I backed the Kickstarter for 2 Worm 2 Furious and it turned up.
As described in the Kickstarter it is a "deadly funnel that revolves around an ever mutating and evolving moth grub. You’ll want 4-6 players, 15-20 level 0 characters, as it’s a funnel, but it works for levels 1+" - but what turns up is an art explosion. The design and production are gorgeous with lots of strange and interesting art.
The contents page showcases the standard throughout - looking like it was inspired by medieval manuscript through the page edgings. Little details like this throughout the book make it a treat to read.
In content we have ~40 pages of the funnel, ~30 pages of Appendices with NPCs, a map, Portents of the Worm and rules for having the Doom-bringer Moth as a patron. Designed to be used for Dungeon Crawl Classics, as long as you have the dice, then it would be straight forward to adapt for whatever D&D adjacent system you use at your table.
The adventure itself is a high-octane ride; there are a few early adventures with some low stakes activities to allow the background of the strange kingdom we are in to be set out. Once the grub escapes and things start rolling, it all spirals very quickly indeed. The cadence is set by the grubs dice tracker - various events cause the grub to grow a dice size - and once it gets to the top of the tracker, the Doom-bringer moth comes and well, time for a fast exit or a fiery doom. In a small mercy, the grubs dice chain inclues all of the DCC dice - starting at d3 and adding d5, d7, d14, d16, d24 and d30 - but the grub grows quickly, this margin is rapidly burned through. The knock on implications for the bigger grub are hilariously bad for the party as many of the grubs abilities and mechanics are expressed as d-Grubsize. Not so bad when its small, gets quite scary quite quickly.
The overall objective is to somehow calm the grub down and bundle it back to the hatchery while any number of crazed townsfolk, fanatic knights and cultists are trying to interfere and attack the worm. It does not say in the book itself (that I could find) just how many 0-level unfortunates you ought to bring to this funnel to start but as noted above the Kickstarter page suggests 4 per person which is another expression of the expected lethality.
Ranged against the players are the factions for and against the coming of the Age of the Moth - Worm-Locks and Sky-Knights - and there are lots of tables to generate locations for the worm to arrive at (and attempt to eat) along with adversaries and random events. Incredibly thematic, with tons of flavour - though that flavour is pretty squirmy, oozy and brimming with maggots - it gives a great back-drop for the adventure and an interesting range of factions to drive all the action. There is just about a chance, in my read of it, that the players could pull off a save and safely stuff the grub back in the hatchery but to my eyes it is far more likely this funnel will end with a new 1st level party fleeing the realm as it descends into the Age of the Moth behind them.
From the point of view of a funnel - job done.
I think this could be a great set up funnel or a fantastic one-shot or just as the source of a threatened apocalypse in your existing game. It is an absolute treat to read in the hardback form, well worth a look.
For other reviews see Onimyth. You can get yourself a copy from Drivethrurpg.
No comments:
Post a Comment