Wormwood is now available in POD! All 82 pages of 8.5x11" DCC goodness will soon also be available from the third party section of the Goodman Games website, with those prints via Mixam. And, of course, digital files are available from DriveThruRPG.
What is Wormwood?
Wormwood is a Dungeon Crawl Classics setting guide for Late Antiquities Europe during the Worst Year in History: 536 A.D. Also known as the volcanic winter of 536 as a result of at least three simultaneous volcanic eruptions, it was the longest and most severe episode of climate cooling in the northern hemisphere in 2,000 years. During his reports on wars in North Africa against the Vandals, Roman historian Procopius wrote: "during this year a most dread portent took place. For the sun gave forth its light without brightness... and it seemed exceedingly like the sun in eclipse, for the beams it shed were not clear". The volcanic eruptions and their resulting cooling of temperatures and dimming of the sky caused global crop failures and famine. At the same time, the outbreak of the Plague of Justinian would contribute to millions of deaths across Europe. This "Late Antique Little Ice Age" lasted from 536 to 560.
What's in the Book?
Many, many, many things!
Languages in Wormwood is of greater significance than most typical settings, where most* people will likely speak "Common." You might not necessarily share a language with every member of your own party! Additionally, languages can be "half learned," where one is able to converse in a language but not read or write it. In this way, language primers and interpreters become crucially important while traveling Late Antique Europe.
Oh so, so, so many new occupations. Demi-humans are significantly more rare, while the human occupations represent a wide swathe of potential backgrounds (and include their social standing - more on this below).
In certain situations, the PCs' social standing will be of significance - such as if they are accused of a crime or want to purchase land or join a lord's court. Recognition from the wealthy elite is a difficult affair - and costly!
Wormwood includes rules in brief on how to handle PC-level contributions to the chaos of a battlefield's swirling melee, with numerous opportunities for heroics (or at least a heroic demise).
Treasure tables and generalized annual costs/wages help determine the costs of ancilliary staff, and just how much "treasure" the average serf might be keeping in their homes, contrary to what Hommlet might lead you to believe.
Mercenaries, professionals, retainers, their differences, and costs.
So, so, so, so many trade goods.
Some interesting new additions for your weapons and armor.
An entire section on magical treasure!
Procedures for hunting and foraging while hexcrawling.
Weather and its effects in the Late Antiquities Little Ice Age.
What To Do If You Have Been Accused Of A Crime.
An expanded but non-comprehensive list of languages and dialects spoken in Late Antiquities Europe.
Medicines, poisons, and effects!
What Comes Next?
The next Wormwood releases, from 002 to 008, are all regional sections of the hex map. As the distance between two parallel sides of a hex is 24 miles, this map covers an area approximately 648 miles from the northern edge to the southern, and 912 miles from the eastern edge to the western, creating an area of some 590,976 square miles.
To aid the Judge, approximately 1,026 large hexes on the map are given a point of interest. Since the areas within each large hex can be further magnified to 16 hexes of the more traditional 6-mile hex, and since thus each large hex covers more than roughly 500 square miles of territory, these encounters are only the tiniest fraction of what might be found within this contentious region and time period.
The releases are as follows:
Wormwood 002: Francia
Wormwood 003: Duchy of Allemagne and Burgundy
Wormwood 004: Saxony, Thuringia and Bavaria
Wormwood 005: Ostrogoth Kingdoms
Wormwood 006: Visigoth Kingdoms and Vasconia
Wormwood 007: Armorica and the British Isles
Wormwood 008: Frisia, Daneland and the Obodrite Confederation
Titles with links will be added as released!
- The HAGS
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