The Four Phases

Sidebar

Against canon

Throughout this book, there are references to an implied setting that are never elaborated on. We name and discuss people, places, and historical events without describing them in great detail. This is intentional.

Instead of providing a gazetteer with everything carefully plotted out and a hundred-and-one nonsense fantasy words for you to memorize, we’ve painted with a fairly broad brush. It’s our intention to give you a sense of scope and flavor without bogging the game down with lore to memorize or binding your story to a metaplot. The game world and the storyline are intended to vary from table to table.

It’s our hope that the implied setting of His Majesty the Worm stimulates your imagination and allows you to tell the stories that you want to tell.

As the setting details provided invoke a certain aesthetic for you, we hope that you will use them. As the setting details provided feel frustrating in their obscurity or contradictions, we hope you will change them, ignore them, or tear them physically from the book. At times, the provided material will be inherently contradictory, obliging you to make a decision about which version you want to be “true.”

Summary

The Four Phases

City — Turn in and take new contracts; spend wealth to restock and heal; pursue long-term schemes.

Death and Taxes
Noteworthy Deeds
City Events
Turn in Contracts
Upkeep
City Actions
Plan the Next Crawl
Restock the Underworld

Crawl — Pursue your quest; accumulate wealth and avoid hazards; charge Bonds through roleplaying and fulfilling conditions.

Declare you enter the quest
A watch passes when you travel to the next room
The GM draws on the Meatgrinder table each watch

Challenge — Fight the denizens of the Underworld; notch armor; gain Wounds.

Set the Scene
Draw Challenge Cards
Play Initiative
Take Turns
Minor Actions6
End the Round

Camp — Burn charged Bonds; heal Wounds; gain Resolve.

Camp Actions
Break Bread
No Rest for the Wicked
Recovery
End Camp Phase

The Four Phases

Contents