INTRODUCTION

One criticism often leveled at solo roleplaying is that it requires a lot of effort
and is often dismissed as a ‘creative writing exercise’. ROTTENER
BLACKER SLUDGE was an attempt to balance the sense of freedom that a
finely-grained journaling experience gives, with the quick, fluid gameplay that
a more mechanical approach provides.

Although I obviously wrote a fair bit down for this playthrough, most of what
is contained in these pages would have gone on in my head if I was playing
alone, and is intended to illustrate my thought-processes over the course of
the session. At most I’d have drawn the map, written the occasional ‘weak
hit’ possibilities table, and kept notes on any unique creatures I rolled up.

This playthrough uses the SÖLITARY DEFILEMENT solo ruleset for MÖRK
BORG, available for free at 1d105.itch.io. It also provides a complement to
the gameplay example in Sölitary Defiliement, which concentrates on fine-
grained journal-style documentation and overland travel.

THE ACCURSED-ER DEN

I’ve run Pelle Nilsson’s brilliant ROTBLACK SLUDGE adventure several
times with groups, but decided that I’d like to explore it in a solo context
using Sölitary Defilement’s Dungeon Crawling rules. This meant abstracting
the dungeon so that it could still be surprising, while adhering to the general
plot and mood set down by the author.

The first task was to assign a dungeon DR – I decided to give it the standard
DR12.

Next, tables for common encounters needed to be compiled. Rotblack

Sludge already had two random encounter tables, so these were adapted
and slightly extended into d6 tables. Since there would only be one PC in the
game, numbers of enemies were halved where possible:
d6 Common Encounters
1. d2 Dusk Gnoums 4. Nesting Death (6 HP)
2. Mongrel 5. d2 Crooked guards
3. d2 Guards with sharpened teeth 6. d4 Mad prisoners (chained)

d6 Rare Encounters
1. Distraught spirit 4. A sarcophagus
2. Bazar from a distorted dimension 5. d2 Slumbering skeletons
3. A terrible silence 6. d2 Violet butterflies (DR12 Agility
to catch each one, heal d6 HP)

Rare encounters occur only once - reroll if already encountered.

Finally, four special rooms were selected from the Rotblack Sludge map to
give the adventure some form:

Special Room 1: Lesdy’s Greenhouse (Lesdy has two followers)

Special Room 2: Gem Room (Gutworm has 25 HP)
Special Room 3: Fletcher’s Forge (Fletcher has 10 HP)
Special Room 4: Aldon’s Cell

After this fairly brief prep, I rolled up a character with Scvmbirther: Kvetin the
Occult Herbalist – see the inner cover for their stats. It was now time to play!
PLAYTHROUGH

0.ENTRANCE

DUNGEON CRAWL: DR12 vs 4, 5: Fail

What a start… my character has been deposited by the Shadow King’s

guards on a quest to find the king’s errant son… but he can’t even find the
damn entrance to the Accursed Den! I’ll roll on the Geographical Features
oracle for some inspiration:
18 - Crater

Ok, and for a bit more flavour, how’s the Weather?

6 - Dead quiet

Right, I could do a Micro-Crawl around the crater to find the entrance, but
I’m not going to make a big deal about this, since I want to get stuck in. I
assume that Kvetin is going to find the entrance, but maybe I’ll throw in a
couple of simple yes-no questions, too:

Do I encounter an enemy? 2 - No
Do I find any object? 2 - No

Cool. Kvetin finds the entrance… the Materials oracle tells me that the
trapdoor is made of dirty metal (13, 4). It creaks as it opens…

1.PASSAGE OF NESTING DEATH

DUNGEON CRAWL: DR12 vs 2, 20: Weak hit

Regular room: Description: Deceptive Passage
Exits: 2
Contents: Common encounter: 4 - Nesting Death
Kvetin climbs down the rusty, dirty ladder into a carven passageway… ok,
why is this passageway deceptive? There’s obviously the Nesting Death to
factor in. Let’s say that, at first, Kvetin thinks the ceiling of the passageway is
covered in mist… but on closer inspection it’s actually a spider web, with the
Nesting Death waiting for some prey.

