Brutal tales of the desolate, unforgiving wasteland known as Howling Crater have long caused travelers and caravan masters to give it a wide berth, but now fresh accounts of depravity and madness have begun to circulate out of that forbidden wasteland.
Deep within the barren recesses of the crater, a murderous family of mutated crater folk has begun to preach the gospel of the "the glory of the glow" and with it has come incurable sickness and murderous incursions across the land. Even stranger rumors have made the rounds as of late, whispering of a long-forgotten civilization of steel and fire, born in a swirling inferno of radioactive dust and powered by ancient alien astronaut-gods, lost deep within the crater's recesses.
About the book:
Can your PCs fight their way past this mutated, maniacal cult of alien-worshipping crater mutants to explore the truth of Howling Crater? Do they dare penetrate the inner mysteries of an ancient crashed ship and put a stop to the biological terrors that now run loose? Will they discover the true, terrifying secret behind the horrible happenings at Howling Crater?!
Includes:
- Full details on all three floors of the ship that mysteriously crashed into Howling Crater centuries ago, complete with fully realized stats and detailed encounter areas.
- The horrific shanty-settlement of GRISTLETOWN, home to the savage Wotts clan - a brutal mutant cannibal folk who make sure survival is never guaranteed and fresh meat is the only commodity. Fully realized and detailed, complete with fleshed out encounters, adversaries, locations and village trappings!
- More than a DOZEN new encounter areas presented in the classic "sandbox" style to challenge PCs of ALL levels.
- Deadly encounter areas, fully fleshed out and ready to play. Dare you tempt the dangers of Hooktounge Pass and its malevolent inhabitants? Can you survive a run in with the clan patriarch Obadiah Wotts in the Temple of the Alien Astronaut or will you be reduced to nothing more than fresh meat for the larder? Will you run afoul of a star mimic or - even worse - have your atoms scattered across countless dimensions by a blighted skitterer? What other nightmare horrors will unleash an agonizing terror on an unsuspecting world?
- More than TWO DOZEN magical items and technological devices never seen anywhere before, including the devastating blastwarp crystal, the horrifying gristle whistle, the crater mutant delicacy known as irradiated vittles and - every adventurer's favorite - void 'nades! Dare your PCs try such tasty crater chow as brewed reek or mama's musk? Will the PCs patch into the source code of the universe with memory crystals or fall afoul of the deadly touch of star crud? All these and more are fleshed out in full detail.
- The Trope Mechanic is BACK! Part of what makes all Planet X modules feel unique is the atmosphere and setting, and tropes go a long way towards giving An Occurrence at Howling Crater that “Grindhouse” flavor.
- If all of this wasn't crazy enough, every copy of the adventure module includes a custom HOWLING CRATER BARF BAG!!!
How is this different from the previous 5E version?
- All THREE levels of the crashed spaceship are included, complete with detailed locations and full write-ups. Maps are rendered in incredible detail by Karl Stjernberg, AKA @skullfungus!
- A TON of new material! New magical items, deadly monsters, patrons, exciting locations and all-new spells for your ongoing DCC/MCC game.
- A digital map pack that is fully compatible with Virtual Table Top (VTT), with the secret door markers and encounter numbers removed.
- Full conversion to the DCC/MCC compatible ruleset. They didn't just file off the serial numbers and throw this thing to the wolves - as DCC/MCC players ourselves, they made a dedicated conversion and spent a lot of nights playtesting this new version so that it retains the feel, vibe and compatibility of Dungeon Crawl Classics. This module is 100% compatible!
- The hinterland settlement of Hem's Holler, an all-new starting location for your PCs written by Levi Combs. New NPCs! Deadly leads and rumors! All new dangers lurking at the edge of civilization to make your PCs' lives absolutely miserable! Even if your players have played through the scenario previously, what secrets swirl in Hem's Holler waiting to be discovered?
- Tons of new art! A brand new cover from original cover artist Adrian Landeros and plenty of new illustrations to the module. In addition to all of the original art, top-tier illustrators Ed Bickford, Je Shields and Tim Burns are all lending their considerable talents to this project.
- New Patrons! Jeff Scifert has detailed all-new patrons for An Occurrence at Howling Crater, complete with special traits, divine favors, cleric titles, disapproval charts and all new canticles. There is a considerable amount of flavor and lore added to the original scenario and it really helps bring the mystery, super-science and savagery of the forbidden crater to life.
- All New Flavor Text. Traditionally, Planet X modules don't use flavor text but the excellence and playability of the DCC/MCC system has really brought us back around to it. This module contains read-aloud flavor text for every single encounter area.
- Finally, they've just flat out changed a few things. Converting a previous module to the look and feel of DCC compatibility isn't just about giving it a quick makeover and sending it on its way. They've altered a few key bits here and there, added in some new things and done the best job they could in making the scenario look and feel like the kind of good time you'd expect from a product compatible with DCC/MCC.
The Team:
Published by Planet X Games
Written by Levi Combs
