Review 13: Damn Tasty
Our adventure this week comes from one of the coolest settings in the DCC family; Crawling Under a Broken Moon, or more colloquially, Umerica. The origins of this setting come from the very weird mind of Reid San Fillipo, who was inspired by weird wild post-apocalyptic science fantasy things like Thundarr the Barbarian. This module is a funhouse 0-level funnel written by Tim Bruns with cover and interior artwork by Nate Marcel. I've run this a couple of times, using the standard rules from the Umerican Survival Guide.
The basic premise of this adventure is that the PCs are dead, to begin with. They are all undead workers in a factory that manufactures the Go! energy bars that are strangely ubiquitous in the post-apocalyptic wasteland of Umerica, with their bizarre flavor combinations (more on that later). The PCs decide to stage an escape from the factory during their bi-annual lunch break, and have to navigate a dangerous and confusing array of factory hazards in order to be free.
Getting it to the Table
This module is definitely a bit beefier than what I have been reviewing recently. Coming in at about 36 pages (counting the appendices, handouts, and paper cutout miniature templates), there's quite a bit of stuff in here. The general idea of progression through the factory is that the PCs will start on the third floor and make their way down to ground level in search of an exit, but one big problem I had when preparing this module is that there is no map. None. The only indication there was of floor layouts were in the read-aloud text of the "Hallway" areas on the first and third floors, and the entryway read-aloud text of the ground floor. The second floor "Machine Access" area was clearly meant to be a bit more abstract, since it is presented as a series of stat test encounters which can be used in any order-- the lack of a map was less painful here. This was also true for the "Factory Floor" section. But for the rest of the factory, I had to sketch out my own map based on my interpretation of the text, which took up a fair amount of time.
As far as the actual area descriptions, we again see the "DCC house style" of lots of text, but the nice thing is that there is a lot of actually useful info in the text. One of the key ideas in the Umerica system is that players should be encouraged to scrounge and scavenge for whatever they can find that can be used as weapons or armor, and the text gives plenty of examples of what might be in the rooms, rather than leaving it up to the GM. The areas also include relevant stat blocks and tables for loot where they are needed, so that is a point in their favor.
Now, I complained about the lack of a map earlier, but I do want to clarify that that gripe was only in regards to being able to parse the layout of the rooms in relation to each other-- in practice, each area was simple to run without a map of its contents, especially for a GM like me who runs things theater of the mind. For those who prefer VTTs or battlemaps, this would be another point where additional prep was required. The two areas that were presented in a more abstract way (second floor "Machine Access" and first floor "Factory Floor") were relatively easy to prepare, as they were more of a series of encounter set pieces rather than a predetermined space to navigate; the actual layout of the space was less important than the time spent moving through it and how players decided to overcome the obstacles that were put in front of them.
What Worked?
- Plenty of consideration for scavengers. True to the Umerican mindset, this module provides a good basis for how to rule the use of junk and random stuff that is picked up for use by the players. It's also helpful for the players to get them familiar with how the piecemeal armor system works.
- Stat blocks and info where you need it. Monsters, items, random tables, and relevant info was placed in their respective areas rather than tucked into an appendix.
- Go! Bar flavor table. Some of the results you can get are as follows: Rocky Road with Beans, Pickle Chowder with Real Peppermint, Chunky Alfredo, Krill Bubblegum with Marinara Sauce, Pumpkin Spice Snail with Electrolytes, and so on.
What Didn't Work?
- No map. How can there be no map?
- The office areas of the first floor felt kind of anti-climactic after the chaos of the second and third. The second time I ran it, I had the players find access directly from the factory floor to the loading dock area and bypassed the offices completely, and the flow was a lot better without the loss of momentum caused by two floors of fighting and hazards followed by quiet marble halls and bathrooms.
Final Thoughts
Overall, it took some time to get a sense of how I needed to prepare this one in order to run it, but it was definitely fun once it got to the table! Umerica is very much a "kitchen sink" setting and the idea of an undead-staffed energy bar factory fit in perfectly. It is a wild and weird funnel that also meets my requirements of being full of stuff to interact with but still relatively contained; it's linear but not railroady, and the players have a clear sense that they need to keep pushing forward to escape and get to the real adventuring.
You can get "Damn Tasty" from the Goodman Games web store. Thanks for reading!