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SlaughterGrid $9.99 $6.66
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SlaughterGrid
Publisher: Neoplastic Press
by Thilo G. [Featured Reviewer]
Date Added: 04/16/2017 06:36:12

An Endzeitgeist.com review

This module clocks in at 48 pages, 1 page front cover, 1 page editorial/ToC, 1 page inspirational music (which partially reads like a metal playlist I'd make - including favorites of mine like Amorphis, Enslaved, Nile and Shape of Despair - metalheads, check it out!), 2 pages of advertisement, 2 pages of SRD, leaving us with 41 pages of content. The pdf is accompanied by jpg versions of the maps featured herein as well as jpgs of the graphical representation of a puzzle featured in this pdf. Front and back cover in full color all included as jpgs as well.

All right, so if Neoplastic Press' superb Teratic Tome (Seriously, check it out - it's PWYW for the pdf, print at cost via lulu for the amazing hardcover!) was no indicator for you and if you're not tipped off by the less than subtle name ("SlaughterGrid" could be the title of a Cannibal Corpse- or Bloodbath-song...), this is a module for adults only. This does not belong in the hands of kids (though I would have laughed my behind off about it in puberty...).

Reading the backstory (which you can fill in via randomly determined components) makes this clear: You see, SlaughterGrids are massive constructs created by the insane and genocidal halfling race under the command of their patron deity Elizabeth Lack-heart...some readers may think that sounds familiar. Yep, this shares a mythology with the background information hinted at in the Teratic Tome and the tone here is dark...though not necessarily so in play.

We get lists of suggested random encounters for the levels of the complex of SlaughterGrid and begin with the PCs exploring the mini-hexcrawl conveniently provided before the module's heart, the dungeon-crawl through SlaughterGrid, begins. The pdf summarizes basic thieving abilities and how they're notated herein, chances for lifting heavy objects and a basic mechanic to outwit creatures and lure them into traps. Not the biggest fan there since the engine (+1 per cleverly used item) can be cheesed horribly. The standard currency would be gold, though LotFP referees will have no issues due to the presence of a particular type of being in the dungeon - but more on that in the SPOILER-section.

Magic item-wise, the multipurpose magical flatworm eggs that interact in interesting manners with stimuli, invite experimentation - they can be used as bombs, to float, generate light or darkness...Pretty cool.

Now there is no way for me to state this without minor spoilers, so there we go: The theme of this dungeon is reproduction and unbirthing/peri-natal anxiety, somewhat akin to a representation of some of H.R. Giger's works. The dungeon is intentionally seriously over the top, bloody, gory and uses imagery that must be considered to be sexual in nature. Artworks depict one of the BBEGs with a vagina dentata that extends over most of her torso and another monster basically consists of genitals. If that type of imagery offends you, then steer clear of this module.

Okay, the disclaimer out of the way, let's get to it. This being an adventure-review, the following contains SPOILERS. Potential players should jump to the conclusion.

...

..

.

All right, still here? Great! The landscape here is not nice. The hexcrawl will pit the PCs in combat with several of the new monstrosities depicted herein and already has hints of the reproduction system leitmotif - namely the theme of monsters requiring material to build nests. Humanoid encounters are not better, for the area is known for the war between Silver and Gold, equally despicable civilizations that practice human sacrifice and worse. Granted, the war's over, but paladins will have a hard time here: Visiting a the domain of the victors, the PCs can try to thwart the sacrifice of children, but will incur the ire of quite a few folks if they do so. Elves and halflings encountered are about as nice as the monsters (in fact, some monsters are nicer) and an assassin may actually prove to be the most civilized traveling companion the PCs can find here. There is serious wonder to be found within these hexes as well, though - like a zone where a chunk of earth floats, affected by reverse gravity...and there are...interesting magical boots to be found here...but also a potentially hilariously lethal death. It should be noted that the hexcrawl-section does sport suggestions for additional hexes, which is a nice bonus.

Now entering SlaughterGrid is done via a rather inconspicuous entrance...which would be the equivalent of the buried, enormous, roughly female-shaped automaton. The entrance to SlaughterGrid would be the automaton's pelvic mound, with level one being the equivalent in structure of the automaton's genitalia regarding room-structure etc. Once the PCs have stumbled into the complex, the ceiling drops - they are imprisoned in the complex and have to make their way through SlaughterGrid to see the light of the sun again.