Kvetin doesn’t have his lantern lit and is relying on light from the trapdoor.
First I’ll make a Presence check to see if Kvetin spots the Nesting Death… if
he does, then there’s a chance he can use Agility to sneak past.

GENERAL ADVENTURING MOVE: DR12 Presence: 5-1, 18-1: Weak hit

Right, he can just about see the gauzy shadow of the Nesting Death within
the web. But this is a weak hit, so what could screw things up a little? I know:
as Kvetin stands, transfixed in horror, a freak gust of wind blows the trapdoor
shut, plunging the passage into darkness!

Right - Kvetin's choice is now whether to light a lantern and perhaps betray
his position, or whether to just try and navigate the passage at a
disadvantage (e.g. DR14).

I’m going for the latter…

GENERAL ADVENTURING MOVE: DR14 Agility: 10, 16: Weak hit

Kvetin begins stealthily crawling along the muddy floor of the tunnel. He
doesn’t realise it ends in a junction and hits his head on the wall. He lets out
an involuntary curse.

YES OR NO? ORACLE: Does Kvetin’s curse alert the Nesting Death?
3 - No, but...
No, but… his voice echoes down the corridors, potentially alerting the
denizens of the den to Kvetin’s presence.

2.LESDY’S GREENHOUSE

DUNGEON CRAWL: DR12 vs 19, 19: Strong hit

Special room 1: Lesdy’s Greenhouse
Exits: None

The passage leads steeply down. Groping in the darkness, Kvetin decides it’s
time to light his lamp. He trudges down a curving, sodden tunnel, and then
sees another light in the distance and hears voices. He enters a room of
glass, looking out across a dismal, benighted vale. Lesdy is here, with two
followers…

The two options presented in the Core Book are to stay (and heal d6 HP with
a penalty), or to try and leave which involves fighting her two followers.

Either of those options are going to be potentially disastrous. Since I can’t

carry on a conversation with Lesdy as one might do with a GM, I decide that
Kvetin is going to use his Presence to try and get out of drinking the potion
and make his apologies:

GENERAL ADVENTURING MOVE: DR12 Presence: 13-1, 14-1: Strong hit

Kvetin manages to somehow bluff his way out of the situation, feigning that
he is already well-rested and well-fed… while also conspicuously laying his
hand of the bottle of black poison hanging from his belt. Lesdy and her hosts
are uneasy, and let him retreat back up the passage…
3.LAIR OF THE CADAVER BIRD

DUNGEON CRAWL: DR12 vs 17+1, 4+1: Weak hit

Regular room: Description: Sickly catacomb
Exits: 1
Contents: Unique Dweller

Ok, I’m going to use Feretory’s The Monster Approaches to roll up the
‘unique dweller’ for this room. The result is:

Giant Cadaver Bird

6 HP 12 Morale d8 damage No armour
Special: Sprays acid every-other round. Normal damage plus 2-in-6
chance of reducing armour (+d4 damage w/o armour)

A vaguely bird-shaped mass of necrotic flesh and feathers. A giant

black beak protrudes. It croons disgustingly. Cadaver birds are usually
found in graveyards and catacombs, using their acid spit to break-
down corpses. They love shiny things, and steal bleached bones,
jewelry and other treasures to decorate their nests.

Ok: as Kvetin enters this catacomb, bones crunch underfoot… there is a

sickly, deathly stench. Sitting bang in the centre of the passage on top of a
pile of gleaming bones is what looks like a giant, decaying bird. Kvetin can
hardly do anything but brace for combat…

Initiative: 5 (to Kvetin)

Kvetin chucks the black poison at the cadaver bird, who makes a DR14 roll,
scoring 11. The poison hits for d6 damage… and by a crazy fluke, Kvetin rolls
6! The cadaver bird shrieks and hisses, flapping madly, sending black
feathers swirling around the room, and bleached bones bouncing off the
walls. Eventually it writhes its last and collapses.

