Interview: Mark Manchester (Wayward Studios) & From Out of Gnollwhere

Highlighted your favorite hyena monster

Once again, the Indie Creators Summit is where I first started talking to Mark. A smile crept onto my face when I read the title: From Out Of Gnollwhere. If you loosed a chuckle or enjoyed the pun, then keep on reading so you can find out more!

From Out of Gnollwhere is a 2nd-level adventure where the PCs travel through a fey forest and explore a gnoll barren. Tell us a little about how this adventure module came about. Is this something that arose from a super fun game session or something else? 

The idea for this adventure did spring from part of a 5e campaign our group was running. The campaign, which we dubbed Wayward Sons, was a 7 year run. The idea for the campaign was to have 3 separate adventuring parties with 3 separate DMs each running inter-connected stories that culminated in the 3 groups joining for one big epic finale. One of our DMs, Paul Baumeister, came up with a story about gnolls making strangely coordinated attacks, an interesting plot hook, and an ancient forest at risk. As many homebrew games, this initial story took a life of its own and became a very memorable part of our campaign. 

Did you find many surprises during playtesting, or did the adventure largely remain the same?

I did! This is our first adventure that we created for public consumption. Our group has played together for nearly 30 years. In fact, the team that makes up Wayward Studios are all friends from high school. And we're in our 50s! Suffice it to say that we all have a pretty good idea about each other's play style and GM style. So, the first time I ran the playtest with a group of strangers their responses to the challenges were very different than how my group handled them. As an example, and without giving out any spoilers, there was one instance where the group encountered a large group of gnolls. They decided the odds were not in their favor so fled. I was not expecting that! My group never flees. So they run out the door and the Elf casts the Ward Portal spell on the door. He rolls exceptionally well and made the entire door vanish. This left the PCs no access to the finale of the adventure. I definitely had to make some adjustments on the fly and then amend the dungeon. 

One thing that's clear about this adventure is you love gnolls. I can't recall another "gnoll" heavy DCC module. What is it about gnolls that excited and inspired you to make an adventure revolving around them?

The fact that there weren't any gnoll-heavy adventures out there is why we decided on gnolls as the focus. Once we decided to focus on gnolls, we started to do a bit of a deep dive into the history of gnolls in games. The idea that these creatures are blood-thirsty, demon-worshipping monsters that feed on human flesh just make them perfect for a gonzo DCC adventure. 

The adventure also has some prominent fey characters, one of whom is very likely to place a geas on a PC for them to be their "Guardian". I've found that game elements like that can be met with mixed attitudes. How did you craft the adventure so that this would go over well?

Great question! We also struggled with this. During our playtesting we discovered what players liked and disliked about this part of the adventure. In the original game, this part of the storyline was just supposed to be a little side quest for the party to deal with. Our group really ended up leaning into it and the story evolved to become a major focal point. Forcing players to take on a certain obligation as part of the adventure can be tricky. Ultimately, we are leaving it to the individual Judges and their players to decide how it impacts their play. We had one playtest group that loved it and leaned heavily into the roleplay options. We had another playtest group that treated that part of the plot as more of an afterthought. They didn't seem interested in doing much roleplaying so it just became more of a necessary plot device. In the end, we hope this twist adds something not often seen in adventure modules. 

by Syd Putz

Thanks for sharing so much! Is there anything that I didn't ask that you wish I did? Please share if there's something you gotta tell folks!

It's been my pleasure to share this with you and your readers. I'd just like to mention our company, if that's ok. Wayward Studios formed in late 2023. We are exited to release several titles in 2024. Along with the Gnollwhere trilogy, we are looking at releasing several zines for Weird Frontiers. We also have a big project we are planning on releasing at the end of the year. 

Y’all ready for a gnoll heavy adventure? Or is there another underserved creature that you’re just waiting to see highlighted in their own DCC adventure?

What else is going on?

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