Which brings me to the complex itself: SlaughterGrid has three levels - Uterus, Bowels and Belly, with the leitmotifs being pretty much evident right there. The dungeon sports quite a bunch of amorphids, basically icky oozy foes that can be bottled and weaponized and a specific parasite-like thing that is responsible for the absence of clusters of gold: The mighty Gold-whore (aka aurumeretrix) can smell gold and are drawn to it - clever adventurers that notice this peculiarity can employ these powerful predators to thin the lines of their foes.

Each of the rooms has a descriptive section and some game-relevant information below in bullet-points. While this makes the presentation pretty economical, it also breaks the flow of the overall text and sometimes, subsequent bullet-points elaborate on earlier ones, which makes the implementation of them feel a bit haphazard. This represents my most pronounced formal gripe against the module. Also: Etched messages are sometimes in bullet-points, sometimes in the other text - as a whole, the concept hasn't been implemented too well.

But back to level 1: Here, the PCs can make first experiences with the deadly slimes and undead that inhabit the place...as a relatively helpful cave goblin potentially notes, undead kill you and you stay that way...which brings me to the most pronounced selling point of the module, as far as I'm concerned: You see, in level 1, the PCs can find an ovum. Whenever they die within the complex, and they WILL die, A LOT, they'll be reborn, naked and bereft of negative conditions etc. from the ovum. This thing can even be taken from its place and lobbed around the dungeon! Downside, though: Each resurrection carries a significant chance of horrible mutation, as determined via a massive table.

Within the bowels, goblinoids, orcs and the like worship the grossly mutated and utterly delusional Kaiva Grey-Nail, one of the villains of the dungeon and aforementioned magic-user with the body-sized maw in the middle that extends to her vagina - said magic-user has underwent the process so often, she now is barely recognizable as humanoid. Meanwhile the exit lies within the belly, the domain of dread pseuod-otyughs and crypto-otyughs that worship the progenitor: This of that...thing as an oversized vagina fish-slug-thing with breast-like sacs and penis-hands. No, I am not kidding you. This thing has a means to exit the complex, but demands an evil oath...or violence ensues. The aforementioned puzzle pertains a ziggurat with symbols, btw. - solving it can also allow for a means to exit the place.

Now, there are a couple of things to be aware of: This dungeon is gleefully, dickishly lethal. Save-or-die is pretty common among the obstacles and creatures encountered and the PCs will be pretty outclassed if they don't take care. The "unlimited lives"-aspect and the mutation can change PCs horribly or provide some seriously strong abilities. And yes, the table is truly 100 entries strong. We also get pregens and a brief name generator. Know what my issue with this module is, though? It's not the visuals or the difficulty. It's that SlaughterGrid has this amazing premise...and only uses it to justify being a meatgrinder of a module. The ovum and resurrection-trick could be used for a plethora of unique puzzles: "Okay, so, if I draw this level, the corridor will reconfigure and I'll b trapped here, starving to death...but I can just give you my stuff, kill myself, reemerge and the path's clear!" Why is there no correlation between dying to one of SlaughterGrid's slimes and the mutations you get when emerging from the ovum? "We have to pass that fall of lava - so let's find one of those red slimes, get killed and see if we get fire immunity..." Sure, this would be comical and not very serious...but that's invariably the tone the module will get anyways, unless your players can take this much more seriously than mine did. In short: The resurrection mechanic...isn't used for anything interesting and its presence feels like an unrealized gimmick, used to justify excessive deadly force. Heck, the pdf MENTIONS that the ovum can be used for creative solutions to problems, even gives examples...but the module, frankly, doesn't need that. You can brute force it.

Same goes for NPCs. The pdf makes no sense there. See, the goblins, trolls, otyughs...once killed, they supposedly just stay dead? Same goes for Kaiva? I don't get it. Kaiva obviously HAS resurrected multiple times, so why doesn't this work for other living beings that are not the PCs? Or if it is SUPPOSED to work for them as well, why is that mentioned not even once in the whole text? If NPCs are supposed to also regenerate thus from the ovum, is there a sequence in which it rebirthes the fallen? If you start to logically think about this module, its interesting and creative premise comes apart pretty hard, which is what made this not work for me. Sure, you can add all these things in...but why bother? It's a solid dungeon, but it also has some serious gaps in its internal logic.