Since the Cadaver Bird is a hoarder, I’m going to treat searching the bone
pile as a ‘strong hit’ on the Searching for an Object move. I roll 2, which
gives me a roll on the Items of Worth oracle. Kvetin finds an unclean scroll:
Daemon of Capillaries!

Time to move on…

DUNGEON CRAWL: DR12 vs 6+1, 4+1: Fail

Oh… Kvetin didn’t realise that the Cadaver Bird also had a chick, who has
watched everything from a shit-covered nest plastered near the ceiling. As he
moves to the exit, the creature squawks and flaps wildly…

Initiative: 5 (to Kvetin)

I’ll run the Cadaver Bird chick as having 3 HP.

Kvetin gets in a good mace hit, reducing it to 1 HP. He then defends

successfully, and rolls a 20 to attack, finishing it off.

4. PIT OF DESPAIR

Ok, having resolved the Dungeon Craw weak hit, I roll the next regular room:

Regular room: Description: Unclean Pit

Exits: None
Contents: Rare encounter: 3 - A terrible silence

So, no exits… a terrible silence makes everything seem muted, even the
drops of water falling from the cavernous ceiling and into the dark, muddy
waters of the pit. There are no exits. Kvetin is despairing. Might as well throw
himself in the pit and either drown (- a blessed release! -) or find some other
way ahead… I’ll use Toughness here...

GENERAL ADVENTURING MOVE: DR12 Toughness: 13-1, 9-1: Weak hit

Kvetin stashed his lamp in his backpack, takes a huge lungful or air and
jumps in…

Ok, this is a weak hit. I think it sometimes helps to have a few possibilities so
that the game feels more unpredictable and GM’d. I decide that on a d6:
1-2 Kvetin loses an object
3-4 Oxygen deprivation (-1 HP, -1 Agility)
5-6 The waters are cursed (an Arcane Catastrophy occurs!)

Uh oh, Kvetin gets 5 and rolls 18 on the Arcane Catastrophes table in the
Core Book… he is now gaunt and drained, restoring only half HP when he
rests.

5.TEMPLE OF AN UNKNOWN HERETIC

DUNGEON CRAWL: DR12 vs 2+1, 18+1: Weak hit

Regular room: Description: Uncanny Temple
Exits: 1
Contents: Rare Encounter: 4 – A Sarcophagus

Kvetin emerges into a weird temple. The light is weird. The carvings are
weird. The arch leading out of it is weird… the weird sarcophagus on a weird
dais is weird. Kvetin decides to have a look in the sarcophagus…

I decided that on a d4, 1-2 Teleports to a random new room, while 3-4 means
that you can use Search for an Object move. Kvetin gets 4.
SEARCH FOR AN OBJECT: DR12 Omens: 13+2, 13+2: Strong hit
Corpse Plunder: 34 - Flayed face.

The Sacrophagus is empty… except for a leathery, flayed face… Kvetin takes
it and continues...

6.THE GEM ROOM

DUNGEON CRAWL: DR12 vs 14+1, 12+1: Strong hit

Special room 2: Gem Room
Exits: 1

Kvetin enters the gem room… he can see the rotblack sludge bubbling and
smoking… the skeletal forms on the 50’ pillar playing violin… and the gems
on the wall glitter alluringly.

Ok… Kvetin isn’t going to hang around. He heads for the next exit…

7.GRANITEFACE’S GATE

DUNGEON CRAWL: DR12 vs 14+2, 4+2: Weak hit

Regular room: Description: Infernal Doorway
Exits: None (e.g. it is sealed)
Contents: Unique Dweller

Ok, another unique dweller. Rolling on the Feretory tables conjures this fellow
up:

Graniteface
1 HP 8 Morale d4 damage -d4 armour
A winged stone head… Conversational and attempts to persuade PC
to do something...
Seems obvious that Kvetin reaches some sort of arched door, which is
sealed. A one-eyed, winged skull sits over it. The obvious thing is that it
wants is a new eye… a jewelled eye. Trekking back to the gem room is a
risky proposition, given that the Gutworm attacks anyone who removes
gems. Kvetin is going to try and use Presence to persuade it:

GENERAL ADVENTURING MOVE: DR12 Presence: 2, 2: Fail

The head is utterly unconvinced. Kvetin trudges back to the gem room to rip
out some gems….

