Game: Terrors of the Twisted Earth
Publisher: RPGObjects
Series: Darwin’s World 2: d20 modern
Reviewer: Wyrdmaster
Review Dated: 22nd, September 2003
Reviewer’s Rating: 8/10 [ Really good ]
Total Score: 8
Average Score: 8.00
This issue of Terrors of the Twisted Earth shows how clever PDF publishers can be. RPGObjects are especially good at winning these successes. There was the original Terrors of the Twisted Earth in PDF format, then the paper edition and now there’s this Darwin’s World 2 PDF edition and in the near future (December 2003) this will be the final of three parts in the hardback Darwin’s World 2 book. Or, if you don’t want to wait, you can get a paper version of this PDF from RPGMall. Yup. This is the third time I’ve reviewed this product. None of this is the clever bit. The bit added extra that impressed me is that first edition of the PDF is included with this purchase. That means whether you’re using 3rd edition d20 or d20 modern you’ll find Terrors of the Twisted Earth to terrorise your players with. There’s more bang for your buck here.
The terrors of the twisted earth are the monsters you can expect to find in the post-apocalyptic wilderness and ruined cities. These are biological monsters. I imagine the rules for mechanical nightmares will come later and the rules for environmental hazards have already appeared in the Campaign Guide.
There’s a fairly good mix of biological horrors in the product. It just so happens that a whole lot of the first few are blobby, oozy, slimy things. After the radioactive storms, the chemical rain and mutagen winds swept the word – and did so for as long as anyone can remember – a lot of creatures ended up as blobby, oozy, slimy things. For example, we have Bubble Cell Amoebas, Giant Amoebas, Blindworms and Blobs almost immediately.
Then there are the blobby monsters with tentacles. There are the really scary (CR 14) Death Sentinels and Desert Anemones almost immediately after our Blobs. Every so often, alphabetical order isn’t your friend.
My favourite creatures are those that are clearly evolutionary off shoots from creatures we know. Take the desert horse, for example, its next on our (incomplete) alphabetical list. The desert horse might just mistaken for a common horse after a quick glance but it’s a far more intricate creature. It has three-lobed eyes, for example, this lets the horse have a wider range of vision, a range that includes much of the desert floor where all too many creatures now hunt by bursting from the sands. Just a bit later on you’ll find rules for Crawlers. These were once human. Now they’re evolved – or devolved really – into a blind torso that drags itself along sewer tunnels with its arms. Nice. That appeals to my Lovecraftian school days. That’s why my favourite in this categories are those creatures like the Albino Apeman simply because no one’s sure whether they’re evolved animals or devolved men. Insects and spiders are a common sub-group here too. I can’t think of a fantasy game that might have hunting packs of giant spiders scurrying over the dunes.
Many more of the terrors have a less than obvious evolutionary tree. There are hound like creatures with maws the size of their heads, especially large heads just to have that especially large mouth at that, which might have involved from a few creatures. In a nice coming-a-full-circle way a few of the mutant monsters have a strong dinosaur shtick.
And there’s undeath too. Well, undeath of a sort. Plague zombies are kept alive in a death-like state as a result of their condition. I rather like the Marionette Worm parasite; this is the sort of critter that I’d populate my games with. The worm is not something a player character would want to become infected with. The availability and effectiveness of medicine is a big issue in Darwin’s World. Oh. There’s also the period of time in which the Marionette Worm has full control of the virtually dead (but still active) host. Imagine what might happen if the guide taking the players through a dangerous ruined city becomes infected and looses control before the group reaches the suburbs?
I do think it’s a shame that Terrors of the Twisted Earth doesn’t include a terrors by challenge ratings chart. When I’m in a hurry I turn to these charts straight away. The setting is appropriate for such a chart because although different creatures are more common underground or in polluted water its safe to say that they’re all suitable for the Twisted Earth. I don’t give monster manual style products such a wide catch net, many of the standard creatures in those fantasy products just aren’t suitable for my fantasy world.
Bestiaries tend to fall into two categories with me. The first kind is a list of monsters that makes me wonder why I’m paying money for something I could have fun creating myself. The second kind manages to find some more inspiration and encourage me to “Ooh! I can just imagine a scene where…” Terrors of the Twisted Earth fits into this latter category. Terrors of the Twisted Earth is a compendium of mutated horrors which is likely to add more danger and variety to your post-apocalyptic game. Better still, Terrors of the Twisted Earth also seems suitable for most d20 modern games. After all, could the Blob rules here not be used in a B-Movie style horror game, could the Albino Apemen not be used in a Cthulhu game and quite a few of the creature mutants could easily be used as escaped genetic experiments.
There are 48 pages for just shy of US $6. That’s pretty good value and, as already mentioned, there are extra products that come for free under that price tag. I think every creature in the book has an accompanying illustration. That’s important for me in bestiaries. I can create monsters myself (you should see some of the php scripts I write) but I can’t draw. I want the drawings and that’s what I get here. This supplement is going to strength RPGObjects already impressive reputation in the d20 modern market.
