Zungeon Zunday: Standoff at Rotten Springs

In 2025 I’m reviewing zungeon zines. They’re stream of consciousness and unedited critiques, just like Bathtub Reviews, but they’ll be a little briefer. The goal here is a little different: I want to spotlight what a craft-based, just-do-it approach to module writing can do.

Standoff at Rotten Springs is a 1-page zungeon for Frontier Scum by Brendan Albano, written as an expansion to Gertie’s Guide to Rotten Springs. In it you rescue a team of archeologists who plan to excavate the heat engine powering rotten springs, who the local hermit has taken hostage.

This is hand-written in a single page, and I love the DIY attitude this brings. The map is a node-based thing, which, uses some neat annotation to communicate information.

There is some really neat interactivity here, for a one-pager: There are conflicts between the hermit and the archaeologists, at least one moral dilemma and a logistical one, which may potentially make for some really fun stories evolving out of this. I love that the titular stand off is almost entirely social rather than one of violence — my favourite kind of stand off.

Overall, you’re running Frontier Scum, or a system that matches the vibe (Eco-mofos or Vaults of Vaarn would fit fine I think), Stand-off at Rotten Springs is a no-brainer — and it comes with a guide to the hot springs in general, which is a broader setting to incorporate. Very cool.

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