GENERAL ADVENTURING MOVE: DR12 Strength: 15-1, 11-1. Weak hit

On a weak hit here, I’d suggest that the gems aren’t quite loose enough to
pull away, but would take another round to extract (e.g. the Gutworm could
attack twice while Kvetin attempts to pry the jewel out).

I decide I’m not going to risk it an burn omen to replace the 11 I rolled. I re-
roll and get 19-1.

Yes! Kvetin manages to gouge out 3 jewels. The Gutworm rears from the
rotblack sludge…

Initiative: 2 (to Gutworm)

Defend vs Gutworm: DR12 Agility: 18
FLEE FROM COMBAT: DR12 Agility: 13, 10: Weak hit: Gutworm gets
opportunity attack.
Defend: DR 12 Agility: 19

Kvetin manages to flee and evade the Gutworm’s opportunity attack.

Graniteface lets him pass...
8.FLETCHER’S ABBATOIR

DUNGEON CRAWL: DR12 vs 12+2, 2+2: Weak hit

Regular room: Description: Neglected Abbatoir
Exits: 0 (none obvious)
Contents: Remains of something...

A room full of hooked chains hanging from the ceiling. They are dusty. The
dry husk of a mangled corpse dangles from one.

Kvetin is going to look around for some way out...

GENERAL ADVENTURING MOVE: DR12 Presence: 20-1, 1-1: Weak hit

Kvetin methodically pulls the chains… one of them opens a secret door… but
since this is a weak hit, it is right beneath him! He falls down the shaft. I
decide the following options on a d4: 1-2 take d2 damage in the fall; 3-4
Break a random item.

Kvetin ends up taking 1 HP damage as he crashes to the bottom.

9.THE PITFALL

DUNGEON CRAWL: DR12 vs 14+2, 1+2: Weak hit

Regular room: Description: Infested Passage
Exits: 0 (none obvious)
Contents: Rare encounter: 1 - Distraught Spirit

Kvetin finds himself in a narrow pit - it seems like there is no way out, until a
twisted face emerges from a wall. “Avenge us!” it pleads before vanishing…
Kvetin sees that the bricks are loose in the place where the spirit emerged…
it opens into a tall, but narrow passage, filled with decaying, hacked up
corpses hanging from chains… Kvetin decides to take a rest to recover his
missing HP.

CAMPING/RESTING: DR12 Presence: 19, 1: Weak hit:

Recover HP, 1 Omen, Lose 1 Ration

10.FLETCHER’S FORGE

DUNGEON CRAWL: DR12 vs 13+2, 19+2: Strong Hit

Special Room 3: Fletcher’s Forge
Exits: 1

After an awkward rest amongst the squeaking chains and corpses, Kvetin
continues. The passage gets smokier and a red haze shimmers in the
distance… Kvetin emerges into Fletcher’s Forge. I’m going to just use a
simple yes or no to see if Fletcher has his back turned (butchering or
blacksmithing…) or whether he is facing the entrance:

Does Fletcher see Kvetin? 1 - Yes

Initiative: 1 (To Fletcher… Gutworm will join in second round)
Defend: DR12: 9… Burn an omen: 15
Kvetin casts Daemon of the Capilaries… DR12 Presence: 5… fail…. burns an
omen: 4… another fail. Lose 2HP, cannot cast Powers.
Defend vs Fletcher: DR12 Agility: 18 Defend vs Gutworm: DR12 Agility: 14
Kvetin throws Black Poison at Fletcher. Fletcher fails his DR14 defence. 3 HP
damage, 1 absorbed by Fletcher’s skin.
Defend vs Fletcher: DR12 Agility: 17
Defend vs Gutworm: 9 - Gutworm does 1 HP damage.
Kvetin is broken… the Gutworm bites off his arm and he collapses to the
ground. He’s incapacitated for d4 rounds: more than long enough for the
Gutworm to finish devouring him.
THE END