[Hype] Slyth Hive comes to Foundry VTT, looking into Print Options for an expanded Edition

Excellent news. As most of you know, about a year ago I hosted No Artpunk III, a competition dedicated to the craftsmanship of adventure writing, with a focus on high level adventures. As part of that momentous ceremony, I participated in my own competition and won and wrote my own entry, by the name of Slyth Hive, for characters of levels 14 and above. It went on to be awarded a prestigious The Best from Tenfootpole.org, but of course, the question always remains, how playable is this thing really? I of course ran it, but can I convey such a complex process to the general public.

Today I have a special treat that might make running the module much easier. One of my original playtesters, a gentleman by the nom du guerre of CanisLupis, implemented the entire module in the foundry Virtual Tabletop for OSRIC. I used Foundry myself during some of my playtests and though the learning curve is certainly nothing to sneer at, for high level gaming in particular it is excellent to have access to an overlay that handles elements like the automatic calculation of hit rolls, damage, turn undead rolls and saving throws and handles a lot of the bookkeeping (spells, hp, encumbrance, torch consumption, item charges and most importantly, spell duration). For lvl 1-3 even a novice DM can quickly learn to keep track of most of these on the fly, but for a high level game, with dozens or even hundreds of combatants, many different spells and abilities and magic items, this can be a nontrivial challenge, requiring quite a bit of effort.

What Canis has done is implement the entire thing in Foundry VTT using the Advanced Roleplaying System, with much needed several corrections. Additional value has been added, like new tokens and art for all of the creatures and NPCS. If you are a user of Foundry and ARS, you can now run Slyth Hive.

For Free.

Its nuts, its absolutely insane, I offered mr. Canis reimbursement for his superheroic efforts but he would not take them. It is no more then fitting I take none as well, but give them over to you, the fans. If you wanted to get into High Level Gaming, now is your shot.

This announcement shall accompany a second announcement. I have decided I will create an expanded edition of Slyth Hive, taking into account some of the feedback that has been shared by other DMs that have run it, and add a few extra levels. I want to make two or three additional levels. In the flavor text of the original adventure, I refer to The Cask of Horrors. This will be a level that contains, among other things, the vaults that hold the awful weaponry that the Axototli civilization used to destroy itself and its opponents at the end of its existence, as well as several other things that were deemed to dangerous to fall in other hands. Assorted safeguards, both familiar and new, will have to be overcome in order to gain access to the vaults, and very often, the players might find they have obtained more then they bargained for.

In the Inner Sanctum, a small temple to the Lord of the Void holds a portal that appears to function like a sphere of annihilation, destroying all that passes through it. In the original adventure, I allude to a method to pass through the portal without being destroyed, and in this way reach Sheol, the Liminal City, where the Axototli could meet the emissaries of their bloodthirsty and alien gods. Here the PCs will be able to get embroiled in the pasttimes, machinations and cruel games of deities inspired by both the Cthuloid and Aztec pantheons. For those who are quick, brave and cunning, the abode of the gods holds immense wealth and power, for those who linger or who are overconfident, only fates far worse then death await.

For a third possible level, I have in mind to create below the level of the ninth the stygian realms from where dwell the Horrible Ones, who prey even on the Slyth, some of which may have survived the devastation of the Cask of Horrors. I have some ideas but I don’t know yet if they will work.

If this works out, I’ll be looking into options for a physical book, as well as comissioning actual artists.

Take care, and let this beautiful year of 2025 be one of Rebirth and Healing!