Weather Worm Adventure I: A review of Deluge at Drizzle Distillery
Happy New Year, everyone! As a yearly wrap-up, the Vienna Supergroup put together a Review Round Robin, where we each reviewed a game or adventure of another's choosing. For me, that was Deluge at Drizzle Distillery by Centaur Games, assigned to me by Xaosseed. So here’s everyone’s favorite category of game, a Weather Worm Adventure, reviewed to ring in the new year.
Deluge at Drizzle Distillery is an adventure inspired by the rulesets of Cairn by Yochai Gal and Into the Odd by Chris McDowall. It’s set in a Southeast Asia-inspired world called Kala Mandala, written and illustrated by the incredible Munkao. Drizzle Distillery makes the best holy water in Kala Mandala. But a magic storm is threatening to destroy their facility! Brave the rains, find out why, and save the distillery. Or just save yourselves, the storm will trap and destroy all within.
This is a read-through review of this very cool adventure. The structure of the adventure is dungeon-ish; it’s centered on a holy-water production facility with a complicated layout called the Drizzle Distillery, and includes a detailed map with description and art for nearly every room. The distillery’s patron frog-faced rain-god, Maragak, is furious at the interloper worm-god Balub, who wishes to become the new resident god of the distillery. If Balub isn’t evicted or defeated, Maragak will destroy the distillery! Side with the rain god, the worm god, the distillery, one or two rivals, or just make a cocktail called a Hot Iced O' Coffee!
Here are my thoughts on the adventure in no particular order.
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In addition, I would have liked to have a little more differentiation in the beginning between what is information for DM’s eyes only and what should be revealed to players as pitch/opening material. The first page has this information on it, which initially read to me like it should be given to players before they enter the distillery:
And yet, a dead body found in the second room has scrolls on its person that detail all this information, suggesting that it would be more appropriate for players to learn the context in the distillery itself. Where/when that information is revealed is the difference between an investigation game or not, but it’s such a minor quibble; I only mention it in case Munkao ever puts together a print run (I repeat, please do!!!)
Munkao, the creator of this adventure, is Malaysian, and wrote this vision statement (for an adjacent Kala Mandala project called Heavenly Bodies) that focuses on some of the same things I think about:
Deluge at Drizzle Distillery is an adventure inspired by the rulesets of Cairn by Yochai Gal and Into the Odd by Chris McDowall. It’s set in a Southeast Asia-inspired world called Kala Mandala, written and illustrated by the incredible Munkao. Drizzle Distillery makes the best holy water in Kala Mandala. But a magic storm is threatening to destroy their facility! Brave the rains, find out why, and save the distillery. Or just save yourselves, the storm will trap and destroy all within.
This is a read-through review of this very cool adventure. The structure of the adventure is dungeon-ish; it’s centered on a holy-water production facility with a complicated layout called the Drizzle Distillery, and includes a detailed map with description and art for nearly every room. The distillery’s patron frog-faced rain-god, Maragak, is furious at the interloper worm-god Balub, who wishes to become the new resident god of the distillery. If Balub isn’t evicted or defeated, Maragak will destroy the distillery! Side with the rain god, the worm god, the distillery, one or two rivals, or just make a cocktail called a Hot Iced O' Coffee!
Here are my thoughts on the adventure in no particular order.
1. Weather and water mechanics.
The distillery is a holy water processing facility, and as such water plays a mechanical role in the game. Players can use water-spirit talismans to change water into gas or ice or vice versa, and there’s information about valve handles, acid, hail, and more. This is all very fun.
The game is on a timer, with three levels of Maragak’s storm: hailstorm (to start), then daggerstorm, and then megastorm. Each room has worsening effects as the storm progresses, although they’re for the most part limited to more options on the encounter table and an increased chance of roof collapse. Would have to try it out to get a feel for how this really feels, but I can imagine the timer keeps things snappy.
This strangely isn’t the only upstart worm god with worsening weather conditions adventure I’ve read; this adventure reminded me quite a lot of A Disputation at Worm Rock by G. Edward Patterson III, an Antarctica-themed adventure with a worm god and a blood flood (which I contributed to but do not financially benefit from mentioning, I should clarify). Who knew the weather worm genre was so big! Someone should make a setting where the worm god is the rightful ruler.
