As others said, it’s a solid adventure packed with good ideas, no need to repeat all that. But I have a question since I haven't played Shadowdark: isn't this module insanely deadly? In most OSR systems, the repeating debuff from the yellow passages would be brutal, and that encounter frequency makes me wonder if the party can move. Or is that just standard Shadowdark design?
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Good question, thanks for asking!
So, in Shadowdark, a Risky area has a 1-in-6 chance of encounter every two Crawling rounds, rather than the more common 1-in-6 every dungeon turn. It's the most neutral encounter frequency the game offers, number two of three options. Two of the Spiral's Random Encounters (gaining a spell and moving to a random room) are non-deadly; depending on whether you've destroyed the Flesh Tanks, these are 25-33% of encounters.
Regarding the Yellow Passage Debuff, my thinking is most parties will get zapped by it once, and then avoid using it outside of emergency circumstances (fleeing loose Kraken or escaping the Temple). Because the Black Passages spiral, you can jump deeper into the dungeon (likely 2->6 or 4->8), but you're still encouraged to hit all the rooms you skipped on your way back out. I don't want anyone to miss those Flesh Tanks! Similarly, the party hits the Rooms-5-9-7-connection likely having been burnt already, encouraging them to move along Black Passages. This makes 5->6 vs 5->9 a deeper choice, and encourages parties who've fought Ranmyaku to hit the Treasure Vault. Of course, all of this can be avoided/mastered by dealing with the Kraken enough to take control of the dilating wheel in Room 4.
But I've been answering your questions in reverse. Let me get to the first one. "Isn't this module insanely deadly?"
Yeah, a bit.
Most of the encounters are level-appropriate, but the Kraken is not. It can easily TPK a party of the recommended size and level. I see it more as a puzzle than a combat, but it's for sure a puzzle that will eat your cleric. That said, I think the Shadowdark community does take a little pride in playing a high-mortality game. It's part of the way the game marketed itself to the (sizeable group of) 5e converts it brought in. Character creation is fast, and letting a PC get crunched by a giant monster sets the stakes! Besides, there's nothing like an overleveled monster to get your players thinking creatively.
In any case, thanks for giving me a chance to talk about this stuff! Sorry if I'm long winded.