When a new master came to Cob Hill Manor, once owned by the wizard and rumored necromancer Zatharides the Black, dozens from the impoverished village of Pike sought employment in his service. The wages were fair, the work honest and dignified. Now, weeks have passed with only silence from the manor, no word from the friends and family gone to Cob Hill. What has happened among the shaded gardens and shadowed halls of the manor? Can a group of humble villagers brave the perils of Cob Hill Manor to solve the mystery, or will they too be consumed by the darkness that dwells there? Blood will be shed before the mystery is solved.
Blood of the Blood Garden is level-0 funnel funnel for Dungeon Crawl Classics. Written by Edgar Johnson and published in 2023, it can be a perfect way to start your campaign. The struggles of the adventure are largely brought about by the supernatural struggle between an ancient nature goddess called Narafaltha, or the Lady of the Corn, and the Demon Seed. I was fortunate enough to be in a playtest of this adventure so I’m in the credits for this one! If you’re interested in learning more, I hope you’re a judge! If you’re a player then get ready to get spoiled!
So to start, this is an enormous adventure, especially for a funnel. With the exception of Blood for the Serpent King, all of Edgar Johnson’s DCC material are big sandboxes. Go check out Against the Atomic Overlord or Moon Slaves of the Cannibal Kingdom if you don’t believe me. However, it’s very possible to finish this adventure in a 4-hour session. Prior to the game, tell your players that they can’t “100% explore” this adventure in one session and to just have fun finding and creating the dramatic finale.
At the start of the adventure, we assume that the PCs have all come to find their missing loved ones and aren’t turning back until they haver an answer. They begin in the large “garden area” on the way to the manor. After fighting some monstrous sunflowers, the PCs will realize that there’s serious trouble here and they need to choose a path forward. There’s two different paths which each quickly split into two more different paths, and so forth. When I played in this adventure, we brief split the party into four separate groups, making the judge’s life rather difficult for a while.
There’s a large variety of interesting encounters here and it never feels boring. I especially enjoyed talking, magic Koi fish, the Lotus Garden, and the Trees of Madness. In what almost feels like a DCC trope at this point, there’s a water well that holds both weal and woe. If you investigate that, there’s some well hidden clues, loot, and even a secondary way into the manor that can take you almost straight to the finale. Just make sure you can hold your breath long enough. If the PCs investigate the Garden of the Goddess and the Burned Area, they can get some more loot and useful information about the location’s history. If you want to complete this adventure in 4-hours, you really need to get through this part of the adventure in under 2-hours.
The inside of the manor has many areas that are mostly empty rooms. I mean empty in that they each have some description and the typical furnishing for each room’s purpose, but no fights or puzzles within them. However, the judge is instructed to roll 1d4 each time the PCs explore an empty room, with an “abomination” appearing on a result of a 1. The module does say that judges may wish to to pick rooms in advance. The only area within the manor (outside of the cellar, which is soon to be discussed) that has a static encounter is the conservatory. This room telegraphs its danger. It’s full of plant-life which should make your players very suspicious at this point. All in all, this section of the adventure should only take 1-hour if you wish to finish in a 4-hour session. I appreciate the desire to map out a realistic manor (great map to steal, btw) but the gameplay didn’t quite work. The first area simply outshines it in comparison.
That said, it’s also very easy to minimize this area or even eliminate it. If a judge is pressed for time, just skip straight to the cellar! There’s nothing really stopping you.
Finally we arrive in the cellar, several of the rooms still appear normal, but do have a creep factor. The PCs are likely wondering where their loved ones went! Even if they surmise that the bodies were used as compost or turned into abominations, they still lack the “why” factor. Area 3-4 has an otherworldly terror known as the Demon Seed, which has been anchored to this reality by Morto Blango, the current owner and distant relative of the necromancer Zatharides the Black. The Demon Seed now attempts to infect the PCs in a way described as “cosmic malware”. The PCs must make saves or listen to the command of the Demon Seed. And if it touches them, they must make saves or become infected.
In the end, the adventure outlines 4 options for the outcome: TPK, run away, win, or become the bad guys. If the PCs are to win, they must, you know, win the fight. The other described outcomes have some good ideas for judges to use in an ongoing campaign.
Summary
In the end, this is a great adventure. With how many options there are for player choice, I wish the finale encounter wasn’t locked to one location. But I greatly appreciate the help given for different outcomes. However, those positives can also bring the negative of this being rather long for a funnel. But if the both are mindful of how they spend their time and the judge is mindful of the game’s pacing, it can be readily accomplished inside 4-hours. This adventure is a solid choice, a ton of fun, and has some killer art. Do yourself a favor and try it out when you have the opportunity.
Have you played this adventure? If so, tell me about it in the comments! I’d love to hear how it went for you!
What else is going on?
ZineMonth/ZineQuest in February!
February is the month of zines! I’m doing a series of written interviews with a number of creators. It looks like the interview schedule for February is full, but if you have a project that would fit this newsletter then I can still give you a shout out. Shoot me a message at DragonPeakPublishing@gmail.com. If you’re in need of other assistance (editing, layout, etc), I’m also available.
I helped playtest this one. We had a lot of fun with it.