Storm tracker, Deluge at Drizzle Distillery (2024).
I’m including a mockup below of how I would have preferred this information to have been presented. Because there are 11 phases, with the 12th one ending in the total destruction of the distillery, you could very easily use a 12-piece clock, with the last piece marked as calamity or whatever other ominous phrase you want to use.
This strangely isn’t the only upstart worm god with worsening weather conditions adventure I’ve read; this adventure reminded me quite a lot of A Disputation at Worm Rock by G. Edward Patterson III, an Antarctica-themed adventure with a worm god and a blood flood (which I contributed to but do not financially benefit from mentioning, I should clarify). Who knew the weather worm genre was so big! Someone should make a setting where the worm god is the rightful ruler.
2. Art
The art is gorgeous! And so plentiful. Every page has at least one sketch or fragment of map, and plenty have multiple. The art transmits information beautifully, as visible in this depiction of NPCs with a vested interest in the Distillery. It’s both detailed and efficient, and I’d love a print version whenever Munkao gets around to making one (please do!)
3. Storm tracker and opening information
My only, incredibly small point of critique might be that the layout of the storm tracker took me a while to understand. Essentially, you color in a storm cloud every 20 minutes, moving through the hailstorm phase into the daggerstorm and then megastorm phases. Even though it’s a simple concept, it’s honestly a little confusing the way it’s currently written, and I would have liked to see it visualized through a clock mechanic instead, a la Blades in the Dark.
Storm tracker, Deluge at Drizzle Distillery (2024).
I’m including a mockup below of how I would have preferred this information to have been presented. Because there are 11 phases, with the 12th one ending in the total destruction of the distillery, you could very easily use a 12-piece clock, with the last piece marked as calamity or whatever other ominous phrase you want to use.
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Mockup stormtracker, Swan and Raven Studio (2025) (although feel free to steal).
In addition, I would have liked to have a little more differentiation in the beginning between what is information for DM’s eyes only and what should be revealed to players as pitch/opening material. The first page has this information on it, which initially read to me like it should be given to players before they enter the distillery:
Holy water is ubiquitous in Kala Mandala. Drizzle Distillery makes the best. Producing holy water generates huge amounts of wastewater containing unwanted energy. This potent waste has seeped into the Distillery grounds for decades. The worms deep below feasted, gaining power. The worm-god (Balub, pg. 14) manifested. The new Distillery owner (Gadul, pg. 13) wants to increase production. But current supply is at the whim of the resident rain-god (Maragak, pg. 12). During a cellar inspection, a tiny worm whispered to Gadul: "Groundwater... constant supply". Gadul began to dig. A week ago, Balub and their worms emerged from the hole to seize the Distillery. Incensed, Maragak threw a god-level tantrum, creating a magical storm over the Distillery (pg. 8). Unless Maragak is appeased, the storm will destroy the Distillery.
And yet, a dead body found in the second room has scrolls on its person that detail all this information, suggesting that it would be more appropriate for players to learn the context in the distillery itself. Where/when that information is revealed is the difference between an investigation game or not, but it’s such a minor quibble; I only mention it in case Munkao ever puts together a print run (I repeat, please do!!!)
Conclusion
In conclusion, delightful suggestion from Xaosseed. Even though I was randomly assigned to it by a computer, it somehow feels like it was picked specifically for me! I spend a lot of time thinking and talking about de-centering European fantasy, and I’ve been very interested in the Southeast Asia + SEA diaspora TTRPG scene for a while now, including Zedeck Siew, momatoes (who also created the incredible Across RPGSEA directory), and Alewood Games.Munkao, the creator of this adventure, is Malaysian, and wrote this vision statement (for an adjacent Kala Mandala project called Heavenly Bodies) that focuses on some of the same things I think about:
- Centring on Southeast Asia, leaving Eurocentric fantasy.
- Exploring the region's shared histories and fluid identities, departing from ethno-nationalist narratives.
- Bolstering imagination and fun, beyond tokenism and representation
Check it out here: https://heycentaur.itch.io/drizzle-distillery.
Check out the other GM Supergroup reviews here:
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