As mentioned before, the module contains a lot of creatures (same format as in the Teratic Tome).

Conclusion:

Editing and formatting are good on both a formal and rules-level - while both could be improved upon, you generally have a pretty decent idea how things should work and I noticed no overly jarring accumulation of typos. Layout adheres to a b/w 2-column standard and is pretty printer-friendly. As mentioned before, the artworks in b/w are well-made, but provide images that are not for everyone. The pdf comes fully bookmarked for your convenience. As a pretty big detriment: The okay maps don't come with player-friendly versions sans secret rooms or map key - you'll have to draw them yourself if you want those gone.

This could have been a delightfully icky and bonkers, utterly over-the-top gorefest of death and rebirth with smart puzzles a truly amazing environment and stomach-turning strategies the PCs could use. This has all the makings of one of these truly unique, inspiring dungeons with its own rules and tricks that work only within it. Unfortunately, SlaughterGrid falls really flat of its own premise and instead devolves into a pretty fun, lethal dungeon-crawl. But that's all it offers when it could easily have gone for excellence. A halfway capable referee can make this a disturbingly slimy gem of a module - all the building blocks are here. What has been assembled from them, alas, didn't blow me away.

Now, I got this module back when it still cost $3.33. For a commercial module...I'd consider it to be an awesome concept, seriously hampered by its execution and thus settle on a verdict of 3 stars. However, since then, the module has become FREE, its PoD option an at-cost offering. And honestly, I know A LOT of PWYW modules and content that wished it was this creative and well-done. Being FREE increases the value of this module for me and grants it an additional + 0.5 stars. Now, due to the structural issues, I'd frankly usually round down for this one...but at the same time, a referee committed to working with the module, expanding and revising it, may well consider this to be an amazingly wicked gem. It is hence, its free nature and my in dubio pro reo policy that I will thus round up to 4 stars.

Endzeitgeist out.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
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SlaughterGrid
Publisher: Neoplastic Press
by Denis M. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 02/05/2016 15:45:31

While purile and revolting, this is fully worth the purchase price for the resurrection mutation tables and the collection of weird magical items, mostly of limited use, and all dangerous to use. It is enough to break the cycle of humdrum plus whatever items, and make magic scary again.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
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SlaughterGrid
Publisher: Neoplastic Press
by Sven F. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 04/25/2015 02:48:14

Deadly, funny, scary and, above all, weird. Like any good OSR module it needs more prep or, even better, a dose of imaginative improvisation at the table. Really stoked to inflict this on my players!



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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SlaughterGrid
Publisher: Neoplastic Press
by Brian S. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 01/27/2015 09:35:59

I think the other reviews were very complete. While I really like reading it, I can see it being a hard sell to some players.



Rating:
[3 of 5 Stars!]
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SlaughterGrid
Publisher: Neoplastic Press
by Steven S. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 05/31/2013 19:56:27

The long version, from my latest Phylactery of the Unvincible Stevillord ( http://www.nerdtitan.com/2013/05/27/phylactery-of-the-unvincible-stevillord-1st-edition/ ):

Since I loved the Teratic Tome, buying Rafael Chandler’s SlaughterGrid for $6.66 was an absolute no-brainer.

Also aimed at the d20/OSRIC/OSR crowd, the copy for this dread folio on this starts off with “Created by genocidal halflings aeons ago, SlaughterGrid is a strange and gruesome dungeon, avoided by all save the bravest or most foolhardy of adventurers.” And after reading through it, I would say this copy is quite correct. Upon opening the book (or PDF, in this case) I was treated to bookmarks– 1 point to Victory. Within the opening pages, Mr. Chandler has a list of all the songs he listened to whilst creating this product. It’s full of deliciously dark metal, black metal, death metal, and industrial metal music. By no means do you have to listen to that sort of music to enjoy this offering, but it certainly helps into understanding the tone.

