Friday Fantasy: The Croaking Fane

Bobugbubilz was not always Demon Lord of Amphibians. In aeons past, Schaphigroadaz was the Lord of Evil Amphibians, but when his followers, the Salientian Knot, grew fat and complacent on the sacrifices them made to him and the riches they gathered, part of the Croaking Despot’s congregation rebelled and rose up against the Salientian Knot, and even Schaphigroadaz himself. Instead, they worshipped the toadfiend, Bobugbubilz, one of Schaphigroadaz’s own spawn, and in one bloody year, they marched on the Croaking Despot’s temples and drowned anyone who refused to renounce Schaphigroadaz in his Spawning Pools and saturated his altars in their blood. Thus, the Toad War, little known outside of the obscure scrolls held by eccentric scholars and the most ancient of libraries, come to an end. Schaphigroadaz was forgotten and the Salientian Knot no more. Yet there were survivors, and they did go quietly into the swamps and marshes where they could hide their faith from the outside world and bide that time. Now that time has come, the stars are right, and the Salientian Knot is almost ready to strike at the followers of Bobugbubilz and take its revenge. The cultists of the Salientian Knot have immersed themselves in their Spawning Pools to bathe in the waning vestiges of Schaphigroadaz’s divinity and so emerge, transformed and powerful enough to be a threat not only to the worshippers of Bobugbubilz, but the world!

This is the set-up for Dungeon Crawl Classics #77: The Croaking Fane, the tenth scenario to be published by Goodman Games for use with the Dungeon Crawl Classics Roleplaying Game. Designed by Michael Curtis, this is designed for a group of six to eight Third Level Player Characters and is a highly thematic scenario. Designed by Michael Curtis, this is designed for a group of six to eight Third Level Player Characters and is a highly thematic scenario. The Dungeon Crawl Classics Roleplaying Game draws heavily on the fiction listed as inspiration for E. Gary Gygax in the Appendix N of the Dungeon Master’s Guide for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, First Edition, and this is no exception. In its batrachian theming, Dungeon Crawl Classics #77: The Croaking Fane draws on works of cosmic horror by authors such as H.P. Lovecraft and Clark Ashton Smith, but it also draws upon Dungeons & Dragons itself. Such inspirations include the original scenario Temple of the Frog by Dave Arneson, but also Dave Cook’s I1 Dwellers of the Forbidden City with its Bullywugs and even E. Gary Gygax’s D2 Shrine of the Kuo-Tuo with its fishmen. So, there is plenty of precedence for this scenario, but the author fully embraces it theme as everything seems to ooze, flop, croak, and slime in presenting a temple to a lost, anuran god!

The scenario requires some set-up. The simplest set-up is a trash and grab raid on the fane dedicated to Schaphigroadaz whilst his followers are weakened in their preparations, but there is a strong religious aspect to the scenario that if brought to the fore, casts the Player Characters as a theological strike team! Whatever the set-up, the Player Characters need to become aware of the Salientian Knot and their disappearance and dig around for more details of the obscure Toad War. A more direct way of learning about the situation is from the Player Characters’ Patrons who wish to end the threat of the Salientian Knot and its plans. The scenario suggests that is the case if any Player Character has Bobugbubilz as patron, which is possible since he is detailed in Dungeon Crawl Classics. Bobugbubilz will certainly direct such a Player Character to undertake such a mission for him or otherwise face grave consequences.

The dungeon is split into two levels. The upper level, the main temple, is really one big area, a church or temple area dedicated to Schaphigroadaz, built within a great rock that has been carved like a toad. It is full of so many details and elements that it has been broken down into multiple areas and descriptions. The first transept is dominated by a trickling fountain of scummy water that hides a rippling mass of ravenous flesh-eating tadpoles that will strip the flesh of any hand or limb dipped foolishly dipped into it. There is even a table for when this happens and what effects it will have. Drain the fountain—and this is possible—and the Player Characters might find a magical ring which offers some protection against the toads elsewhere in the temple. Moldering frescos depict the worship and the history of the worship of Schaphigroadaz; winged toad-goyles lurk in the walls, ready to vomit choking swamp water on any intruders; a triptych depicts the three earthly aspects of Schaphigroadaz—the Great Winged Toad, K’Tehe, the Destroyer, and Kroagguah, the Mother of Multitudes; and even a great toad statue with gems in each of its four eyes that echoes the cover of the original Player’s Handbook. There is a lot here for the Player Characters to explore and examine, even in this one giant space.

The lower area, the Undercroft is no less detailed, but it is different in tone and feel. It is split in two, one part the quarters for the priest and his staff, members of the Salientian Knot, who have since thrown themselves into the Spawning Pools of their Croaking Despot master, the other part the toad caverns, the breeding pool, and the spawning pool. If the focus in the Main Temple above is on exploration and examination, the focus in the Undercroft is on exploration and combat, apart that is, from an encounter with a member of the Salientian Knot, the scenario’s only roleplaying scene. He is loathsome and toadyishly unpleasant, wheedling with the Player Characters to follow him to the Spawning Pool where he happily throws himself in even though his fellow cultists considered him underserving of joining them in welcoming waters of Schaphigroadaz. The scenario will come to climax in the Undercroft, first against the mutated cultists, and then in a big fight against one of Schaphigroadaz’s servants who is very, very hungry. If the Player Characters manage to defeat this creature, and it is a tough fight, they will be rewarded with plenty of treasure.

However, the scenario does have a nasty afterbite—or rather three. One is immediate, in that the giant statue in the Main Temple will come to life and attack the Player Characters on their way out, whilst the other two have longer lasting effects. One is a curse, Schaphigroadaz’s Spoilation, which a Player Character might suffer from after touching the wrong thing and in need of a cure, turn to Bobugbubilz for help. This means that the Player Character will owe the Demon Lord of Amphibians a big favour. A version of Schaphigroadaz’s Spoilation is given at the back of the book as the spell, Plague of Toads, for the mutated Salientian Knot high priest to cast. The other is that any remnants of the Salientian Knot are going to be extremely angry with the Player Characters after they have sacked the fane.

Physically, Dungeon Crawl Classics #77: The Croaking Fane is very well presented. The scenario is very nicely written, especially descriptive text intended to be read out to the players, whilst the artwork is good, with several pieces that the Judge can show to her players. There is only one handout, a depiction of the Spawning Pool. The scenario feels, though, as if it should have had more. The cartography is excellent.

If there is anything missing from Dungeon Crawl Classics #77: The Croaking Fane, it is more handouts showing off the great artwork in the scenario and perhaps details of Schaphigroadaz as a patron. The scenario is rife with details and objects which when the Player Characters touch and interact with, a Cleric will probably earn the disapproval of his patron. It would be interesting to explore the possibility of the Cleric falling from the worship of Bobugbubilz and into the batrachian embrace of Schaphigroadaz.

Dungeon Crawl Classics #77: The Croaking Fane is a pulp fantasy adventure with a tinge of horror, one that will reward the players and their characters for careful, thoughtful play. It is not a big adventure, but it makes great use of its theme with its clammy and cloying, mucilaginous and moist atmosphere.