus here.

To me, the most logical explanation is that the doors are not on the front (south) side, but rather the back (north) side, and the ground at the back of the stable doesn’t dip down 10 feet at the stable like it does on the front side, thereby putting those doors in a useful position - at ground level. This also means that when someone tries to leave the inn by means of these doors in the north, they wind up back inside in the northeast - totally in line with how the “Come Back In” magic is supposed to work.

Last thing (and sorry for the long post!), I mentioned a chimney is shown on the page 11 diagram, but not in the maps (nor the Blackmoor Hostel diagram, as it so happens). Now, this establishment has a forge and a ridiculous number of fireplaces and stoves, yet no chimneys on the maps? How are all of these venting? The fireplaces in the common room are all between windows, meaning they can’t share a common chimney. And I count 18 fireplaces and stoves that are not bordering an exterior wall, where chimneys would normally be constructed. Are these all magical in nature, designed not to smoke? If so, it is not stated. If anybody has any ideas about handling this, or if they have spotted any other inconsistencies or have explanations on interpreting what may seem to be such, please chime in!

P.S. (double sorry, just thought of this!): Does anybody else find it strange that every single window in the Inn is a bay window? This is as per the descriptions in the text and the symbol being used for windows...


Xylarthen

I tried a few times running this adventure exactly as it is written and, eventually, each time I caved in and run it differently.
I know that it doesn't sound very nice, but I do believe that this adventure (like other old school adventures) was actually thought to be run only after the game master reviews it and makes some change. Sometimes quite a lot of changes.

So true; I think many of the TSR modules from this era were never play tested. For example, I believe module A1 Slave Pits of the Undercity is missing a door on the map, effectively cutting off access to half of the encounter areas, and WG8 Fate of Istus has an adventure in it that requires discovery of a secret door to advance. Got burned by both of those before, so now I do a sort of “walk through” of most adventures on my own before subjecting them to my group.

- Xylarthen