This is the big follow up release of Cha'alt and just like the original, production values are very high and there were only 1,000 released of the deluxe physical copies. Cha'alt Malaise continues with the themes of the gonzo fantasy/science fiction/Heavy Metal/Gamma World with a dash of Cthulhu on a Dune world but goes a step further and advances the timeline from the original events of Cha'alt by eighteen months. This is going to be a review with a different structure as Cha'alt Fuchsia Malaise is a beast of its own.
For a disclaimer, I was given a pdf/physical copy of this book for review purposes.
Presentation: Between the hardback slip covered book you get 230 pages of full color printed on paper stock that reminds me of one of those coffee table art books. All of the art and maps that is included takes up an entire page or two page spread with purple-ish alien language and symbols and generously placed in the book to keep the theme going. It is type set in two columns with some tables taking up a full page. This is all typeset against a parchment style background which does not make it hard to read. Though, it would be hell on your printers.
Essentials: This section deals with the basics. It includes information on the races of Cha'alt and gives you all kinds of useful tables. The tables lean towards referee utility but this is some great tables for players and all of the tables have plenty of inspiration. There is the usual fair such as morale, alignment, NPCs, Loyalty, Hirelings, and reaction but others such as disguise, enamored, social hierarchy, death is not the end, Cha'alt names, dehydration, how to use this NPC, backgrounds, and many others. These tables are set up on d6s, d8s, d12s, d20s, and even a d100. These tables do not always follow traditional thinking and some of them are setting specific. I think one of my favorite aspects in this book is one that is a list of suggestions.
This list is Murder-Hobo regrets. It is basically used when a player does something murder hobo like, etc. The list has basically repentance on in the ranges from saying a prayer for the fallen, notifying their next of kin, killing one of their enemies, etc.
City of A'agrybah: The next sections details the Golden City. It goes into detail about its history, politics, a day in the life, noble houses, places of interest, a d100 table for unlikely events, plot seeds to go to the city/be inside the city, and a few other pieces of information. The section provides enough information to help the GM build the city but it is not overwhelming.
Encounters: In this section, there is a few encounter tables, Fuchsia Putrescence, traveling at night, the meteorite, clown worms, sub ways, galactic tyrants, and some sorcery.
Scenarios: This section offers three different scenarios/adventures. The first one is Fuchsia Flesh Pit, which is an experiment of a wizard that is recently deceased. The girl that beckons the party came to this flesh pit looking for the other half of the glove she stole from the wizard, but she had to realize that it's dangerous to go alone: there are tentacles, mutant clams, evil cultists, a whispering elder monstrosity, and other gonzo stuff within the organic pit. She tries to persuade the party into coming down and helping her out, after which she would try to betray them and leave with the treasure.
Tower of Vromka-ad, is the home of the dead wizard that created the flesh pit. Since Vromka'ad's death the servants have taken over, and are now busy bickering among themselves. There are twelve color coded rooms which could be reached by touching the corresponding orb in the entrance. Each room as its one focus point but there is not much else of note in the rooms. There are not a lot of servants and most of them are not worth messing with. There also is not a lot of treasure except for the room with the three warriors and some magic items. This easily ties into the Flesh Pits as a second location.
Tomb of Va'an, Zayne: Va'an Zayne was a sorcerer and writer, whose tomb is mentioned a lot in the rumors tables. This tomb offers a good deal of interactivity combined with a bunch of unique NPCs. There is a writers circle right at the entrance, energy beings taunting cultists, a statue that can summon demon, etc. Another cool aspect is that the tomb is tied to Cha'alt's metaplot in a couple of ways. These type of details are always nice and some of my favorite. The place was raided by Tha'anos recently and there are revelations about the true nature of the Old Ones and the planet's future.
Elysium: This describes a floating station in the sky that was built by aliens. It starts off talking about the different aliens, factions, security systems, personnel, and politics. Then the section opens up into a room by room description and there are 56 of them. There is a lot going in this station and a lot of NPCs have their own agendas. There are also connections that that party can discover about the over arching meta plot which are Easter eggs on crack. Elysium is a pretty opened ended location set up as a very large dungeon and the party can pick up various plot points, blow up the whole thing, set up shop, and so on.
S'kbah Pilgrimage: This is an event on Cha'alt due to a series of unfortunate events. This effects the setting of Cha'alt and the players can interaction with it or not but interacting with it is the only sure way to affect the course of events. This provides numerous locations with moving parts.
Appendixes: This section includes the complete rules of Crimson Dragon Slayer D20 Revised, Cha'Alt Ascended, and Old School Renaissance like a Fucking Boss. The very pieces of crunch that exist around Cha'alt: Fuchsia Malaise are designed to sue with Crimson Dragon Slayer Revised.
Final Thoughts: I think the art and layout is great on top of Fuchsia Malaise offering a ton of setting information to Cha'alt. It really expands on the world and advances the world (various plot points) by eighteen months. It does this advancement well and it does not feel heavy handed.
I was really hoping that the City of A'agrybah (this section was the part I was looking forward to the most) was going to get the same treatment as the Black Pyramid did in the original Cha'alt release but it did not. I really wanted to see a city location within Cha'alt to get the mega dungeon treatment with locations, NPCs, adventure hooks, countless reasons to keep returning to the city, and enough intrigue where the campaign would never need to leave that location. Having a city set up this way with all of the weirdness, gonzoness, and flavor that Cha'alt has to offer would have really sent this release over the top. Regardless of this, we do still get a solid foundation with various locations, some tables, notable NPCs, notable royal houses, and a few other story aspects. I just think it fell short of its potential.
The S'kbah Pilgrimage is an interesting event that spans a good chunk of Cha'alt with plenty of story seeds and ways the party could interact with it. It also gives a good amount of setting information. This could be set up where the players could interact with it at various points of its progression which I think is a very clever idea. Though, the chain of events feels rushed and I think this could have been expanded upon as it is part of the meta plot.
I feel like the author set up Elysium to be the apex of this release for its "mega dungeon". At 56 rooms it does accomplish this in size and scope but I am glad it does not have the mega dungeon feel. Elysium feels more like a neutral location that has its own plot points and moving parts. It almost feels like the party is takes a trip to Alpha Blue but it is has nothing to do with Alpha Blue - I am just talking about the open ended feel of the location. This whole section is written with hints of the sense of humor found in the works of Terry Pratchett and Douglas Adams. I personally appreciate this but your mileage may very.
This release adds a lot of the original Cha'alt release and it was a lot of fun to read cover to the cover.
You can find it here;
- Drivethrurpg
- Physical Copies (only 1,000 made)
- Cha'Alt Ascended
- OSR Like a Fucking Boss
- Crimson Dragon Slayer D20 Revised
Thanks for the review, hoss! I've never attempted to write-up a city like a megadungeon, but that's an interesting idea.
ReplyDeleteMy advice for gamers who want a deeper dive and long-term campaign would be to use the locations in Cha'alt along with independent D&D / OSR products. There must be dozens of books on drow cities, the DM could mix and match Dark Sun and Al-Qadim stuff, too.
That is great advice.
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