Speaking of tone, Chandler’s tone throughout the book is rather casual. It’s akin to the tone James Raggi IV takes in his Lamentations of the Flame Princess products. By this I mean it’s irreverent, witty, and pretty damned funny. Oh, and dark, too. There really should be an official “grimdark” genre nowadays, as it would make advertising/cataloging this newer breed of RPGstuff easier to deal with.

Self-described as “pleasurably vile”, SlaughterGrid takes no prisoners and takes absolutely no shit when it comes to PC-murder. There’s really too much to go into in a spotlight feature like this, but the ad-copy high points are:

-An 18-area mini-hexcrawl to start you off -A three-level dungeon with 55 encounter areas -32 new monsters, including stygiacs, gold-whores, progenitors, and necro-otyughs -Weird treasure, dangerous magic items, and unpleasant surprises -Rules for thieving abilities, schemes, and weaponized monsters

Now that you’re processing the above, I will add that SlaughterGrid, of course, has some incredibly fucked up denizens (surprise!). Not only that, but everyone who dies while tromping through the SlaughterGrid ends up being resurrected through the Ovum, and they can garner “malformities” through this process. Eventually, such malformed resurrected adventurers will end up as something horrible. The table for resurrection results are deliciously awful.

Then there’s the gold-whores. They take your gold. It sucks. The more gold you have, the more gold-whores that appear. This makes having gold a bit of a problem. Actually, a lot of seemingly normal things in an adventurer’s life is a problem in the SlaughterGrid.

Art-wise, it’s a bit sparse, but what art there is fits very nicely. I would have liked more images for the monsters but illustration isn’t cheap, and Chandler’s elegantly non-complex layout and charmingly no-frills presentation doesn’t suffer for it. Also, the maps provided more than makes up for it. Furthermore, as a student of How to Font Properly, SlaughterGrid gets points for having very effective font usage.

Overall, this 48-page PDF is worth every goddamned penny.

It does have a few small editing gaffes, but otherwise it flows like diabolical honey and is one of the few adventures I’ve picked up in recent years I want to try out on an <strike>unsuspecting</strike> eager group.

I will grant this 4.5 incredibly well-deserved Baconlich Kings out of 5.

--

The short version: I absolutely love this product. Should be hilarious mayhem to unleash on your players. Especially if you tell them nothing in advance. Please not that SlaughterGrid is NOT for children. It's an 18+ product. Enjoy!



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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SlaughterGrid
Publisher: Neoplastic Press
by Shane O. [Featured Reviewer]
Date Added: 05/19/2013 11:29:42

I really didn’t want to go back here. When I reviewed the Teratic Tome, I mentioned that I was going to need some time to recover from the twisted works of the sinister fiend Rafael Chandler. These few months have not afforded me the requisite recuperation necessary, and yet with the release of his first adventure – the unsubtlely-named Slaughtergrid – someone has to step up to warn the role-playing world about the horrors found herein. As no one else has done so yet, it falls to me.

The book – which has amusingly changed its titular game system to Gateways & Golems – opens with, of all things, a soundtrack. Actually, “soundtrack” is the wrong word, as these were the songs (a hundred or more) the author listened to when writing the material, rather than being music keyed to specific areas in the game. That said, this is probably the first real warning of what you’re going to get here, as showcased by listings of November Doom’s “They Were Left To Die” or Deicide’s “Hang In Agony Until You’re Dead.”

A brief backstory is given for the module, and this is where I think Chandler’s sense of humor shows through brightest: the backstory in several places utilizes random tables to determine elements of what happened. For example, the immediate need to enter the dungeon is because (Table 5) entered and haven’t been heard from since.

There are some notes given on running the dungeon. At first these are the usual fare of random encounter tables and how much experience and treasure the PCs can expect to find if they survive. However, things start to become more complex when notes are given regarding the use of thieving skills (alternate if the percentages mean rolling high or rolling low), your chance of tricking the monsters (make a roll opposed by their Intelligence score), weaponizing ooze monsters, etc.

The fun here begins when you read the section on what happens when you die in the Slaughtergrid. See, the dungeon that is the Slaughtergrid was once a gigantic animated statue of a naked woman, used as a war weapon. It’s long since fallen apart, however, leaving only the anatomically-correct pelvic and lower-torso areas still intact. Leaving aside the issue of entering the dungeon (and yes, it’s exactly what you think), when you die in the Slaughtergrid, the dungeon will immediately give birth to a clone of you…though this involves rolling on the mutations table, which I can assure you you do not want to do.

A map of the general region around the Slaughtergrid is given, which I found to be a pleasant surprise. Divided into hexes, there are no rules for travel times or surprise given. Rather, each hex is simply given a paragraph of description. These are, in keeping with the themes of body-horror, mostly encounters with creatures intent on committing violence, often sadistic, on other creatures, often the PCs. For example, the Monocerous in hex 502 is looking for a virgin to impale so that it can devour said virgin’s genitals. The PCs can either bring it one in exchange for information about the nearby areas, or fight it.

The Slaughtergrid dungeon itself is a huge three-level dungeon, spanning several dozen rooms. Each room is given about one to three paragraphs description, all of it generalized for the GM (in other words, there’s no “boxed read-aloud” text). Most also have several bullet points describing the most noteworthy features of the rooms.

Personally, I didn’t care for the bullet point format here. I found it slightly off-putting for its offhanded style of notation. While it’s never difficult to put these notes into the proper context for their room, the lack of narrative context here makes them feel like they were designer’s notes added as-is, rather than trying to put them into a more naturally-flowing narrative. It’s a comparatively minor point, but it feels jarring to read.

It’s in the dungeon itself that the adventure lets loose in all of its mutilated glory. Here we get all sorts of foul creatures and circumstances, like the NPC who, when starving, committed suicide, was reborn, and then went back and ate his old body. Or the torso of a previous adventurer that’s been hollowed out and put on display. Or the polyp-gate that, when passed between, causes you to eject a random internal organ while having a vision of someone you love suffering a long and painful death.

The artwork, I should mention, is fairly sparse here. There are only a handful of drawings, all black and white, but all depict some of the more shocking scenes from the dungeon, such as an orc being tortured by a draugr (undead creature), the Progenitor (the “final boss” of the dungeon, which is a creature that’s largely a composite of horrific sexual imagery), and my personal favorite, Kaiva Grey-Nail, the living example of what happens if you die and are resurrected in the Slaughtergrid too many times (it’s hard to tell that she used to be human).

Following the dungeon proper, a small set of NPCs (or, if you prefer, replacement PCs) are given, along with some oddly-extensive tables for names (divided into those for commoners, nobles, and royalty).

The monsters used in the adventure are given last, and this is no small thing. There are over thirty monsters here, all of them new. However, I felt that their novelty was somewhat undercut by the lack of illustrations of any of them, and that their descriptive text was reduced to a handful of bullet points. I couldn’t tell you what a stygiac looks like, for example, or what it does or anything similar. Just that if it hits you you’ll be cursed for 1d20 minutes from 1d6 different curses. Given how awe- (and nightmare-)inspiring the Teratic Tome was, it’s keenly palpable that these creatures aren’t quite living up to the same level of terror, even if they are primarily meant to be taken in the context of the dungeon.

If you’re a fan of Neoplastic Press, you’ll find Slaughtergrid to be the fulfillment of the promise made by the Teratic Tome. The horrific monsters there none too subtly offered adventures based around themes of torture and mutilation; here we have the first such adventure to do just that. Whereas the monsters in the TT had the potential to ravage your PCs, here that potential is actualized. This adventure says “a meat grinder for level 2 characters” on its front cover, and it means it.

I’m giving the adventure four stars only because those bullet point notations irked me. In the dungeon they were mildly annoying, but for the monsters at the end the sheer minimalism of their presentation was a bit too much. I applaud that a mini-monster manual was included here, but if that’s going to be the case, it should be more than stat blocks and a bullet point or two.

Having said that, the dungeon, as well as the environs, is a panoply of horror just waiting to be unleashed on your characters. Those who venture into the Slaughtergrid will find gratuitous levels of perversity and evil waiting for them, where even death is no escape from the horror. It’s almost elegant in its depravity, and will leave its mark on your PCs, one way or the other.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
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Creator Reply:
I truly appreciate the review, Shane! Damned decent of you. Point taken about the bulleted descriptions -- that's not an idea I'll pursue in my next dungeon. Quite gratifying to see that all this brutality was well-received. I must say, this is the kind of review that compels one to work even harder on the next project. A thousand thanks!
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